by Hadley Quinn
Camryn nodded with interest, truly hanging on every word he’d share with her. For the past two days she’d been trying to digest the fact that Teague was a major Hollywood stuntman. He was the real deal, not just a pretty face that got all the credit for it. In hindsight, she could piece the clues together. She could see the excitement in his eyes when he talked about certain things, and she even knew he had a few motorcycles parked in his garage. She had even asked about a couple of scars on his body. He’d tied them to some sort of surfing incident or dirt biking accident, but now she wondered how many of those had been from his job.
“Well since you don’t read tabloids, I’ll give you the abbreviated version,” Teague continued. “The more popular Max got a few years ago, the more the media would dig into his life. It became interesting to people that his younger brother was his stunt double, and that our dad had kicked me out of the house as a teenager. Everyone read into that ‘favorite son’ idea, and I was pretty much labeled as the rebellious one. It’s only gotten worse over the years. There’s a lot of stuff that gets written about my family and sometimes it gets to be too much. I moved north to…take a break from it.”
Camryn nodded her head. She felt like she could understand that. “Well…family issues can be pretty intense. Any kind of drama, family or not, is just a part of life. But yeah, I imagine having it gossiped about constantly could be a little much. And I knew you would tell me, Teague. I just wanted to give you the space to share when you felt like it.”
Teague released a heavy sigh and rubbed his hands over his face. “I’m sorry for making you feel like shit, Camryn. It’s just…certain issues with my family are…sensitive, I guess. I didn’t mean to be a dick.” He scooted closer to her and ran a hand through her hair. “I guess I get pretty selfish when it comes to you. I just…I feel like I finally have my own life now, my own choices, and I don’t like anyone or anything threatening that.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” she told him softly, placing her hand on his thigh. He scooped it up and gave it a squeeze. “I’m sorry for the struggles you’ve gone through, Teague.”
“You know what?” he asked, shrugging his shoulders. “It’s in the past, and I want to keep it there. I felt like I needed to do something to change my life, so that’s why I moved north. I wanted to be close to the beach still, but I had to get away from my family. And because his dad was making an attempt at rehab, Jay came with me to Lincoln City. I really didn’t want anything to do with my dad’s brother, but in a way, I sometimes feel sorry for him. He’s a drunk and an abusive piece of shit, but I wouldn’t doubt that half of it’s because of my dad. Clint was pretty much exiled from my dad’s existence—he paid him a lot of money to get him the fuck away from him. Bad publicity. He did the same to me, but without a dime.”
“He kicked you out at the age of sixteen with nothing?” Camryn frowned.
“Yeah,” he nodded. “I moved down to Oceanside where my grandma lived and I worked in a pretty good surf shop right on the beach. Besides my dad still constantly berating me for being a worthless piece of shit, it was all right. Better than living with him.”
Camryn bobbed her head slightly as she considered her next question. “And what about your mom?”
“You mean where is she? Dead. She died when I was four. I was technically a bastard child to begin with,” he smirked. “My dad was married to Max’s mom—we’re only half brothers—when he had an affair with my mom. Besides financial obligations, he stayed out of my life until she died from an overdose of sleeping pills and alcohol. I would have gone straight to my maternal grandma, but my dad—God only knows why—decided he wanted custody of me. He took my grandma to court and won. But I guess after a dozen years of disappointing him, he basically handed me back over.”
“Jeez,” Camryn exhaled softly.
“Well, I wasn’t exactly a sweet child,” he replied smugly. “But in my defense, you try living in a family that only wanted you for publicity. When it came out that my dad had an illegitimate kid, his wife divorced him. It was a huge ordeal for the media. So my dad made sure it turned out in his favor by taking ‘the kid’ in—like I was some fucking charity case from a third world country or something. But,” he shrugged again, “it did the trick. His career pretty much skyrocketed from there, and even though he’s had his hooks in me plenty of times, Max is still his golden child. And Chandler is my middle name, by the way. It was my mom’s father’s name.”
He lounged back across the couch, placing his head against the armrest, and patted his chest for Camryn to come lay on him.
“Sorry for all this heavy shit,” he told her as she stretched along one side of his body. Combing her hair with his fingers he added, “I get so fucking pissed whenever I even think about it, and having to talk about it sucks even more. And then with my dad this morning... I can’t believe he just helped himself into my house. I’m really sorry about that.”
“You don’t need to apologize for someone else’s actions, Teague. I promise you I’m not exactly exempt from crazy stuff like that. I grew up in a dysfunctional home, and even after my parents divorced, it was even more dysfunctional. And my mom… I never could connect with her. On any level. Sometimes I resented the fact that I was more of a mom to Melanie than she was. I don’t regret it now, but as a teenager it was difficult. I was kind of glad when she moved to Oregon because it almost made things easier. I had Melanie and Zach, and my uncle was always there for anything we needed.”
“Your mom told me that she never even came down to California for Zach’s funeral; she never even called to check on you.”
“No. She didn’t. She never liked anything depressing. She was too busy making herself happy.” She paused for moment and sighed. “Teague, you can’t help who your family is. However you regard them, I promise I’ll support you.”
“That means a lot to me Camryn,” he said softly, kissing the top of her head.
“Okay, then. So how ‘bout we put the heavy stuff away for now and do something fun today?” Camryn asked, propping herself up on Teague’s chest to look at him. “Let’s go to Universal Studios or do something else that’s fun. You up for that?”
“With you? I’m ‘up’ for anything,” he smiled, shrugging his eyebrows.
She reached between them and lightly squeezed the crotch of his pants. “Hmm, doesn’t seem like it,” she teased.
With both hands, he grabbed her ass and rubbed her into him. “That can be fixed in three seconds—oh wait, done.”
She laughed and Camryn started to kiss him just as the front door opened and closed.
“That’s probably Kellie,” Teague murmured. Camryn went to move off of him but he firmly held her there. “No exposing the boner,” he whispered.
She stifled a laugh just as his cousin entered the TV room.
“Oh, hey,” Kellie said to them. She glanced at them briefly and added, “I don’t see any cocks, asses, or tits, so that’s a good thing. Um, Teague, your dad was trying to get a hold of you earlier. I told him—”
“He already graced us with his presence.”
Kellie froze for a moment and then frowned. “Shit. I told him you weren’t here.”
“Yeah, well, he obviously knew you were lying because he barged right in.”
“Damn, I’m sorry.”
“Not your fault. Thanks for trying.”
“I always have my shank ready for you, Teague,” she joked on her way to her room.
Camryn was pleased by the loyalty. Kellie and Jay were allies for Teague and she was grateful for that.
“Hey, one more thing,” Teague added.
Camryn propped herself up on his chest again and it reminded her of the day on the sidewalk when she’d knocked him down. But this time they could be intimate and touch each other however they wanted. Teague gently held her face between his hands and seemed to take his time absorbing what he could from her eyes.
“Don’t believe everything in the media if you do come acr
oss shit about my family, okay? If you have a question about something, will you come to me first?”
She nodded immediately. “Yes. Of course.”
“Okay,” he smiled, and they got up and readied themselves for a day out.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“One-two. That’s it… Eyes here, Cam. Where you lookin’? …Nice, lay it in… One-two, hon. Eyes here.” Tim sighed and stepped away from his niece, looking her over. “Where’s your focus today?”
Camryn dropped her gloves to her side and exhaled. She steadied with two more deep breaths and shook her head. She was back in Fresno in her uncle’s gym, but after spending three amazing days with Teague, her session was appearing to be unproductive. “Nowhere. Just…feel tired, I guess.”
“Nah, don’t lie to me,” he smiled kindly. “Even bone tired your focus kicks ass, Cam. What’s buggin’ ya? Is it Mellie? You still pissed that she quit her job?”
“Ugh, don’t even remind me,” Camryn groaned. She still couldn’t believe that Melanie tried to stay in San Diego a few extra days by calling into work sick. Her boss wasn’t having it, so Melanie quit on the spot, right over the phone. It was just the kind of irresponsible behavior that Camryn had been dealing with for as long as she could remember.
“What the hell was so important about staying in S.D.?” Tim asked.
“A guy, of course. You know, Mel’s top priority. Her friend’s brother came home from overseas and had a bunch of buddies for the weekend. She hooked up with one of them, apparently. I can’t even believe she’s still there.”
Camryn moved over to an open bag and gave it a few light warm-up punches. Tim followed her over and leaned against the nearby wall. “So she gonna stay there, then?”
“She claims she’s moving in with him.”
“No fucking way,” Tim growled, pushing off the wall. “She never mentioned that to me. She never even mentioned a guy, even.”
“Yep. Thinks she’s in love with him and all that.”
“Jesus, what is wrong with that girl? I mean I love her to death, but how’d you two turn out so different? You would never do something like that, Cam. You have a good head on your shoulders.”
Hearing him say that caused her to hit the bag even harder. She’d never do something like that? Well she met a guy and fell for him the first couple of weeks she knew him. After two years of keeping her distance from any and every guy that came her way, she was attracted to Teague like no other. What was worse than that?
She was already falling in love with him.
“Hey, you hear me?” Tim’s voice jolted her out of tunnel mode.
“Huh?”
“I said you better quit punching that damn bag like that, Cam. You’re not even taped, honey.”
She dropped her arms to her sides and realized she’d broken into a sweat. What had started as some work on technique and light warm-ups turned into a full out assault.
“What the hell’s the matter with you today, Camryn? Your mind has been all over the place. You better fess up, little girl. I’m gonna have to start asking some really awkward questions here…”
Camryn inhaled a deep breath of air and shook her head as she removed the gloves and grabbed the wraps from the bench. “Maybe my sister and I aren’t too different,” she sighed, sitting down to apply them.
“What do you mean?” Tim asked carefully, taking a seat next to her.
Camryn wrapped her wrists mechanically; something she could do in her sleep. “I met a guy when I visited my mom. His name is Teague. He was living up there at the time—renting a house from a friend—but he actually lives down here in Cali. We kind of…got close when I was there.” She chanced a glance at her uncle, just in time to witness him quickly lower the eyebrows he’d lifted. “Anyways,” she continued. “It was…good. Things were going well. I was surprised, even. I tried my best to let myself get close to someone else physically and then… And then I ran.”
She looked at Tim again as he leaned his elbows onto his knees. “And?”
She barely heard him through the thumps and grunts throughout the gym, and the music playing in the background. “He wouldn’t let me,” she answered quietly.
Tim shifted on the bench to look at her, and she knew he could tell how confused she was. He’d watched her fall in love for the first time with Zach, and he’d witnessed her fall apart over and over when he died. It had been an uphill battle for her ever since, and no matter how much she understood the logic of “get back on the horse,” she hadn’t been able to do it.
Until now.
“So what’d he do?” Tim asked. “Come down here to find you?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Is that where you’ve been lately? With— What’s his name again?”
“Teague.”
“Teague,” he repeated. He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. “So I’m guessing when you say ‘get close to someone physically’… Well I’m not going to go there, but you weren’t expecting to connect emotionally too?”
He’d nailed it right on the head and Camryn could only nod.
“Well it doesn’t sound like there’s anything wrong with that, Cam. That’s a good thing. I know it’s hard to let yourself care about someone after loving Zach like that, but you don’t have to feel guilty about enjoying time with other people. You know this.”
“Yes, I do. I’ve spent two years trying to believe it, and now I do.”
Tim studied her for a few seconds until he exhaled quietly. “Cami girl, we all know how much you loved Zach. Moving on is not betraying him.”
“I know.”
“Then what’s the problem? This guy doesn’t feel the same way as you?”
She completely froze to internalize his words. The thought had occurred to her a dozen times, but she came up with the same conclusion every time. Teague truly cared about her. She could feel it.
Camryn took a deep breath as she leaned her back against the wall. “I’m pretty sure we’re on the same page,” she admitted out loud.
“So what’s the problem?”
“I’m afraid of disappointing him,” she shrugged. “I’m afraid of doing or saying something that will make him change his mind. I don’t know if I can put everything in to starting over if I’m going to lose again.”
“You can’t think of it that way. You go with your heart on this. And if things don’t work out…there’s a reason and you learn something from it. Camryn… Teague knows about Zach, right?”
“Yes.”
“And what did he say?”
Camryn sighed. “He was very understanding. Or at least it seemed like he was. He said some comforting things—he’s not an insensitive jerk, that’s for sure. He seems smart that way; a good person to talk to, you know? He’s kind of like you. You’ve always been easy to talk to.”
Tim smiled at the compliment but seemed doubtful. “I don’t know, Cam. Getting you and Mel was a shock to me. Two beautiful teenage girls? I was asking for trouble.”
She chuckled with agreement, but she was eternally grateful she’d been so lucky. “I’m glad it worked out that way, though. Even if it meant being pawned off on you by my own mother, I think it was better that way. I needed you.”
“Families are fucking complicated, that’s for sure. Your mom was busy frolicking off on her next big adventure, but I was a blessed man because of it. I love you, Cam,” he told her, pulling her against him. “You know that, right?”
“Yeah, I do. I love you, too.”
“And seeing the pain you went through when you lost Zach was really hard. I thought for sure one of these days I was going to find you dead on the floor in here from beating the shit out of a bag for too long.”
She smiled guiltily.
“It’s not funny,” he playfully admonished. “I was seriously this close to banning you from my gym,” he said, showing her two fingers that were a half-inch apart. They pulled away from each other and he shook his head. “But I knew you’d
just find some other way to let it all out. I preferred you to be here where I could keep an eye on you.”
“You and your minions.”
“Yes,” he smiled. “I always had someone to check on you. Just not James.”
She smiled and shook her head. James flirted with her relentlessly. “He is kind of funny, though,” she had to admit.
“Yeah, I suppose,” Tim laughed.
“But he’s so cocky I think he actually believes I want him. I do like the fact that he lets me punch him as hard as I can, though.”
“He’s the only one brave enough,” Tim smiled.
Camryn took a deep breath and decided to return to her workout. She hadn’t seen Teague for three days because she was scheduled to teach some classes at her friend’s dance studio in Fresno, and Teague had been working on a movie set outside of LA—a small job he was glad he scored through a friend. Camryn knew it had to do with motorcycles and it made her nervous, especially because the guy whose place he was taking was sent to the hospital with a concussion. That definitely didn’t settle well with her, even when Teague swore that what he’d be doing was “kid stuff.”
Camryn had never seen the stunt side of Teague in action, but she could tell he loved it by the way he talked about it. Thankfully he’d never been hurt too severely. He’d received a few minor injuries on the job, but nothing more serious than a torn rotator cuff, cuts and scrapes, or a sore body. To hear him talk about some of the work he’d done (Teague called it “paid playtime”) was actually fascinating. Hollywood was never Camryn’s scene, but she couldn’t deny the fact that the guy she was now dating was Hollywood’s hottest adrenaline junkie.
Standing, she grabbed a different set of gloves for the speed bag. But Tim stood too and caught her arm. He paused, searching for the right words to say. “Cam, just…just enjoy life, okay? Be happy. You deserve it, sweetheart.”
