My Teddy

54

Jordan

"Are you hungry?"

"Nah."

"I have cake."

"We can eat it in the morning."

"It is the morning, Brook."

"Why are you always trying to get me to eat, huh?"

"I don't know. Maybe because you never do?"

Brook sighs, sitting up on my lap slowly.
Straddling me for a second.
I smirk, holding her knees down before she can move.

"Teddy, quit it. I have to go make a call."
She giggles, moving her hair behind her shoulder again.

I bite my lip.

"Alright, hold up though."
I say, sitting up slowly.

"Turn around for me, princess."

"Kay."

I hum absentmindedly to myself as I take my fingers through her hair.

My girl has perfect, healthy hair.

It's really long.

Maybe she should cut it.

It seems like it takes a lot to keep up with it.

"Ta-da!"
I exclaim lazily, flipping a braid over her shoulder.

A sloppy one.

I think its gorgeous. Only because I did it and I'm awesome.👍🏾

"What?"
Brook laughs, admiring it.

"Since when did you learn how braid hair?"
She asks, raising her eyebrow.
I rest my chin on her shoulder, rubbing her sides slowly.

"Well. My roommate in college was this girl, Crystal. She broke her arm last year and she taught me how to braid so that I could help her out."
I explain, smiling fondly at the memory.

Crystal was the best.
She even got me this clean ass Rolex for my birthday.
Nice girl.

Brook doesn't say anything.

I bite my lip.

I shouldn't have told her. I don't think she likes hearing about my life without her.

I nuzzle my nose into the back of her neck, squeezing her a little.

"Thats nice."
She says quietly.

Timidly.

"You didn't tell me you had a roommate."
She adds, the assumption in her voice.

A girl roommate.
The unspoken words float around us.

I sigh, moving my hands reluctantly.

"Thats all she was, Brook. A roommate and a close friend of mine."
I feel the need to say it.

To reassure her.

"I didn't say she was more than that, Teddy. I'll be back."
She stands up and walks out before I can even reply.

I let out a loud sigh, falling backwards on the couch again.

What am I going to do with her?

With myself?

I rub my stubble irritatedly.

No matter how hard we try, we can't ignore the fact that 4 years is a long time.

I missed 4 years of her life. She missed 4 years of mine.

There's nothing we can do but move on from that.