She nodded quickly in understanding and her hand slid down my chest and stomach to where we were joined, her fingers connected to that sweet spot that made her fall apart. I didn't dare move, but my cock jumped inside her when she started to move her fingers in slow circles. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. The sight of her pleasuring herself sent electricity shooting down my spine.
At this rate, I wouldn't have to move an inch and I would still burst.
She moaned, forcing me to tear my eyes away from her hand and meet her heavy lidded gaze. She was close. Already so close, and I was desperate to push her over to the other side.
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.
Chapter 25
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 f
or 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.
Johnny was yelling something to me, but I didn't hear him. The roar in my head was deafening. Jake's eyes flickered over to me, obviously wondering if he was getting away with the stunt he was pulling, and his face paled when he caught my glare. It only took a few more seconds of speaking to her before he scooted farther away from her in his chair and focused on the announcer.
What had seemed like hours, had only been minutes. Frankie was already in his corner loosening up and glancing around at the crowd with a grin. He was a good looking guy, dark hair and eyes, bronzed skin showing his Italian decent. Unfortunately for him, I was now having a really bad night. He looked like a nice kid and like he really enjoyed the attention and the career. I almost felt bad that I was going to mess up that baby face of his.
Next thing I knew, we tapped gloves and the fight began. We circled each other for several seconds, measuring the other up and waiting for the right time to strike. He still had a slight grin on his face. Confidence. Good thing to have.
He struck first. A left jab that I narrowly avoided. He was quick and I felt the slight breeze hit my cheek from the force of it. I swung my leg out to drop him but he was quick to jump away. His grin got a little wider and it looked like he was having the time of his life.
My eyes flickered over to my girl. She was watching me with a heat in her eyes that I hadn't seen before. She tried to cover it up, but I saw it. I winked at her then charged.
Poor Frankie never saw it coming.
Chapter 26
Jessi
How Tessa did this was a mystery to me.
Charlie was a force to be reckoned with. He was beautiful, the way he moved, so graceful and so… powerful. I couldn't take my eyes off of him.
Neither could all the other women in the r
oom.
The two sluts behind us were talking louder and louder the more they saw me fume. Mon Dieu! What a pain in my ass. They had no respect for themselves or Charlie… or anyone that was sitting around them that might be a little protective of him.
Protective?
Yeah, definitely.
I wanted Charlie. I didn't want to want him, but I did anyway and after fighting it for a month, I couldn't think of a better time to just give in. Even if that meant changing the life I thought I knew, completely. I had nothing to lose anymore. The life I thought I had, actually didn't belong to me. It was surreal.
But I had everything to gain.
I had Tess, Benny, Charlie, and everyone else that came with them. I had never felt that kind of closeness before. My life had been filled with meaningless relationships that were only pursued for personal gain, not always on my side of it, though. I had spent the majority of my time proving to myself that I wasn't fragile, while I tried to keep the pieces of my soul together.
Now, with these people who loved Tess more than anything and therefore loved me, I could breathe a little.
That first time I saw Charlie, I thought I had made a mistake. I never attempted to pursue a man who I could see myself with in the future. I stayed away from them because I didn't want to be disappointed when they ripped my heart out from being unfaithful or uncaring. The way he looked at me didn't help in my effort to keep my distance. I was drawn to him and he to me.
At least, that is what Tess had communicated to me. She wrote about the friendship they had years ago and how she knew there was no other man on earth who could love her the way he did.
I wanted that, too.
So, tonight, I decided that I would give this whole thing a chance. He was a loyal man, a strong man who fought for what he wanted.
I needed to be like Tess. I needed to fight for what I wanted.
Tess would keep me safe.
Charlie wouldn't break my soul.
He wouldn't break my heart.
***
Every One Of Me Page 25
