Kiss This (45 page)

“The rumors are starting again.”

“I don’t fucking care. It’s not my
problem.”

“One more month,” Max said. “Please,
Teague.”

They sat in silence for a few beats until
Teague shook his head. “I’m done with it, Max. Deal with it on your
own.”

After another few seconds of silence, Max
replied, “Take me to my car.”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Teague was mindful of the traffic laws this
time as he returned home. He was also aware of the harsh way he’d
left Camryn sitting in his truck, deserving an explanation. He’d
berated himself the entire way home, using every swear word in the
book. Now she wouldn’t answer her phone when he called, and she
wouldn’t respond to his texts.

He couldn’t blame her. He’d acted like a
major dick. Something had come over him that he couldn’t explain;
something maddened every ounce of his protective nature and he
panicked.

Needless to say, by the time he hurried
through the door of his house and found that Camryn was not there,
the reality of it knocked him on his ass. Jay recounted the entire
evening to him, from the time Teague peeled out of the driveway in
the Boss to the moment Camryn left the house.

After listening to Jay’s report, Teague sat
on his bed with his elbows on his knees and he dropped his head
into his hands. Complete and utter defeat had washed over him when
he came to his room and found her gone. Not seeing her car parked
at the house didn’t shut him down right away; even Jay informing
him that she wasn’t there meant nothing. But the second he entered
his room and she wasn’t in it…

He learned an entirely new meaning of “man
down.”

“Tell me where she went,” he barely
whispered.

“She just said she was going for a drive,”
Jay answered. “But that was two hours ago.”

Teague slowly exhaled as he considered his
next move. “What was she like when she left?”

“You mean emotion-wise? I’d say…calm
hysteria.”

Teague barely peeked out from his hands.
“What the fuck does that mean?”

“The storm was brewing inside. She’s
hurting, Teague, but when she left she was trying not to fall
apart. Sounds like you got mad at her or something.”

“Fuck, what have I done,” he murmured,
covering his face again.

“I really wanted to tell her, man. Do you
know how hard that was? This needs to end, Teague.”

“I know,” he sighed. “And it will. I got a
text from Max telling me that my dad told her, and it caught me off
guard. I was such an asshole to her. But I want to tell her the
truth no matter how hard it will be. I can’t lose her, Jay.”

“I know, buddy. And you won’t. You two are
meant to be. Even I can see that. I know you’re waiting on other
things to happen first, but I think you should just tell her.”

Teague only nodded but didn’t trust himself
to speak.

Jay shifted his stance in the doorway. “Hey,
if it helps…”

Teague looked up, removing his hands from
his head entirely. He knew hope was plastered all over his face and
he was fully attentive.

“I’m sure Melanie knows where she is,” Jay
offered. “Those two are never apart without knowing where the other
is, you know?”

Teague slowly nodded. “You’re right. Where’s
Mel?” he asked, standing up.

“She’s sleeping. She went to bed an hour
ago.”

Teague glanced at the clock. It was barely
after eight-thirty. “Is she feeling okay?”

“She’s had a long day because of that fucker
ex of hers. The pain meds I pushed her to take made her
sleepy.”

“Ah fuck,” Teague groaned. “I totally forgot
about Jordan. Is Melanie okay?” Looking at his cousin closer, he
finally noticed evidence of Jay’s fight. Teague angled his head to
spot a bruised cheekbone and a slightly swollen lip. “Are
you
okay?”

Jay almost laughed. “Pssh, hell yeah I’m
fine. But forget about all that for now. What I was gonna say is
that Melanie might be…in a confessing state of mind right now, if
you know what I mean.”

Teague eyed him for a moment until he slowly
smiled. “Huh. Hint taken. Thanks, cuz.”

“No problem,” Jay bobbed his head with a
smirk.

Teague passed him through the door but came
to a stop as a thought occurred to him. Turning around with a smile
he asked, “So what’d she reveal to
you
?”

Jay’s expression was serious as he shrugged
and said, “That I’m a badass hottie. And her hero. You know, the
usual.”

Teague laughed and shook his head as he left
the room. But he sobered as he approached the other hall of
bedrooms at the south end of the house. He paused at Melanie’s
bedroom door and lightly knocked. After listening for a few
seconds, he knocked again and called, “Melanie? It’s Teague.”
Opening the door cautiously, his eyes adjusted to the darkness. She
slept with a nightlight, though, so it wasn’t too hard to see that
she was in bed under the covers.

He approached the bed and sat down at the
edge. It was funny that she looked so much like Camryn when she
slept, but a younger version. He lightly patted her shoulder and in
a soft voice said, “Hey Mel, it’s Teague. Wake up, please.”

She moved a little and made a quiet noise.
Then she turned onto her side facing him and smiled in her
sleep.

“Melanie,” he said a bit louder.

“Hm?” she replied. He patted her shoulder
again until she opened her eyes. “It’s your turn to go pick up the
mail,” she mumbled and closed her eyes again.

Teague couldn’t help but smile. “Okay,
sweetie, I will. But I need Camryn to help me. Where is she?”

“Hmphrrrmmmm,” was the reply.

“Melanie?” he said louder.

“Jay, I’m not hungry, I promise,” she
partially groaned.

“Mel, it’s Teague,” he said, shaking her
gently again.

“Teague?”

“Yep. Can you tell me where Camryn is?”

“You are in so much trouble,” she whispered
with a tiny giggle. “She’s gonna spank you.”

He tried not to laugh, but Jesus, he hoped
so. “I know, Mel. I need to find her so she can spank me.”

She giggled again. “You guys are so
disgusting,” she slurred. “Why can’t I be disgusting too?”

He paused and scratched his head as he
thought of a response to that but nothing came. “Um, I need to find
Camryn, Mel. It’s important. Where’d she go? Is she at Tim’s?
Sonja’s? Mimi’s?”

“Random sauce.”

“What? Melanie, I can’t understand you.” He
shook her hip this time to rouse her a little more. “Mel, where is
Camryn? I need to find her.”

Melanie sighed and moved to her back. “She’s
at Brandon’s house,” she mumbled.

Teague was grateful for an answer and was
about to pop up to run out of the house. But she grabbed his wrist
and her eyes slowly opened again.

“You’re too sexy,” she drawled sleepily.

Teague froze as his eyebrows shot up, but
then he remembered what Jay told him she’d said earlier. She was
obviously in a complimentary mood while in la-la land. “Thanks,
Melanie. You go back to sleep, okay?”

“For Camryn, I mean,” she added softly.
“Perfect for her. Not Zach,” she barely shook her head.

He swallowed, not understanding what the
last part was all about. “Um, thanks Mel. She’s perfect for me,
too. I love her more than anything and I still hurt her. I messed
up with a lot of things in my life, but Camryn seems to forgive me
and… I just hope she’ll forgive me this time.”

The only response he got was a tiny little
snore. Her eyes were closed again and she was asleep.

He smiled and pulled the blanket up to her
chin and then quietly left the room. When he pulled his keys out of
his pocket and headed for the door, Jay popped out of the
kitchen.

“Hey, she tell you?”

“She’s at Brandon’s in Fresno.”

Jay narrowed his eyes. “Her ex?”

“No, a friend.”

“You know where he lives?”

“My P.I. does. I’ll call him on the way
there.”

“So you’re gonna go there and…and what,
Teague? It’ll be midnight when you get there.”

“I don’t care. She should be here.”

“She actually said that before she left. You
know, that she shouldn’t go. But she also said she needed to drive
to clear her head because she was so pissed with you.”

“Well hopefully it’s clear because I won’t
be leaving once I get there.”

“Be careful, buddy. Drive safe and…just
don’t fuck anyone up, okay?”

Teague smiled. “I think I’ve beat myself up
enough for now.”

Jay barely nodded. “Okay, just looking out
for you, man. I’ll drive you if you want.”

“No, I’ll be fine. Stay here with Melanie.”
He headed for the door and said, “Oh and by the way… She says I’m
sexy.”

He couldn’t see Jay’s reaction from behind
him, but before he shut the door Jay called out, “Well I’m her
hero
!”

Teague smiled and shook his head. Good God,
what was life going to be like in seven months…

***

“Here,” Brandon said, handing Camryn her hot
cocoa.

“Thanks.” She took it gingerly, noting the
steam escaping the brim.

Brandon sat down on the couch next to her,
still watching her carefully. “Maybe you should try to get some
sleep, Cam. The day just needs to end for you. Tomorrow will be
better.”

She blew on the surface of her drink and
then took a tiny sip. “I sure as hell hope so.”

They sat in silence for a minute as Brandon
flipped through channels on the television.

“Are you sure you don’t want to call him
back?” he asked again.

“It’s too late right now. And I just texted
him that I’m fine and that I’ll see him in the morning, ready to
talk.”

“Oh. Okay,” Brandon nodded. But he didn’t
feel this guy deserved a conversation with Camryn if he’d been
keeping secrets from her. Holy shit, you want a girl to marry you
but you have another family? That was unacceptable, and Brandon had
been trying as hard as he could to keep his rude comments to
himself.

Camryn set her hot chocolate on the coffee
table and curled up against the corner of the couch next to him.
Thirty minutes of silence passed while
Saturday Night Live
aired as background noise. Neither of them had really been invested
in the rerun but it was a necessary buffer.

When headlights cut through the front window
briefly accompanied by the low rumble of a muscle car, Brandon
expected Camryn to jolt into a sitting position. She didn’t move,
so he craned his neck to see her face better and found she was
sleeping.

Good
, he thought.
She doesn’t need
to see this.

He carefully got up from the couch, even
upping the volume on the TV just a bit so he could open the front
door without her hearing it. When he stepped onto the front porch,
Teague was already heading up the walkway. He saw Brandon and
slowed, eyeing him carefully.

“She’s sleeping,” Brandon said after he shut
the door behind him. He took a few steps away from the house and
added, “That’s a good thing.”

Teague didn’t respond right away, so Brandon
took a moment to look him over in the glow of his porch light. He
didn’t have that cocky aura to him this time. Instead he just
looked like a beaten man.

“Is she okay?” Teague finally asked, his
voice low but measured.

Brandon shrugged a shoulder but narrowed his
eyes. “She will be. Cam is tough, but not unbreakable. I think you
broke her a little bit and I’m not happy about that.”

Teague hung his head and sighed. “It was a
misunderstanding. Well, it was just flat out my own stupidity. I
reacted too quickly and I regret it. I let the history with my
family put me on autopilot. I should have stayed to talk to
her.”

“Yeah, no shit. A one-minute conversation
about your kid would have been better than nothing. Instead, you
act like an asshole and take off. Now I’m sure there are things
about it that you want to explain or reassure Camryn about, and she
knows that too, but it doesn’t excuse the fact that you didn’t
trust her enough to tell her in the first place. I don’t fucking
care what the hell happened between you and the kid’s mom, but you
can’t go into a new relationship without laying that all out there.
You don’t have custody of him, fine. But whatever your role is in
his life, you still need to acknowledge it.”

“Hang on, you’re getting ahead of yourself.
I need to see Camryn, so if you don’t mind, I’m going to do that,
okay?”

“You’re not going in my house, Teague. I
will risk getting my ass kicked to protect her if it comes to that,
but I will fight to the death trying.”

Teague sighed and shook his head. “I don’t
want to fight you, Brandon. I just want to see Camryn. She was told
something that I need to explain.”

Brandon paused as he eyed him again. “She’s
sleeping, and as much as I want for you to spill your guts because
she deserves the truth, I really think she needs to sleep right
now. And she left for the night to make you think about things a
little bit. She’s not one to fuck with, Teague. So just spend a
night without her and you can see each other in the morning.”

Teague’s shoulders slumped but he nodded.
“Yeah, I hear ya.” He ran his hands over his face as he headed for
his car.

Brandon watched him with interest. It wasn’t
exactly what he expected from the guy.

But Camryn had shared so much about Teague
that Brandon felt like he knew him, too. It was weird, but as much
as he hated the fact that Camryn was going through this, he was
happy she was at least living life again. She was probably the only
person Brandon was close to these days, and even though it was hard
to look back at how they’d gotten to this point, he was finally
accepting the fact that Teague was going to be around for a long,
long time…

Chapter Forty