Every One Of Me (23 page)

"Yeah, but still. I shouldn't have made her feel so
guilty about it."

"I never thought she would ever take off like that. Not
in a million years. We had no way of knowing she was capable of that."

I sighed and stood to pace the room. We both silently agreed
that the conversation was over and I was grateful. I felt responsible for her
guilt. I never should have let her believe she was a burden. I would make up
for it for the rest of my life.

We hung out in the suite for an hour before the girls came
back. Tess was only carrying her purse and so was Benny. She handed me my
credit card with a wink and turned to talk to Trevor about where we should all
go eat tonight.

Tess hurried over to the bags of clothes and pulled out the
shoes that I bought to go with her dress and went straight into the extra
bedroom after giving me a shy smile. I started to follow after her, but Benny
ran to block the door with a scowl on her face.

"Now, Charlie. You are not allowed in this room until
she is finished getting ready. She is going to take a shower first while I go
get ready, then I'm coming back to help her so give me a room key."

She held her hand out and tapped her foot, waiting
impatiently for me to hand over the key. I just stood there with my eyes
narrowed while Trevor's jaw was on the floor with his eyes on Benny.

"I thought you were on
my
side," I whined
and dropped the key card into her waiting hand.

"I am, silly. I just know the power of
anticipation." She started to walk out of the suite, but poked her head
around and said, "Trust me, Charlie. It will be worth the wait. You go and
get ready to go, too."

Then she was gone.

Trevor was staring at the door she had just walked through
and I was staring at the door to that damn extra bedroom where Tess was
probably in the shower right then all beautiful and naked. Another fantasy of
mine popped into my head and I squeezed my eyes shut tightly and groaned.

"I'm gonna go shower, Trev," I mumbled as I
started towards my bedroom.

"What? Why now?" he asked incredulously. We still
had a couple hours before we were going out.

I had no intention of telling him that I was going to go
shower in the coldest fucking water I could get to come out of that shower. He
was my friend, but he was still her brother. I just waved my hand dismissively
and hurried through the door leaving him grumbling while he plopped down on the
couch and turned on the TV.

The water was freezing and did absolutely nothing to help,
especially when I thought about the night before, and that morning, and what
would most likely happen tonight, and what I hoped would happen for the next 60
years at least. I had a feeling that she wouldn't be easy to convince, but I'd
be damned if I wasn't going to try.

***

I was showered and dressed up by the time Benny came back to
the suite and hurried into the bedroom with Tess. I heard her gasp when she
opened the door and I tried to lean over the back of the couch far enough to
get a peak, but Benny was in the way. Trevor smacked the back of my head when I
sat back down.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?"

He smirked, "Not sure, but as the big brother, I think
I'm allowed to do that… a lot."

We waited an hour before Benny emerged looking elegant with
her blonde hair pinned on top of her head and her green satin cocktail dress
hugging her curves. She was very easy on the eyes and I wished that Trevor
would pull his head out of his ass, but wishing was all I could do.

"She's just about ready. Did you boys make
reservations?"

Trevor was staring at her again with his mouth hanging open
and couldn't seem to string together enough words to reply.

"Yeah we did," I said and I smacked him on the
back of the head to snap him out of it.

"Ow! What the hell was
that
for?" he
snapped at me.

I just laughed and shook my head, "Not sure, but as the
best friend's boyfriend, I think I'm allowed to do that."

He frowned when he realized I had thrown his own words back
at him, then nodded in agreement. "Touché. Thanks for that."

I didn't get a chance to question him because the door to
the bedroom opened and Tess stepped through.

I have had the wind knocked out of me plenty. Getting
punched in the gut during a fight is no picnic and in the beginning, it
happened a lot. But when Tess stepped out of that room, it was like all those
punches rolled into one, without the pain. I couldn't breathe.

Her dark hair was curled and hung loosely over her shoulders
and down past her shoulder blades. Her eyes were given just enough of a smoky
look that it didn't overpower the chocolate caramel color I couldn't get enough
of. It was her dress, though, that really made the cold shower I took earlier
even more pointless.

Clinging to her breasts and shoulders and tapering down to
flare out at her hips and fall just above her knees, it left everything and
nothing to the imagination. The strappy heels on her feet, that made her legs
go on for miles, brought up a whole new set of fantasies where those pointy
heels dug into my ass as I thrust inside of her.

"Wow… Tess… I-I can't… y-you look… holy shit." I
ran a hand through my hair and tugged hard to pull out the images running
through my mind.

She smiled so brightly that the air that had been slowly
coming back into my lungs was thrust out again.

"Aww, he's been struck dumb by the sight of you, T. And
you thought it was too much." Benny shook her head and her finger at Tess
like she was scolding a child. "Don't ever forget, I know all about these
things. It's pointless to question me."

Tess just smiled and let out a quiet giggle while tugging at
the hem of her dress.

I still hadn't said anything smart or even coherent yet and
Trevor was still looking at Benny, then darting his eyes over to Tess to scowl,
then moving them back to Benny where his expression must have looked like mine.
He couldn't decide whether to be upset at Tess for dressing like that, or to
gawk at
Benny
for dressing like that.

"You guys okay?" Tess asked.

Trevor came out of his beauty induced coma first,
"Yeah, umm, yeah. Hey, T? I don't think it is a good idea for you to… I
mean, both of you… maybe we should just stay in tonight."

"What? Why?" she protested.

"Because we are going to spend the entire night trying
not to kick the ass of every guy who looks at the two of you," he bit out.
"I, personally, do not want to spend a night in jail because another guy
couldn't--"

"No! We are going out tonight," Benny said firmly
as she raised a hand to stop him from speaking. "Now, you boys can come
with us," she said, snaking her arm through Tessa's, "or you can stay
here and regret not taking two hot chicks out who, I might add, will have to
end up finding other dance partners because you decided to act like
morons."

One of her eyebrows had arched defiantly and sent shivers up
my neck. Benny was not one to be messed with. Plus, she made a good point. I
was definitely going out. No way was I going to let another guy touch Tess.

She started to pull Tess to the door and I realized I still
hadn't said anything to her. I reached out and wrapped my arm around her waist
to turn her to me while Benny kept going with a defeated looking Trevor following
after her. Tess frowned when I still hadn't said anything even after they left
the suite.

"Are you okay, Charlie?"

Her voice wavered slightly and I could feel how nervous she
actually was even though she looked like a goddess. She started to pull away
and her expression fell. I nodded my head to answer her question and cleared my
throat. "Tess, you look… there are no words worthy enough. Amazing,
stunning, gorgeous, breathtaking. I can't seem to think straight with you
looking like this."

She smiled and stepped back into my arms. She was just
staring at my chest and I hooked my finger under her chin to tilt her face up
to mine so I could see her eyes.

"Just… promise me you won't leave my side at all.
Trevor was right. You two are going to keep us busy, but I want you to have a
fun night."

She rolled her eyes, but couldn't hide the amusement on her
face, "I promise, Charlie."

"Gah, you are so sexy! Don't roll your eyes again
unless you want to skip going out and get locked into that bedroom."

She laughed and the sound nearly brought me to my knees.
"Let's go then before you change your mind."

***

Trevor was right. The girls must have turned down a million
guys throughout the night. Even though we were right next to them the whole
time. Isn't there a guy code or something like that? One that says if a girl
has her arm wrapped around a guy and he has his arm wrapped around her, she is
off limits?

Tess was smiling throughout dinner and laughing with Benny
and me while we reminisced about our childhood. Trevor was quiet through most
of dinner and kept glancing at his phone with a frown. When I asked him what
was wrong, he just said that Ellie wasn't responding to him and he had gotten a
text from one of his buddies back home who saw her with her friends. Apparently,
there were some guys with them, but his buddy couldn't tell if they were with
the other girls or not. He looked like he was about to bolt and go back home to
find her, but then I saw him glance over at Benny and he seemed to relax a bit
more. He didn't pull his phone out for the rest of the night.

We found a small table in the back of the club and Tess got
quiet for a minute. Benny was saying something to her that I couldn't hear and
she just kept shaking her head. When she excused herself to go to the restroom,
I took the opportunity to ask Benny what was going on.

"Is everything alright?"

She shrugged and took a gulp of her martini, "Not
sure."

I narrowed my eyes while she did everything in her power to
avoid my stare. "Benny."

"Charlie, you just have to be patient with her. There
is really no way to predict a switch or to truly prevent it and with everything
going on between you two, her emotions are a little… jarbled."

"Jarbled? What the hell does that mean? She knows how I
feel about her. I haven't given her any reason to doubt--"

"That's not what I meant." She took a deep breath
and glanced toward the restrooms to make sure Tess wasn't on her way over.
"She still doesn't know all her triggers and so far, the only constant she
has had is control of her emotions. Any change to that and who knows what could
happen. I'm not saying it's a problem. Actually, I think it's the best thing
for her."

"What do you mean?"

She sipped her martini again as she tried to think of how to
explain it to me. "Okay. Picture a bottle of soda sitting on this table.
The liquid has the potential to bubble up and burst out if the bottle is shaken
at all. As long as nothing touches it, as long as it's in control, we can
assume the soda will just sit in the bottle, right?"

I nodded, not quite sure where she was going with this.

"Tess has all these emotions stuffed inside a bottle,
Charlie. She has had control of all of it, on a steady surface with no outside
interference to shake her up. Until you. And you are shaking the hell out of
her bottle, Charlie."

"So why do you think that's the best thing for her?
Won't that hurt her?"

She laughed loudly and gulped down the rest of her drink.
"Have you ever drank a soda that hasn't been touched in 5 years? It's
flatter than that stomach of yours, and not as nice looking either. If she
doesn't get shaken up, she'll end up emotionless. Flat. Indifferent. And no one
will be able to pull her out of it. She's got multiple personalities, so what?
I'm manic bipolar. Doesn't mean I shouldn't be allowed to feel anything."

It made sense. Tess couldn't keep bottling everything up
inside of her. There had to be a way for her to let go and just feel without
worrying about what will happen.

"Problem is, she isn't as in control as she
thinks."

My eyebrows raised in surprise. I thought Tess had a good
handle on things for the most part. "She isn't?"

She shook her head and widened her eyes at something behind
me.

"She's on her way back, but I need to tell you. There's
not just Lydia and Camryn. There's no way
that
girl, who has been
holding back so much for years, has only two alters to take care of all of her
emotions. She's only got stress and anger covered. Don't tell me she doesn't
feel anything else. And she needs to start talking to them, Charlie. They need
her to. She needs it, too."

"I think maybe I need to go back to the hotel,"
Tess said from right behind me. She hadn't heard what Benny said, but when I
turned to look at her, she looked like she had been put through the ringer.

I stood quickly and wrapped my arms around her waist.
"You okay, babe?"

She shook her head and glanced at Benny.

"Has it gotten worse?" Benny asked loudly.

Tess glared at her. Apparently, she didn't want me to know
what was going on, but instead of continuing to glare at her best friend, her
face softened and her shoulders slumped. "I think I need to get out of
this crowd."

I didn't ask her anything else. Benny just nodded at me when
I told her to let Trevor know we were leaving and pulled Tess out of the club
and got us into a cab. By the time we got back to our room, she seemed a little
more relaxed, but a little distant. I wasn't sure what to make of it.

"You want to go to bed?" I asked.

She gazed at me for a while and I couldn't look away. Her
eyes seemed lighter than the chocolate caramel I was used to, and looked almost
hazel. I didn't get a chance to detail those eyes further because she attacked
me the next second. Her mouth found mine and her arms wound around my neck.
Mine automatically wrapped around her waist and hauled her into me.