Running Away

by Jen Andrews

  “Hola, Mijo,” my mom said when she answered the office phone. “Are you planning on coming to work sometime today?”

  Shit. Busted. “Sorry, Mom,” I said, hoping she would forgive me. “Um, the guys helped me with the garage last night and we had too much to drink. I overslept. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  She sighed into the phone. “Sure, Mijo. Hurry though, we’re busy.”

  Shit. I pushed my friends out the door, took the quickest shower known to man, and threw on a uniform.

  I swung through Dutch Bros. for coffees then stopped at Burrell’s Bakery for a box of pastries for everyone so they would forgive me for being so late. It was after ten-thirty when I pulled into the parking lot of the shop.

  “Oh, my son,” Mom said when I dropped into the chair next to the desk. “You look like dog shit.”

  “Gee, thanks, Ma. I love you, too. Do you have aspirin or something?”

  She laughed as she dug through her purse to find some pills for my hangover and the aches in my body from sleeping on the concrete.

  I stood and pushed the intercom button for the shop. “There’s food and coffee in the break room. Sorry I’m late,” I said through the microphone.

  My mom handed me three ibuprofens, and I swallowed them with a big gulp of my coffee. I took my cinnamon roll to the shop and ate it while I found the tools I would need for the job I had scheduled.

  Work sucked. Thank God it was Friday.

  My asshole brothers wouldn’t let me get through an hour without making puking noises at me to see if they could get me to barf. My cinnamon roll sat like a lead weight in my stomach, so the thought of puking didn’t sound like a half-bad idea.

  By the time five o’clock rolled around, I was feeling somewhat better. I went to my apartment, packed the last few remaining boxes, and hauled them over to my house. I was actually hungry by the time I got to the house, so I ate a few slices of leftover pizza.

  I was unpacking a box of clothes when Eric called. “What’s up, man?” I asked when I answered the phone.

  “You coming to Dub’s tonight?”

  “Nah, you guys go ahead. I’m gonna stay here and get all this shit put away.”

  I had forgotten Z was having a barbecue tomorrow night for Andy’s thirtieth birthday, so I had less time than I’d originally thought to unpack.

  “Alright, bro, come by if you change your mind, we’ll be here. Looks like it’s just me and John tonight,” he said.

  I said goodbye to him and unpacked a few more boxes of crap.

  While I was unpacking, I let Teagan slip into my mind, which pissed me off. I’d made an ass of myself by sending her flowers when she had a boyfriend. Every time I passed by the extra bottle of tequila Sonny left sitting on the counter in the kitchen, I wanted to drink it to forget about Teagan.

  After I unpacked my bathroom boxes and hopped into the shower, I only wanted to crash for the night. I finished my shower and pulled on some shorts and a T-shirt. After running a comb through my wet hair, I headed to the kitchen for the tequila and a shot glass.

  I didn’t want to keep thinking about her and her doctor boyfriend.

  The house was eerily quiet for a change. Tonight was the first time I had been here alone for a lengthy period of time. It was too quiet, so I took my pity party out to the patio to listen to the noises of the neighborhood.

  I was halfway through the bottle of tequila, and I was feeling pretty good. Drunk again, but good. My cell rang. Looking at the screen, I saw John was calling.

  “What’s up, dickface?” I asked, my words slightly slurred from the tequila.

  “Dude, you need to get your ass down here!”

  I jerked my phone away from my ear because my head hurt from drinking two nights in a row.

  “Fuck no, man. I’m staying here with my bottle of tequila,” I mumbled. My tequila wouldn’t leave me for a douchebag in a white coat.

  “I’m not gonna say it again. Get your ass down here. Red is here with her friends. She’s all sorts of pissed off and dropped some dude to his knees when he grabbed her ass!”

  All I heard was that Red was there, and some asshole was putting his hands on her. “What do you mean she dropped him to his knees?”

  “It was fucking awesome. She keeps looking for you, I think. Oh, shit!” he yelled and then it sounded like he covered the phone with his hand.

  “What’s going on now?” I asked, hoping Teagan was okay.

  “Cammie and her friends just came in. Shit’s gonna get real. Get your ass down here right-the-fuck now!” he yelled before hanging up on me.

  Whatever was happening had him all excited. I’d drunk too much tequila to drive, so I called a taxi. Because I wasn’t driving, I took two more shots and slipped my feet into the only pair of shoes that were not in a moving box somewhere.

  They happened to be the black, rubber flip-flops I’d bought for when I was cleaning out the pool. It was either those or my work boots, and since I was wearing shorts . . . ugly flip-flops it was.

  When the taxi pulled into Dub’s I paid the driver and went inside where I found my friends at our usual couch. There were four girls with them. One of the girls was Teagan. She was sitting as far away from my friends as possible and not speaking to anyone. Her friends and my friends appeared to be having a great time though.

  I walked toward them, never taking my eyes off Teagan. Her back was turned toward me, so she hadn’t seen me yet. None of my friends had either. They were too engrossed with the four pretty women surrounding them.

  I was only five feet from my friends when a pair of arms wrapped around me from behind. I felt like I was being squeezed to death.

  “Jeremy, there you are!”

  I cringed when I heard Cammie’s voice behind me.

  My friends turned toward me when they heard someone call my name. Teagan turned and made eye contact with me and the expression on her face turned lethal.

  I seized the hands that were around me and pulled Cammie off me. She tried to throw her arms around my neck, but everything happened so fast, and I’d had too much to drink, I only halfway blocked her advance. She jumped up and planted a kiss on my cheek.

  “What the hell, Cammie?” I growled. I was tired of her pulling this shit with me. I gripped her elbow and pulled her through the bar and into the parking lot.

  “What is your problem? We’ve been over for months now. Why do you do shit like that?” She tried to snake her arms around my waist, and I grabbed her wrists to stop her.

  “Come on baby,” she whined. “You know we’re good together. Let’s try it again. I promise to be a good girl this time. Unless you want me to be a bad girl.” She pressed herself against me in an attempt to entice me.

  “Cammie, I told you we were done and I meant it. You need to get over it and find someone who’s willing to deal with your shit, ’cause it’s definitely not me.”

  “Asshole,” she seethed. “You’ll change your mind and come crawling back to me.” She turned and went back inside the bar.

  Yeah, that’s not gonna happen. I followed her back in, but only to find Teagan.

  I found her sitting at the bar with four shot glasses in front of her. I sat next to her, not really knowing what to say. Teagan downed all four shots, one right after the other, barely taking a breath in between each one. She didn’t even look over at me when she spoke.

  “Shouldn’t you be with your girlfriend?” she asked so quietly I almost didn’t hear her.

  “I don’t have a girlfriend. Shouldn’t you be with your boyfriend?” I countered.

  “I don’t have a boyfriend, Jeremy.”

  “Are you sure about that, Red?”

  She finally looked over at me. “Yes, I’m sure. Are you sure you don’t have a girlfriend? One you might send flowers to at work and one you took out to dinner last night?”

  She turned back to the bartender and ordered four more shots of tequila.

  What was she talking about? “The only g
irl I’ve ever sent flowers to is you.”

  “I’m sorry, what did you say?” She stared back over at me in disbelief, her eyes bloodshot, and her eyelids heavy.

  Shit, she was drunk. She definitely didn’t need the additional four shots she’d ordered. “I said the only girl I’ve sent flowers to is you, Teagan.”

  “When?” She was still staring at me.

  “I left you a note the day I met you and sent the flowers a week or so after that. You never called me,” I said. “Didn’t you get them?”

  She shook her head and looked down at the bar. Something was definitely wrong here. She picked up a shot and tossed it back, then slammed the glass on the bar. Then she started crying. I was not expecting that.

  “Hey, what’s wrong? Talk to me.” I turned her bar stool so she was facing me.

  “God, I’m so stupid, they’ve been playing me all along.”

  What was she talking about? “What do you mean? Who’s been playing you?”

  She huffed loudly and did another shot, then wiped the tears from her face with a napkin from the bar. “The Two T’s,” she muttered.

  I wasn’t sure what that meant. She stood from the bar and swayed on her feet. I steadied her before she turned around and stomped over to the couch where our friends were sitting.

  She said something to the girls then they stood and walked into the other room with Teagan leading the way, and she looked pissed.

  I walked toward my friends as they were scrambling off the couch to follow the girls.

  “Bro, there’s gonna be a catfight right now. I suggest you go get Red before she scratches somebody’s eyes out,” Eric said, giving me a push toward the other room.

  What the fuck? I jogged to the other room to find Teagan beating the living shit out of Cammie. There was no catfight about it. She had her pinned on the floor and was straight up punching her.

  It took me a few seconds to comprehend what was actually happening and spring into action. While I pulled Teagan off Cammie, she called Cammie a lying bitch and mumbled something about her job.

  As a horny guy, seeing Teagan with her skirt bunched up around her muscular, yet feminine thighs as she straddled Cammie was officially the hottest thing I’d ever seen. The vision of her smooth legs wrapped around my waist damn near had me dropping to my knees.

  “Teagan, stop!” I gripped her upper arms when she tried to go after Cammie again.

  She freed one arm and slapped me.

  Holy shit she was feisty, and I loved it.

  “This is your fault!” she growled and tried to do it again.

  I dodged the next slap, but not the kick to the shin. Son of a bitch! She was wearing pointy shoes. That hurt like hell.

  “Ow! Calm down, Teagan!”

  Fortunately, my face was slightly numb from my tequila stupor, so the slap had no effect, but her pointy shoe to my bare shin hurt like a motherfucker. She finally stopped struggling, and I was trying my damnedest not to laugh because I didn’t want to be slapped or kicked again.

  Cammie’s friends picked her up off the floor, and checked her over. She looked fine to me, but I didn’t really give a shit about her. I turned my attention to Teagan.

  “What the hell was that about?” I asked her.

  Teagan was shaking and breathing heavy. Her hair had slipped free and was hanging in loose curls all around her. She looked beautiful and sexy as hell with it all down and wild.

  “Fuck you Jeremy,” she muttered as she turned away from me.

  She took two steps before she ran in to the chest of a bouncer who was the size of a small car.

  “You’re outta here, Red.” He took her by the upper arm and led her toward the door.

  That sobered me up momentarily. I followed them out the door with our friends close behind me.

  Teagan leaned against the front of a Dodge Neon, crying. Her friends gathered around her trying to calm her down.

  “Does someone want to tell me what just happened?” I said to the group of girls, hoping someone would tell me what was going on. A woman with jet-black hair came over and pulled me aside.

  “I’m her sister, Shannen. I assume you’re Jeremy?”

  I nodded. “What’s going on with Teagan and Cammie?”

  Shannen looked confused for a second. “Her name is Cammie? Not Tammy?”

  Again, I nodded.

  “Look, I think Teagan and you need to talk. There’s been something going on with those two at work, and it’s about you.”

  Fuck me. “I’m going to get a taxi and take her to my place so we can talk. Is that okay with you?” I asked. “I swear she’ll be safe with me.”

  Shannen looked unsure, but after John and Jackie stepped up and said they would vouch for me, she agreed. I gave her my cell number and told her to call to talk to her sister anytime.

  I needed to get Teagan away from here so she could explain to me what was going on. I walked over to her, and her friends left us alone.

  “Teagan, I’m not sure what’s going on with you and Cammie, but we should really talk about it if it has something to do with me. Come home with me so we can talk . . . please.”

  She started to say no, but her sister spoke up. “Teags go with him,” Shannen pleaded.

  I watched the exchange between the two sisters and eventually Teagan nodded. Thank fucking Christ.

  We left our friends, and I called a taxi to come and get us.

  While we waited for our ride, she explained that two girls named Tammy and Tiffany had been screwing with her at work.

  I was confused as to who Tammy was, and then I remembered Shannen had been confused about Cammie’s name, as well. I explained to Teagan that her name was Cammie and that she was my ex-girlfriend.

  “So you didn’t take her out to dinner last night?”

  “Definitely not. Ask my friends. We were at my house last night working in my garage,” I said.

  I felt like shit for whatever Cammie and her friend had put Teagan through.

  The taxi still hadn’t arrived, so we stood near the side of the building waiting. I reached out and took her hand in mine, hoping she wouldn’t pull away.

  She didn’t.

  Instead, she interlaced her fingers with mine and then did the same with my other hand. I leaned back against the building, and she propped herself against me, still holding my hands.

  I was thrilled when she rested her cheek on my chest and took in a deep, calming breath then let it out. I let go of one of her hands and entwined my fingers in her hair. I’d wanted to get my fingers in those strands since I’d met her, and I wasn’t going to miss my chance.

  “Teagan,” I said softly. “I’m sorry about the flowers and everything else. I would’ve stopped Cammie and her friend if I’d known what they were doing to you.”

  She tilted her head back and looked me in the eyes. “I’m sorry for slapping you.”

  I nodded, accepting her unnecessary apology.

  “Jeremy, what did the note say?”

  “It said thank you for taking good care of me, and that I wanted to see you again. I left my name and number and asked you to call if you wanted to get together for a drink or dinner.”

  She reached up and pushed my hair back off my forehead. “You got your stitches out . . . I would’ve called if I’d gotten the note.”

  As the taxi pulled into the parking lot, she gently took my face in her soft hands and pulled me down to kiss me.

  The instant our lips touched, it was as if everything around us stopped. There was no sound, no traffic, and no noise coming from inside the bar. It was only her and me.

  The taxi honked twice, forcing us apart. I opened the door and slipped inside after her.

  After I sat down, she moved closer and threw her legs over mine. By the time she was comfortable, she was fully on my lap and resting her head in the crook of my neck.

  Although she was drunk, I went with it. After not seeing her for so long, she was exactly where I wanted her. With me.
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  I rattled off my address to the taxi driver, and we were on our way.

  By the time we made it to my house, she was asleep in my arms. I couldn’t have been happier. I paid the driver and woke Teagan. I didn’t think she even opened her eyes as I carried her to my door.

  At my door, I had to stand her on her feet to get my keys out of my pocket. As I slid the key into the lock, she suddenly pulled me back down to kiss her. This time it wasn’t a sweet kiss like we’d shared while waiting for the taxi. This kiss was blazing hot and demanding.

  Our lips parted, our tongues touched and we devoured each other while standing on my porch. She slid her hands under the front of my shirt, and the instant she touched my skin, a breathy moan escaped her.

  I couldn’t help it, I hadn’t been with anyone since Cammie, and now the woman who’d consumed the majority of my thoughts was all over me. I leaned back against the door and pulled her closer.

  After kissing for another minute, she reached down and turned the doorknob. I felt the door swing in, throwing me off balance. I lifted my foot to take a step inside, but my flip-flop caught on the threshold and I fell backward.

  I landed flat on my back after hitting one of my moving boxes on the way down. That was gonna leave a mark, but I didn’t care. Teagan landed on top of me, kissing me again within seconds.

  “Teagan, the door,” I murmured against her mouth.

  She giggled, crawled on her hands and knees to the door, and slammed it. She crawled right back on top of me and was kissing me again.

  No matter how badly I wanted her right then, I would not have sex with her. I was doing it differently this time, and we still had too many issues to discuss.

  Then Teagan turned the tables on me. She took my hands in hers and slid them along her bare thighs up under her skirt. When my palms were on her hips, over the top of her panties, she removed her hands and lifted my shirt.

  “Touch me, Jeremy,” she whispered as she continued pushing up my shirt, kissing and licking her way up my body as she went.

  Jesus, this was going to be a lot harder than I thought if she kept talking like that.

  I didn’t move my hands, and I didn’t sit up for her to pull my shirt off, but my fingers instinctively caressed her hips as we kissed. After a moment, I was finally able to concentrate. Just as I moved my hands to take them out from under her skirt, I realized her panties were tied at each hip with satin ribbons.