Page 15 of The Foul Out

As he stepped back, I fought the urge to slam my hands to hips. My hand ached enough as it was. Instead, I glowered at the bossy man. He didn’t have the first clue what he was talkingabout. Before I could formulate a retort, a large hand came up and whacked him in the back of the head, making his hair fly.

Kyle whirled around, smoothing his blond locks to their former perfection. “What the heck, Cam?”

“Don’t be an asshole,” the man in the gray shirt replied.

“Bad word,” Piper chided without looking at the new addition. “And you smell.”

Kyle barked out a laugh, the sound so harsh that Piper and I startled.

“Piper.” My face heated. She hated the smell of cologne or perfume, no matter what the scent. But her accusation made it seem so much worse. This man couldn’t have known.

“She’s not wrong,” Kyle said when he finally stopped chuckling. “I always tell you to go lighter on the cologne.”

With a sigh, the man turned to me. “I’m Cameron, Mr. Bosco’s very patient assistant. And I’m sorry for my odor.”

“You do not smell.” I shot Piper a warning look.

She gave me a stink face before turning away.

I took Cameron’s outstretched hand. “Harper Wallace.”

“I know.” He gave me a rueful smile. “You’re all we’ve talked about today.”

Irritation shot through me. “You and all of Boston.”

Kyle chuckled again, but when Cameron and I shot him matching glares, he turned back to Piper. “Want to get away from the smell and come meet my friends? I promise they’re less crabby than these two. You can give them details about their worst seasons too.”

Piper tipped her chin up, her eyes tracking up to his face for an instant, then moving back to a spot on his chest, and nodded.

Warily, I kept my eye on her as Kyle Bosco led her over to where a few of his teammates were chatting. My heart pounded, urging me to chase them down and keep Piper close, in fear that they were still holding a grudge and would take it out on her.

“He was an idiot yesterday, but he’s not a total jerk,” Cam said, rocking back on his heels.

“My car tells a different story.” I lowered my head and shook it. The strange fear turned into dread when I cataloged all the issues I had to deal with. Four tires, along with possible damage to the rims, and the paint. I groaned. I didn’t have the time or money for that.

“That’s actually on my to-do list.”

Frowning, I assessed him. “My car is on your to-do list?”

Cam nodded. But that didn’t make any sense.

“Where are the boys?” Zara asked, appearing at my side.

I waved a hand at the spread of food on the tables. “Under the blue tablecloth. With the bowl of berries.”

“Keen eye.” With a smirk, she strode over and lifted the cloth. Both boys looked up with very red smiles. “I think Grey found a new mate.”

I swiped a napkin off the table and crouched in front of Sam. “Why is my car on your to-do list, Cameron?” I asked as I finished wiping the berry juice from my son’s mouth.

“Oh, that’s on me,” Zara said. “I forgot to mention that Hannah, the lovely woman, gave me a job.” Zara beamed as she straightened from cleaning Grey’s mouth too. “Although I adore this little monster and his sister, I’ve recently realized how much I truly miss my work. I suppose I lost myself a bit over the years, and now I finally have the opportunity to rediscover my purpose.”

That resonated a bit too well with me. The lost part, at least. At the moment, I had no time to even think about finding myself again. I hardly had time to keep up with day-to-day life, let alone rediscover my passions.

“I feel that.” Only…what did my car have to do with Zara’s job? “Are you a mechanic?”

A bubble of a laugh burst from her. “Oh, no, darling. I’m a fixer. Hannah hired me. So I’m going to take care of the damage done by Kyle’s idiotic comment, and then…” She beamed at me. “Brace yourself, because it’s my mission to ensure that, by the end of the week, Boston adores you.”

I blinked. What the hell had I gotten into?

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