Kiss This (37 page)

Don scrunched up his face with confusion.
“Huh? I never taught him to say that.”

“No? Because he says it all the time.”

He slowly shrugged. “Sorry, wasn’t m— Hey,
you mean he says ‘hey
Patty’
?”

Camryn raised her eyebrows. “What?”

Don laughed, and it was the first time the
girls had ever heard that sound come out of him. “My ex is named
Patty,” he informed them. “I taught him to say ‘hey Patty’ for
her
. I hate the bitch, that’s why I got rid of the bird.
Couldn’t stand hearing him say her damn name all the time.”

Camryn could only stare at him for a second,
and when she glanced back at Melanie, they busted up laughing.
“Good lord, I’ve been running an extra two miles a week ever since
we got him,” Camryn joked.

Don had another good chuckle and shook his
head. “Hey, sorry about that. But that
is
kinda funny.”

Camryn smiled good-naturedly and nodded.
“Yeah, it is. Okay Don, try not to be a prick to your new
neighbors, whoever they are.”

He smirked at her without a response, but
couldn’t help checking out her ass when she turned around. Teague
caught him in the act and gave him a look that caused Don to make a
quick exit.

***

“Sometimes I feel like he’s too good to be
true. He’s just… God, I can’t believe I’m saying this to my uncle
but… He’s the total package. He’s sexy as hell. His voice is… I
can’t even describe it. And when he kisses me…”

Camryn paused for a moment, testing her own
reaction. Kissing Teague had finalized it all. She’d promised
herself she wouldn’t kiss a man unless she was in love with him,
and if it hadn’t been for those butterflies she always felt when
she was around him, she probably would have talked herself out of
her interest. Her physical attraction to him had bagged her
instantly, but the other things about him eventually won her
heart.

“And that’s just the beginning,” she added.
“He’s really sweet and thoughtful, easy going, patient, forgiving,
makes me laugh all the time and…”

Camryn finally looked at Tim only to find he
was grinning pretty big.

“I know, it’s pathetic, right?” she
chuckled. She hit the bag a few more times as he held it for her
and then she stopped. “Was I this way with Zach?” she asked for
some reason. It just came out without her actually thinking about
it, but she waited for an answer anyways.

“Not really,” he replied. “I mean you adored
the hell out of him, that was obvious, but you never really talked
to me about stuff like that. The only conversations you and I had
about boys was me grilling you about the rules and questioning you
about how you were treated. And, well, you know… Other stuff.”

Camryn laughed out loud. “Yeah, that is
still a sex talk I will never forget.”

“Hey, it was so good you used it on Melanie,
too.”

“Only she was horrified because she knew I
really would do harm to a guy’s junk.”

Tim laughed. “Well what has changed?” he
winked at her.

“Not much,” she grunted, hitting the bag
again. Tim worked with her for another ten minutes before she
checked the clock. “I should probably clean up.”

“Why, so you don’t look disgusting when your
man drops by?”

“Something like that,” she smiled. She left
for the locker rooms to shower up and change her clothes. Her
boyfriend really was coming to her uncle’s gym to meet him. It’d
been a couple weeks since she moved in with Teague and things were
going really well. She was more comfortable with life than she’d
ever been, she and Teague both had work that kept them employed,
and Melanie seemed to be happy as well.

Now Camryn was back in Fresno for a friend’s
wedding. It was just going to be a small ceremony and a simple
party afterwards, but she and Melanie were staying with Tim for a
couple days and she was already missing her man.

Camryn was sitting in the office when Teague
stepped through the doors. She couldn’t help the huge smile that
spread across her face, especially when Teague did a quick sweep
across the gym looking for her, and then returned her smile when he
saw her through the office windows.

“Hey, handsome,” she said, stepping out the
door. She slid her arms around his waist and squeezed him
tight.

Teague pressed his mouth to hers and kissed
her firmly, even though there were a dozen people watching them.
Then Tim approached first and said, “I’m hoping you’re Teague and
not just another random guy she’s kissing today.”

Teague smiled at the tease and shook his
outstretched hand. “Yeah, I’m Teague.”

“I’m Tim. Nice to meet you. From the things
I’ve heard about you, I was beginning to wonder if you’re real.
This girl is in la-la land,” he chuckled, nudging Camryn. He
thought he’d embarrass her but she only shrugged.

“Yeah, pretty much,” she agreed.

“Okay, Camryn,” a deep voice called from
behind her. She didn’t even have to turn around to see who it was,
but she did anyways and smiled, ready for whatever James had to
dish out. “This is the guy I gotta fight for you?” he asked, his
dark eyes looking Teague up and down as he joined their group.

Camryn noticed that Teague assessed James
the same way. They were about the same height and build, and
because James was in just a pair of sparring shorts, the physical
appraisal was an easy one. But you could never judge a guy’s
fighting ability just by looking at his build.

“Back off, James,” Camryn warned
tolerantly.

“Hey, I’m just messin’,” he laughed, holding
up his hands. He looked at Teague again and said, “But seriously,
want me to teach you a few things so you can protect my girl if you
need to? She gets herself in a lot of trouble.”

“Quit being an ass,” Camryn told him, but at
the same time, she could feel Teague’s hand tighten against her
hip.

“Sure, maybe I’ll let you ‘teach’ me a few
things,” Teague replied with casual sarcasm. “My formal training
has been minimal.”

James looked both surprised and impressed.
“Ah, a scrapper, huh? Cool, cool,” he nodded eagerly. “Let’s hit
the cage,” he motioned.

“No, let’s not,” Camryn said firmly, holding
on to Teague’s arm. “I thought the three of us were going to
dinner?” She even looked at Tim for backup, but knowing her uncle
had the blood of a fighter, he seemed too curious to let it go.

“I’ll monitor if you fellas want to tangle a
bit,” Tim shrugged.

“You’re not helping,” Camryn told him.

He gave her a firm look. “This is my gym,
sweetie. I don’t let shit happen here.”

She bit back a nasty retort. What was
happening
was
shit, but Tim only liked to consider it to be
“friendly competition.” She turned to Teague and said, “James is an
MMA fighter, hon. That’s what he’s challenging you to.”

Teague smiled and kissed the side of her
face. “I know, babe. I can tell.” And with that, he made a trip to
his truck for a pair of shorts, and then he was in an octagon with
James “The Terminator” Tremont.

Camryn had never felt so uncomfortable
watching a match in her uncle’s gym, which was strange. She’d grown
up here watching all these fighters take each other on—whether it
was boxing or MMA—and it had been fine. But she didn’t like this
particular matchup.

“You gotta let the boys have fun,” Tim told
her, noticing how upset she was. “I won’t let anything happen to
him.”

“James or Teague?” she asked, knowing he was
talking about Teague.

She knew how good James was—he’d been
training in MMA for ten years and Camryn wasn’t sure how much of an
advantage he held because of it—but she also knew her man. Because
of his job, Teague had been involved in all kinds of physical
training, from boxing and martial arts to any other kind of
aggressive sport. He definitely wasn’t a sissy, not when your
career consisted of constantly risking the comfort of your own
body. But it was egos that she was worried about. Their pride could
very well be what determines the “fun” of the match.

The beginning of the match was pretty
harmless. The two guys circled each other and felt the other out.
There were a few movements to test reactions, and a little bit of
light contact. But Camryn could tell the second the mood shifted
when James’s contact to Teague’s ribs was a little rough, and there
were audible reactions from the spectators that had now gathered
around the cage.

“Oh good lord,” Camryn murmured.

She was watching Teague carefully, and
besides a tiny little smile at the corner of his mouth, he hadn’t
reacted to James’s challenge. After a few more circles around each
other, Teague set up a couple of moves that James blocked easily,
but even Camryn could see what was coming next. He clocked James
right in the face. Hard. It stunned him for a second, but playtime
was now over.

James came at him twice as hard, but his
actions only brought him to the floor when Teague let himself get
hit once just so he could get an arm behind his opponent to take
him down. James went down swinging, but Teague had him wrapped up
good with his arm to the back of his neck. Normally a guy would be
wailing on an opponent in this position, but Teague clearly wasn’t
out to hurt James. He was in full out wrestling mode right now and
had James locked up good.

Teague actually let him go, and they both
got to their feet.

James smiled and said, “A wrestler, huh?
Well that can only get you so far, pretty boy. You don’t have to be
afraid to hit me, you know.”

“I’m not,” Teague replied coolly.

“I think you are,” James chuckled. “You’re
afraid if you pound on me, I’ll pound on you even harder.”

“That’s the name of the game, isn’t it?”
Teague smiled.

James laughed again, but Camryn knew him
well. Teague had just royally pissed him off and this was no
friendly fight anymore.

“It’s gonna go downhill from here,” Camryn
said when Tim was right in front of her. He was on the mat with the
guys to officiate, but it didn’t ease her worries. She was sure Tim
heard her but he didn’t respond. How long he was going to let them
“play” might be answered pretty soon.

Sure enough, James came at Teague
aggressively, with a series of punches and kicks that were mostly
blocked, but not all of them. Teague responded with the same, and
then the two men were going at it like a couple of rabid dogs. If
there were people in the gym that hadn’t been watching the fight
from the start, they surely were now.

Camryn thought Tim would have called the
match a few times already, or at least broke up a few lockups. And
even now, Teague had James in submission, and by the way he had his
arm, it didn’t look like it was feeling too good. He tightened his
hold and James reacted, especially when Teague quietly said
something in his ear. Whatever it was, James refused, and then
Teague looked hesitant after that. But Tim was about to call him
off, so Teague suddenly let go and hopped up into a standing
position.

James got up too, but not as quick as usual.
And he was holding his arm still to his body as Tim encouraged them
to bump gloves and be done.

Camryn took a deep breath and slowly let it
out with relief. Boys and their competitive egos… She was glad
Teague came out on top and she was proud as hell of him, but she
also couldn’t believe how natural he looked in an octagon. He
hadn’t exactly bragged to her about how good he was.

Teague came around the cage a minute later
to join her and he was expressionless as he tried to gauge her
mood. Obviously he knew she was bugged with him for taking on the
challenge. “You ready to go eat?” he asked.

She scowled at him, all sweaty and
half-naked. It wasn’t a bad sight—in fact, being attracted to his
chiseled body was the only thing that kept her eyes on the octagon.
“Sure, if you prefer looking like that in a restaurant.”

“Good, I was hoping you wouldn’t mind,” he
bantered. She only rolled her eyes and he had to smile. “Aw, come
on, Cam. I was invited to play and now you’re mad at me for
it.”

“I’m not mad.”

“You’re irritated. I’m sorry, but I really
felt like doing something physical. After three hours on the road,
I was ready to stretch a little.”

She barely hid a smile. “Stretch, huh? If
you call accepting some stranger’s invitation for an ass-whooping
‘stretching’, then sure, okay.”

“I certainly did not get my ass kicked,” he
scoffed with a light chuckle.

“I know you didn’t,” she replied with a
sigh. “But I was surprised that you’d let him save face. I know he
can be an ass, but thank you.”

He tilted his head with interest. “What do
you mean?”

“He was too stubborn to tap, but you let him
up anyways. You gave him a chance before really hurting him, but
you let him get out of the embarrassment.”

Teague smiled. “How would you know
that?”

“I know my stuff, Teague. I’ve been around
this gym for a while now.”

He nodded his head slowly. “Well, letting
him up—twice—was a kick in the face, as well. Anyways,” he said to
change the subject. “Tim said I could use the locker room to shower
and change, so I’m gonna get that done. In the meantime, you’ll
sweeten up a little bit and stop being mad at me.”

He gave her a kiss on the cheek, and then
winked as he walked away. Camryn wasn’t mad at him, but as soon as
he disappeared, her uncle sauntered over with a huge grin on his
face.

“I totally approve of him, Camryn. Teague
has my blessing and then some.”

She glared at him for a second, but then she
couldn’t help but laugh. It actually meant a lot to hear him say
that.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Zachary Michael Ashford

February 11, 1990- December 10, 2010

“
Beloved son, brother, and
fiancé;