Every One Of Me (17 page)

"If you think I have problems, they don't hold a candle
to hers. Don't even think about it. She likes to flirt, but that doesn't mean
you need to flirt back," she chided.

It shocked me that she would feel the need to talk me out of
doing anything with Benny. Benny was not the woman for me.

"You have no reason to be jealous, Tess," I said
with a knowing smile.

"I'm not jealous," she scoffed.

"You should be," Benny shouted from the kitchen,
which then made Sarah laugh.

Tess rolled her eyes again and the tightness down below
became almost unbearable. She was adorable when she did that. She was adorable
when she gave Benny the middle finger, too.

"I'm not jealous," she repeated as if she was
talking herself into believing it.

I reached out and wrapped my hands around her waist and
pulled her in for a hug. Her arms automatically wrapped around my neck and I
held her against my chest, being extra careful of the not so subtle bulge that
was just an inch away from pressing against her. I swear, it took every ounce
of strength I had to keep that small distance between us.

"I'm the one that's jealous," I muttered into her
hair. "She gets the next twenty four hours with you while I'll be clear
across the country wondering what you are doing every minute of the day."

Benny had quietly made her way back to the front door and
was watching us with her arms folded across her chest, "Pillow fights and
panties, that's all you need to think about," she said loudly.

Tess jumped at how close Benny's voice was and pulled out of
my arms, blushing a deep shade of red that I found out later would cause a
whole new set of fantasies to form in my mind… along with the one Benny had
just suggested.

"Benny!" she shouted and reached out to punch her
friend in the arm, but was evaded at the last second. She giggled, carefree and
happy, and the emptiness I felt when she pulled out of our hug filled with
hope. Benny was good for her and I immediately formed a plan to keep her close
to Tess at any cost.

After saying goodbye and dragging Trevor to the car, the
worry had started to poke and prod at me. Would she really come? Would she
change her mind and decide she wanted nothing to do with me? Would she finally
realize I wasn't going anywhere and let me take care of her without being
afraid of what it would do to me?

Honestly, I felt emasculated every time I thought about her
being done with me. Worrying wasn't going to help. I wasn't going to let her
have nothing to do with me. Trevor said she wanted to wait so she wouldn't
distract me, but not having her near me was a distraction in itself. Now,
knowing the plane had landed, but she wasn't with me, I lost any hope of
concentration.

"Where the hell are they?" I snapped.

Trevor slapped me on the back, "Don't worry too much,
man. I'll find them."

"How? Neither one of them are answering their phone.
What if something happened?"

Trevor shook his head and ran a hand down his stubbly face,
"I'm sure they are fine. I don't think anyone would mess with Benny
anyway. You get set up, we have thirty minutes before we need to head
downstairs. I'll be back with some information, just focus for now,
alright?"

"I should have made her come with me," I mumbled.

"Yeah, then you would have a whole new set of problems.
Tess would have ripped you a new one if you forced her to do anything."

He was right, so I just nodded and fell back onto the couch
as he walked out the door. Coach and his two assistants fell into the pre-fight
routine I had been through hundreds of times before. They started taping my
hands and going over technique and everything else I already knew I had to do
in order to win. I didn't care to listen to it all over again. I imagined Tess
walking through the door at any minute and couldn't for the life of me take my eyes
off said door.

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.

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.

My heart was pumping rapidly and I felt dizzy with
excitement. The crowd around us blurred together as we ran to where Charlie was
waiting for us. Benny and Trevor ran passed him giving him high fives and congratulations.
Jake gave him a slap on the back and a job well done.

By the time I got to him, he was ignoring everyone else and
looking down at me with heavy breaths. He was sweaty and bruised and smiling.
Absolutely glorious.

"You were incredible out there, Charlie," I said
loudly so he could hear me over the cheers and shouts from the crowd and his
team.

He didn't say anything, but his smile grew a little wider
and his eyes a little darker. His arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me to
his side. He kissed the top of my head and muttered, "Are you okay?"

I nodded and took a deep breath. At first, I thought he
would smell like all sweaty men smelled, sweaty and gross. Not Charlie. He
smelled like him with only a hint of that sweaty smell. It made my head swim
and I was grateful he had his arm around me because walking was not going to be
easy for me.

We followed after Benny and Trevor to the back room where he
could wind down. He kissed my forehead before he was pulled away from me to
unwrap his hands and get his cuts and bruises taken care of. His kiss had the
same effect on me as it did before the fight. His lips were soft and warm and
even though it was a place as regular as my forehead, I felt it in my whole
body.

Benny was watching me from across the room where she was
talking to Jake and Trevor. She winked my way and I gave her a desperate look.
What was I supposed to do now? The fight was over, there was nothing to spend
our time doing away from each other. Now was the time to pull up my big girl panties
and go forward with the decision I had made.

Just let it happen.

After about an hour and a half of talking about the fight
and breaking down everything Charlie did right and wrong, he looked like he was
ready to fall over.

Benny and Trevor and Jake left to get ready to go out.
Apparently we were all going to have a late dinner and celebrate. I had no
clothing options, so there was no need for me to leave with them. My dark jeans
and fancy green blouse were going to have to do wherever we ended up.

I kept reminding myself to just act normal and to stop being
so nervous about spending time with Charlie. Now more than ever, I knew what I
wanted. The ache between my legs and the rush of blood in my head was enough to
confirm that every time he glanced over at me.

I didn't realize I was staring at the wall until the voice
behind me pulled me out of my thoughts.

"You ready to get out of here?"

I turned to those bright green eyes and saw the anticipation
he was feeling. He had taken a quick shower and dressed in jeans and a black
t-shirt and even with the bruises on his face and the small cut above his
eyebrow, he was gorgeous. I stared at him for a few seconds more before his
smile started to look unsure and I saw the Charlie from my past. The teenage
boy who always took care of me and always did whatever it took to make me
happy. How stupid I was to not realize what we already had and both ignored.

"Yeah, I am," I said breathlessly.

He gently grasped my hand and weaved his fingers through
mine, then pulled me out the door with his team murmuring complaints behind us.

"Are you going to get into trouble for leaving with
me?"

His laugh was humorless and he shook his head, "No,
they work for
me
. They just like to give me a hard time."