Every One Of Me (18 page)

I wasn't so sure about that. I looked back to find a few
pairs of eyes, that looked anything but happy, following me out of the room and
I couldn't help but feel like I was going to cause him some trouble whether he
thought so or not.

We met up with the others at the hotel restaurant, which was
fancier than what I was dressed for, and Charlie sat close to me in the big
booth with his warm hand on my knee and drawing small circles with his thumb.

The words on the menu blurred together and I couldn't for
the life of me figure out what anyone around me was saying. My thoughts were on
Charlie, his hand, and the smile he kept giving me every time I glanced his
way.

"And you, Miss?"

I looked up and realized the waiter was waiting for me to
order. When the hell did he even get our drinks? My heart started pounding a
little harder as I felt the familiar hum in my head and that disconnection that
always made my stomach twist. Charlie squeezed my knee gently and I looked over
at him nervously.

"You okay?" he whispered so only I could hear him.

I just nodded, but the look in my eyes must have clued him
in that I wasn't.

"Can you give us another minute, please?" he asked
the waiter, who nodded and stepped over to the next table.

I looked around our table and saw Jake and Trevor talking
heatedly about the fight while Benny looked at me with concern. I took a deep
breath and a sip of water hoping my heart would slow down and my head would
clear.

"Do you want to just order room service and call it a
night, Tess? You've had a long day." Charlie had put his arm around my
shoulders and was speaking quietly so no attention would be drawn to us, which
I was extremely grateful for.

I was aware that I should call it a night and rest, but
tonight wasn't about me and I couldn't let myself be the one to ruin it.
"You did amazing tonight and I would feel awful if we missed out on
celebrating with everyone. I'll be okay, I just think your hand on my leg
really distracted me."

Benny heard me and snorted. "Maybe you
should
call it a night then," she whispered. Well, it wasn't so much a whisper
since Trevor's head snapped over to look at her. She just smiled and took a sip
of her wine.

"Are you sure, Tess?" Charlie asked when I turned
back to him. "I don't care about going out. The only person I care about
seeing right now is you."

God, the man sure did know how to make a girl swoon, or at
least feel like a million butterflies just took flight in her stomach. I nodded
at him with my best smile, "Let's at least have dinner and then we can go
from there. I'm pretty hungry."

He grinned, but I could tell he was unsure about staying. I
was pretty much holding my breath and doing whatever I could to keep myself
grounded for a little while longer. The waiter returned and I ordered the ribs
and baked potato. The full rack of ribs. That would keep me busy.

"I'll have the same," Charlie said and handed the
waiter our menus and grinned down at me. "Just in case one isn't
enough."

I slapped him on the shoulder and laughed. "You know me
well, Charlie."

His cheeks turned a light shade of pink and he started to
fidget with his glass of water. I wondered what he was thinking, but didn't get
a chance to ask. Jake started in on about a billion questions for Charlie about
the fight and if he thought it went well.

I tuned out a bit as I caught my breath and calmed down a
little more. Benny kept eyeing me from across the table, but I shook my head
just slightly, begging her to not say anything. When the boys were deep into
their conversation, she announced that we were heading to the ladies' room.
Charlie kissed my cheek before I stood and winked at me, then turned back to
the conversation.

Benny looped her arm through mine and practically dragged me
to the bathrooms. As soon as we were inside she held back while the only woman
in the room dried her hands and walked out, then she locked the door and
checked the stalls quickly.

I watched her with a confused look on my face until she
crossed her arms at her chest and popped her hip out, showing me she wasn't
going to take any lip.

"Okay, T. You are obviously having a moment, so spill
it."

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I don't
know what happened. I was so deep in thought, I didn't even remember ordering
drinks or anything."

"Seriously? I argued with you about whether or not you
should have any wine tonight and you looked at the list for like a year before
just ordering water."

My eyes widened and I shook my head, trying to remember.

"Holy shit! I think you made a switch, T! No way. It's
never happened that fast before. In and out like that."

I couldn't find any words and even if I could, they wouldn't
get passed the huge lump that was now in the middle of my throat.

"You weren't kidding. He pulled you out."

"What?" I was starting to hyperventilate and
wondered if I was going to faint right here on this bathroom floor that looked
shiny and clean, but I knew better.

She rolled her eyes and walked over to the sink and fixed
her hair in the mirror. "At first, I thought you were exaggerating about
Charlie bringing you back at your session. I thought maybe you were just
confused, but I couldn't be sure. Stranger things have happened. Now, I believe
it completely. I was right, babe. He was made for you." She washed her
hands and reapplied some lip gloss. "I thought for sure Lydia was going to
be here tonight when you switched on the plane, by the way."

That had been a complete disaster for me. I had been so
stressed out about seeing Charlie and thought I had fallen asleep. When we were
landing, Benny told me that Lydia made quite an impression on the stewardess.
The glare I got from her when we walked off the plane made me think otherwise.

She turned back to me and gave me a hug. "Now. Breathe.
We are going to go back out there and you aren't going to worry anymore because
you already know how tonight is going to go. Charlie isn't going to leave your
side and I, being of a great mind and body, just confirmed that he is pretty
much your talisman. Let's have fun!"

I nodded and took a final breath before I felt all the
tingling fade away. She was right. I had Charlie. "Okay. Yes. Let's do it.
I'm good now. I'm not going to worry about it. I'm going to be me. Just me, no
one else."

She didn't say anything more, just unlocked the door and
pulled me out with her arm looped through mine again. When we arrived back at
our table, the food was waiting and Jake and Trevor were halfway through their
plates while Charlie was sitting back watching me. He hadn't touched his food
yet.

"Aww, thanks for waiting, Charlie," Benny crooned,
then looked over at Jake and Trevor. "Jeez, boys. Don't forget that the
plate is inedible. I don't feel like taking a trip to the emergency room
tonight, so calm the hell down." Benny was giving Trevor a look that made
me burst out laughing.

I covered my mouth and shook my head, still laughing, as I
sat down and Charlie wrapped his arm around me. "Don't even try to stop
laughing, Tess, because it's the most beautiful thing in the world when it
happens."

My smile nearly split my face in half and God, did it feel
good.

Charlie

Pretty sure I would give up my right arm if it meant I could
read Tessa's mind. On a good day, I can read her like a book. She wears her
emotions on her sleeve and is just as bad as her mother at acting. Today has
been a good day, but for the life of me, I can't tell what she is thinking.

Maybe it's because I finally feel like she is letting things
happen between us and I never thought that would happen in the first place. I'm
in uncharted territory here and haven't the slightest clue what direction my
first step should be.

After finishing our meals, we all sat and talked for another
30 minutes before deciding to make our way over to a nearby club to dance. My
face was throbbing and my side ached. Trevor handed me a few Advil and a slap
on the back, which didn't help the pain. Hopefully, I could make it through the
night.

Tess wasn't into drinking and I was happy about that. I
didn't know what would happen, but having a clear head was probably best for
both of us. I didn't want her to do anything she might regret later.

We walked into the club and I immediately took her hand and
wove my fingers through hers. The place was packed tight with all kinds of
people and I didn't want to lose her in the chaos. She didn't look very
comfortable at first in that tight of a crowd, but Benny whispered something
into her ear, well more like shouted it just enough so she could hear her, and
Tessa's face changed completely. She looked like whatever was said to her was
some kind of epiphany. I was grateful to Benny for being the kind of friend
that knew what to say and what to do to bring her back down from wherever she
was when she got that distant look on her face.

Tess was always up for anything when we were younger, even
though she had a lot of the same worries she has now. She had never let that
stop her, though. Tonight, I could tell that she was fighting to be that same
girl and for some reason, that broke my heart.

She was perfect just the way she was.

We found a table in the back, far away from the bar, and settled
in. Benny and Trevor made their way to get their drinks while Jake hung back
with Tess and me. She sat close to me and kept her eyes on the crowd around us.
When I looked over at Jake, his eyes were on Tess, and boy did that bring out a
whole new set of emotions.

"Hey, Jake? How is Jennifer these days?" I asked
loudly. His head snapped over to look at me and when he saw the look on my
face, he knew he had been caught.

I couldn't blame him really. Tess was gorgeous, especially
tonight with her cheeks flushed and her dark hair falling around her face. The
skin of her neck looked softer than silk and it taunted me with every passing
second. That was no excuse, though. Jake knew from the beginning who Tess was.

"Oh, she uh, it didn't work out."

Her face turned sympathetic, "Were you two together for
very long?"

"Nah, just a few months. It never got too
serious."

Damn! One more reason to keep my eye on him. Tess and I may
not be exclusive right now, or even really in that kind of relationship
officially, but for God's sake, this wasn't high school anymore. She was off
limits to everyone else and no amount of 'official' was going to change that.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said to Jake who had the
nerve to look crestfallen.

"Yeah, man, that's too bad," I said.

"Thanks. You know? Sometimes things just don't work out
the way you want them to," he replied. He was looking at Tess, but I knew
where his mind was. I waited for him to meet my stare, but he never did. Sneaky
little bastard.

I really liked the guy. He was always good to me and was
always honest, but this? He lost points with this.

I wrapped my arm around Tessa's shoulders and moved close to
her ear. "You want to dance with me?"

She was watching the crowd again and her lips twitched into
a sly grin at my question. The music was loud and rhythmic and the pulse in my
chest matched its cadence watching the look on her face turn to excitement. She
nodded her head eagerly and started to stand.

I looked over at Jake and he was watching the crowd. Smart
man.

Tess placed her small hand in mine while I led her onto the
dance floor with my other hand on the small of her back. She had always loved
to dance. Whenever we had showed up to a party, she spent 90% of the night on
the dance floor and the other 10% trying to convince me to dance with her. That
was if she didn't have a boyfriend at the time. I never liked to dance, always
felt like an idiot.

Really, though, I didn't want Tess to know how much she
affected me and dancing with her would have been like a neon sign pointing
straight to the zipper of my jeans. Over the years, I realized how great it
would have been to have just gotten over myself and done it. Dancing was like
sex, if you fit together well and you moved together well… well? It worked out
in the end.

We made our way to the middle of the floor where Benny and
Trevor were now dancing happily and laughing at each other. Trevor was the
worst dancer I had ever seen, but Benny looked like she couldn't be happier
anywhere else but standing there watching him make a fool out of himself.
Interesting.

Tess stepped close to Benny and turned to face me as she
started to sway her hips and move to the beat of the music. She always took my
breath away when she moved like that. I spent a lot of parties trying to cover
myself up as I watched her dance with her friends and ended a lot of nights in
the bathroom by myself taking care of things.

Now? Holy shit, she was even sexier than before. She had
definitely learned some new moves and had no qualms about showing them to me.
Benny smiled my way and started to dance next to her while I just stood there
like a moron and watched Tess torture me.

I watched her hips move back and forth and up and down and I
felt my fingers twitching, urging me to reach out and touch her. Her hands
slowly combed through her hair until it fell loose around her shoulders as she
pulled it down.

I groaned at the sight of her and felt my heart beat kick up
another notch. She kept moving in front of me as I focused on her hips. Then, I
stupidly let my eyes move up to her chest. Her breasts were perfect and moved
in rhythm with her. I groaned again and licked my lips before moving my eyes to
her face. She was watching me watch her and had the sexiest most sultry smile
on her lips. I couldn't contain myself any longer and I stepped forward until
our bodies were pressed together and I rested my hands on her hips and started
to move with her. I couldn't tear my eyes away from hers. Her smile faded, but
she didn't look upset, she looked hungry and if my vision was correct, needy as
hell.