by Hadley Quinn
“You knew about this?” Craig gaped with disbelief.
“Not for sure, but I suspected it. No one bothered to get Teague’s side of it and you’re always quick to glorify your other son anyways. But did you have to steal the attention away from the birthday boy?” he faked a smile. “Come on, let’s take this to another room.”
When the bomb-dropping discussion was reorganized in a small conference room, Camryn was appalled to have to be there with Kate, too. Thankfully Chase was with Judith and didn’t have to be in the middle of another McCallan battle, but Kate had been summoned by Grandpa and didn’t look too pleased about it.
“Explain yourself,” Craig said, now narrowing his fiery gaze on Kate.
“Wh-what? What do you mean? Max just told you—”
“I know what Max admitted. Now I want to hear it from you. Is this why you just disappeared? I can’t even imagine what you two came up with in order to pull the wool over my eyes,” he added furiously, glaring from Kate to Max and back to Kate again.
“It was— I… We weren’t ready to share the news,” Kate finally said angrily. “Max asked me to respect his career and his family’s reputation, so I complied. What choice did I have, going up against your family?”
“Going up against us? You are the mother of my own flesh and blood! Chase belongs in our family. It sure would have been nice to know which son he actually belonged to, though! Do you realize what this has done to my family?” he asked, the last two words barely a choked whisper.
Camryn couldn’t tell if Craig was still totally pissed off, or trying not to cry. From everything she’d heard about him, sometimes it seemed like he didn’t have a soul. But whether he was feeling apologetic over the situation or just embarrassed and upset, he was obviously affected by it. He was now looking at Teague, but Teague was looking at the floor.
“I don’t even know where to go from here,” Craig finally sighed, shaking his head.
Grandpa turned to Max and asked, “Do you want to be with Kate?”
“No,” Max scowled. “Not at all.”
“Then Chase will grow up in a nice, normal split family like the rest of us have done and it will work,” Grandpa stated. “But there will be no more lies, no more judgments, and no more foul play. Do you understand me?” he asked everyone in the room. He looked from Craig, to Max, to Teague, to Kate, and even to Camryn. “This family will put the children first, no matter what. It will be a joint effort, whether you’re a father, a grandfather, an uncle, or a brother. Do I make myself clear?”
He looked at every face in the room until they nodded.
“I’ve had enough of media getting a hold of our business, but I no longer care what the world does with it,” he continued. “We take care of our family and that’s what matters first. We’re not perfect, but it’s time to start being better for each other instead of for the public.” He took a breath of air and then paused. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I have a big ass cake I’m supposed to dig into.”
He gave a curt nod and left the room. All that was left was the awkwardness of a father and his two sons, and two women that couldn’t be more different from each other.
Finally Craig looked at both boys and said, “We’ll talk later. I need another drink.”
Camryn didn’t prefer being in the room any longer, either. Now that two people had left, it felt even smaller. But Kate looked smug. It was obvious she was more comfortable dealing with Teague and Max on her own.
“Well,” she smiled sweetly. “Looks like it’s everyone against Kate today.”
“Oh shut the fuck up,” Max said. “You’ve played your cards long enough. There’s nothing to hold against us anymore.”
“Oh? I think I’ve been around this family long enough to rack up some pity points.”
“Did you not hear a word that my grandfather said?”
“Oh I heard him. But I am not one of you.”
“Your son is,” Max growled.
“Half a McCallan.”
“It’s what you wanted, Kate. To be a part of our family? Well you got it, now deal with it.”
“Don’t threaten me,” she sneered.
“I’m not threatening you. You’ve got consequences to face now. We all do. So quit being a bitch and do what’s right for Chase.”
“Oh now it’s do what’s right for Chase? You know damn well you kept this a secret for your own selfish reasons; the money and the prestige of your father’s company.”
“Don’t even pretend that money was not your goal in all this, too.”
“Well looks like you broke the deal, Max. Your father looked pissed enough to disown you entirely!”
“You broke the agreement by coming back to town! I don’t know what the fuck you think you’re doing here, but messing with my family and my career like this is going to cost you, Kate.”
She scoffed and looked at Teague. “Does this seem familiar to you? Isn’t this what they did to your mom, Teague? To you? Take you from your family just because they could?”
“No one is taking Chase from you, although it would be nice to make you feel what that’s like,” Teague stated. The anger and bitterness was easy to detect in his tone.
“Oh, don’t throw that at me. You were not his father, Teague. I wanted Chase to know his father, and confusing him with you around wasn’t going to help. To my surprise, his real father is a selfish, arrogant ass.”
Max only smiled but Teague said, “You already knew that, Kate. You brought this on your self.”
“At least I’ve been compensated nicely,” she smirked. “And there’s more to come.”
“You are such a bitch,” Max muttered.
“Fine, but I had your son, Max, and it really wasn’t that hard to make it happen. I’m not the idiot you think I am and I will get from you every penny that I deserve.”
“No, you’re not an idiot, Kate,” he smiled, shaking his head. “We’re the idiots. You, on the other hand… You’re evil, plain and simple. And I don’t care if my father miraculously forgives me for this; I’ll make sure the production company stays in his name. If it means cutting you out of the financial gain, I’ll do it. And thanks for giving us this demonstration, by the way. It’s really giving me a lot of motivation for Chase’s future.”
She glared at him with a nasty scowl on her lips. “That’s what you think—”
“That’s what I know!” he shouted. “You have just given me every bit of proof that Chase is just another victim! This is the only time I’m going to say this, Kate. I will fuck you over tenfold if you mess with my family again. That is a promise! I screwed over my brother’s life to put my career and my father’s approval first. But these last two months of your threats have put me over the edge. Not anymore. The truth is out and I’m glad. I don’t give a fuck what happens to you right now, and your reputation is pretty much as good as the dirt on my shoes.”
“I’m sure your reputation is going to be right there with me.”
“I don’t even care,” he sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose between his fingers. “I can’t even look at you right now.” He abruptly left the room, even while Kate tried to say something in response.
Teague slid his arm over Camryn’s shoulder to lead her out as well, but not before hearing Kate’s next words.
“Hope you keep an eye on her, Teague. She looks like she could fuck who she wants and get away with it.”
Camryn lunged for her, but because Teague was between them, he was able to stop her. Kate had jumped back in surprise, but then she laughed. “Wow, that didn’t take much. Hit a little too close to home?”
“You have no idea how lucky you are right now,” Camryn said through clenched teeth.
Kate laughed again and looked at Teague’s arms that were now wrapped around Camryn. “Two peas in a pod. Teague’s always been one to stir up trouble without a thought. But I suppose that’s sweet that he’s looking out for you.”
“Kate, just walk away,” Teague
told her.
She looked at him with another heinous smile. “Oh Teague, by the way… Remember when we first met at Mandalay? Remember the girl that pretended she needed help at the blackjack table? Remember the girl that had you in her bed by the end of the night?” She laughed purposefully and with narrowed eyes added, “I knew exactly who you were. Don’t think your awkward charm won me over in the least bit.”
Camryn was ready to pounce on this bitch, but Teague’s arms only tightened around her waist.
Kate looked at her and said, “Oh and a tip for you, blondie? The McCallans don’t like outsiders making them look bad, so try to be careful, princess.”
“Kate, just leave, okay?” Teague sighed. “You’re not welcome here and you never will be.”
“You’re right, and I don’t want to be here. Unfortunately, I agreed to bring my son so he could spend the night at the McCallan mansion—with a babysitter, I’m sure—so I’ll just smile and mingle with some of my new friends before I go. Keep an eye on your blonde slut, Teague. You don’t have the best luck picking ‘em.”
“Babe, she doesn’t have a child to tend to tonight,” Camryn said calmly over her shoulder.
“Yeah, you’re right,” he replied, and he released his arms from her waist.
Before Kate understood what she meant, Camryn clocked her right in the face, spinning her ninety degrees until she dropped to her knees with a horrid squeal. She fumbled to get back up, holding her eye as she faced them again, keeping her distance. “You fucking bitch!” she screamed.
“Now that’ll give you something to talk about with your new friends,” Camryn smirked. “You can say whatever you want to my face or behind my back, schoolgirl, but if you mess with Teague in the slightest of ways, I will kick your ass and enjoy every second of it. That black eye will be the least of your worries.”
Kate released an angry growl as she stormed past them, still holding her eye. “Good luck moving down in the world, Teague,” was all she could say.
When she was finally gone, Teague tried not to laugh but he couldn’t help it. He picked up Camryn’s hand and examined her knuckles before he kissed them. “You all right?”
“Perfectly fine.”
He took a deep breath as he pulled her to his chest. “Let’s get the hell out of here,” he kissed her head.
“You sure I don’t have to stick around to face assault charges?”
“No, I didn’t see a thing,” Teague smiled. “And like she said, she’s been around the family long enough. She knows we take care of things internally. We’ve all been decked by somebody in this family.”
He kissed her cheek and slid an arm around her shoulder. They kept walking until Teague spotted Jay and motioned they were going to leave. Jay wrangled Kellie and Melanie since they were still near him, and they all met up at Teague’s truck.
“You wouldn’t happen to be the reason why that nasty skank made a beeline for the exit while holding her face, would you?” Kellie inquired of Camryn knowingly.
“Who, me?” Camryn answered with feigned innocence.
“Right,” Melanie stated, shaking her head. They all climbed into the truck as she added, “I don’t even know what’s going on, but I’m surprised you hit a girl, Camryn.”
“Hey, I don’t pick and choose who deserves to be decked.”
“True. You can never tell what form of ‘kiss my ass’ this girl will give you,” Melanie giggled. “Camryn ‘Kiss This’ Jacobs.”
Teague froze before he started the ignition and looked back at Mel. “What’d you call her?”
“Uh, Camryn ‘Kiss This’ Jacobs. It’s her name at the gym. She’s had it since she was fourteen.”
Teague’s jaw dropped as he stared wide-eyed at his fiancée.
“What?” Camryn scowled at him, trying to hide a smile.
“What? What?” he joked. “So that’s why you reacted when I said that!” he laughed. “Oh God, I saw what I was getting into back then and I still did it anyways.”
“Shut up!” she laughed, playfully shoving his arm. “I am nothing but sweet to you!”
“You saw what you were getting into at Grady’s party,” Jay reminded him. “I will never forget the stupid look on his face,” he told Camryn. “The guy turned into an instant dumbass.”
Camryn smiled sweetly at Teague and batted her eyelashes. “Oh?”
Teague shrugged casually. “Yeah, I might’ve been a bit influenced by you.”
“Just a bit?”
“Yeah, just a bit. But it was a crazy bit, powerful enough to knock me on my ass. And enough to take on this stupid kissing bet that turned me inside out.”
“A kissing bet?” Jay asked with surprise.
“Aw, I like knocking you on your ass,” Camryn smiled.
She leaned forward and gave Teague a kiss, and three loud groans erupted from the back seat.
“Knock it off and just tell us the story already!” Kellie said. “Both of them. The bet and the party.”
Teague pulled away, but without breaking eye contact with Camryn, he answered his cousin’s inquiry. “It’s the same night; the night I got my life back.”
Camryn smiled shyly but whispered, “Me too.”
Teague turned the key and put the truck in gear, and then reached over to hold her hand. As they left the party behind and pulled onto the street, Jay broke the silence when he said, “You guys should have been there when they first met. It was the funniest damn thing ever…”
EPILOGUE
May 2013, three months later…
“Forget the swear jar,” Melanie rolled her eyes at Jay. “I’d go with an ‘I’m an asshole’ jar for you. I’d be able to take a vacation every month.”
“Well I’d keep being an asshole just to get rid of you,” he retorted. “I’d get the satisfaction of pissing you off, and I’d get the bathroom to myself.”
“Oh, speaking of piss… Who would clean up your piss from the floor? I swear we need to work on the Cheerio method with you. Aim wiener at floating Cheerio, and fire.”
“Did you just say wiener?” Jay laughed out loud. “Oh my God! And for your information, a tiny little piss drop is nothing compared to the shit you have spread out all over the counter.”
“Tiny little piss drop? You either had a major malfunction, or you are freaking blind!”
Jay’s smile turned confused. “Are you talking about last weekend?”
“Oh, so you do remember?” she smugly folded her arms across her chest.
“Well, not really,” Jay returned the smirk. “But that was Tyson, by the way, who then came staggering out of the bathroom and passed out on the couch.”
She gasped with disgust. “That’s gross, Jay! Clean it up next time! Or make him clean it up!”
“I saw it and then forgot! And by morning it was gone, so I just thought he cleaned it up.”
“Nope, that was me. And this is veering very far from the original conversation!”
“What exactly are you two arguing about anyways?” Teague asked, passing between their faceoff in the middle of the kitchen. He stacked the steaks on a plate and rinsed the marinade brush in the sink. Camryn was at the counter cutting up fruit for a salad, but she’d been silent as she listened to Melanie and Jay go back and forth with each other.
“Oh, she had to bring up something she totally misunderstood the first time,” Jay said.
“What’d you say that she misunderstood?”
“At your wedding I said her butt was filling out nicely along with her four months of stomach,” Jay shrugged.
“You’re a fucking idiot,” Teague mumbled as he dried his hands.
“But I didn’t mean it in a bad way!” he scowled. “I just meant it was…she just…I don’t know, she looked cute,” he shrugged again.
Melanie’s mouth hung open. “Cute? You can’t tell a girl that her butt is getting big and expect her to be joyous about it.”
“That’s what I’m saying right now,” he groaned. “You
brought up how rude I am because of the pregnant comments, and when just a few minutes ago I said you look good for being five months pregnant, you told me I was full of shit because I’m always being mean about it. And yeah, if I had said you looked cute at the wedding, you probably would have rolled your eyes at me.”
“You are totally talking in circles right now,” Melanie complained. She sliced the last of the hoagie rolls and piled them on a tray.
“He’s basically saying that he’s not going to tease you with pregnancy jokes anymore,” Teague said, stealing a strawberry from Camryn’s salad. “Because you do look cute with a baby bump, and we’re all excited to meet little Bart, and Jay is claiming that he’s going from ninety percent asshole to, maybe, seventy percent asshole instead.”
Melanie looked between both boys for a moment before finally settling on Jay. “Fine, apology accepted,” she said with a smile.
“What? Wait, I never apologized for anything,” Jay argued.
“Sure you did. I’m reading between the lines since that’s what I’m apparently supposed to do with you. God, Jay, you men accuse women of being difficult to understand? Whatever part of you that’s not asshole must be woman.”
Teague and Camryn laughed, and even though Melanie was trying to insult him because of all his mean comments, Jay only smiled. “Then that makes you part lesbian since you’re so damn attracted to me.”
Melanie scoffed. “There goes that big head of yours. You think everyone is attracted to you. You were even stoked that the woman next to us at the bowling alley was hitting on you; the one with the big, hairy mole on her chin and the lopsided breasts.”
Jay tried not to laugh but he couldn’t help it. “That was because she had her sights on Teague and he’s a married man. I was only looking out for my boy. Her boobs were bigger than yours so don’t be jealous, and that was a freckle on her chin.”
“Right,” Melanie rolled her eyes. “But hey, whatever works for you.”
“Jay,” Teague sighed, “I think Kellie feels left out because you don’t fight with her anymore.”