Every One Of Me (32 page)

I gathered what control I could and retreated the short, yet
grueling, journey back through the tightness of her heat, then thrust forward,
finding that perfect place inside of her again. She cried out as her orgasm
ripped through her body and her body gripped me so flawlessly. One last
faltering thrust was the last I could give before my own orgasm broke through.

Her mouth hovered over mine, sharing the same breaths, as I
poured myself inside of her coming face to face with the forces that drove a
man to his knees.

God, I loved being that man.

Tessa

Charlie had nearly begged me to go with him to the stadium.
In fact, he had me dragged out to the car where Jake and his new coach, Johnny,
were waiting for us, before I convinced him to go ahead without me and I would
wait and go with Benny and Trevor a couple hours later. I didn't want to
distract him.

That's the excuse I gave him which he thought was bullshit,
which it was, but I couldn't tell him that I was worried about switching. I had
felt the disconnection shortly after our very long shower and I rushed to write
what I needed in my journal before I lost myself.

There were times when I didn't remember a switch with Camryn
or Lydia. The co-consciousness I thought I had reigned in was not consistent
and it was extremely frustrating. The journal helped, but I knew there were
pieces missing that could easily help me understand the girls a little better.

Benny kept lecturing me about being patient and that this
wasn't going to smooth out overnight, or really over the next year, probably. I
knew that, but my impatience was stemmed from my love for Charlie. He kept
reminding me that he could handle it, but that wasn't enough. I needed Jessi on
board.

I was sitting in the living room, closing my journal, when
Benny walked in the door. Something Charlie had already talked to her about,
but she chose to ignore when she knew he wasn't home. I didn't even try to stop
her. It was no use.

"You ready?" she asked as she skipped into the
room. She was furious about Charlie giving up the fighting. Something about not
getting her fix of sweaty, muscled men. Trevor was working on that, though.

"Yeah, just finishing up a few things."

"Do I need to ask who you are?"

I smiled at the familiar question, the one that had kept me
grounded for so long. "No. It's me."

Her eyes narrowed and her arms folded firmly across her
chest in disagreement. "Honestly?"

I dropped my head in my hands and tried to rub away the
detachment that was growing stronger by the minute. "I don't know."

"Shit. You are going to miss the fight?"

"I think so."

I was disappointed, but at the same time, hopeful that I
wouldn't have to watch Charlie get hurt tonight. I loved watching him fight,
but the nausea that clawed to the surface when his opponent found a way through
his careful evasion, was too much for me to take in. Especially tonight. The
only thing that kept me from fully embracing that hope was the question of
whether or not Jessi would make an appearance.

"Please, Benny. Don't let me out of your sight
tonight."

She plopped down onto the couch beside me and leaned forward
with her elbows on her knees. "I'll do my best, T. Jake is going to keep
watch on you, too, I'm sure."

Panic forced a lump to form in my throat. "I don't
think that's a good idea.

"Don't worry. He knows that Charlie will have his nuts
if he touches you. Plus, I think he is dating some chick Johnny introduced him
to."

My relief was short lived by her next words.

"I don't think she is coming, though, so maybe let me
take over the seating arrangements, yeah?"

"Aaahhh," I growled. "Maybe I should just
stay home."

"HA! Yeah right. That would make things so much worse,
T. Plus, if you stay, I'll just tell Charlie that Jessi had a date which will,
therefore, send him running home to you anyway and missing the fight."

"Fine! But I swear to God, if anything bad happens
tonight, I am holding
you
personally responsible… and I'll tell Trevor
about your week long 'holiday' from the facility."

She gasped, "You wouldn't dare!"

I narrowed my eyes at her in a dare to doubt me. "I
would."

During that first three months after Benny and I had met,
she had decided to 'sneak out' and go have some fun. She had admitted herself
in so there really was no need for her to pretend that she was an escaped
mental patient, but she said it added to the thrill. During that week that she
was gone, she went dark and ended up in a lot of trouble. She didn't give me
all the details, but I do know that she ended up on prime time news channels
with her crazy looking mug shot shining for all of Boston to see.

I have no idea who bailed her out of jail and cleaned her
up, but whoever it was, she owed big time.

"Touché," she said proudly and stood from the
couch. "Let's go then. Mom is coming anyway, so I have back up."

"She's coming? I thought she didn't want to."

"She didn't, but I guess Charlie convinced her to
come."

Weird.
She had told me plenty of times that she
supported Charlie completely, but wouldn't watch him get beat up if she was
paid a million dollars. I guess she had as hard of a time saying no to him as I
did.

"Alright then. Let's get out of here before I lock
myself in the bathroom."

The drive was short. Too short. Not enough time for me to
get my thoughts straight, and by the time we parked in the underground garage,
a building over from the stadium, I was a mess.

Benny and Mom flanked me on each side, holding me steady as
we made the walk to the entrance.

I didn't get to see the inside, though.

***

Charlie

"What do you mean Tess isn't coming?" I shouted
after Trevor relayed the message from Benny that he received shortly after they
had taken their seats.

"Umm, well, she's heeerre, but not
here.
"
He looked nervous, and he should be

"Who is it, Trevor?"

I didn't mind so much that Tess had switched. She was
probably a little happy about it as long as she didn't remember the fight
afterwards, but the fear that the switch was Jessi, who still hadn't given any
indication that she was not going to find some guy…

God, I couldn't even think about it without wanting to put
my fist through something.

"Hey, calm down, man. Benny and my mom are sticking
with her and I already talked to Jake. He's going to make sure they all stay in
their seats and will keep anyone else away from them."

"Jake? You should probably tell Jake that includes
him.
"

Trevor shook his head while I paced back and forth, trying
not to rip the door off its hinges and drag Jessi back here to tie her to the
bathroom sink.

"Charlie, she's not the same girl she says she is.
Benny thinks she might be coming along."

He was right. According to Tess and Benny, Jessi had learned
to accept her situation and was making an effort to come to an understanding
with Tess, which was great. Marvelous, really, but she hadn't come to any kind
of understanding with
me
, yet.

It's selfish, I know, but give me a little credit. Tess was
a woman to tie yourself down with. Which is what I had planned to do after the
fight. Sarah was here for that reason only. It took some convincing, but after
I told her my plan, she had no excuse good enough.

Johnny had the ring in his pocket, ready to hand to me when
the time was right. I had planned this for a week. Made sure I had the right
words and waited for the right time to ask Tess to marry me.

But Tess wasn't really here.

"Hey! Snap out of it, Charlie, and focus. You don't
want to get your ass handed to you out there with her watching. That would kill
Tess when she finds out and believe me, she will find out."

I turned to the heavy bag hanging from the ceiling and
buried my thoughts with the force of my punches. Johnny walked in a minute
later and gave me a warning glare to not exhaust myself.

"If Jessi would just trust me, maybe she could… I don't
know," I grunted and started pacing again.

"Maybe that's the problem. She doesn't trust you. You
don't trust
her
," he said matter-of-factly. "Give her the
benefit of the doubt."

He was right again and it was really starting to bug me.
"When did you get so wise with relationships?"

He shrugged and turned to leave, "When I found a real
one."

"Charlie!"

I whipped around at the sound of Benny's breathless voice
coming from the open door. It looked like she had sprinted back here, she also
looked like she was up to no good.

"I have the best fucking idea ever!"

Sometimes 'no good' was the only option.

***

This wasn't going to work because it was ludicrous. It was
foolish and immature, but it made sense. After the fight, Benny was going to
bring Jessi back, but Trevor was going to bring a couple girls back, too.

"I don't want to do this, B. Tess isn't going to like
this," Trevor muttered and ran a hand through his hair.

"Since when do you do anything Tess likes?"

"True."

"It's going to work. Jessi is already looking a little
jealous about all of the people cheering for you. There are girls behind us
that have done nothing but talk about you, Charlie, and she looks like she's
ready to pull a Camryn."

I had been sitting on the couch, listening to her tell me
her ridiculous idea, with my head in my taped hands and my knee bouncing a mile
a minute.

"We shouldn't even be discussing this. He needs to
focus on the fight right now."

"Alright, just leave everything to me."

Before I could stop her and tell her there wasn't a chance
in hell that I would leave it all to her, she was gone.

"Thirty minutes," Johnny called from the hall.

I looked over at Trevor who seemed like he was about to
vomit. He didn't like this anymore than I did.

"I trust her, Charlie. I just don't want my sister
hurt."

And I did? What if this whole thing backfired? The chance of
it actually working was slim to none. Bringing in girls that were going to try
to hang all over me and hoping that Jessi got jealous enough to admit that she
felt something for me… it was desperate.

I just nodded, knowing there was no way for me to reassure
him. He knew how much I loved Tess, but I was also in a position where I had no
control whatsoever. A man does get desperate once in a while.

"Maybe just leave me alone for a while. I need to get
my head straight," I bit out. I didn't want to be so harsh, but I was
using all of my energy to stay in this stuffy room and not throw everything
that I had worked for away.

"Good luck," he mumbled and shut the door behind
him.

I spent the next 15 minutes inside my head, sorting out the
worries I didn't need to hold on to. By the time my team came to haul me to the
ring, I was focused enough to get myself through the fight. My eyes roamed over
the front row next to my corner and I saw Benny and Sarah clapping and cheering
for me. Jessi's head was turned and she was talking to Jake who was sitting on
her other side.

I saw red until she turned her head and found me. She
grinned at me and damn if it didn't make me puff out my chest like a freaking
animal. She felt
something
for me, even if it was just some kind of
close friendship or pride. We lived together, after all, so she saw me more
often than not. After what Tess had told me this morning, there was hope.

The crowd cheered as I made my way into the ring and waited
for the other guy. I was fighting a guy who had only been in the circuit for
two years, but hadn't lost a fight, yet. He was younger than me, but just as
big and from what I had seen and heard, he could pack quite the right hook.

Didn't matter, though. Whether or not I won this fight had
no effect on what happened in the near future. I had enough money put away to
live comfortably for a long time and that included my plans to open up my own
training center. I just needed to get this over with and move on.

I wouldn't stop training and staying in shape and maybe I
could take the occasional fight for a little extra money and the thrill of
doing it, but for now, my focus was Tess. I know she wanted to go to school.
She didn't get the chance before and she wasn't the type of person to just sit
back and be taken care of. I was going to give her the chance to do whatever
she wanted. She deserved to live a normal life.

The guy on the microphone announced my opponent. 'The
Ripper'. Frankie 'The Ripper' Martelli. I hadn't told Tess his name and I felt
guilty for the relief I felt knowing she still hadn't heard it. She wouldn't
have been able to keep herself calm. I glanced over to where she sat… where
Jessi sat, and saw her watching me carefully, but her gaze was almost blank. It
was more of a pensive stare. She was thinking about something and looked like
whatever it was, ticked her off. I glanced over at Benny who had her hand over
her mouth and an amused look in her eyes. She saw my confusion and pointed her
thumb to the row behind them.

Two women sitting behind them, dressed for more of a swim
party than a fight, were glaring at the back of my girl's head. I glanced back
at Jessi and she had slouched back in her chair with her arms crossing over her
chest and an angry expression. Benny leaned over and said something to her that
made her glance up at me and shift in her seat.

Our gazes locked and her blue eyes hooded. She wanted me, I
know she did, so what happened next was like a right hook to the face.

She leaned over, closer to Jake, and muttered something in
his ear. He smiled at whatever it was she had said and then shook his head and
started a conversation with her. I wanted to jump down there and throw him out
of the chair and across the arena. He was clearly flirting with her and I saw
red again when I realized she was flirting back.