Page 90 of Drifting

“That’s cool, Little One.” Cam reaches over to pat her shoulder. “I have to say, though, I’m a little hurt that it’s not me. But I’ll get over it.”

I smack his shoulder. “What a show-off you are. Come on, I’ll introduce you guys to my mom and Peter.”

We walk down a few steps to where Mom and Peter sit, then scoot out of the way of the people trying to leave.

“What a game,” Peter says proudly when he sees us. “Nick did well.”

“Yeah, he did. I’m glad you came.” I lift a hand to gesture to my friend. “Mom, Peter, this is my friend Paige.”

“Hi,” Paige says.

I touch Cam’s arm. “You know Peter, but this is my mom.”

“Hello, Mrs. Tate. I can see where Shelby gets her beauty from.” He kisses her hand.

“Oh, he is good. You better keep him.” Mom blushes, fanning herself. "Where are the others?"

“They were playing,” I say, “so you’ll have to wait to meet them.”

“That’s fine. We’ll let you young ones go. Have fun.” She hugs me. “Don’t stay out too late.”

“Come on, ladies, I’ll walk you back to Nick’s truck,” Cam offers.

We say goodbye to Peter and Mom and head toward the parking lot.

“Your mom looks good,” Paige says.

I have to agree with her. “Yeah, Peter’s good for her.”

We wait for the guys by Nick’s truck. It isn’t too long before the football team comes out. Their hair is still wet, and their shirts cling to their muscular chests. Man, I need to get my hormones under control.

Mav runs right at me, lifts me, and spins me around. “Did you see my catch? I didn’t think I was going to get it. Then, my fingers touched the ball, and I pulled it in.”

“It was an awesome catch,” I tell him as he sets me back on my feet.

“Great game, guys! Way to pay them back, Dom,” Cam says, slapping Dom’s back. “They’ll think twice about messing with one of ours.”

Dom smiles. “It was fun.”

That’s the first time I’ve seen him genuinely smile, and it makes my knees weak. Damn, these guys are going to kill me.

“I can’t believe Shelby’s right hook earlier. Where’d you learn those moves?” Cam asks.

I tuck my hair behind my ears. “The places I grew up in, you needed to know how to protect yourself. I’m a Second Kyu Brown Belt. I need to get back to it now that I have my splint and cast off.”

“Damn, Beautiful can take care of herself! Can I hire you to protect this gorgeous body of mine?" Mav's eyebrows wag.

“Knock it off, Mav. We normally head to the diner after the game. Would you like to come with us to get something to eat before we head over to the party?” Luke asks.

When I glance over to Paige, she shrugs. “I don’t think I’m going to the party, but something to eat sounds great.”

“Sounds good.” I glance at Nick. “Did you see that your dad and my mom came?”

He brightens. “I wasn’t sure if that was them or not. I can’t believe he showed up.”

I bump against him. “He’s so proud of you.”

“I’m going to catch a ride with Mav and Dom.” Cam nods toward the twins. “Talk to you later, Beautiful. Bye, Little One.”

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