by Hadley Quinn
Heart pounding, he whispered, “I love you, Camryn.” He swallowed as he took strands of her hair between his fingers and focused his attention on it. “I know I’ve only known you for a couple of months, but I’ve fallen pretty hard for you and…” He made eye contact again. “I just wanted you to know…that I’ve fallen in love.”
“Me, too,” she whispered. “I love you, Teague.”
She pressed her lips against his. The way she kissed him was proof enough, and Teague couldn’t imagine having a better setting than this to finally tell her how he felt. His heart had been about to bust from his chest if he didn’t say it out loud. How he felt about Camryn was undeniably clear.
When they finally broke the kiss, Teague was without words. This beautiful girl was the owner of his heart; the first, and hopefully the last, to ever have that claim. She’d captured a part of him the first day he saw her, and bit-by-bit he was giving her the rest.
“So…you really don’t want to try a little stunt with me?” he teased with a smile, still holding her close. “I promise I’ll be safe.”
She laughed softly, nuzzled against his neck. “I trust you, but I don’t really want the audience.”
He glanced around the parking lot at various people coming and going. “Okay, another time.”
“Are you disappointed?” she seemed to tease him back.
Kissing her cheek he said, “Doesn’t matter because I love you, remember?”
She laughed good-naturedly. “Wow, you are still clever as ever! Professing your love didn’t cost you a testicle or anything?”
“Well if it did, I guess I know who’s got it.”
She patted his chest and said, “I’d rather have this instead.”
“You’ve already got it,” he replied softly, holding her hand to his heart.
“I love you, Teague. Thank you for an amazing day.”
***
“I’m starving,” Melanie groaned as she and Camryn pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant together.
“Me too,” Camryn replied. She was enjoying a girls day with just her sister, but she couldn’t help constantly daydreaming about Teague’s very first “I love you” from last night. Evidently the guy could turn her into a lovesick, easily distracted mess.
She pointed her remote to the car to lock it and noticed the group of guys that had been staring at them the second they’d stepped out of the car. Camryn was positive they were from the naval base, and while they pointed and nodded to the girls as they piled out of two vehicles, she pretended not to see them.
“Ooh, there’s a few—”
Melanie didn’t even get the sentence out before Camryn jerked her forward. “Do not gain their favor, Mel. I’m not in the mood to kick anyone’s ass tonight.”
“Good lord, Camryn. You have the man of your dreams and you still have pent up sexual rage?”
She’d said “pent up sexual rage” extra loud, tossing it over her shoulder flirtatiously. A few laughs and sounds came from the guys behind them and Camryn rolled her eyes. And then two of them started talking to Melanie as they all gathered in the restaurant entry around the same time. Melanie was gladly sharing names, too, and Camryn was ready to kill her.
“Camryn, you a little shy, honey pie?” one of them chided.
“Oh good God,” Melanie groaned.
“Honey pie?” Camryn scoffed. “Are you kidding me?”
“Um…?” The hostess was unsure of how many to seat as she looked over the group of nine people filling up the entry.
“I’m not your honey pie, nor would I want to be,” Camryn told the guy. “And if you’re smart, you’ll take your wolf pack to the other side of the restaurant. Two, please,” Camryn told the confused hostess holding a stack of menus.
The guys got a good laugh with each other as they watched the girls leave. Melanie slipped into a booth across from Camryn and said, “Wow, bitchy much?”
“Yes. I get tired of you pimping me out as a package deal.”
Melanie laughed but shook her head. “There’s no need to be rude to people, Cam. It wouldn’t have hurt to talk to them.”
“For what reason? I have a boyfriend, Melanie. I don’t need to be picked up by guys and I don’t need you tossing me out there like a charity case anymore. I’m comfortable with someone now. Teague is…”
She didn’t finish the sentence as the waitress set two waters in front of them.
“So tell me about that,” Melanie said, diverting from the fact that she’d totally pissed off her sister.
“About what?”
“Teague. What’s new with you guys lately. Something seems different.”
Camryn opened her mouth to respond, but one of the navy guys came up to the table and said, “Hey, we were wondering if maybe you girls—”
“Go away, I’m talking to my sister,” Melanie said with a hand up, not even looking at him.
Camryn watched his reaction, standing there with his mouth open, looking between the two of them. His eyes stopped at Camryn and all she did was shrug as she gauged his reaction.
The guy turned around and walked away.
She looked at Melanie, who finally cracked a little smile. “My big sister is more important,” she answered. “See? I have balls too,” Melanie grinned. “It’s all I ever wanted—a pair like my sister’s.”
Camryn stifled a laugh with her fist. “Vaginas are way tougher than a pair of weak ass balls. And I love you, Mel.”
“I love you, too,” she beamed with a snicker. “Now back to Teague…”
The two spent over an hour at dinner, eating and chatting about guys. They even discussed plans for the new baby, and just plans in general about jobs and money and other important things like where to live. Camryn was seriously debating moving closer to Teague if he didn’t mind. And she’d be closer to Sonja and other dance prospects. She’d miss Mimi and her studio, but wasn’t going to cut out those opportunities entirely. Right now her life was Melanie and Teague.
Not necessarily in that order.
As they got up to leave, some low catcalls and wolf whistles ensued, and Camryn was pissed when the entire group of guys left the restaurant at the same time they did. She looped her arm through Melanie’s and said, “Please don’t encourage them, okay?”
The girls moved outside, and to keep it light, Melanie joked, “So I should stop wiggling my ass so much?”
“I’m not kidding, Mel. You’ve given them mixed signals. First you flirt and say something sexual right off the bat, then you flirt some more, and then you blow one of them off? I see determination steaming off a couple of them now. This isn’t going to be pleasant so just get in the car and let me handle it.”
“Oh good lord, Camryn,” Melanie hissed. “Handle it? You’ve already got a plan?”
Camryn didn’t respond because the “honey pie” guy decided to be an asshole again, impelling her into tactical defense mode.
“So you two hotties come as a package deal?” he chuckled. “Heaven lost a pair of sexy angels. We’ll look after you.”
Camryn turned around as they got to her car, just as her phone rang. It was Teague.
“Answer the phone, Cam,” Melanie told her, glancing at the caller ID. “You know why you need to.”
Camryn sighed, just as the dipshit behind her kept up with his asinine attempts to gain her attention. Her lack of tolerance for such disrespect was urging her to wage war on him, but Melanie was right. Teague’s timing was perfect, and if she didn’t answer the phone, she was sure she would end up breaking this guy’s nose against her car.
“Try finding a base skank that will squeal with delight when you call her honey pie,” she told the guy as she got in her car. “I would rather throw up.”
She shut the door but could hear his retort. It was puke-worthy and she was glad she answered the phone when she did. She might have climbed out of the car if it hadn’t been for Teague greeting her with, “Hey, beautiful.”
“Perfect timing, T
eague,” Melanie voiced loudly so he could hear. “She’s about to kick some guy’s ass.”
“What?” Teague replied instantly. “Camryn, are you two okay? What’s going on?”
“It’s nothing,” she answered, glaring at Melanie’s dramatic fuss. “Some guy just followed us to the car, but nothing happened.”
“Where the fuck are you? Is he still there?”
The asshole was still outside her car but kind of walking away when his buddy told him to back off. He flipped her off as she put the car in gear and pulled away.
“We’re on our way to your place, so I’ll see you in a few,” she told him.
“Uh, yeah. Okay. Shit, Camryn. I love you, hon.”
She smiled as she pulled onto the street. “I love you, too.”
When she hung up, Melanie smiled at her. Camryn knew it was because of hearing those words come out of her mouth, but neither of them said anything about it and they drove with just the sound of the radio playing in the car.
Chapter Thirty-Two
The second she pulled onto Teague’s street, she saw his truck, and the second her car pulled in next to it, he popped up from sitting on the front porch and practically stormed the driver’s door.
“I start telling you I love you and now you’ve already got me shitting my pants over other things,” he said, pulling her out of the car and into his arms.
She laughed against his chest and squeezed him tighter. “There will be no shitting of pants, Teague. And I had it handled.”
“A girl shouldn’t even have to be in a situation like that. It fucking pisses me off.”
“I see that, but I know how to take care of myself. I grew up in a gym full of men.”
“I just don’t want anything to come from it. Kellie slapped a guy once and then he found her car later and slashed her tires.”
“Camryn doesn’t ‘slap’ people,” Melanie informed him on her way to the house.
Teague held Camryn’s face in his hands and sighed. “Do you seriously have guys willing to go all rapist on you just because you turn them down?”
“No, not at all. It’s Melanie’s fault, and yes I’m going to blame it on my sister for starting it all. I need to have a serious talk with her. But there was something about that guy that was off and I could see it right away. And yes, I didn’t help the situation by wanting to kick his ass.”
“Jesus, Cam. I might’ve killed him if I saw him follow you to your car.”
“Well it’s over with and we’re fine.”
Teague took a deep breath but shook his head. “Yeah. Okay.” He took Camryn’s hand as they walked to the front door and asked, “Wanna take a bath with me?”
“Um, hell yeah?” she smiled.
“Good, ‘cause there’s something I want to talk to you about.”
Camryn’s heart thumped harder. But she got a call from Brandon as they entered the house and didn’t have a chance to worry. He was calling to check up on her but he mainly wanted to make sure she was still going to make it to the cemetery for Zach’s birthday.
Once they confirmed their plans, Brandon said, “Well, I’ll let you go. Playing ball with the guys in a few. I love you, kid. Talk to you soon.”
“Okay.”
She hung up and frowned, not realizing that Teague was leaning against the bathroom door until he asked, “Everything okay?”
She looked up and shrugged. “I don’t know. Just talking about Zach’s birthday.”
He raised an eyebrow. “When’s that?”
Camryn stood from the bed and answered, “February 11th. We usually meet at his grave and then go out to breakfast. But this year I might try to avoid his parents.”
Teague pushed off the wall and tried to read her as he approached. “How come?”
“Just…because things with his family are very…awkward sometimes.”
“Yeah, you mentioned that. You’re the daughter they never had?”
“Yeah, but I’ve never been close to them. Doesn’t that sound weird? I mean they live in Santa Clara now so it’s not exactly a simple trip to visit them, but even before Zach died, I was hardly around them. His dad was always working, his mom was involved in a ton of activities and book clubs and other stuff. I think I ate dinner with his family maybe a total of five times while we were together. But I did live with Zach for a month or two at a time while he was in North Carolina. And if I wasn’t over there with him, I was busy with dance commitments and Melanie. So I guess no one is to blame.”
“If you feel uncomfortable seeing them, then I don’t want you to.”
“Then Helen will probably take it personal and go into a big weepy depression.”
“She sounds like she needs some therapy.”
Camryn smiled. “They aren’t entirely bad. I’m just giving you the part of them that makes me uncomfortable. And we’ve all been to therapy. You know, as a ‘family’,” she said with air quotes.
“So they expect you to be part of the family, huh? Does this have anything to do with Brandon, too?”
She pressed her lips tightly together and took a deep breath of air through her nose. “Yeah, I suppose. They want us together. Helen found the letter Zach wrote to Brandon and acts like that was his dying wish that needed to be honored.”
“But you’ve told them it’s not happening, right?” he asked in a low voice.
She lightly shoved him. “Yes, Teague. Reel in your inner caveman.”
“Fuck no,” he laughed with a scoff. “But hell, if you want me to I’ll go with you. I’ll even keep my mouth shut.” He turned for the bathroom but cast a wink over he shoulder. “Get your ass naked, Camryn.”
She held back a laugh as she followed him into the bathroom. He was already shirtless, and just seeing the muscles move in his back made her ogle and appreciate him like she’d never seen him naked before. He glanced behind him as he dropped his drawers on the floor and then stepped right into the garden tub, sinking into the hot water with a sigh.
“Come on, sexy girl. Get in here with me.”
She removed her shirt first as he watched closely. She liked to tempt him whenever she undressed because it was a total adrenaline rush to see his beautiful eyes drink her in like he did.
As she shimmied her pants down, he looked her in the eye and said, “Turn me on at your own risk. You’ll have something big and hard jabbing into your back when you sit against me.”
“Pssh,” she laughed. “I’ll have something jabbing in my back anyways.”
He shrugged as the last of her clothing was shed and she joined him in the bath. “I can’t help it. You weaken me.”
She settled against him and sighed as he wrapped his arms around her. “Weaken? Feels like something has been strengthened.”
He released a low, deep laugh as she gently pressed against him. “Ironic, huh?”
They were both quiet for several minutes, just enjoying the time being close skin to skin. Finally Camryn’s curiosity won and she had to ask, “So…what did you want to tell me?”
***
Teague paused momentarily, just to decide how or if he was really going to discuss this with her. He also needed to get a handle on his fucking nerves. “Well, it’s not something to tell you…well, maybe it is, but just something I wanted to discuss and…see what you thought of it.”
She turned slightly to face him better. “Okay.”
He took a few seconds to gather the right words. “Well, I’ve been thinking about something. A lot. You mentioned the other day that moving closer to LA would be a change you’d make since you had work here and…”
He paused again, waiting for her to figure it out.
“And?” she asked with a smile. “Are you wanting to know if I’m going to?”
“Yeah,” he nodded. “You rent your house, so you don’t have to worry about that, right? It’s just a matter of making arrangements with your friend or something?”
“Well her family owns a few townhouses in the area so yeah, she
was just looking into pinning one down for me that will be vacant. But that won’t be until summertime. For now I’ll keep working for Mimi and travel for competitions and conventions.”
“What about that video you were asked to choreograph for? Isn’t that down here in LA somewhere?”
“Yeah, but that’s not until the end of March. And I’ll be staying with Sonja for those few days.”
“Why not here?” he frowned.
She smiled and lightly tapped his pouty lip. “Because I would be here to sleep for four hours and then just be commuting in between. We pound out those videos in a pretty short amount of time. Barely any rest because we try to spend the time wisely on the set to keep costs down.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I understand that. But…back to the other issue. Your move.”
“What about it?”
“What if you moved sooner?”
“Well I’d like to if that place was available sooner, but I promise, seeing you is number one on my list and I’ll be sure to make it happen as much as I can.”
She slid her hand behind his neck and pressed her lips to his. She deepened the kiss when he held her tighter, and right there in the middle of a tongue lock, Teague said, “I want you to move in with me, Camryn.”
She paused as her eyes flew open and then pulled back slightly. They just stared at each other for a few seconds as Teague waited for a response. He could tell she was stunned, and part of him was nervous as to why. He’d expected she’d be surprised, but didn’t anticipate how long she would hesitate.
“Camryn? You look pissed.”
She blinked and then swallowed. “Um, no, I’m not pissed, I’m- I’m surprised I guess and just… Well I can’t, Teague. I mean I’ve got my sister to look after and- and really, maybe you don’t know what living with me full time will be like because…because…”