Kiss This (8 page)

He pulled onto the highway and turned down
the stereo. “Jay and I are going up to his dad’s. My uncle’s
house.

“Oh. Where does he live?”

“In Tillamook.”

“The cheese place?”

“Yeah,” he smiled. “What are you doing
tomorrow?”

“The Millers invited us over.”

“Oh. Well you’re lucky, then. Loretta is a
great cook.”

“That’s what I’ve heard.”

He glanced at her briefly. “You don’t sound
too happy about it. What’s up?”

“Oh, I’m fine with it. I’m sure I’ll be
going by myself, though. My mom claims she’s not ready to face
people.”

Teague didn’t know what to say. Camryn was
up here away from her friends and the rest of her family, and
Christmas Day was going to be spent with a house full of strangers.
“I’d invite you to come with me, but you’re better off at Kyah’s.
My family is fucking insane.” He said it as both a warning
and
to test her knowledge.

“I don’t need a second pity invite,” she
smiled earnestly. “And I can deal with people just fine.”

He glanced at her again. “Hm, yeah I’ve
noticed.”

She angled her head to eye him carefully.
“Oh? And what have you noticed?”

“Just that…you’re very confident.”

He pulled into her mom’s driveway. Camryn
thanked him for the ride as the Jeep came to a stop, but he told
her to wait and he got out and opened the door for her. Teague was
about to walk her to the front door when a scream from the house
and the sound of breaking glass shocked them both to attention.

***

Camryn took off for the steps, taking them
two at a time. She didn’t realize that Teague was right behind her
when she opened the front door until he yanked her back as a plate
came crashing across the entryway.

Camryn peeked around the door in time to see
her mom about to chuck another one.

“Mom!” she shouted.

Serena was startled and dropped the plate,
breaking it in half. She looked down at it and sniffled. “Well, at
least I didn’t have to waste my energy on
that
one.” She
stared at Camryn, lurking behind the door. “You’re letting the cold
air in.”

“You’re letting the voices take over.”

Serena cracked a tiny smile and wiped the
tears from her face. “You’re not funny.”

Teague muffled a laugh from behind Camryn
and she turned to tell him goodbye. “I got this,” she
whispered.

“You sure? She seems a little…”

“Unstable? You think you have the only crazy
family?”

“Camryn? Who are you talking to?” Serena
questioned. She left the dining room and came towards the front
entry. “I didn’t realize we had company,” she said when she noticed
Teague. She gave Camryn a level gaze, silently scolding her for the
intrusion.

“Well you’re the one up at one in the
morning, smashing china all over the floor. We heard things
breaking.”

Teague was holding Camryn’s hand like he was
afraid to let her enter a house with an emotional wreck of a
mother. Camryn didn’t miss that her mom noticed the same thing, and
eventually Serena seemed to relax a little.

“Come in,” she said, pulling the door open
further. She practically dragged Camryn inside, and pushed Teague
along with her. Shutting the door she said, “I’ll just get a broom
and clean this up. You two can head to the rec room or…or wherever.
Take your shoes off, please.”

“Mom, just go to bed. I’ll clean this
up.”

Serena was going to object, but Camryn
slipped off her shoes and led her towards her bedroom anyway. She
held up a finger to Teague, letting him know she’d just be a
minute.

“Why the hell were you breaking dishes, Mom?
Wasn’t that the really nice set from the china hutch?”

“It’s not a nice set anymore,” she murmured
with a satisfied smile. “See if that bitch wants ‘em now.”

“What bitch?”

“
Caroline
,” Serena spit out. “Lyle’s
ex wife. They’re
hers
,” she scowled. “Along with a bunch of
other things she wants to get her greedy hands on.”

“Why are they here? If they’re hers, why
didn’t she take them in the divorce?”

“Lyle wouldn’t give her more than he had to.
She raked him for all she could in the settlement, and now that
he’s gone, she’s coming back for more. Oh, if I could just…”

She began muttering incoherent words as
Camryn helped her into bed. She went to the bathroom, got her mom a
drink of water, and set it by the nightstand before turning out the
lights.

“Camryn?” her mom called.

“Yeah?”

“He’s a little better than just ‘good
looking,’” she said. “That’s Teague, right?”

Camryn smiled and nodded her head, even
though her mom couldn’t see her in the dark. “Yeah, that’s Teague.
Goodnight, Mom.”

She shut the door behind her and made her
way down the hall. She heard the tinkling sounds of broken
porcelain when she entered the front living area. Teague was
sweeping up the dishes that had skidded clear across the entryway
and into the front room. She watched him for a moment, enjoying the
opportunity to stare without him noticing.

Her gazing and reverie only lasted a few
seconds because Teague turned and saw her standing there. He lifted
an eyebrow to ask what she was doing, but when she entered the room
he said, “I found a broom, but not a dustpan.”

She reached for the handle to take over and
he pulled it away from her.

“I can manage,” he smiled. “Just find me a
dustpan. And maybe a box or paper bag to put this shit in.”

She pretended to salute him. “Yes, sir.”

He swatted her butt with the broom as she
left. “Smartass.”

Turning around, she walked backwards a few
steps and gave him a seductive smile. “That broom just felt me up.
I wouldn’t take you as the type to share.”

“I definitely don’t share. But I’ll kick its
ass later. Right now it has a job to do.”

Camryn laughed as she headed for the utility
room.

Chapter Eight

“This is one fucked up family, that’s all I
gotta say,” Jay grumbled, picking up a rock and chucking it at the
shed across the yard. It hit the corner and bounced off, landing in
the grass. He took another drink of whiskey and then rubbed his
hand over his face.

Teague could hardly disagree. Jay’s dad was
one mean son-of-a-bitch. He kind of hoped Christmas would be
different, but no such luck. They’d barely gotten through an
afternoon dinner before Clint began berating his live-in girlfriend
and her cooking. Shelly just took it, but Jay had never been one to
put up with his dad’s shit.

“How in the fuck does a girl put up with
that?” Jay continued. “I mean seriously… She got mad at me for
saying something. Mad at
me
. Fucking hell, I’m such a
monster for caring.”

Teague stood and checked the time on his
phone. It was barely two. “Let’s get out of here, okay? Just leave
it how it is for now.”

Jay had that look, like he wanted to go back
inside and beat the shit out of his dad. Teague didn’t like it,
especially since Jay and his dad had both been drinking. Clint was
a mean drunk, and Jay could get into a good rage when he was mad at
his father. It wasn’t a good combination.

“Get your ass up, Jay. We’re not staying any
longer. We tried, let’s go.”

Jay stood and followed him to the Jeep.
Clint was watching them from the front window, and as a goodbye,
Jay flipped him off as they drove away.

By the time they were back on 101, Jay was
asleep. Teague shook his head, regretting the wasted day. Next year
was going to be different. No more family drama. He’d have
Christmas dinner at a restaurant if he had to. Hell, he’d rather
celebrate with a bowl of cereal by himself.

He hoped Camryn was at least having a good
time with the Millers. He spent most of the drive thinking about
her and their time on the beach. As he turned down 29
^th
,
there seemed to be a myriad of vehicles everywhere. It took him a
minute to realize there was some kind of emergency nearby, and it
took him another minute to discover that all the emergency vehicles
were parked all over the Millers’ street. Not only that, when he
got closer to their house, he almost couldn’t believe his eyes.

“What the hell?” Teague asked himself. He
screeched the Jeep in the nearest spot he could find, which was
halfway on the curb at an angle.

“What? What the…” Jay looked around,
dazed.

“Your drunk ass stays put; something
happened at the Millers’ house,” he said as he climbed out of the
car. There were dozens of people on the sidewalks and in the
street, mostly nosy people wanting to see how or why a truck had
crashed into the side of the house.

Teague continued to rush through the crowd,
almost shoving people aside as he looked for a particular blonde
head of hair. He saw Kyah first, and she was clearly upset.

“Are you okay?” he asked. She was currently
with her mom and aunt, the three of them crying and huddled
together. A set of police officers were with them, trying their
best to mumble condolences.

“I’m fine, Teague. Everyone’s okay.”

“Everyone? Where’s—?”

“She’s over there at the ambulance,” she
pointed.

“The what? Is she—?”

“She’s okay. Just something minor.”

He rushed off, feeling like a dick for not
saying something comforting, or offering a hug, or whatever the
hell he could’ve done.

He spotted Camryn sitting at the edge of an
ambulance, a paramedic wrapping her forearm as another guy—a
neighbor, maybe—spoke to her at the same time. Teague couldn’t even
say anything as he approached because he didn’t know
what
to
say. She seemed fine, sitting there nodding her head. But then she
smiled at something the neighbor said to her and Teague snapped out
of it. He then realized that this douche was standing awfully close
to her, trying to charm her fucking pants off.

Teague took three rushed steps to get to
her, surprising Camryn with his sudden appearance.

“Are you okay?” he asked, sliding his arm
around her shoulder. He purposely put his back to the unwelcome
visitor, placing himself in between the two of them.

“Hey Teague,” she said, returning the
embrace with one arm. “What are you doing here? I thought you were
with Jay.”

“I was,” he answered, glancing behind him at
the dick trying to listen in. Teague sent him a silent message and
the guy took a few steps back, and then walked away.

When Teague turned back to observe what was
going on with her arm, Camryn said, “Whatever that look was, I need
to master it.”

“What?”

“That ‘get the hell away from her’ look you
just gave him,” she smiled.

Teague grinned with a shrug. “You mean I
didn’t just break up a budding romance?”

The older paramedic chuckled as he looked at
Teague. “Not even close. This girl here told me to hurry the hell
up so she could kick his ass herself.”

Teague practically grunted and said, “Why am
I not surprised?”

Camryn shot him a scowl. “Hey, I’m nothing
but sweet to you.”

“Yeah, but I’ve seen you bring a guy almost
to his knees, and not in a good way.”

She looked at him suspiciously. “And what
exactly would you be talking about?”

“At Grady’s party. Garrett Daniels.”

She raised her eyebrows. “You were watching
that ass manhandle me and you did nothing?”

The paramedic looked thoroughly amused by
this conversation.

“Hey, I was on my way over, but you managed
on your own,” Teague argued.

She considered that for a moment. “You were
down there and you didn’t come see me?”

“I just got there. I was building up the
courage to go talk to you.”

She smiled, clearly liking that piece of
information. She eyed the paramedic and asked, “What do you think,
Dave? Is he full of shit?”

He chuckled and shook his head. “I’m not
getting in the middle of this.” He was done with Camryn’s arm and
he gently set it on her lap. He passed Teague on his way around the
ambulance and whispered, “The feisty ones keep life exciting. She’s
a keeper.”

Camryn slid off the back of the ambulance
and narrowed her eyes at Teague, who was still trying to
internalize the man’s words.

“What did he say?” she asked
suspiciously.

Teague smiled, shaking his head.
“Nothing.”

“Bull. Tell me what he said.”

Teague pulled her close to him and wrapped
his arms around her. “Maybe I’ll tell you another time.” He set his
chin on the top of her head as she slid her arms around his waist.
It seemed like such a natural interaction, like they were an actual
couple, and Teague wasn’t sure what to think of it. He’d nearly
panicked when he thought she could be hurt. “So what the hell
happened here?” He took her hand and they walked away from the
ambulance.

“I guess a truck was coming down the hill
and a little kid on a bike suddenly came across the road. The
driver hit the brakes and swerved but it took him right across the
Millers corner lot and straight into the side of their house.”

“What? Seriously? The kid is okay,
right?”

“Yeah, he is. Poor guy was scared shitless
though. He was trying out his brand new bicycle. His parents didn’t
know he went outside.”

“Jeez. Lesson learned, I guess. The driver
okay?”

“Yeah, he’s fine,” Camryn answered,
motioning with her head toward another ambulance. A man in his
sixties was speaking to a couple of police officers while he sat on
a stretcher.

“So everyone in the house is okay? Jesus, it
looks like he took out half that side of the building.”

“Yeah, pretty much. That’s where the
bedrooms are and they were empty. Thank God we were all in the
dining room. Wow, it was crazy. Such a miracle.”