Every One Of Me (19 page)

I suddenly had no desire to be in that club any longer, but
I had no desire to stop dancing with her and knew I wouldn't be able to step
away from her any time soon. My hands were pulled to her body like magnets and
the curves I skimmed over were better than I imagined.

Her hips moved with mine and her arms wrapped around my
shoulders. I buried my nose in her neck, inhaling the minty scent of her hair
and pressed my lips to her skin. She gasped, but didn't stop dancing. My hand
moved across her lower back and slightly downward until it rested at the very
top of those luscious swells that fit so perfectly in her jeans. I pressed her
closer and moved my lips up until they touched the sensitive spot just behind
her ear.

I felt her press her body impossibly closer and grind
against me, sure to feel how much I wanted her right then and there. Her chest
rubbed against mine in the most glorious way.

I wanted to pour myself into her and tell her how much I
needed her until my soul was laid out before her in a pathetic mess. Yeah, I
wanted to be
that
guy. The one who got the girl he knew would devour him
every day while he enjoyed every moment of it.

"God, Tess. You drive me crazy!" I muttered in her
ear and nipped at her earlobe.

I felt her groan, then she was suddenly moving differently.
I watched her turn slowly until her back was against my chest and my hand was
splayed across her stomach.

Oh God, she is trying to kill me. I just know it.

She continued to dance, but raised her arm up and back until
her fingers were buried in the hair at the nape of my neck, pulling my face
back down to the crook of her neck.

 If I had stopped moving, everyone in the room would see how
badly I was trembling. I had to touch her more. I slowly moved my hand to the
side of her waist and up over her ribs, lightly brushing the side of her
breast. She inhaled sharply and stiffened for a quick moment until my hand
continued to her upper arm, over her elbow, and then reversed back down the
same path causing goose bumps to cover her silky skin. My lips tugged into a
grin at her reaction and I darted my tongue out to taste the skin at the base
of her neck that was now damp with sweat. She tasted better than I imagined and
believe me, I imagined it a lot over the years.

Her pulse was thumping wildly and I pressed my lips against
the steady beat and closed my eyes. She leaned back into me and slowed her
dancing. Just when I thought she was going to turn around and face me again,
Jake came through the crowd with his cell phone to his ear and tapped me on the
shoulder. I guess he was
not
a smart guy.

"Hey, Charlie. Sorry to interrupt, but we've got a
problem," he said and gestured for me to follow him.

I turned back to Tess, who was now facing me and standing
close, but looking a little frustrated. "Sorry, I gotta take care of
something. You want to come with me and take a break?"

She hesitated for just a moment before nodding and grasping
my hand. Benny shouted something in her ear that made her already red cheeks
redden even more.

I pulled her through the crowd until I found Jake back at
the table arguing with someone on the phone. "Yeah, yeah I know. Okay,
here he is." He stood quickly and handed me his phone.

I kept a firm grip on Tess, not sure whether he was going to
ask her to dance or not, and put the phone to my ear.

"Yeah?"

"Charlie! We got a situation with Rob. He is
threatening to quit because he doesn't think you are taking this thing
seriously," Phil, one of the guys who coordinates all the fights and
schedules gym time, mumbled through the phone sounding like an angry bear. Rob
was my coach and had threatened this several times before. He really just
wanted more money from me and didn't give two shits about how serious I was.

"Phil, this isn't something I can take care of right
now."

"Well, you can get your ass back to the hotel and talk
some sense into him or just let him go. Either way, I figured you would want to
be made aware."

I looked up to find Jake leaning into Tess and talking in
her ear. She scrunched up her nose while he was talking and tried to pull away,
but she was already plastered against my side. When Jake pulled back, she shook
her head and said, "No, I'm pretty tired, but thanks anyway."

I smiled to myself thinking she could have been a little
meaner about it and I wouldn't have cared, but she was nice all the time and it
was one of the things I loved about her. I was so focused on her that I
completely missed what Phil was saying.

"Sorry, what was that?"

"I think you need to come back, man. He is out of
control and I don't think any of us are going to be able to calm him
down."

"Alright, I'll head back now. See you in a bit."

I handed the phone back to Jake who was still staring at
Tess, but not so obviously now. Tess was watching me and waiting for me to tell
her what was going on.

"I gotta head back to the hotel and calm some people
down," I said in her ear and noticed she didn't cringe or try to pull away
from me. Good to know.

"I hope it's nothing too bad, Charlie. I feel like I've
taken you away from stuff you need to do." She was looking at me with a
guilty frown and her brow furrowed. I bent and kissed the spot between her
brows and felt her relax a little.

"Beautiful, believe me, I would rather be with you than
anywhere else."

She beamed up at me and I wanted so badly to kiss her until
she was gasping for air.

Of course, Jake had to go and interrupt that, too.

"I can walk you back later, Tessa, if you want to stay
longer."

Seriously? Did he really not know me at all? I wanted to punch
him in the nose just for thinking that would be okay with me. Then, I realized
it wasn't really my choice. If Tess wanted to stay, I wasn't going to force her
to leave with me. I wanted her to have a good time and so far, I think she had.

"Thanks, Jake, but if it's okay with you,
Charlie," she looked back up at me, "I would like to go back now. I'm
pretty worn out and I really could use a shower."

I didn't even look at Jake to see the rejection on his face,
I just wrapped my arm around her and said, "Let's get out of here
then."

We made our way to the exit while I texted Trevor to let him
know we were leaving. He immediately responded to let me know he would keep an
eye on Benny. I laughed to myself. Of course he would. I wondered if he even
remembered who Ellie was. No matter. I wasn't going to say anything if Tess
wasn't. Which she wasn't by the look on her face when I told her what Trevor
said. For some reason, I had the feeling she had planned this all along.

We walked hand in hand back to the hotel and talked about
the fight. She asked me questions about how things were judged if there wasn't
a knockout and how I felt about beating up another guy for money.

I laughed, "It's not really about the money for me. I
like the sport and it's definitely a way for me to get my mind off of… other
things. Keeps me in shape, too, so that's a plus. The money is just a bonus. As
far as beating up a guy, I was nervous at first, then realized they were going
to beat me up if I didn't beat them first. It's all a part of the game so you
don't really think about it much."

She shrugged and kept her eyes forward, "I just worry
about you getting hurt. I mean, you have that cut above your eyebrow and a big
bruise under your eye and I have no doubt some bruised ribs or something. I
guess I just don't see getting beat up being worth it."

I smiled to myself. She was worried about me and I felt a
massive amount of pride in knowing that. I squeezed her hand, "I don't
think I'll be doing this much longer. I don't have the same motivations that I
used to."

She looked confused, but I didn't elaborate for her. I had
gotten into fighting because it kept me busy and kept my mind straight when I
thought I would go crazy with worry for her. I needed a distraction so I
wouldn't lose my mind thinking about her. The fighting kept me grounded. Now? I
didn't need a distraction from anything.

Shit, I was a mess and I wanted to weep from the joy of it.
She was back in my life now, a mess was welcomed at this point.

I opened the heavy glass door of the hotel lobby for her and
led her through with my hand at the small of her back. Her shirt had ridden up
a little and my fingers brushed the soft skin above the waistband of her jeans.
A shiver ran down her body which immediately made my entire body light on fire.
She was just as affected by me as I was by her.

The elevator ride was crowded so I didn't get a chance to
really talk to her more. I didn't mind, though. She leaned into me and rested
her head on my shoulder as we listened to the cheesy elevator music playing
over the speakers. By the time we made it to our floor, I was just as turned on
as I was when we were dancing and her body was moving against mine.

I couldn't imagine ever having enough of her. I didn't want
enough of her. I wanted all of her. I had loved her for so long, I don't think
I would ever be able to figure out how not to.

She rummaged through her purse as we made our way down the
hall to her door. I didn't want to be presumptuous and think that she would
stay in my room. Even though I wanted her to. Benny was going to freak if it
didn't happen, but I couldn't force her into anything. She had enough things to
worry about at the moment. I wanted her so badly, but I had waited this long. I
could wait for her forever.

"Son of a bitch! I can't believe her!" She snapped
as she threw the strap of her purse back over her shoulder and shook her head
before she looked up at me.

"What?"

"Benny! She must have taken the key out of my purse
while we were in that room after the fight. I have no way to get into the
room."

I think Benny might have become my new best friend. Trevor
was no match for her. I wanted to smile, but I had already been punched in the
face a few too many times tonight. "What are you going to do?"

She ran a hand through her hair and looked down at her feet.
"I don't know. I guess I'll have to go down to the desk and try to get
another one."

This was it. She had kept me at a distance ever since she
had come back home, except for tonight. Something must have changed since the
session with Dr. Geoffrey. She had been more open to me and to being around me.
I didn't want to push too far or too hard, but I would be a fool to not hold
onto whatever changes she made.

"Why don't you stay in my room?"

Her head popped up and her eyes widened in surprise.
Oh
God, you screwed it up. Way to go. Think of a recovery. Quick!

"I just… " Ah, hell. What am I trying to do?
"I have two rooms in my suite. Trevor was going to take the extra one, but
I really don't think he would mind if he ended up staying in this suite with
Benny. Plus, it's a pain in the ass to go all the way down to get another
key." I was rambling at that point, but had no way of stopping it. "I
know you probably don't think it's a good idea, but I think it's a great idea
and I am not trying to get you to--"

"Charlie."

Deep breath. "Yeah?"

She smiled and put her hand on my arm and squeezed.
"I'll stay with you. I don't want to get another key, plus, I don't have
any luggage so it's not like I need to grab anything. I was just going to
borrow some of Benny's clothes for bed but…"

"I have clothes you can use. Not much, but we can send
your clothes down to laundry tonight and then go shopping for you
tomorrow." Okay, now my hands were shaking and my heart was pounding
against my ribs. Part of me was planning out a way to seduce her somehow. Yeah,
the complete dick part of me. Pun intended. The other part, the part where I
knew I loved Tess more than I needed the air that I breathe and where I wasn't
going to screw this up, that part was telling me to just be cool and take her
to my suite, show her to her room, go to fix whatever crap Rob had caused, then
come back and go to sleep. I needed that part of me to be strong because Tess
didn't need me jumping her.

"Okay, I really need a shower after the day I've had,
so let's go now," she chuckled.

I didn't know what to say because now I was picturing her in
the shower and having a hard time walking down the hall to my door. Good God,
my brain was a winner tonight.

I unlocked the door to my suite and led her through. Ever
since I arrived in New York, it had always been packed with people getting
ready for the fight. Now, it was completely empty and quiet.

"That door on the right is the extra room. It has its
own shower and everything."

She nodded and clasped her hands together in front of her,
folding her fingers over each other one by one, unfolding them, then doing it
again. She was nervous.

I rested my hand on her shoulder until she looked at me.
"I'm going to go take care of this situation. I don't know how long I'll
be. I imagine it will be a while, but… if I don't see you again tonight, sleep
well."

"Thanks, Charlie," she mumbled with a grin.

"No problem. Oh, and my suit case is in my room. There
should be a couple shirts and some extra boxers or something you can use. Feel
free to look through it." I backed up to the door and winked at her making
her blush all over. "Beautiful."

She smiled again, but looked away too soon. Walking out that
door was almost impossible.

***

The whole conversation with Rob took about five minutes. I
was gone for a total of 30. Ten minutes to calm everyone down and find out what
was going on, five minutes to talk and find out that the guy was just playing
for a bigger paycheck, and ten minutes for the rest of them to calm me down
after Rob slipped and insulted Tess resulting in his ass getting fired and me
wondering where to find a new coach. That is, if I continued to do what I was
doing. I had been thinking about it and thought maybe I could open up my own
gym and do some training for other guys who were looking to get serious in this
career. It was definitely an option.