by Lauren Wood
Trying to get out of that conversation landed me in another one with Mack. I did know him. He was a client after all, but that’s as far as it went. I could see David watching me and I turned my back to him and gave Mack all my attention. I wanted David to see that I was just fine with what I was doing. I didn’t look back for a while in hopes that his newfound curiosity of me would dissipate quickly.
“I don’t think we’ve ever talked this much before Callie. What a shame that is. Would you like to dance?”
There was a spot in the dining room where the table had been moved to the side and people were using the empty space for a dance floor. It wasn’t the real purpose of it but seemed like as good of a time as any right now.
I agree to the dance because Mack was smiling in such a charming way. I could see he was nervous, practically shaking and I didn’t want to tell him no. He was younger than me by a couple of years and his company bought a lot of our boxes every year. I didn’t want to offend him with a refusal. It was just a dance after all. Nothing more.
Other people didn’t think so though. I heard Teddy coming up behind me before I saw Teddy.
“What’s going on here?”
Teddy had been drinking and I don’t know if he had started before he got here or what, but it looked like he had imbibed quite a bit of something. His eyes narrowed on Mack and I wished then that I’d told Mack no. I didn’t want Mack to get dragged into the middle of this, yet that was exactly what was going to happen.
“Nothing Teddy. I was looking for you and ran into a client.”
Mack said something behind me, but I had a feeling that he would be better off just not saying a word. Teddy didn’t look like he was in a very good mood and he really was just so big that it was hard not to think of who would clobber who. That’s what it looked like Teddy wanted to do. Was this him being jealous? I know that we hadn’t seen in each other in a few days, but this was uncalled for.
I wanted to tell him that, but he wasn’t listening to reason.
“It looks like you were dancing with another man, letting him rub all up on you.”
His dark eyes were almost closed he had them squinted so hard. I wanted to tell him that he looked ridiculous and there was no way that I was going to be able to talk to him seriously like this, but then he brushed me aside and went towards Mack. Now it wasn’t so funny, and I tried to get between them. Mack was a lot smaller and not to mention, he was a client that we needed.
“Stop Teddy. This is a client. A very important client for the company and you are going to stop this shit right now. Everyone is looking and you’re embarrassing the crap out of me.”
“I don’t care. I don’t want to see some man’s hands on you. I just don’t want to see it, so I have to make a point.”
I was embarrassed to no end. The type where I wished I could just disappear and hide. I didn’t know what to say to him. It was clear that Teddy was past the point of any intelligent thought and I didn’t even want to try my luck. I liked him, a lot, but not like this. This was something that I hadn’t seen coming.
“There is no point to make. My brother is coming over here. You need to get the hell out of here before you start something you’re going to regret in the morning.”
Teddy looked at me as if I had broken some loyalty that I was supposed to have. He didn’t seem to get it. He was far too drunk and now that he was talking to me, Mack was moving away very slowly. I didn’t blame him, but it wasn’t the time to deal with him. I had to deal with Teddy before he made a bigger scene than he was right now.
“Where have you been?”
“I had to work. What do you mean by this?”
“You’ve ignored me all week. All my calls. And your brother said that you went on a date with someone on Sunday.”
That was a lot for the state he was in. I was trying to steer him to a side room, but I was having no luck. David was going to be here soon, and I didn’t want to explain what was coming out of his friend’s mouth. It wasn’t going to be good.
“Can you keep your voice down? What the hell are you thinking Teddy?”
“You don’t want your boyfriend to hear me?”
“No, my brother you idiot.”
He was being too much and while I liked that he cared enough to be jealous, this public display of it was one of the most humiliating in my life and I didn’t want to deal with it anymore. I wanted it to all go away, no matter how impossible it sounded, I wanted it to happen full stop. I didn’t want to have to answer questions later.
David shot me a look and I waved him off and shrugged, like I didn’t know what was wrong with his friend, but I was going to take him to the side to settle him down. David stopped and let me take Teddy away. I don’t know why he was acting this way, but he needed to sleep it off. He was in no state to go anywhere and he wasn’t in the best shape to mingle either. Teddy had to be quarantined for his own good.
“Come on, let’s go up to the bedroom and we can talk in there Teddy. I think this is all just a big misunderstanding and you’ll see that. I wasn’t out on a date with anyone.”
He wasn’t listening to me now. Once I said that we were going upstairs to the bedroom, he hadn’t fought me since. I knew that he was in no shape to do anything anyways, but that didn’t mean that I liked that. I wish he could, because I was horny as hell, despite everything. I couldn’t help it. He made me want him, even when I was red-faced from embarrassment and I wanted to melt into the carpet. It was a strange spell that he had on me, but once I got him to the bedroom and onto the bed, I knew that he wouldn’t go anywhere till morning.
He laid down with a little help and told me how he wanted me. I agreed that I would get in bed with him after I took care of something. I said I would be right back, but I wasn’t going back in there. I knew that he would be asleep soon. I had damage control to take care of and the first person I saw was David when I came out.
“What the hell was that about?”
“I don’t know David, he’s your friend. I need to go and take care of Mack. You know, try to mingle a little to smooth it over. That was a nightmare.”
He wanted to talk about it now, but I didn’t. I couldn’t. There was nothing that I had to say to him right now. I knew the situation and how it all looked. I just didn’t want to deal with it. I was going to have to and soon, but right now I had to go apologize to Mack. I was just thankful that Teddy hadn’t hit him. I’d thought for a minute that he just might and I didn’t like to think of the possible repercussions if he had.
Chapter 19
Theodore
My head was splitting, and I woke up in a room that wasn’t my own. From the items around me and the few pictures I saw, I surmised that it was Callie’s room. I’d never paid much attention to it before because there was usually a woman next to me when I woke up here.
She wasn’t next to me this morning though. My eyes closed, and I turned onto my side as the images of the night before started to pour in. I don’t know what I was thinking. I remembered drinking, obviously the reason my head was throbbing, but also the scene I’d made. I’d seen Callie dancing with another guy and something had come over me. I didn’t even know how strong my feelings were, but now I did. Now I know, and I was shocked at how it had overwhelmed me so quickly. I was usually the one that kept my cool.
Groaning out loud, the sound was strange in such a quiet place. It was dead quiet, and I didn’t hear anyone outside of the room moving around. I tried to calculate how many people saw my little outburst yesterday. Too many was the answer I came up with. It was that simple. Too damn many.
My clothes were still on. I wouldn’t have thought that Callie would have given me the time of day the way I was acting. I was going to have to apologize to her and I was going to have some explaining to do. I don’t remember what I said, but I remember how I felt at the time and what I was pissed off about, so there was no telling what had came out of my mouth. I tended to run it too much and I knew distinctly that I ha
d done that this time around too.
The first person I saw when I got up was Chrissy from the line. She had some breakfast in her hands and moved to a couch in one of the sitting rooms. There were a lot of people still in different places and positions sleeping it off. It looked more like a frat party than a mansion that held a company picnic. If nothing else, she sure did know how to host a party.
Smells from the kitchen led me that way. There were cooks and a couple of servers getting people what they wanted. I’d never been to a party like this, that had hangover breakfast food. I should have went to find Callie but soaking up some excess alcohol and getting my head on straight seemed like the thing to do first. I was still tired, and I felt eyes on me, but I ignored it all and ate breakfast.
Going outside afterwards, unsure what I wanted to do with myself, I saw Callie in the garden and started towards her. I was still trying to figure out what it was that I was going to say. I was clueless about it all, but I knew I had to say something. Sorry seemed like the no brainer to me. I had messed up and I didn’t want her mad at me. I didn’t even like the idea of it.
“Good morning Ted. I bet your head is killing you.”
I agreed. She’d seen me walking up and instead of going off in the other direction like I would have guessed, she was the one starting the conversation and walking towards me. She had a smile on her face, but it wasn’t one that I trusted all that much. There was something going on in her serene face, I just didn’t know what it was.
“Yes, it’s killing me. I don’t know what the hell I was drinking last night, but I don’t need to drink that again. The hangover is hell.”
“The buzz seemed to be pretty good.”
“Yeah, it made my head twist up.”
“And your mouth run.”
I sighed. I should have known that she wasn’t going to tiptoe around the night before. She wasn’t the type that was just going to pretend that something didn’t happen. It did, and she wanted me to know that she was not happy with how it had turned out. Truth be told, I wasn’t happy about it either. All I could think about was how good she looked right now and how horny I still was. It had been a week since I’d seen her, sober anyways, the night before didn’t count. I’d missed her. That was what had me so worked up. I wanted her, and she’d taken off where I didn’t get to see her. It had messed with my head a little bit.
“Yeah, I did run my mouth. How bad was it because I don’t quite remember all of it, just that I was acting like a jackass?”
“No, that about sums it up.”
I was quiet for a minute, still trying to figure out what I was supposed to say about all of it. I knew I had messed up and excuses wasn’t going to help.
“Sorry Callie. I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
“I know. That’s why I brought you upstairs. I knew that you would regret it in the morning. What was your deal, or do you not remember that either?”
“You were dancing with another guy.”
“I was dancing with a client and we’re not together.”
“Yes, we are.”
She smiled at me and disagreed. “No, we’re having fun and now there are questions swirling about us. I wish you would have been so vocal about everything. David has questions now.”
“What did you tell him?”
“Nothing. I’ve been avoiding him like the plague. It’s easy with the house filled up, but soon it’s going to be me and him again and he is going to ask me why his friend is acting like a jealous ex-boyfriend.”
“I don’t want to see you with anyone else.”
“Like I said Ted, we’re not together.”
She was being stubborn, and I wasn’t going to let her write us off again. Last time she’d left without a glance behind her and I wasn’t going to let her do that to us again. Not this time.
Pulling her towards me, I heard a slight gasp before our lips met. I kissed her like I’d wanted to for all the days before. “I like waking up in your bed, but now if you’re not in it. I’ve missed you Callie and it’s time we go back upstairs.
She tried to pull away half-heartedly. “You really think I’m going to forgive you like that?”
“I sure hope so, cause I’m hard and I can almost guarantee that you’re already wet.”
With all her anger, it really dissipated rather quickly. She didn’t want to stay mad at me. Since I absolutely hated it, I was glad for that.
It wasn’t long before I coaxed her back into her room and this time we fell into bed together. I certainly liked it better this way. I hated fighting with her and being without her for the week had been an eye opener. It made me realize that I didn’t want to be without her anymore.
Chapter 20
Callie
I must have dozed off and when I looked over, I saw Teddy in the bed next to me. I don’t know what had happened. I’d been mad at him and ready to tell him off and then the next thing I know, I’m in bed with him and he’s making me come. That man had some sort of voodoo curse on me and it was almost impossible to fight it. I didn’t know if I wanted to if I was honest with myself.
Now I was kicking myself though. He was bad news. I’d called it the first time I’d seen him, and this time around was no different. I went back to the old me when I was with Teddy and that wasn’t always a good thing. The party last night with clients being a very good example of why this wasn’t going to work.
I slapped the man lying next to me.
“Ow, what is that for?”
“You did it again Teddy. What the hell are you doing to me? This was not supposed to happen.”
“Why not?”
“Because.” It was literally the best answer I could come up with right now. I didn’t know what else to say. I knew that it wasn’t the most logical response, but it was the only one that I had.
He chuckled and tried to pull me to him. I wanted to get out of his reach, but there was no way to fight it once he got his hands on me. He was too strong, and my resistance was still quite low. It was the need for him that kept me coming back and there was nothing I could do about it. I wanted him, badly and I was forgetting my anger of moments before when his body covered mine and his lips met with my own.
Teddy slid inside of me and made me gasp. My insides were still sore from the morning and he felt bigger than usual. I don’t know what it was about Teddy, but I just couldn’t get enough of him.
I was just about to come when David walked in. I had done the same to him before. I should have locked the door. The look on his face told me that he’d been there for a few minutes. His friend was slamming into me now and I didn’t have the heart to stop him. I was so close and even when I got my wits about me and told Teddy to stop, he ignored me and fucked me harder.
“You’re close, I know you are.”
I came, even though I didn’t want to. I closed my eyes and when I opened them, David was gone. I smacked on Teddy to get off me.
“Do I not get to finish?”
“No, David was in here and saw us.”
“Oh.”
He got off me and I could see by his expression that he realized the gravity of it. He seemed more upset than I was.
“David is going to freak out.”
“He didn’t look happy. You wouldn’t stop though, and I came. He was gone a moment later.”
Teddy got up and started to put his pants on. “Let me go talk to him.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea. He’s going to be mad. You should have seen his face.”
“I know. Trust me, I know that he’s going to be pissed off. He already told me that he didn’t want someone like me dating you.”
“He said that?”
He shook his head as he put his shirt on. I wanted him to stay, but that wasn’t going to be a good idea now. Now it was all about damage control, again. I wanted to go talk to David, but since he knew Teddy longer, it made sense that he would be the one that went.
Teddy gave me a kiss on my cheek and
said that he would be back in a few minutes. He seemed to think that David was going to let this go and that was going to be that. I wasn’t as optimistic about it as he was apparently.
I started to get dressed when I heard shouting. As soon as I heard David’s voice yelling, it didn’t take long before there was a loud cracking sound and I knew that one of them had hit the other one. Teddy was a lot bigger and I hoped that he wasn’t the one. I didn’t want my brother to get hurt, especially not because of me. But why wouldn’t he want me with Teddy? What was wrong with Teddy and guys like him?
By the time I got out of the room and down the hall, I could see Teddy and David. David was the aggressor and it looked like Teddy was trying not to fight him.
“Stop now dammit David! I’m not going to let you keep hitting me. I said I was sorry. It’s not like I forced her to do anything that she didn’t want to do.”
That just seemed to piss off David even more and I didn’t know what to do. I debated if my presence was going to help the situation or not. I didn’t think that it was going to. But after David hit Teddy again and I watched the expression on his face as his head whipped back, I knew I was going to have to figure something out and fast. Teddy wasn’t going to let this go on much longer and I feared for my new brother.
“Stop!”
David looked at me and then started towards Teddy again. “You shouldn’t be here Callie and you certainly shouldn’t be taking his side of all things. You don’t know Ted like I do.”
That was true and again, during it all, I wanted to know what my brother was talking about. What was so bad about Teddy? What was it that I didn’t know? It felt like I should know about it now or at least, I wanted to, even if it was a horrible time to start that conversation.
“Teddy, get out of here.”
“Why the hell do you call him Teddy? What is going on with you two?”
I looked to where Teddy was, and I shooed him away. He was staying around for one reason or another, but I didn’t want this to escalate. They were both pissed off and I didn’t want to see them fighting. My brother was easier to deal with than Teddy was. Teddy was big and if he decided to hit David back, I feared that David wouldn’t take it as well as his friend was.