A Helluva Man

by Sable Hunter

  “And what’s with all the Dr. Peppers?” Phillip asked. “I thought you were a root beer guy.”

  Jaxson flipped the covers off and reached for his crutches beside the bed. “You are just full of questions today, aren’t you?”

  Once again, Philip was quicker and snatched them before Jaxson could get his hands on them. “Not so fast, Peg-leg.” He stepped away from Jaxson’s grasping hand and tossed the crutches to Tennessee near the door.

  Jaxson sat on the edge of the bed. “You boys sure are heroes, picking on a disabled person.”

  “Spare us the pity routine,” Tennessee said. “The only disability you’ve got is a small pecker.” He turned to Philip who was now at his side. “I told you he was adopted.”

  “You both realize I’ll be out of this cast one day, right?” Jaxson informed them with a sneer.

  “We know,” Phillip answered with a grin. “That’s why we need to take this shot while we have it. Now spill it, One-leg Willie. What’s up with you?”

  Jaxson gave them a long stare. “Give me my crutches back.” He held out a hand.

  “What are y’all doing in here?” Pepper came in from the hall, her hands on her hips. “Give me those.” She swatted Tennessee on the arm, grabbing Jaxson’s crutches from his grasp. “You oughta be ashamed of yourselves. Picking on poor Jax like this.” This time it was Philip who got a swat, one harder than the one Tennessee received.

  “Hey,” Philip yelped. “You didn’t hit Ten that hard.”

  Pepper whacked him again. “Because we both know you started whatever is going on in here.”

  Tennessee snatched his little sister by the arm. “Now hold on, Jax has got some explaining to do.”

  Pepper hauled back to pop her brother again but paused with her hand in the air. “Wait! What are you talking about?” She turned to Jaxson on the bed. “What are they talking about?”

  Jaxson fixed her with a sad look. “I don’t know. Honest, Pep. I was just lying here minding my own business, trying to relax, and mend my broken leg when these two bullies barged in and started picking on me.”

  “Oh, please,” Philip groaned. “You have been moping around since you got home.”

  Pepper didn’t like what she was hearing. “The boy broke his damn leg. Of course, he’s moping.” Letting go of the crutches, she went to her injured brother’s side. “You don’t pay those two fools no mind, Jax.”

  Jaxson pressed his head to his sister’s shoulder, letting her stroke the top of his head. “Thanks, Pep. What type of world do we live in? Bullying has got to stop.” He turned to his brothers. “It’s well into the new millennium, fellas. Let’s get real.”

  Philip did his best not to laugh. “You’re not buying this load of crap are you, Pep?”

  Pepper continued to stroke her brother’s hair. “I saw you picking on him as plain as the nose on your face. Don’t try to convince me you two are innocent. We all know better.”

  “He’s up to something, Sis,” Tennessee spoke up. “He insisted I pick him up a case of Dr. Pepper this morning while I was out.” He shook a finger at Jaxson. “He doesn’t drink Dr. Pepper!”

  “Yea, and he was talking some crazy gibberish about watching a triathlon on TV from New Zealand,” Philip added. “I think the bull must’ve stomped on his head. He’s acting like he’s got a TBI.”

  “What’s a TBI?” Ten asked, a confused look on his face.

  “Traumatic brain injury,” Jaxson said. “And I don’t.”

  “Wait.” Pepper pulled away from her brother, looking at him closely. “Triathlon?”

  Jaxson just shrugged. “What? Can’t a man try to broaden his horizons?”

  A realization dawned on Pepper. “Oh, my God!” This time she popped Jax on the arm. “You like her!”

  “I don’t like anybody,” Jaxson huffed. “Not even you guys.”

  “Who?” Philip and Tennessee asked in unison.

  “Tamara!” Pepper jumped up from the bed and clapped her hands together. “I knew it. I could tell by the way you looked at her when she brought you home.” Pepper was still bopping up and down. Running to the door, she yelled into the hall. “Ryder! Get up here!”

  “Oh, Jesus Christ,” Jaxson muttered, dry-scrubbing his face and easing up so he could hang one leg off the bed.

  Ryder joined them a few seconds later with half of her face covered in a cucumber and avocado face mask. “What?” A dollop of the mixture fell off the tip of the brush she still held in her hand.

  “Tamara!” Pepper grabbed her sister’s arms. “We were right!”

  Philip turned to Tennessee. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but I regret starting this now.”

  Pepper and Ryder were now bouncing and shrieking in unison.

  “Come on, Ryder.” Philip leaned to the side, trying to avoid flying goop. “At least bring some tortilla chips with you if you’re gonna be flinging guacamole all over the place.”

  “It’s a homemade face peel.” Ryder raised the brush in her hand and bopped her brother on the nose.

  “Well how about whipping us up a salsa face peel to go with it.” Philip licked the tip of his nose. “Because this is tasty.”

  “Make your own salsa,” Pepper barked. Pulling Ryder toward the bed, the girls took a seat on either side of Jaxson. “Spill it, Jax. We’re on to you.”

  “Spill what?” Jaxson wanted to know. He knew he couldn’t get away in this state, the whole damn lot of them would just follow him around pestering him to death, so he stayed where he was sitting.

  “Tamara,” Ryder said. “You like her. Pepper and I knew it.” The girls exchanged a high five behind his back.

  Pepper started before he could deny the allegations. “Her favorite actress is Rachel McAdams. You should take her to see Rachel’s new movie.”

  Ryder had an idea. “Or better yet, just rent The Notebook and invite her over here. I’ll cook dinner.” Both girls sighed while Jaxson looked annoyed. Philip and Tennessee eyed one another, still not knowing exactly what was going on.

  “Yeah, you two could watch it over and over and over while you recover.”

  “That sounds like hell,” Jaxson responded. But he did take an instant liking to the idea of spending the day in bed with Tamara. “Wait a minute. How do you know her favorite actress is Rachel McAdams?”

  The girls stood from the bed together as if they were a synchronized swim team.

  “I have that thing I need to do,” Ryder said, heading towards the door with Pepper in tow.

  Tennessee and Philip moved to block their exit, standing with their arms crossed like two wooden barbershop Indians.

  “Not so fast, you two,” Philip said.

  Ryder looked up at her brothers. “You two let us by or I’ll call Heath.”

  “What’s the big hurry all of a sudden? I believe Jaxson asked you two a question.”

  The girls were trapped. Ryder pivoted around and looked her sister in the eye. “Do something,” she whispered.

  Pepper doubled over, grabbing her stomach. “Oh. Ouch! Cramps!”

  If the boys hadn’t seen this ploy before, they might’ve believed it, but none of them were buying their little sister’s act.

  “Ladies,” Tennessee said softly. “Is this really happening? Aren’t we a little bit old for your shenanigans?”

  Pepper considered keeping up the charade, but she knew it was no use. “Oh, fine.” She took a moment to give all three boys a dirty look before she spoke again. “We looked her up online. Facebook, first. Then when we figured out who she was, we found her website and fan page.”

  “You did what?” Jaxson was instantly angry but filed away the information that Tam had a website and a fan page. He’d be checking those out, for sure.

  Growing up in the McCoy household, it had always been boys versus girls and that pattern didn’t show a sign of stopping anytime soon.

  “Girls!” Philip feigned revulsion, then moved toward Jaxson to give him the crutches he’d stol
en a few minutes earlier. “Here you go, brother.” Turning towards his sisters he placed his hands on his hips. “I am surprised at you two.”

  At the door, Tennessee held his ground, not allowing the girls to vacate the premises.

  Ryder tried to barter a release with her much larger brother. “I’ll wash your clothes for a week if you let us by, Ten.” Tennessee stood with a smile, shaking his head. “A month!” she offered.

  “This is worth washing my own drawers,” Tennessee said in his defense.

  Jaxson was up on his feet with the assistance of his brother and his crutches. “One of y’all best get to talking.”

  The girls exchanged another look, a telepathic message being shared. Which one of them wanted to fall on their sword this time? Either way, they were both in trouble.

  Pepper took the lead. “Like I said, we looked her up online the other night after she left.”

  Philip just felt like being a shit-disturber. “You two are something else.”

  “Oh, knock it off,” Pepper chastised. “You started all of this.” Philip decided not to give her a reaction.

  “I told you, she was a friend,” Jaxson protested.

  Ryder came to her sister’s side. “Oh, come on Jax, we saw the way you looked at her. Anybody could have brought you home from the hospital.”

  “I would’ve bet on Chelsea being the logical one,” Philip added his two cents to the conversation.

  “This Tamara is the girl who brought you home?” Tennessee asked. He’d been too concerned about his brother to pay much attention. And it had been dark, he hadn’t really got a good look at the woman.

  “I always thought it would be Chelsea too,” Pepper said. “I think we all figured you’d end up with her one day.”

  “Chelsea’s my friend,” Jaxson insisted.

  “Yea, but that’s what you just said about Tamara,” Ryder quipped. “And we know that bucket won’t hold water.”

  “I just never saw it,” Philip added with a frown. “I mean he and Chelsea have been friends for a while. She is a good-looking gal and all, but...”

  “Can we stop talking about me like I’m not in the room?” Jaxson barked. “As far as Chelsea is concerned, she’s like a sister to me. A while back, there was a brief time when we could’ve gotten together, but it didn’t happen. And it’s not going to happen now! I just don’t feel that way about her.” He knew he would never see Tamara in that light. It suddenly dawned on Jaxson that they’d gotten off topic. “Enough of this. I want to know where you two,” he raised a crutch and pointed at his two nosy sisters, “get off poking around in my life and checking out my friends online?”

  “Oh, relax.” Pepper took a seat on the bed. “We didn’t poke around, that stuff is out there for public consumption. Besides, we didn’t find anything too juicy. She’s on Twitter, Instagram, and all those places, but she isn’t very active. Most of what we found was probably put out by her publicist.”

  “Publicist?” Philip asked. “Who is this woman that she needs a publicist?”

  Pepper grinned. “Jax has found a star athlete. An Ironman triathlete. An Olympic gold medalist, no less.”

  “Wow!” Phillip looked at Jax with admiration. “I’m impressed. What the hell does she see in you?”

  Jaxson shot him the finger.

  “Yea, she seems to have quite a following. This girl has potential and she seems like a real sweetheart, Jax. I think she’s a keeper.”

  Tennessee was amused by his sisters’ investigative work. “Is this what you two do while you’re waiting for the guacamole on your faces to dry?”

  “It’s not guacamole, you brute. It opens up our pores,” Ryder insisted. “You could use some you know.” She narrowed her eyes. “The pores on your big nose are fairly large.”

  Tennessee held a hand up and covered his nose from view. “How dare you speak ill of my pores? You know how sensitive I am!”

  All the tom-foolery was getting to Jaxson now. “Enough with the comedy routine. I will thank you all to stay out of my love life.”

  “Love life?” Philip asked. “I though you said she was just a friend.”

  “Oh yeah, right,” Pepper snorted. “What’s this?” She held up an empty can of Dr. Pepper. Jaxson just looked away. “One thing Miss Tamara Grayson mentions in her online bio is a love for a certain tangy beverage with a kick.”

  Ryder came to her sister’s side again, taking the can from her. “Exhibit A.”

  It was now Tennessee’s turn to take the can. “You did ask me to pick you up a case.”

  Jaxson rose, grabbed his crutches, and made a move for the door. “I don’t have to take this abuse.” Before he got very far, Tennessee and Pepper blocked his path. He considered faking an attack of menstrual cramps, but he didn’t think anyone would buy it. “Step aside you two, or I’ll call Heath.”

  Everyone in the room burst into laughter.

  Pepper threw her arms around her brother’s neck. “Oh, it’s okay, Jax. You’re allowed to like Tamara. She seems nice.”

  “So…this Tamara,” Philip began, “is an athlete.”

  Jaxson gave him a look over the top of Pepper’s head.

  “Yes. A good one too.” Ryder told him.

  “Ha! Exhibit B,” Philip continued making his case. “He asked me if we got any of those fancy international channels.”

  Pepper pulled out her phone.

  “What are you doing?” Jaxson asked.

  Pepper started to thumb through something on the screen. “Nothing.”

  Jaxson made a move for the phone, but Pepper was quicker, pulling it away, and racing behind Tennessee for cover.

  “Give me that!” Jaxson stepped closer to her, but Tennessee kept him at bay.

  Pepper’s tiny voice came from behind her brother. “Let me guess…Romeo wants to watch an Ironman contest in New Zealand?”

  Philip was dumb-founded. “The P&R Detective Agency may have a future after all. How did you know that?”

  Pepper appeared from behind her mountain-size brother, holding her phone out triumphantly. “Tamara is competing in the contest this week. It’s on ESPN!”

  They gathered around the little Disney princess and her pink phone. On it was an Instagram post of Tamara arriving at the airport in New Zealand.

  “Give me that.” Jaxson snatched the phone out of her hand and gawked at the picture.

  “You’re smiling,” Ryder noted.

  Jaxson didn’t stop smiling just because his sister noticed. “So?”

  “So… You like her.” Ryder beamed. “It’s okay, Jax. She’s a pretty girl.”

  He didn’t need anyone to tell him Tamara Grayson was pretty. Jaxson couldn’t stop staring at her picture on the screen. Tamara was smiling for the camera, her silky hair frazzled but still sexy as sin to his eyes. Pepper asked for her phone back a few times, but he refused to relinquish it, claiming as much time with the picture as he could get.

  “She’s just a friend,” Jaxson argued, but inside he was a bit put off. The picture had been posted a few hours ago, but he hadn’t heard a word from her yet.

  “You sure are looking at your ‘friends’ picture pretty hard,” Pepper teased. The wheels were working overtime inside of Jaxson’s head and she could see it. “Come on y’all. Let’s let him get some rest.”

  Pepper ushered her family out of the room, leaving Jaxson with his eyes locked on her phone. “I wonder if I get ESPN?”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Arriving in New Zealand was a whirl-wind experience for Tamara. The athletes were met at the airport by the event organizers, then whisked away to a welcome lunch put on by the hosts and sponsors. After nearly a full day on a plane, none of the athletes had been excited about the event, but photos needed to be taken, and sponsors needed to be pampered enough to keep the money ball rolling.

  Tamara was no exception to the rule. Reps from some of the big sponsors she’d always dreamed of attracting were eager to meet with her. All of them wished
her well and made mention that if she finished high in the rankings, she could be invited to the next stop on the tour. As much as she wanted to further her standings, she was too tired to think about it now, her feet had barely touched terra firma in the last twenty-four hours.

  “I hope we’re going to the hotel now,” she muttered to one of the event coordinators as they were climbing onto a shuttle bus. “I’m so tired.”

  “Just keep smiling for the camera.” A bald man with a lanyard around his neck and a heavy Scottish accent pointed to an empty seat. “We’ll get there soon enough. We have another stop to make first.”

  After another hour of meeting and greeting, they were finally allowed to go to the hotel. As she pulled her luggage through the automatic doors into the main lobby, looking for a valet, a screaming voice made her jump.

  “Oh, my god! It’s Tamara Grayson!”

  Tamara whirled around to see a group of young girls standing by a tall stone fountain.

  “Can we have your autograph?” they seemed to all ask at once as they ran to her side.

  “Of course,” she muttered with a standard smile on her face.

  Tamara posed for what felt like a million pictures and scribbled her name on lots of glossy pictures of her own smiling face.

  “Looks like your star is on the rise, Tamara,” one of her fellow American competitors observed as she walked by.

  “Thanks.” Her star might be on the rise, but her ass was dragging. The plane ride had been grueling and much to her chagrin, there’d been no Wi-Fi access, leaving practically everyone on board upset that they couldn’t get on social media. Usually, Tamara cared little for such things. Her father had hired a company to manage her social media presence and she’d rather read a book in her spare time than surf the internet. This trip had been different, however. Like everyone else, she’d suffered at the lack of connection, but not because she couldn’t get on Facebook. No, she was upset because she couldn’t communicate with Jaxson.

  Glancing at the clock, she tried to figure out if it was a good time to call Texas. With a nineteen-hour time difference… “Good grief.” She chewed her lip as she tried to do the math in her head. “If it’s three here, it’s ten am there…yesterday. I think.” Her mother had insisted she call the second she landed, but this was her first opportunity.