Kiss This (35 page)

“Like knowing a superhero’s identity?” she
joked.

Teague smiled, but answered, “Or the evil
villain.”

Camryn kept that thought with her all night
as she watched Teague try to avoid his brother for the forty
minutes he remained. Melanie was back in a conversation with Max
just before he left, but he seemed a little cooler towards her than
he’d been before. Camryn wasn’t sure if it was because of something
Teague said to him or not, but she was grateful for it.

Having Melanie mixed up with Teague’s
questionable family members was the last thing Camryn needed…

Chapter Thirty-One

“Oh my goodness,” Camryn exhaled, shaking
her blonde hair out. She hung the helmet on a handle like Teague
had done and followed his lead by shrugging out of her jacket.
“That was amazing,” she sighed.

Teague grinned and draped his jacket over
the back of the motorcycle. “Hell yeah it was. I’d take you wrapped
around me like that any day.”

“Hmm, it was kinda nice, wasn’t it?”

He came around the bike and put his hands on
her shoulders. “It was.”

She slid her arms around his waist and
kissed his lips for a minute. Then Teague sat against the
motorcycle, long legs out to prop himself up, and pulled Camryn to
sit her butt against him. He wrapped his arms around her and they
spent the next ten minutes talking softly and watching the sunset.
Teague rained kisses on her neck and face whenever he could, and
Camryn hugged his arms against her.

When her stomach growled, Teague laughed and
promised to get them some dinner. He straddled the bike, but Camryn
gave him a sexy smile when she straddled it with him, this time
facing him. She wrapped her legs around his hips and he pulled her
close for a lengthy kiss.

“Mmm, I think I might want to try this stunt
for real,” he said.

He went to turn the key and she pushed his
arm away, laughing. “No you won’t!”

When she slid her arms around his neck and
kissed him again, Teague started to get that same feeling he’d been
getting a lot lately. He removed his lips but remained close as he
took both hands to the sides of her face, softly rubbing her skin
with his thumbs. When he looked into her eyes, his chest started to
burn and it spread through his body in thick waves.

Heart pounding, he whispered, “I love you,
Camryn.” He swallowed as he took strands of her hair between his
fingers and focused his attention on it. “I know I’ve only known
you for a couple of months, but I’ve fallen pretty hard for you
and…” He made eye contact again. “I just wanted you to know…that
I’ve fallen in love.”

“Me, too,” she whispered. “I love you,
Teague.”

She pressed her lips against his. The way
she kissed him was proof enough, and Teague couldn’t imagine having
a better setting than this to finally tell her how he felt. His
heart had been about to bust from his chest if he didn’t say it out
loud. How he felt about Camryn was undeniably clear.

When they finally broke the kiss, Teague was
without words. This beautiful girl was the owner of his heart; the
first, and hopefully the last, to ever have that claim. She’d
captured a part of him the first day he saw her, and bit-by-bit he
was giving her the rest.

“So…you really don’t want to try a little
stunt with me?” he teased with a smile, still holding her close. “I
promise I’ll be safe.”

She laughed softly, nuzzled against his
neck. “I trust you, but I don’t really want the audience.”

He glanced around the parking lot at various
people coming and going. “Okay, another time.”

“Are you disappointed?” she seemed to tease
him back.

Kissing her cheek he said, “Doesn’t matter
because I love you, remember?”

She laughed good-naturedly. “Wow, you are
still clever as ever! Professing your love didn’t cost you a
testicle or anything?”

“Well if it did, I guess I know who’s got
it.”

She patted his chest and said, “I’d rather
have this instead.”

“You’ve already got it,” he replied softly,
holding her hand to his heart.

“I love you, Teague. Thank you for an
amazing day.”

***

“I’m starving,” Melanie groaned as she and
Camryn pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant together.

“Me too,” Camryn replied. She was enjoying a
girls day with just her sister, but she couldn’t help constantly
daydreaming about Teague’s very first “I love you” from last night.
Evidently the guy could turn her into a lovesick, easily distracted
mess.

She pointed her remote to the car to lock it
and noticed the group of guys that had been staring at them the
second they’d stepped out of the car. Camryn was positive they were
from the naval base, and while they pointed and nodded to the girls
as they piled out of two vehicles, she pretended not to see
them.

“Ooh, there’s a few—”

Melanie didn’t even get the sentence out
before Camryn jerked her forward. “Do not gain their favor, Mel.
I’m not in the mood to kick anyone’s ass tonight.”

“Good lord, Camryn. You have the man of your
dreams and you still have pent up sexual rage?”

She’d said “pent up sexual rage” extra loud,
tossing it over her shoulder flirtatiously. A few laughs and sounds
came from the guys behind them and Camryn rolled her eyes. And then
two of them started talking to Melanie as they all gathered in the
restaurant entry around the same time. Melanie was gladly sharing
names, too, and Camryn was ready to kill her.

“Camryn, you a little shy, honey pie?” one
of them chided.

“Oh good God,” Melanie groaned.

“
Honey pie
?” Camryn scoffed. “Are you
kidding me?”

“Um…?” The hostess was unsure of how many to
seat as she looked over the group of nine people filling up the
entry.

“I’m not your honey pie, nor would I want to
be,” Camryn told the guy. “And if you’re smart, you’ll take your
wolf pack to the other side of the restaurant. Two, please,” Camryn
told the confused hostess holding a stack of menus.

The guys got a good laugh with each other as
they watched the girls leave. Melanie slipped into a booth across
from Camryn and said, “Wow, bitchy much?”

“Yes. I get tired of you pimping me out as a
package deal.”

Melanie laughed but shook her head. “There’s
no need to be rude to people, Cam. It wouldn’t have hurt to talk to
them.”

“For what reason? I have a boyfriend,
Melanie. I don’t need to be picked up by guys and I don’t need you
tossing me out there like a charity case anymore. I’m comfortable
with someone now. Teague is…”

She didn’t finish the sentence as the
waitress set two waters in front of them.

“So tell me about that,” Melanie said,
diverting from the fact that she’d totally pissed off her
sister.

“About what?”

“Teague. What’s new with you guys lately.
Something seems different.”

Camryn opened her mouth to respond, but one
of the navy guys came up to the table and said, “Hey, we were
wondering if maybe you girls—”

“Go away, I’m talking to my sister,” Melanie
said with a hand up, not even looking at him.

Camryn watched his reaction, standing there
with his mouth open, looking between the two of them. His eyes
stopped at Camryn and all she did was shrug as she gauged his
reaction.

The guy turned around and walked away.

She looked at Melanie, who finally cracked a
little smile. “My big sister is more important,” she answered.
“See? I have balls too,” Melanie grinned. “It’s all I ever wanted—a
pair like my sister’s.”

Camryn stifled a laugh with her fist.
“Vaginas are way tougher than a pair of weak ass balls. And I love
you, Mel.”

“I love you, too,” she beamed with a
snicker. “Now back to Teague…”

The two spent over an hour at dinner, eating
and chatting about guys. They even discussed plans for the new
baby, and just plans in general about jobs and money and other
important things like where to live. Camryn was seriously debating
moving closer to Teague if he didn’t mind. And she’d be closer to
Sonja and other dance prospects. She’d miss Mimi and her studio,
but wasn’t going to cut out those opportunities entirely. Right now
her life was Melanie and Teague.

Not necessarily in that order.

As they got up to leave, some low catcalls
and wolf whistles ensued, and Camryn was pissed when the entire
group of guys left the restaurant at the same time they did. She
looped her arm through Melanie’s and said, “Please don’t encourage
them, okay?”

The girls moved outside, and to keep it
light, Melanie joked, “So I should stop wiggling my ass so
much?”

“I’m not kidding, Mel. You’ve given them
mixed signals. First you flirt and say something sexual right off
the bat, then you flirt some more, and then you blow one of them
off? I see determination steaming off a couple of them now. This
isn’t going to be pleasant so just get in the car and let me handle
it.”

“Oh good lord, Camryn,” Melanie hissed.
“Handle it? You’ve already got a plan?”

Camryn didn’t respond because the “honey
pie” guy decided to be an asshole again, impelling her into
tactical defense mode.

“So you two hotties come as a package deal?”
he chuckled. “Heaven lost a pair of sexy angels. We’ll look after
you.”

Camryn turned around as they got to her car,
just as her phone rang. It was Teague.

“Answer the phone, Cam,” Melanie told her,
glancing at the caller ID. “You know why you need to.”

Camryn sighed, just as the dipshit behind
her kept up with his asinine attempts to gain her attention. Her
lack of tolerance for such disrespect was urging her to wage war on
him, but Melanie was right. Teague’s timing was perfect, and if she
didn’t answer the phone, she was sure she would end up breaking
this guy’s nose against her car.

“Try finding a base skank that will squeal
with delight when you call her honey pie,” she told the guy as she
got in her car. “I would rather throw up.”

She shut the door but could hear his retort.
It was puke-worthy and she was glad she answered the phone when she
did. She might have climbed out of the car if it hadn’t been for
Teague greeting her with, “Hey, beautiful.”

“Perfect timing, Teague,” Melanie voiced
loudly so he could hear. “She’s about to kick some guy’s ass.”

“What?” Teague replied instantly. “Camryn,
are you two okay? What’s going on?”

“It’s nothing,” she answered, glaring at
Melanie’s dramatic fuss. “Some guy just followed us to the car, but
nothing happened.”

“Where the fuck are you? Is he still
there?”

The asshole was still outside her car but
kind of walking away when his buddy told him to back off. He
flipped her off as she put the car in gear and pulled away.

“We’re on our way to your place, so I’ll see
you in a few,” she told him.

“Uh, yeah. Okay. Shit, Camryn. I love you,
hon.”

She smiled as she pulled onto the street. “I
love you, too.”

When she hung up, Melanie smiled at her.
Camryn knew it was because of hearing those words come out of her
mouth, but neither of them said anything about it and they drove
with just the sound of the radio playing in the car.

Chapter Thirty-Two

The second she pulled onto Teague’s street,
she saw his truck, and the second her car pulled in next to it, he
popped up from sitting on the front porch and practically stormed
the driver’s door.

“I start telling you I love you and now
you’ve already got me shitting my pants over other things,” he
said, pulling her out of the car and into his arms.

She laughed against his chest and squeezed
him tighter. “There will be no shitting of pants, Teague. And I had
it handled.”

“A girl shouldn’t even have to be in a
situation like that. It fucking pisses me off.”

“I see that, but I know how to take care of
myself. I grew up in a gym full of men.”

“I just don’t want anything to come from it.
Kellie slapped a guy once and then he found her car later and
slashed her tires.”

“Camryn doesn’t ‘slap’ people,” Melanie
informed him on her way to the house.

Teague held Camryn’s face in his hands and
sighed. “Do you seriously have guys willing to go all rapist on you
just because you turn them down?”

“No, not at all. It’s Melanie’s fault, and
yes I’m going to blame it on my sister for starting it all. I need
to have a serious talk with her. But there was something about that
guy that was off and I could see it right away. And yes, I didn’t
help the situation by wanting to kick his ass.”

“Jesus, Cam. I might’ve killed him if I saw
him follow you to your car.”

“Well it’s over with and we’re fine.”

Teague took a deep breath but shook his
head. “Yeah. Okay.” He took Camryn’s hand as they walked to the
front door and asked, “Wanna take a bath with me?”

“Um, hell yeah?” she smiled.

“Good, ‘cause there’s something I want to
talk to you about.”

Camryn’s heart thumped harder. But she got a
call from Brandon as they entered the house and didn’t have a
chance to worry. He was calling to check up on her but he mainly
wanted to make sure she was still going to make it to the cemetery
for Zach’s birthday.

Once they confirmed their plans, Brandon
said, “Well, I’ll let you go. Playing ball with the guys in a few.
I love you, kid. Talk to you soon.”

“Okay.”

She hung up and frowned, not realizing that
Teague was leaning against the bathroom door until he asked,
“Everything okay?”

She looked up and shrugged. “I don’t know.
Just talking about Zach’s birthday.”

He raised an eyebrow. “When’s that?”

Camryn stood from the bed and answered,
“February 11
^th
. We usually meet at his grave and then go
out to breakfast. But this year I might try to avoid his
parents.”