Brothers in Blue A Bryson Family Christmas - Jeanne St. James Page 0,29

And when he did, that Carly and Levi would still be with him to see it.

Chapter Four

Teddy & Adam

Teddy flipped over and pressed his right cheek into his satin-covered, fluffy goose down pillow and stared at Adam sleeping on his “normal,” no-frills pillow from Target because he refused to “rest his face on a dead duck.”

Since Teddy was the older one of the two, he needed all the restful beauty sleep he could get. Unlike his fiancé, he minded waking up to red creases on his face. But then, the man had slept in tents, or worse, in some horrible desert in the Middle East. And most likely didn’t have any kind of skin care regimen out there while fighting the “good fight.”

He probably used a bar of generic soap and a hose.

Teddy shuddered.

But now Adam was on a better path of taking care of the only skin he had. It had been a struggle at first, but Teddy managed to convince his lover to at least try a few products to maintain his naturally handsome look.

Not that his lover needed much.

But a good shampoo, conditioner, moisturizer and shaving cream was the very minimum.

And sometimes Teddy would do a sneak attack and schmutz a little gel into the dark hair Adam kept the same style as his cousins. Trimmed tight on the sides and a bit longer at the top. Which gave away what he did for a living and what he lived for. First serving his country as a Marine, then serving his adopted community as a cop.

Selfless. That was what his man was.

He had secretly lusted after all three of Adam’s cousins—who Teddy lovingly called the Bryson bucks—throughout high school. After graduation he finally worked up the courage to “come out” to his parents, after working so hard and so long to hide who he really was, hoping they’d understand, hoping they’d support him, hoping they’d continue to love and accept him.

Unfortunately, he was wrong.

Soul-crushing, self-esteem toppling wrong.

Finding himself homeless and with no family, he escaped Manning Grove and tried to find his way in New York City, where, of course, he’d be accepted, loved and treated like normal. Right? Since NYC was progressive. A melting pot of every type of human under the sun.

He worked his way up from the streets by landing his virgin ass into a hairdresser’s bed, who took him under his wing. Teddy learned to do every job in his lover’s salon. He even got his cosmetology license.

And then his lover got a new lover, another “lost” virgin, since Teddy was no longer that.

Once again tossed aside, he tried to make ends meet in a city that wasn’t kind to those who had nothing. He accepted his failure and eventually went back to the place where he grew up, where he both felt comfortable because it was familiar and uncomfortable because he had no one.

But in a way, it was easier to build a life in Manning Grove, even if it was a life alone. Living close to his family, he hoped one day they’d reach out and try to understand who he was and how he couldn’t just change into what they wanted him to be.

He couldn’t live that lie.

Which meant he remained alone.

Until one day, he spotted a city girl who appeared lost and overwhelmed in a small town, trying to take responsibility for an adult brother she’d never met. A man who was looked at differently by society, just like Teddy.

Teddy got his claws in that city girl, who let him feel safe enough to be himself and allowed his personality to shine. If he had been straight, he would have married that girl, but he loved her just the same.

Because of her, he suddenly belonged somewhere again.

Somehow they both became a Bryson, swallowed up into that family like they’d been born into it. And he had family once more.

He owed Amanda the world. If it wasn’t for her, he might not have met his own soulmate, who slept soundly by his side, looking as delicious in sleep as he had in a well-fitted dark suit across that parking lot at Marc and Leah’s wedding.

A Type-A alpha. A cop. A Marine. Not embarrassed to love someone like him, who was, as some have called Teddy, “light in the loafers.”

Yes, he was. And he no longer cared who knew.

He was loud and proud.

He didn’t care if people hated him for who he was. Or talked behind his back. Or called him