Kiss This (25 page)

“Jeez,” Camryn exhaled softly.

“Well, I wasn’t exactly a sweet child,” he
replied smugly. “But in my defense, you try living in a family that
only wanted you for publicity. When it came out that my dad had an
illegitimate kid, his wife divorced him. It was a huge ordeal for
the media. So my dad made sure it turned out in his favor by taking
‘the kid’ in—like I was some fucking charity case from a third
world country or something. But,” he shrugged again, “it did the
trick. His career pretty much skyrocketed from there, and even
though he’s had his hooks in me plenty of times, Max is still his
golden child. And Chandler is my middle name, by the way. It was my
mom’s father’s name.”

He lounged back across the couch, placing
his head against the armrest, and patted his chest for Camryn to
come lay on him.

“Sorry for all this heavy shit,” he told her
as she stretched along one side of his body. Combing her hair with
his fingers he added, “I get so fucking pissed whenever I even
think about it, and having to talk about it sucks even more. And
then with my dad this morning... I can’t believe he just helped
himself into my house. I’m really sorry about that.”

“You don’t need to apologize for someone
else’s actions, Teague. I promise you I’m not exactly exempt from
crazy stuff like that. I grew up in a dysfunctional home, and even
after my parents divorced, it was even more dysfunctional. And my
mom… I never could connect with her. On any level. Sometimes I
resented the fact that
I
was more of a mom to Melanie than
she
was. I don’t regret it now, but as a teenager it was
difficult. I was kind of glad when she moved to Oregon because it
almost made things easier. I had Melanie and Zach, and my uncle was
always there for anything we needed.”

“Your mom told me that she never even came
down to California for Zach’s funeral; she never even called to
check on you.”

“No. She didn’t. She never liked anything
depressing. She was too busy making herself happy.” She paused for
moment and sighed. “Teague, you can’t help who your family is.
However you regard them, I promise I’ll support you.”

“That means a lot to me Camryn,” he said
softly, kissing the top of her head.

“Okay, then. So how ‘bout we put the heavy
stuff away for now and do something fun today?” Camryn asked,
propping herself up on Teague’s chest to look at him. “Let’s go to
Universal Studios or do something else that’s fun. You up for
that?”

“With you? I’m ‘up’ for anything,” he
smiled, shrugging his eyebrows.

She reached between them and lightly
squeezed the crotch of his pants. “Hmm, doesn’t seem like it,” she
teased.

With both hands, he grabbed her ass and
rubbed her into him. “That can be fixed in three seconds—oh wait,
done.”

She laughed and Camryn started to kiss him
just as the front door opened and closed.

“That’s probably Kellie,” Teague murmured.
Camryn went to move off of him but he firmly held her there. “No
exposing the boner,” he whispered.

She stifled a laugh just as his cousin
entered the TV room.

“Oh, hey,” Kellie said to them. She glanced
at them briefly and added, “I don’t see any cocks, asses, or tits,
so that’s a good thing. Um, Teague, your dad was trying to get a
hold of you earlier. I told him—”

“He already graced us with his
presence.”

Kellie froze for a moment and then frowned.
“Shit. I told him you weren’t here.”

“Yeah, well, he obviously knew you were
lying because he barged right in.”

“Damn, I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault. Thanks for trying.”

“I always have my shank ready for you,
Teague,” she joked on her way to her room.

Camryn was pleased by the loyalty. Kellie
and Jay were allies for Teague and she was grateful for that.

“Hey, one more thing,” Teague added.

Camryn propped herself up on his chest again
and it reminded her of the day on the sidewalk when she’d knocked
him down. But this time they could be intimate and touch each other
however they wanted. Teague gently held her face between his hands
and seemed to take his time absorbing what he could from her
eyes.

“Don’t believe everything in the media if
you do come across shit about my family, okay? If you have a
question about something, will you come to me first?”

She nodded immediately. “Yes. Of
course.”

“Okay,” he smiled, and they got up and
readied themselves for a day out.

Chapter Twenty-Three

“One-two. That’s it… Eyes here, Cam. Where
you lookin’? …Nice, lay it in… One-two, hon. Eyes here.” Tim sighed
and stepped away from his niece, looking her over. “Where’s your
focus today?”

Camryn dropped her gloves to her side and
exhaled. She steadied with two more deep breaths and shook her
head. She was back in Fresno in her uncle’s gym, but after spending
three amazing days with Teague, her session was appearing to be
unproductive. “Nowhere. Just…feel tired, I guess.”

“Nah, don’t lie to me,” he smiled kindly.
“Even bone tired your focus kicks ass, Cam. What’s buggin’ ya? Is
it Mellie? You still pissed that she quit her job?”

“Ugh, don’t even remind me,” Camryn groaned.
She still couldn’t believe that Melanie tried to stay in San Diego
a few extra days by calling into work sick. Her boss wasn’t having
it, so Melanie quit on the spot, right over the phone. It was just
the kind of irresponsible behavior that Camryn had been dealing
with for as long as she could remember.

“What the hell was so important about
staying in S.D.?” Tim asked.

“A guy, of course. You know, Mel’s top
priority. Her friend’s brother came home from overseas and had a
bunch of buddies for the weekend. She hooked up with one of them,
apparently. I can’t even believe she’s still there.”

Camryn moved over to an open bag and gave it
a few light warm-up punches. Tim followed her over and leaned
against the nearby wall. “So she gonna stay there, then?”

“She claims she’s moving in with him.”

“No fucking way,” Tim growled, pushing off
the wall. “She never mentioned that to me. She never even mentioned
a
guy
, even.”

“Yep. Thinks she’s in love with him and all
that.”

“Jesus, what is wrong with that girl? I mean
I love her to death, but how’d you two turn out so different? You
would never do something like that, Cam. You have a good head on
your shoulders.”

Hearing him say that caused her to hit the
bag even harder. She’d never do something like that? Well she met a
guy and fell for him the first couple of weeks she knew him. After
two years of keeping her distance from any and every guy that came
her way, she was attracted to Teague like no other. What was worse
than that?

She was already falling in love with
him.

“Hey, you hear me?” Tim’s voice jolted her
out of tunnel mode.

“Huh?”

“I said you better quit punching that damn
bag like that, Cam. You’re not even taped, honey.”

She dropped her arms to her sides and
realized she’d broken into a sweat. What had started as some work
on technique and light warm-ups turned into a full out assault.

“What the hell’s the matter with you today,
Camryn? Your mind has been all over the place. You better fess up,
little girl. I’m gonna have to start asking some really awkward
questions here…”

Camryn inhaled a deep breath of air and
shook her head as she removed the gloves and grabbed the wraps from
the bench. “Maybe my sister and I aren’t too different,” she
sighed, sitting down to apply them.

“What do you mean?” Tim asked carefully,
taking a seat next to her.

Camryn wrapped her wrists mechanically;
something she could do in her sleep. “I met a guy when I visited my
mom. His name is Teague. He was living up there at the time—renting
a house from a friend—but he actually lives down here in Cali. We
kind of…got close when I was there.” She chanced a glance at her
uncle, just in time to witness him quickly lower the eyebrows he’d
lifted. “Anyways,” she continued. “It was…good. Things were going
well. I was surprised, even. I tried my best to let myself get
close to someone else physically and then… And then I ran.”

She looked at Tim again as he leaned his
elbows onto his knees. “And?”

She barely heard him through the thumps and
grunts throughout the gym, and the music playing in the background.
“He wouldn’t let me,” she answered quietly.

Tim shifted on the bench to look at her, and
she knew he could tell how confused she was. He’d watched her fall
in love for the first time with Zach, and he’d witnessed her fall
apart over and over when he died. It had been an uphill battle for
her ever since, and no matter how much she understood the logic of
“get back on the horse,” she hadn’t been able to do it.

Until now.

“So what’d he do?” Tim asked. “Come down
here to find you?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Is that where you’ve been lately? With—
What’s his name again?”

“Teague.”

“Teague,” he repeated. He sighed and rubbed
a hand over his face. “So I’m guessing when you say ‘get close to
someone physically’… Well I’m not going to go there, but you
weren’t expecting to connect emotionally too?”

He’d nailed it right on the head and Camryn
could only nod.

“Well it doesn’t sound like there’s anything
wrong with that, Cam. That’s a good thing. I know it’s hard to let
yourself care about someone after loving Zach like that, but you
don’t have to feel guilty about enjoying time with other people.
You know this.”

“Yes, I do. I’ve spent two years trying to
believe it, and now I do.”

Tim studied her for a few seconds until he
exhaled quietly. “Cami girl, we all know how much you loved Zach.
Moving on is not betraying him.”

“I know.”

“Then what’s the problem? This guy doesn’t
feel the same way as you?”

She completely froze to internalize his
words. The thought had occurred to her a dozen times, but she came
up with the same conclusion every time. Teague truly cared about
her. She could feel it.

Camryn took a deep breath as she leaned her
back against the wall. “I’m pretty sure we’re on the same page,”
she admitted out loud.

“So what’s the problem?”

“I’m afraid of disappointing him,” she
shrugged. “I’m afraid of doing or saying something that will make
him change his mind. I don’t know if I can put everything in to
starting over if I’m going to lose again.”

“You can’t think of it that way. You go with
your heart on this. And if things don’t work out…there’s a reason
and you learn something from it. Camryn… Teague knows about Zach,
right?”

“Yes.”

“And what did he say?”

Camryn sighed. “He was very understanding.
Or at least it seemed like he was. He said some comforting
things—he’s not an insensitive jerk, that’s for sure. He seems
smart that way; a good person to talk to, you know? He’s kind of
like you. You’ve always been easy to talk to.”

Tim smiled at the compliment but seemed
doubtful. “I don’t know, Cam. Getting you and Mel was a shock to
me. Two beautiful teenage girls? I was asking for trouble.”

She chuckled with agreement, but she was
eternally grateful she’d been so lucky. “I’m glad it worked out
that way, though. Even if it meant being pawned off on you by my
own mother, I think it was better that way. I needed you.”

“Families are fucking complicated, that’s
for sure. Your mom was busy frolicking off on her next big
adventure, but I was a blessed man because of it. I love you, Cam,”
he told her, pulling her against him. “You know that, right?”

“Yeah, I do. I love you, too.”

“And seeing the pain you went through when
you lost Zach was really hard. I thought for sure one of these days
I was going to find you dead on the floor in here from beating the
shit out of a bag for too long.”

She smiled guiltily.

“It’s not funny,” he playfully admonished.
“I was seriously this close to banning you from my gym,” he said,
showing her two fingers that were a half-inch apart. They pulled
away from each other and he shook his head. “But I knew you’d just
find some other way to let it all out. I preferred you to be here
where I could keep an eye on you.”

“You
and
your minions.”

“Yes,” he smiled. “I always had someone to
check on you. Just not James.”

She smiled and shook her head. James flirted
with her relentlessly. “He is kind of funny, though,” she had to
admit.

“Yeah, I suppose,” Tim laughed.

“But he’s so cocky I think he actually
believes
I want him. I do like the fact that he lets me
punch him as hard as I can, though.”

“He’s the only one brave enough,” Tim
smiled.

Camryn took a deep breath and decided to
return to her workout. She hadn’t seen Teague for three days
because she was scheduled to teach some classes at her friend’s
dance studio in Fresno, and Teague had been working on a movie set
outside of LA—a small job he was glad he scored through a friend.
Camryn knew it had to do with motorcycles and it made her nervous,
especially because the guy whose place he was taking was sent to
the hospital with a concussion. That definitely didn’t settle well
with her, even when Teague swore that what he’d be doing was “kid
stuff.”

Camryn had never seen the stunt side of
Teague in action, but she could tell he loved it by the way he
talked about it. Thankfully he’d never been hurt too severely. He’d
received a few minor injuries on the job, but nothing more serious
than a torn rotator cuff, cuts and scrapes, or a sore body. To hear
him talk about some of the work he’d done (Teague called it “paid
playtime”) was actually fascinating. Hollywood was never Camryn’s
scene, but she couldn’t deny the fact that the guy she was now
dating was Hollywood’s hottest adrenaline junkie.