Saving This (The McCallans #5) (4 page)

He was beginning to wonder if he’d end up just like them.

Shaking his head of the thought, he focused his attention on the screenplay in front of him. He pushed himself to reach as deep as he possibly could. He became completely linked to the story while he typed as quickly as his fingers allowed. He understood where his talent had led him; he recognized the opportunity plain as day. He just needed to bust ass to make it happen, but more importantly, get through the obstacles that would for sure slow his progress.

Nothing worthwhile was supposed to be easy.

Chapter Five

Wondering how long he was going to hesitate when it came to decisions like this, Max stared at the phone in his hand. He’d typed a message to Teague, but still hadn’t pressed ‘send.’ He read the message over at least a dozen times, second-guessing himself and changing a word here or there.

Finally he impulsively sent it.

Can we meet up tonight?

He immediately regretted it, and since he couldn’t take it back, added one more text.

I have Chase until tomorrow and he’d like to see you.

Yeah, panic and use your kid as an excuse. Real cool. Even though Chase really did want to see Teague and Camryn, Max knew he threw that on there as reinforcement. If he chickened out again last minute, at least his brother didn’t know he had something more specific on his mind.

He got a reply a minute later.

I’ll be home after six

Not the warmest response, but it wasn’t “fuck no.” Actually it probably would have been if he hadn’t mentioned Chase, but he wasn’t going to hold it against Teague.

He pulled up to his brother’s at six-forty that night. Camryn answered the door and welcomed them in. It wasn’t a surprise she was smiling and genuinely seemed glad they were there. She’d been a feisty one to tangle with when she first started dating his brother, but Max couldn’t fault her for her suspicions when it came to his family—especially after she’d had to deal with their father.

It had been her fiery personality that had been worrisome. The McCallans didn’t need any more guising women trying their luck at notoriety. Who knows, maybe Max didn’t trust Teague’s choice in women after Kate.

Yeah, well, they’d both been deceived with that one.

“Teague’s just getting out of the shower,” Cam informed him. “Hey you,” she grinned at Chase. “Give me a hug.” He went to her right away and she scooped him up, motioning to Max. “Come out back, we’re about to eat.”

“I didn’t mean to interrupt dinner time.”

“It’ll be done in about twenty minutes. And don’t be silly, I made extra just because I knew you guys were coming. Food. It gives people something to talk about,” she winked.

He appreciated the simple understanding. He’d hardly been around Camryn without Teague being there to guard her not-so-delicate feelings. She could stand her ground, but his brother felt it was his job to keep the ogres away and Teague was never very subtle about it.

He couldn’t blame him one bit. You find a woman worth protecting, it’s an alpha’s dream.

“Where’s C.J.?” Max glanced around the house for any sign of a tiny human.

“Shower time with his dad. Figured he could get that done while I finished dinner. He’s already whined for me to take the baby twice, but I just pretend I can’t hear him.”

Max hid a smile as he followed her lead and sat down at the picnic table on the back deck. Then a thought crossed his mind—he’d never even held his brother’s baby—and it made him feel like a piece of shit. It also made him think about the past, when Chase was born, and what a good father figure Teague had been for those few months before Kate took her son away from him.

All of that pain could never be undone, and Max regretted that the most. And then Teague even did the unexpected and
still
kept it all a secret to protect everyone’s privacy. There aren’t too many men in the world who would do that.

“You seem like you have a lot on your mind,” Camryn spoke quietly. She’d somehow wrangled some coloring books and crayons and Chase was busy being artistic.

“Yeah, I do,” Max admitted with a nod.

Camryn seemed to think for a moment before she asked, “Is my husband going to be a ticked off grizzly bear after you leave tonight?”

He knew what she meant. He could set off Teague just by being near him.

“I hope not,” he answered sincerely. He paused, debating his next sentence, but decided to go for it since it was part of the reason why he’d come. He settled into a neutral façade for this conversation and remained expressionless. “I don’t get him enough, you know,” he added, barely motioning to Chase. “I want you to know I have nothing to do with that.”

Camryn studied Max for a moment, and then glanced between him and Chase. “No?” she finally asked, seeming doubtful.

“No, I don’t. When I have him, I make sure he sees you guys.”

She narrowed her eyes at him in thought, just as Teague came out the back door with the baby in his arms. “You mean to tell me you only see him
once a month
?” Camryn quietly asked with disbelief.

Teague’s gaze was cautiously set on him too, but he looked just as confused as he silently sat down at the head of the table.

Max eyed the baby for a moment and felt a slight pain in his chest. The little guy was beautiful, a complete mix of his mom and dad. He took a subtle deep breath, hoping the heartache would go away. “Yeah, just once a month. If that.”

Teague settled his eyes on Chase for a moment. The kid was so enthralled in scribbling he hadn’t noticed his uncle’s presence. “Chase,” he said to get his attention.

Chase looked up, noticed him, and then smiled big as he waved.

“Hey buddy, come say hi,” Teague said, moving C.J. to one leg so he could receive Chase on the other. Chase was already on his way over and Teague pulled him up onto his lap. “What are you coloring over there, huh?”

“Mm, Buzz and Woody,” he shrugged.

“Buzz and Woody? They’re pretty cool. I like Rex, he’s kinda funny.”

Chase giggled. “
What if Andy gets another dinosaur
?” he quoted the movie in his preschooler voice.

“
A mean one?”
Teague finished.

They both laughed.

Max smiled, but it was more toward the table since he couldn’t make eye contact. Just seeing his brother holding both boys hit a corner of his heart that he wasn’t expecting. He’d missed out on so much of what was important in life, and for what?

Just to keep peace in a family that was impossible to appease in the first place.

He knew he needed to do this, at least give it a shot, and he should just get it over with. Max cleared his throat. “Uh, you think we could talk?” he asked Teague suddenly, before he lost his nerve.

Teague paused and studied him for a second, seeming surprised. Then he slightly nodded, and without even giving Camryn any kind of signal, she took the baby from him in one arm and Chase’s hand with the other.

“Let me show you C.J.’s new baby piano,” she said. “Maybe you can show him how to use it.”

“Okay!” Chase replied eagerly.

There was almost a minute of silence after the three of them left. Teague was waiting for him to speak first, but Max wasn’t sure where to start. He needed to remember what was at stake here. Thinking back on their past and the relationship he and his brother
used
to have reminded him of what he desperately needed in his life again. However, there was a chance that he could share some things with Teague and have it completely backfire on him.

Finally Max said, “I want to tell you something, and I know you might not want to listen, but I think it’s time I do this.”

He looked his brother straight in the eye but Teague didn’t respond. He sat there with a stone expression and cold ocean eyes. Max knew he’d hurt his brother so badly he may never forgive him, but he couldn’t keep living like this anymore. He needed to clear the air.

“I’m just going to start talking, okay?” Max added. “I’ll talk if you could just listen for a bit…ask questions later but…just listen for now.”

Teague didn’t answer.

“Okay?” Max prodded, deciding he needed some kind of response.

His brother held out his hands. “Fine. Start talking. I’m listening. But is this going to be
you
talking or one of your characters,” he added dryly.

Max took a deep breath, choosing to disregard that while trying to settle on where to begin. He picked the days with Olivia, when he and his brother first started to drift apart. “When Olivia and I got together… I know that was hard for you.”

Teague said nothing; he only stared at him with icy teal eyes, so Max continued.

“I know it was wrong of me to get so caught up in all of that—to basically put you on the back burner for all of that media attention—but it’s not really what you think it was.”

His brother narrowed his eyes slightly. “What do you mean?”

Max sighed. “So you know Dan Douglas, the music producer? Olivia and Sarah’s dad?”

Teague slowly nodded.

“Well, him and Dad made a business deal to get Olivia cast in that movie. Music rights for the soundtrack were traded for a starring role. You know all this, right? Because of all that shit with Tyse? We had that fabulous family meeting about it all,” he added dryly. It was the day Tyse decked him in the face, which he might have deserved—to a degree—but it was a memorable experience nonetheless.

Teague was expressionless, but even though Max had asked him to remain quiet, he was waiting for another response.

His brother leaned forward onto the table. “That’s not surprising. You know how Dad and Grandpa work. There’s a lot of secret shit behind the scenes. They are always working deals with people. But you went along with it? The deal with the Douglases?”

“Like I said at the family meeting,
I didn’t know
,” Max explained adamantly. “I honestly didn’t. As far as I knew, Olivia tried out for the role and was cast in the movie. I had no idea it was set up that way in exchange for music rights. I actually thought she fit the part perfectly, so when we started dating… I just figured fate was in my favor. I’m not going to play off how much all of this has hurt me and how humiliating it is. It has and it is. I loved Olivia. I truly did fall in love with her. I let my guard down and allowed myself to feel something for someone for once. She, on the other hand, didn’t feel the same way, and when she found out she’d been traded like a business pawn, she thought I was a part of it too even though I told her I wasn’t.”

“So you didn’t convince her you weren’t, whether that’s true or not? Is that why you guys went your separate ways?”

Max stared at the table again until he could form the right words. He knew he’d receive his brother’s doubt no matter what he said. He could easily sense Teague’s skepticism because of all the times he’d thrown bullshit at him in the past with the help of his flawless acting.

Finally he went with the full truth and admitted, “I was in love with Olivia and asked her to marry me.”

Teague’s eyebrows shot sky high.

“She said yes,” Max continued, “but apparently she was just caught up in the hype of everything because a few weeks later she changed her mind. She said she couldn’t handle the pressure anymore; that my family was too much for her to deal with and she didn’t want to be in the industry any longer; that she was just turning nineteen and wasn’t ready. She said she didn’t believe I loved her, and it didn’t matter what I said to convince her that I would always put her first…she still walked away from me. I kid you not, I made a fucking fool out of myself to get her back. I thought she really did have a point about my family and just needed to be assured they wouldn’t matter. I thought I’d prove to her that we could have a life together and I could protect her from the media.”

Teague nodded ever so slightly. “Yeah, that’s a hard thing to promise with your status,” he said softly.

“I know,” Max agreed. “But…I was blind, I guess. Thought I had the power to give her anything she wanted. Maybe I just couldn’t accept that she didn’t want to be with me. I guess I’m that arrogant, but I truly did love her and just couldn’t fathom that she didn’t return that anymore. Or…at all.”

Teague laced his fingers together. “I get it. And that’s why you started kissing dad’s ass more?”

Max scoffed. “I didn’t kiss his ass. When you were veering away from him and starting to go your own way, I think he panicked. He no longer had that card on the table that was in his favor—two sons working in the same industry together. So he focused his attention on me and…I let him for a while. I honestly didn’t know what the fuck I wanted, and because things went to shit with Olivia, I felt like I lost a part of me—probably the only good part of me. I didn’t deal with it well, took it out on you, let dad keep me occupied with work… That’s all it really was—my only way to keep my mind off of what happened. Teague, it’s one thing to have your heart ripped out of your chest…it’s another thing to know what to do after that. What if you’d gone through something like that with Camryn?”

Teague immediately looked defensive as he studied Max for a moment, a mix of anger and caution on his face. But the way his brother took in a slow breath of air as his features softened, Max could tell he empathized somehow.

Finally Teague sighed. “Have you talked to Olivia since all of that?”

Scoffing again, Max smiled sarcastically. “She wanted nothing to do with me. Changed her number, wouldn’t let anyone know where she was… I tracked her down a few times and found her on the east coast, but she still turned me down. Then she ended up moving to Europe. No, I haven’t seen her or heard from her since. I got nothing after she broke things off. Absolutely nothing more than ‘I don’t love you, leave me alone.’”