Page 62 of Letting it Ride

“Oh!” I exclaim as we walk through the airport doors, toward the parking shuttle while I check my email. “I almost forgot. I said I’d watch Josie’s twins this Sunday. Want to help?”

“You want me to babysit?” Cam wrinkles his nose.

I smack his arm. “It’ll be fun, and it’ll be a chance for us to hang out. That’s all.”

He actually looks like he’s considering it. “Are you sure? I’m not sure I know that much about babies. How old are they? Like a month?”

“They’re ten months. Not really baby-babies. Almost toddlers. I don’t think they’re walking yet, but I know they can crawl. It’ll be fun.” I’m not positive on the fun aspect, but I don’t want to do this alone. I know what a handful kids this age can be, and there are two of them. And toddler math isn’t like regular math, where one plus one equals two. If you add one toddler plus one toddler, you get about eight times the destruction.

He finally nods. “Sure. Where?”

Relief washes over me. I suppose I could have asked Annika if Cam said no, but he’s the one I want to spend time with.

Plus, Annika would probably put the twins intimeout or ground them or something. She’s strict when it comes to her students, and I’m not sure she’s any more flexible when it comes to smaller kids.

“They’re staying at Maddox’s house, dog-sitting. He’s on his honeymoon.”

“I know,” he says, giving me a look that reminds me, once again, that this is my brother’s best friend I’m sleeping with. That I have feelings for.

I’m not willing to think about our situation too much right now. I just want to pretend we’re still in the Bahamas, sipping cocktails poolside.

As I think about the cocktails, something occurs to me. I had my share of drinks, but I’m not sure I ever saw Cam drink something other than soda. Even the piña coladas he had at the casino he ordered without alcohol.

I rack my brain, thinking back to Maddox’s wedding, of all the Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners he’s shared with my family. I can’t remember ever seeing him drink alcohol.

He never made a big deal of it, so I hadn’t actually picked up on it until now.

“Cam?” I say after a moment.

“Hmm?” He looks at me as we climb onto the shuttle bus.

I wait until we sit down at the back. “Not that itmatters. But how come you don’t drink? Or did I miss something? It just seemed like…”

Cam shakes his head. “You’re right. I don’t.”

He doesn’t elaborate, and he sets his mouth in a thin line that indicates he’s done talking about it.

“Does it bother you when I do?”

He looks over at me. “No. I don’t mind. It’s just a personal choice.”

I nod silently, waiting for him to decide if he wants to say more about it. But he just reaches over and gives my thigh a gentle squeeze without saying anything else.

We’re standing next to Cam’s Subaru before it occurs to either of us.

“Shit,” he mutters, staring at the locked car.

“The keys are still on the ship, aren’t they?” We should have realized this sooner. Maybe we would have, if we hadn’t been in a sex haze for the last two days.

He nods with a resigned sigh. “I’ll have to grab my extra set. And get the doorman to let me in to my apartment to get those.” A frown crosses his face.

I offer him a wry smile. “This whole trip really took acrappy turn, huh?”

His frown disappears as he looks at me. “I think it took a really great one, Addie. I wouldn’t change this for the world. The car keys and my phone and all that stuff… it’s all replaceable. Time with you isn’t.”

“Except the sex. There’s more where that came from.” I give him a wink.

He roars with laughter as he folds me into his arms. “Let’s go see if we can solve some of this. Can you get an Uber with your phone?”

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