Every One Of Me

by Jessica Wilde

  Was I pathetic? Most men would probably say yes. After years of waiting, though, I wasn't about to pretend I was some macho jerk who didn't need to put myself out there. I wasn't in a position to be playing games and she wasn't in a position to be played with. If something happened on the way here, Benny would have found a way to contact me. She's coming, just concentrate.

  Twenty minutes passed before the shrill ring of the suite phone blasted through the room. I dove for it, forgetting everyone else crowding the room around me.

  "Hello?"

  "Hey, I found them, man. I guess there was a mix up with Tessa's luggage and they got stuck at the airport for a while. Both of their phones were dead and T was too stressed to really take a moment to call." A woman's voice in the background, which I assumed was Benny's, bit out a few choice words at Trevor which made him chuckle into the phone. "They just walked into the hotel and checked in. We are about to head up. See ya in a minute."

  He hung up before I could get a word in and I wanted to throttle him for it. I wanted to speak with Tess and hear that she was okay. Now, I had to wait even longer and I only had a few minutes before I had to be downstairs in the arena. I felt relief, though, knowing that she was finally here.

  I took a few deep breaths and tried to focus. It was difficult, but I got to the point where I was sure I could face her without overwhelming her with how worried I had been. The door opened a minute later and Trevor walked in with a shit eating grin on his face. Benny followed after him and was laughing at something he said.

  When I saw Tess, my heart nearly beat out of my chest and the noise in the room disappeared. She stepped into the room and slowly looked around at everyone standing around the suite. I watched her take in each person and saw her confidence fade little by little. She hated crowds like this and looked uncomfortable, but absolutely beautiful.

  Her long dark hair was braided on one side and pinned up into a messy bun in the back. Pieces of hair fell around her face and stuck out a little on the sides. She looked like she had a stressful trip and I felt guilty for putting her through that. Her cheeks flushed a little as she took in the rest of the room and I had to shift on the couch where I sat. When her eyes met mine, the breath was knocked out of my chest. Her chocolate caramel eyes sparkled and she smiled widely. I couldn't get to my feet fast enough.

  "You're here."

  Not the smartest thing that has ever come out of my mouth, but it was all I could come up with at the moment. A part of me really didn't think she would come.

  Benny started talking about the whole fiasco at the airport, but I couldn't force myself to pay attention. Tess didn't seem to be listening either and she kept her gaze on me, but her eyes roamed down as she took me in.

  I realized I didn't have my shirt on yet and she was staring at my chest and stomach. I felt a spike of pride for myself for staying in shape and let her stare a few seconds longer before I reached for my shirt lying on the coffee table and pulled it on. Everyone had stopped talking and all but Trevor and Benny were gawking at me and Tess.

  "Can everyone give us a few minutes?" I asked loudly.

  Coach started to protest along with half of the other people who were worried about making it downstairs in enough time to put down some money on the fight. When they didn't move to leave, I pressed a little harder, "Out, please."

  Everyone filed out of the room. Trevor and Benny were the last ones out and when he turned to close the door behind him, he gave me a nod. This wasn't a nod that guys give each other for good luck. No, this was a nod that a brother gives the guy, who is in love with his sister, warning him not to break her heart or he'll have to take care of things himself.

  Tess was still watching me and I stepped toward her as soon as the door shut. She stiffened only slightly, but didn't retreat, so I kept moving until I was right in front of her and could breathe in the smell of mint and rain she carried with her everywhere.

  Unable to help myself, I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and brushed my fingers across her jaw. Her skin was as soft as it looked and I wished I could rip the tape off my hands so I could feel more of her in my hand.

  "Damn tape," I muttered under my breath.

  She giggled softly, then a shiver ran down her body and made it impossible to hold back the groan that rumbled from my chest.

  "I'm glad you came, Tess."

  She smiled and closed her eyes as I tucked another strand of hair behind her other ear and cupped her face in my hands. "Me too," she breathed.

  I pressed closer to her until I could feel the heat radiating off of her.

  "Um, are y-you ready for the fight?" she stuttered and her eyelids drooped to half mast when my fingers dropped to her neck.

  I was getting ahead of myself, but I couldn't stop if I wanted to. I needed to focus on the upcoming fight, but all I could really focus on was the smoothness of her skin and the sound of her shallow breathing. The fight was nothing. She… she was everything.

  Her fingers clutched onto the front of my shirt over my stomach. I was dying to kiss her, but I didn't want to rush it. I wanted to savor every bit of her and I knew that someone would be bursting back into the room at any second so I gathered my control and leaned in to kiss her forehead instead.

  "I'm ready," I said roughly. "More than ready now that I know you are okay."

  She chuckled and shook her head. "Sorry about that. My bag was somehow lost between the check in and the plane."

  "Seriously?"

  "Yeah. I have nothing with me except my purse. They said they will call me when they find it, but until then…" She looked down at herself and shrugged. "This is all I got."

  I tried not to think about it, but the image of her sleeping in just the hotel robe or even in nothing at all invaded my mind. She must have realized what I was thinking about because she blushed and turned her face away.

  "God, I really want to kiss you right now," I whispered.

  Her chocolate eyes widened as she looked back at me. Her hands tightened on my shirt and I had to take a deep breath to keep from pressing against her. "Why don't you?" she asked softly.

  I was a little surprised by her response, but I wasn't about to complain. If she wanted me to kiss her, I was going to do it happily, but not right now. Not when I didn't have enough time to show her just how much I wanted her.

  I would need hours.

  "If I start to kiss you… I won't stop. I know what it's like to kiss those lips and I'm not about to overestimate my control right now."

  She gasped and closed her eyes as I moved my thumb across her full bottom lip. I pressed my forehead to hers and stayed there as long as I could, breathing her in.

  There was a loud knock on the door just then and someone on the other side shouted, "Come on, Mackenzie!"

  I took a reluctant step back and smiled at her, "Let's get this over with, shall we?" I kissed her forehead again and her fingers fell away from my shirt.

  I grasped one of her hands and pulled her out of the room with me. We stepped out into the hall and I was suddenly bombarded by my coach and a few others that were trying to pep me up. I squeezed her hand and winked at her as I was pulled away and led to the elevators.

  I looked over at Jake, the one guy on staff that truly knew what Tess meant to me, and gestured toward her and Benny. "Keep an eye on them for me, Jake."

  He nodded and moved to stand with the girls. Tess looked a little nervous, but I gave her one last wink and she relaxed a little more.

  "Stick with Jake, okay?" I called as I was dragged away.

  She nodded and waved at me before Benny wrapped her arm around her shoulders and whispered something in her ear. The last thing I saw before I was pulled around the corner was the blush on Tessa's face and her mouth gaping open at Benny.

  Trevor leaned into me and chuckled, "Benny's the reason why her luggage is missing."

  My head snapped over to look at him incredulously and he just laughed.

  "She wants to help you out
," he said with a shrug.

  Yeah, I was going to make sure Benny stuck around. At any cost.

  Chapter 14

  Tessa

  "You bitch!" I snapped at Benny. "How the hell could you do that?"

  Benny had just told me to thank her for the luggage problems and everything clicked in my mind. When we had gotten in line at the security gate, she immediately left me to go to the 'bathroom'. Apparently, she really went to the luggage desk and got my bag back. I wondered what had taken her so long and why she looked like she had just hit the jack pot when she got back in line with me.

  "I just thought it would help things along, that's all."

  "How do you figure that? You and I are sharing a room, so how is that going to do anything with Charlie?"

  She chuckled and shook her head, "Oh, my sweet little psycho. You still don't know me that well, do you?"

  She walked away, following the crowd that had dragged Charlie away from me.

  I looked up at Jake who was smiling widely with his arms folded across his chest. He was a very good looking man. Blonde hair that looked like the color could be labeled 'Hollywood', light blue eyes, tall and lean with a noticeable amount of muscles. He looked like someone that would definitely be hanging around with Charlie. You know? The 'Hot Guy Gang'. His smile never faltered even when I scowled at him. He seemed like a guy I could get along with and the flicker of humor in his eyes reminded me of Benny.

  "Can you believe that?" I asked, gesturing to where she had gone.

  He laughed and nodded quickly, "Yeah, actually. I would do the same thing if I were in her position."

  "What? Why? You don't even know me."

  He smiled and put his hand to the small of my back to begin leading me down the hall after Benny. "I may not know you, but I know what you are to Charlie."

  My brows shot up my forehead and my heart thumped wildly against my chest. "What do you mean?"

  "Did you know that I have been working with Charlie since the very beginning?" he asked.

  When I shook my head, he shrugged. "He is a tough one. Dedicated. Never let anyone talk him out of doing anything he wanted to do. I'll never forget the first day I met him." He led me to an elevator where Benny was holding the door for us and continued talking, "He came to the gym interested in training and the first thing I asked him was 'what makes you think this is the career for you?' and you know what he said to me?"

  I shrugged and glanced over at Benny who was listening intently with a grin. Her blonde curls bobbed when she nodded for him to go on.

  "I'll never forget it. He said 'The love of my life ran away and I need something to bury myself in until I can get her back'." He pressed the button for the lobby as if he hadn't just told me something that completely shifted the ground beneath me. "So if you don't mind me saying, it's an absolute pleasure to meet you, Tessa."

  I don't remember the rest of the elevator ride, but I do know that I spent a lot of it trying to forget how much I had actually hurt Charlie. Instead of losing his best friend, he lost… well, more. My fault.

  ***

  "I don't think I can take much more of this."

  Benny elbowed me in the ribs, "Oh come on, it's only been 30 seconds. This is great!"

  Great? Not so much. Impressive? Well, of course. Charlie was amazing at this whole fighting thing, and seeing him without his shirt, covered in sweat with his muscles bulging and strained… I might need to invest in a drool tray if I was going to continue watching these things. Plus, the flash of a tattoo on his shoulder was curious. I didn't notice it in the hotel room and I made a mental note to find out what it was.

  Yeah, the whole thing was great in a way, but seeing the other guy, who by the way looked like he could crush half the people in the stands with his thumb and then go to work on them, seeing him hitting Charlie… awful in so many ways.

  So yeah, I didn't think I could take much more after the first 30 seconds of the round. I mean, Charlie was seriously covered in sweat already and it wasn't like they fought for a few seconds and one of them suddenly won. It was a grueling amount of time filled with technique and concentration and whatever the hell else you want to call it. It looked harder than I thought it would be and for that, I admired Charlie a little more for taking on a sport like this. It definitely did well for his body and I think it helped to drown out a lot of other things that I now knew had been bothering him.

  I had watched him train, but it wasn't anything like this.

  "Come on, Charlie! Break his face in!"

  Yeah, that's Benny. She obviously enjoys this type of thing which won't help my case at all. Benny will push and shove until she gets us married, which at the moment, isn't freaking me out like it normally would have.

  DING! DING!

  "Oh, thank God!" I exclaimed and buried my face in my hands. They were shaking and tingling from how tightly I had clenched them together.

  "Looks like Charlie may have won that round. Wow! This is so exciting!" Benny shouted over me to Jake who looked like he was enjoying watching us watch the fight more than the actual fight.

  I looked back up to where Charlie was now sitting. His coach was squirting water in his mouth and some of it spilled onto his chest and ran a crooked line down to his abs where it was probably turning into a waterfall coming off of those ridges of muscle.

  I shifted my legs a little because, damn, the sight was making me ache. I kept staring until the water disappeared into the waistband of his shorts. Yeah, I was that close to him. When I glanced up to his face, he was watching me and his green eyes seemed almost black. Maybe Benny wouldn't need to push anything.

  "Holy shitballs! You are in so much trouble, T."

  I didn't even acknowledge her comment. I couldn't take my eyes off of him and he didn't seem to be listening to anything his team was yelling at him. When the bell rang, signaling the next round to start, he winked at me and stood to face his opponent. He may have been soaked because of perspiration, but I was now soaked in an entirely different area for an entirely different reason. Benny was right. I was in trouble, but I liked it. For once, I welcomed it.

  Jake nudged my arm when they started throwing punches and kicks again. I turned my head just enough to show him I was listening, but I could still see the fight.

  "The odds are against him for this fight, you know. The two of them are equally matched, but Jordan is fierce. He doesn't really think about who the other guy is, he kind of just turns into an animal."

  I rolled my eyes, "If this is supposed to make it easier to watch, it's not working. I can see the guy is a freaking monster."

  "I just thought you should know that Charlie is doing better than any of us thought he would, especially since he is slightly distracted," he shrugged and turned back to the fight.

  I kept my eyes on Charlie, but I didn't quite see him anymore. The worry crept up until it was nearly choking me and the breathing exercises I had learned from Dr. G felt like I was just making it worse. Benny saw me panic and wrapped her arm around my shoulders.

  "You know? Lydia would be a blast right now, so if a switch comes, keep your mind on her. Camryn would just be a total buzz kill, although… I would love to see what she has to say about all this." Benny waved her hand in the air as if she was conjuring up an image in front of my eyes. "She would probably strangle these two bitches behind us." She tilted her head, gesturing to the two bimbos in the bandana shirts sitting a row behind us and to the right. They did nothing but talk about how hot Charlie was and how they were planning on sticking around afterwards to 'chat'.

  I smiled cautiously at Benny's attempt to calm me and tried to swallow down the worry. I focused on Charlie again and saw that he had landed a few good blows, then the other guy, Jordan I guess his name was, did some kind of twirly kick that Charlie tried to evade. He wasn't fast enough this time, though, and the guy nailed him in the shoulder making him stumble to the side.

  Then he attacked.

  Jordan was on top of Charlie
throwing punch after punch and all of a sudden Charlie was on top throwing the same punches, then it looked like they were hugging.

  "Good God, I can't keep up with any of it. Who the hell is winning?"

  Benny shrugged and Jake just laughed beside me. Then the bell rang and the two sweaty men separated into their different corners.

  I watched the men around Charlie patch him up, squirt more water, press his face in awkward ways. His eyes were back on me and I wished he would concentrate because it felt like he was getting his ass kicked out there. I didn't want to blame myself for anything anymore, but if he lost, it would be hard not to.

  Then his eyes shifted over to the other corner where the Jordan guy was turned and sneering at me. Not a mean or hateful smile, but probably the creepiest one I had ever seen.

  "Ugh, I think maybe you should take a shower after that look, Tess. I feel dirty now," Benny said and shivered violently.

  I frowned at him and turned back to Charlie who looked like he wanted to strangle the guy. He was mad. He was standing before the starting bell rang and Jordan was prepared. He had obviously noticed Charlie watching me and wanted to tick him off a little bit.

  There was a blur of movement that I almost missed and then the Jordan guy was on his back, motionless with his mouth hanging open and Charlie standing over him. I couldn't see his face, but I figured he probably wasn't smiling.

  "Woooooo!" Benny shouted and jumped up and down.

  "What the hell?!" Jake laughed. "Knockout!"

  "Probably the hottest thing I've ever seen!" Benny said and reached across me to give Jake a high five.

  Next thing I knew, Trevor was running over to us and grabbed Benny and me to drag us with him. Charlie was already walking toward the back rooms with his head turned toward us making sure we were coming.

  Jordan was still unconscious in the ring with his whole brigade trying to wake him up and for a split second, I felt concern for him. Didn't stop me from following after Trevor, though.