Start Me Up

"You're sure that you want to stay here while I finish up Roman's house?" Tessa asked Shea as they walked side by side, arms linked with each other, from his truck toward the restaurant. He looked down at her, brow raised, and she told him, "You can go home Shea, I won't mind."

He smiled at her and told her, "I'm good right here."

"Yeah, but... I'm barely gonna have time for you since we had to push up the deadline." Tessa told him, and again his brow raised so she explained, "Harper decided to come out here early, and we're gonna try to get everything on our two-week plan done in one."

Shea leaned down and captured her mouth with his quickly before he pulled back and he assured her, "I'm sticking around. We're gonna start our summer together in Kelowna."

Tessa shrugged out of her jacket once they were shown to their table in the restaurant. Shea ordered himself a beer, Tessa a sparkling water, and she was grateful for the not quite so fancy date this time.

Shea told her, once they were left alone, "You're gonna love summers in Kelowna, you know."

"You think so?" She asked him with a smile.

He nodded and said, "We can sleep in, my house is right on the lake so we can go out in the boat all day... maybe fulfill another one of your fantasies with that one. We can cook whatever we want, barbecue every day if we wanted to. I have a fire pit in the backyard."

"That all sounds like heaven." She told him, and then without meaning to make things so serious, Tessa asked Shea, "Have you told your dad about me? About us?"

He surprised her by saying, "I did, a few weeks ago actually. I thought I told you."

Tessa reached out and nudged his foot with hers as she said, "You didn't you jerk."

Shea laughed and assured her, "He took it really well."

"He did?" She was surprised, yet again.

Shea reached out and took her hand on top of the table and he told her, "He was a little surprised, and I get that. I left a lot of stuff out, you know, about what happened between us and what really happened between Amelia and I but then he told me that you and I made sense as a couple."

"He told you that?" Tessa asked him, brow raised.

Shea didn't speak until their orders had been taken and their waitress had left, and then he told Tessa, "He told me that Amelia and I never made sense to him. We worked, for all intents and purposes but that he never thought we were a really great couple. I get that, I've been thinking about that a lot lately too, actually."

Tessa felt like she was asking nothing but questions, "You have? What do you mean?"

"How different you and I are compared to every other relationship I've been in, not just Amelia. I don't know, Tessa, I mean it when I say that there's just something about you. I don't know what it is, and I doubt I'll ever figure it out but I've really, truly never felt this way before. I never knew a relationship could be so much fun, I never knew how much fun being in love could be if you're in love with the right person."

Her eyes welled up with tears, which made him chuckle at her and she told him, "Shut up, that was sweet and I am entitled to the occasional tear fest."

"Whatever you say." Shea told her with a smile and she rolled her eyes at him.

"For the record I know I'm gonna love this summer." Tessa told him, and when his eyebrow raised in questioning she grinned and said, "You on a boat, no shirt... I am so all for that."

Shea let out a laugh and he told her, his voice low as if he were afraid someone in the near empty restaurant would hear him, "I can't say the idea of you in a bikini hasn't been on my mind lately."

She grinned over at him and asked him, giving off an innocent front, "I have to actually wear one?"

Shea's cheeks flushed and he told her, his voice even lower than it had been before, "Not if you don't want to."

"Now you're speaking my language." Tessa joked, taking a drink of her water as Shea lifted his beer bottle to his lips but took a second to smile over at her before he took a drink.

When he set his bottle down he asked her, "In all seriousness, you're sure you want to do summer in Kelowna? We don't have to Tess."

"Why do you keep asking that?" Tessa asked him curiously, watching as he shrugged his broad shoulders.

"I just don't want you to feel like, because it's my home, that you have to spend your time there. I meant it when I said that we could go somewhere else, we could even stay here if you wanted." Shea told her, and Tessa found it rather endearing that he was so concerned about this.

With a smile on her face she told him, "I wouldn't have said yes if I didn't really want to go, I promise you that. Honestly, a whole summer just you and I sounds great no matter where it is Shea, but you're right; Kelowna is your home and it's important to me that you get to spend some time there. Besides, I remember I quite liked it there the few times I was there."

"I still want to go somewhere just you and I, for like a week or so." Shea informed her, adding in, "Somewhere far away."

"Where nobody knows us." Tessa added.

With a nod of his head, Shea confirmed, "Where nobody knows us and we can just hang out together away from the world for a while."

"And... uhm...maybe we could stick around just a little while so that I could do a little something in that house of ours." Tessa said, approaching the topic with a bit of hesitation.

When Shea had come back from San Jose weeks earlier to find all but his really big furniture had been moved over to the new house for him he couldn't lie; he had been relieved. That was the last thing that he had wanted to do. He had walked through the house in a sort of catatonic state; seeing things but not quite being aware of them. In fact, he had been rather annoyed that Tessa had dragged him there immediately after she had picked him up at the airport, but when she walked him into the closet and he came face to face with a pair of bright green heels sitting on the middle shelf of the wall of shoe shelves his mood had done a near one eighty.

It had been her way of telling him that slowly she was getting ready to make that leap in their relationship, and it couldn't have come at a better time for him.

Shea's brow raised and he wore a smile on his face as he asked, "Ours?"

"Mhmm. I do recall you saying it was our house." Tessa told him.

He couldn't help but joke, "See, I recall saying it was our house once you moved in."

"So, maybe we could stick around a little while longer so that I could move in before we leave for the summer, that way it's one less thing to worry about for the start of next season." Tessa said, and then she added quickly, "Not too long, though, just a few days. I don't really have that much stuff."

"I think your overflowing closet begs to differ." Shea joked, and Tessa narrowed her eyes at him so he laughed and told her, "I think I can handle a few days."

"It might be even fewer days if you were to help me out when the time comes." Tessa told him and when his brow raised she went on to tell him, "What's the point in having a big, strong boyfriend if not to help you move?"

Shea let out a laugh and told her, "Actually... maybe if it's okay with you I could start packing up your place now. I'm kind of bored sitting around your apartment all day when you're working on Roman's house."

She instantly felt guilty again, "Shea, you don't have to stay here."

He was quick to dismiss her, "I want to be here Tessa. I don't want to start summer without you. I'm fine being here, I just need something to do other than watch Sportsnet all day."

"Well... I think that could be acceptable. Just... don't pack up important things... you know... like clothes and shoes." She told him, and when Shea smiled she added in quickly, "I'll just set everything I need for the next two weeks aside and you can pack the rest."

"Sounds good to me."

"Also, make sure that when you're packing up the kitchen you leave yourself whatever you need to cook with." Tessa told him with a grin.

His brow cocked and Tessa nodded her head when he asked her, "Oh, I'm in charge of cooking now?"

"Well, see now I'm the one working and you're the one not working so I figured it was time for you to be in charge for a while." Tessa informed him, and she grinned as she told him, "Don't worry, I think you'll make a great house husband."

"Is that so?" He asked her in amusement.

Nodding her head again she told him with ease, "Yeah, you know your way around a kitchen, you're handy with a screwdriver and you're nice to look at it. As a matter of fact, I think that my first order of business as official decision maker is that you're not allowed to wear a shirt in my apartment anymore."

"Does this extend to you? I think if I'm not allowed to wear a shirt then you're not allowed to wear pants." Shea told her with a grin and Tessa had to admit she was surprised, again, because Shea didn't usually speak like this with her and especially not in a public setting.

Still, she smiled over at him and joked, "I don't wear pants at home anyway."

- - -

"Name something that annoys you about your partner... hmm... he's really loud." Tessa read aloud from the magazine she was holding, and Shea looked over at her with an amused look on his face. They were sitting on the couch, each with their back against the arm of the couch, Shea had one leg stretched out along the back of the couch and the other was on the floor and Tessa had her legs stretched out before her over him.

"I'm loud?" He asked her in surprise and she nodded her head.

"Extremely. You walk around like you're four hundred pounds." Tessa told him with a smile.

"Well then, I'm sorry." Shea stated, feigning annoyance with a huff.

Tessa laughed and asked him, "Well... what's yours? Answer the question bub."

"You snore." He told her with ease.

"I do not!" She exclaimed, putting the magazine flat on her lap.

"You do. Why do you think I always try to fall asleep first? Because if not then I lay awake all night wanting to smother you with a pillow." Shea told her with a grin on his face.

Tessa rolled her eyes at him and stated, "That's mean."

"But I don't do it!" He exclaimed.

"Yeah, probably because you'd go to prison." Tessa told him, this time it was she who feigned annoyance.

"Nah, just because you're far too pretty to hurt." Shea told her and he smiled when Tessa stretched her foot out and poked him in the stomach with her toe. He held onto her feet, and asked her, "What's the next question?"

She picked her magazine up and looked over it before she read aloud again, "What's one thing you love about your partner?"

Shea answered quickly, "How quirky you are."

Her brow lifted, "Really?"

He nodded his head, "Yeah, I never know what I'm gonna get with you. Am I gonna get quiet, let's stay in and watch a movie Tessa or am I gonna get the let's dress up and stay out until three am doing stupid shit, Tessa? I really love that about you, keeps me on my toes and makes life fun."

She smiled, "That's the sweetest thing you've ever said to me."

He laughed and told her, "Your turn."

She thought about it for a moment and then she smiled and said, "Your ass."

He let out a barking laugh and squeezed her ankles gently before he told her, "I'm serious."

"So am I." Tessa said with a grin, and then, a little more seriously she told him, "I love that you're such a good listener."

Shea looked over at her with a coy smile on his face and asked, "Sorry, what was that?"

Tessa narrowed her eyes at him and ripped the advertisement page next to the questionnaire one out and balling it up she tossed it at his face. Satisfied with her revenge Tessa looked down at the magazine again and asked and answered the next question, "What are your partner's pet peeves? Well... snoring apparently."

Shea chuckled and he told her, "I have many."

"Oh, I know." She said with a nod and then she went on to list them, "When someone loses the toothpaste cap."

"It dries out!" He exclaimed.

"That's never actually happened to me, and I was never told that as a child." Tessa fought back with.

"Well, you were raised by wolves, okay?" Shea told her, and Tessa let out a loud laugh.

She then continued to name his pet peeves, "Slow walkers, people who take up the whole walking lane, slow walkers who take up the whole walking lane. Self-checkouts in stores, because you're fucking weird and you like to stand in line. What else... hmmm... oh, right, popping bubble gum bubbles. Really, I could do this all day."

Shea rolled his eyes, "Alright, your pet peeves are... people who take forever to get a sentence out, PDA, flip flops, and when I leave my coffee mug in the sink, which sometimes I do on purpose now."

"That is just rude." Tessa told him before she went onto the next question, "What are your partner's tells when they're lying? You get really guilty looking."

"I can see your wisdom teeth when you lie." Shea told her with ease and Tessa chuckle, she had been told that many times before.

"Where is your partner's favorite place to have sex?" Tessa read aloud, adding in her answer first, "The kitchen."

Shea let out a laugh and informed her, "Actually it's anywhere on private property. Unlike you, your favorite place is anywhere we can get caught and arrested for indecent exposure."

"It keeps it fun and interesting." Tessa informed him, and as she read the next question she got a wicked grin on her face. Shea was admittedly a little afraid to hear it. She looked over at him and asked, "Name one of your partner's sexual fantasies."

Shea shrugged, "Pretty sure we've done every single one of yours."

Tessa shook her head and he raised his eyebrow but she told him, "You have to guess."

"Well... we've done the in the car one, the kitchen, the nude pictures while I'm on the road, phone sex, in a changing room at a clothing store... help me out here, which am I missing?" Shea listed to her, raising his eyebrow.

She told him with a grin, "Against a window in a high-rise."

His brows raised just a tiny bit, and Tessa watched him with a smile on her face, and he told her, "Well... I guess we'll be going on a vacation this summer after all."

"I'm gonna guess... in the penalty box or the locker room." Tessa stated, and she was surprised when he shook his head at her. So she continued to guess, "On a golf course?"

"Nope."

"In a pool?" Tessa asked him, and again he shook his head and then she said, "A threesome?"

"Is this you offering?" Shea asked her with a grin that made her laugh. She nudged his stomach with her foot again and he laughed and told her, "No, in all seriousness... in my house in Kelowna... on the balcony."

"And you say I'm the exhibitionist." Tessa said with a grin.