Kiss This (44 page)

“No, that’s not it. Well, I mean… Shit, I
don’t even know what it means…”

Jay finally made his presence known when he
said, “Tell me what happened, Camryn. I know everything about
Teague. He’s not fucking around on you, so I don’t even want to
hear that shit.” He glared at her as he took a few steps into the
room.

“Oh, I don’t want to hear
you
, Jay,”
Camryn retorted. “Men and their loyalties to one another.”

“Hey, don’t give me that. Teague is a
brother to me and I’ll always have his back, but that guy is more
whipped than I’ve ever seen him! I never thought I’d see him
recover from…” He didn’t finish the sentence, and instead added,
“He loves you more than anything. I surely hope you don’t doubt
that.”

“Recover from what?” she challenged.

He shook his head. “Just all the shit with
his dad and brother. You see how he reacted?” he pointed to the
road where Teague had burned rubber in the street. “
That
is
how he gets when his dad or Max is involved in his life. Am I
right?”

Camryn didn’t reply. He’d received a text
from Max, but Teague didn’t have the courtesy to explain
anything
before he took off.

“Camryn,” Jay continued. “If it has to do
with our family, I already know. Just tell me.”

She barely scoffed. “Your whole damn family
is nuts,” she said quietly. “I don’t know any of you.”

“Hey, come on, that’s not fair. I’m nothing
but honest. And you know Teague better than that. And yeah, I’m
gonna back up my boy on this one when I say you don’t know what the
hell he’s been through the past few years. Give him a chance to
explain when he’s ready.”

She scowled at him and shook her head. “I
am
giving him a chance. I
love
him and I have
faith
in him, even knowing that he’s been keeping something
from me! I know he has family issues! Why can’t he just tell
me!?”

“Maybe you’d know why if you weren’t
freaking the hell out!” Jay shot back, rubbing his hands over his
dark hair in frustration. “Just tell me what you found out so I can
help you, Camryn.”

“You’re one of them,” she replied evenly,
just as Kellie entered the house. “I’m certainly not going to share
Teague’s secrets with
you
when everyone just wants to trade
me back more lies!”

“What the fuck are you talking about? If
you’re confusing me with Max, you and I have issues, honey. I’ll
give you a pass this time because I understand you’re upset, but
don’t you
ever
compare me to Craig or Max, do you hear
me?”

“What the hell, Jay!” Kellie yelled. “What
the hell is going on?”

“Jay, stop,” Melanie said quietly. “This
isn’t helping.”

“Nothing is,” Camryn growled, popping up
from the couch.

She was headed for her room when Jay said,
“Is it about Kate?”

Camryn stopped dead in her tracks, her
breathing heavy from being so emotional. She wanted to turn around
and tell him yes, but she was too stubborn, too hurt.

“I know everything about his relationship
with Kate, but obviously you don’t,” Jay continued softly. “Please
listen to me when I say give Teague a chance to explain, okay?”

“What about Chase?” she asked, still with
her back to him.

“This is a lot for him to deal with, so if
you could just be patient—”

“How can you keep something like that from
someone you want to marry?” she almost whispered.

“Camryn, what are you talking about?”
Melanie practically whined, coming off the couch. “This is getting
way too scary and complex and none of it sounds right.” She walked
to her sister until she was facing her. “Is Kate another woman? Who
is Chase?”

“Is Teague seeing Kate again?” Kellie
gasped.

“Fuck no!” Jay yelled. “Jesus Christ, you
goddamn women! Shut up, all of you!

“Don’t tell me to shut up!” Kellie shouted
at him. “This is Teague we’re talking about! He would never do
something like that so I don’t know what the hell—”

“Exactly,” Jay groaned. “You can’t just walk
into the house in the middle of a conversation and— Camryn, where
are you going?”

She disappeared down the hall and they all
heard the bedroom door slam shut.

***

Teague thought he’d have a chance to simmer
down by the time he tracked down his dad. He wasn’t even close to
being calm. But unfortunately, he didn’t fucking care that his dad
was dining in a restaurant with his peers. They were a bunch of
shits and fakes just like his own damn family.

He stalked right into their private room at
the back of the restaurant, not even caring who was there or who
would be there to stop him. He spotted his dad right away—in the
same damn spot he always sat, right at the head of the kiss ass
group of phonies. Craig looked up with alarm when Teague burst into
the room.

“What the
hell
is your problem?”
Teague asked, pointing at him. “Do you honestly have no fucking
sense of decency? Have you not screwed my life up enough as it
is!?”

Bruce, Craig McCallan’s longtime bodyguard,
came across the room in an attempt to mitigate another family
quarrel.

“Don’t make me hurt you, Bruce,” Teague
growled at him. “You’ll only make this worse.”

“Teague, just stop yelling, okay?” Bruce
answered gently. “How ‘bout we take this to the car, huh?”

“It’s fine, Bruce,” Craig finally spoke. “If
my son wants to embarrass himself in front of a room full of
people, then hell, just let him.”

Bruce sighed and shook his head as he
returned to the other side of the room. He’d had to physically
tangle with Teague a few times and it was never fun.

“What’s on your mind, son?” Craig asked with
a staged smile. “I see you’re upset.”

Teague could only laugh at his father’s
ridiculous show to be amusing for his friends. There were twelve
other people in the room besides the two of them; fourteen total.
He recognized about five or six of them, all scowling at him as
usual. The rebellious child was in the room, not the adored and
worshiped one.

Teague looked at his dad and said, “You have
no business talking to Camryn,
whatsoever
.”

“Oh, this is about Camryn,” Craig smirked.
He looked around the massive table at his fellow diners and said,
“Camryn is of the
female
variety.” He winked, making a big
joke about it, and several of them laughed. “Lady troubles.”

“Be an asshole all you want,” Teague smiled
back. “Because when the tables are turned and
your
friends
find out shit about
you
, I’d love to see you laughing
then
.”

Craig’s smile disappeared and he took a
measured pause. “Teague, nobody wants to hear you cry about how
your family has wronged you.
Children
whine that their
parents aren’t ‘fair’. You’re twenty-three years old, damn it. Grow
up.”

“Twenty-four now, but thanks for forgetting
my birthday,
Dad
. And do you really want to challenge me
about family secrets right now?”

“Teague, I’ve had enough of this shit,”
Craig said, standing from his chair.

“Oh, don’t get up on my account,” Teague
laughed bitterly. “I’ll be leaving, but not before I say this. If
you ever come near Camryn again, you’ll wish you hadn’t. I will air
your shitty laundry so fast this city won’t know which landfill
erupted.”

“Teague—”

“Don’t wanna hear it,” was Teague’s response
as he turned to leave the private room. He almost ran into Max on
his way out; his brother had obviously been listening to his
tirade.

“Teague—” Max began.

“I don’t want to hear you, either,” Teague
retorted.

“I don’t want to fight with you, bro,” Max
said quietly. “If you would just talk to me for once—”

Teague was already leaving, disregarding any
nosy eyes that were gawking as he made his way outside into the
dusk. He was only halfway to his Mustang when his dad came storming
out the private exit at the back of the restaurant.

“Teague, goddamn it, you will listen to me!”
Craig shouted.

Bruce was with him, as well as two other
bodyguards that came from a limo and another town car that was in
the VIP parking lot. They kept their usual distance for a McCallan
scene, standing off to the side. Max came barreling out of the
private entry as well and hurried to chaperone his dad and
brother.

“You have a lot of nerve,” Craig growled at
Teague, pointing a finger. “How dare you make a scene like that! If
you want my attention, put on your big boy pants on and come talk
to me without the audience!”

“Oh, make an appointment? I didn’t realize
that worked anymore.”

“Don’t be a fucking smartass! God, Teague.
Where did I go wrong with you!? You used to be such a sweet, polite
little boy.”

“You mean when I was forced to join your
family because my mom died? What, was I supposed to love the
spotlight and vie for your attention? Automatically feel
comfortable in a strange place that never felt like home to
me?”

“Really? You’re really going to dredge up
your ‘horrible’ childhood,” Craig deadpanned. “Jesus Christ,
Teague. Did I not get you in enough counseling sessions or
something?”

“No, you gave up on that when I was twelve,
remember?”

“Oh yes, when you wouldn’t stop getting into
fights with other kids and told the therapist you wanted to kick
his ass. I remember now.”

Teague smiled and shook his head. “Who
wouldn’t be pissed off after finding out Max was only my half
brother because you screwed random women behind your wife’s back?
Then I find out you paid off my mom to stay the hell away from you;
the media found out about me anyways and you fucked over her
reputation to make yourself look like a saint. It’s no wonder she
fucking killed herself!”

“Teague, honestly. You don’t know a damn
thing about what happened. She was leaving you at a neighbor’s
house all the time so she could get high with her loser friends.
What, you don’t remember that as a toddler?”

“I understand she wasn’t the best mom—even
my grandma told me that—but that has nothing to do with what
happened when
you
had me!”

“You still don’t forgive me for kicking you
out at sixteen, is that it? I’m supposed to cater to a kid that
didn’t want to follow my rules or stop getting into trouble? I
figured it was a cry for help, okay? I sent you to your grandma.
That’s what you wanted all along, right? Even knowing she was sick
and wasn’t going to live very long, I figured I’d give you what you
wanted anyways. I know you didn’t like my career, my house, my
cars, my friends, and anything else that was associated with
me.”

“The alcohol, the women, the power trips,
the bribes, the—”

“This is ridiculous,” Craig shook his head.
“And how have your few years of adult life been, Teague? Perfect?
You don’t drink, you don’t smoke, you don’t fuck up at work, you
don’t have pre-marital sex, you don’t leave children fatherless
because you can’t handle a breakup?”

“Dad, let’s not get into—” Max tried to
say.

“I
don’t
drink,” Teague cut in. “And
I don’t smoke either, thanks to Camryn, whom yes, I do have sex
with even though we’re not married yet, and no I would never
abandon a child no matter what was going on in my life!”

“Oh?” he chuckled sarcastically. “That’s
interesting. So while we’re casting stones, why the hell did you
interrupt my dinner to talk about your new girlfriend? You’re the
one lying to her! I only told her the truth!”

“This has to stop, guys,” Max said quietly,
looking around the parking lot. There were now restaurant patrons
turning into spectators as they glanced over in recognition, and
the McCallans didn’t need any more negative publicity.

“Get in the limo,” Craig growled as he
turned on his heel to head for the VIP lot.

“Fuck that,” Teague said, unlocking his car
door.

“Teague, can you and I talk? Please?” Max
begged. He tried to open the passenger’s door but it was locked.
“Jesus, just open the door,” he murmured over the car, trying not
to look disgruntled in front of the public.

“Only if you get out of my car when I tell
you to.”

“As long as you don’t dump me off in front
of a horde of teenage girls or something. That wasn’t funny,
Teague.”

Teague wanted to at least smirk at the
memory. He and Jay had ditched Max to fend for himself at the mercy
of fans that had recognized him at a bowling alley four years
ago.

But Teague only glared at his brother as he
slid into the driver’s seat. Against his better judgment, he
reached over to unlock the passenger’s door. Max climbed in when
the engine rumbled, just as a couple of spectators were getting
bold with their cameras.

Teague pulled out of the lot calmly and
drove north. He had nothing to say to Max but had no idea why he
bothered to let him in his car.

“Why’d you make a public scene, Teague?” Max
finally sighed. “Because you know that’s what would hit him the
hardest? This is going to stir up more shit.”

“Yep, you know me. Troublemaker and headline
taker.”

Max barely smiled as he shook his head, but
he wasn’t sure what else to say to him. They drove in silence for a
minute before Teague pulled over to a small parking area next to a
vacant soccer field.

“My life is going to hell again, Max.”

“What happened with Camryn the other night?
When she was out walking. Did you tell her about Chase?”

“Why the fuck am I talking to you?”

“Because we need to, little brother. We
shouldn’t be enemies, Teague.”

“You have got to be kidding me,” Teague
laughed. But it was bitter and he felt like he was going to lose
his mind. “You and dad… I just can’t do this anymore.”