Page 85 of Off Balance

"Skinny jeans were a bad choice," I say, pressing a hand to my protruding stomach. "What? Why are you staring at me like that?"

"I just don't think I've ever found a food baby sexy before. I can't decide if it's a kink I haven't discovered before, or if it's just you."

"Just me?" I laugh and hook my arm through his.

"Yeah. I've yet to see you do something that doesn't get my dick up. It's becoming a problem."

I laugh so hard I snort, which makes us both laugh harder. A few heads turn to look at us, but I don't think anything of it until someone points their phone at us and snaps a photo.

"Just ignore them," Dom says, but I can tell he's feeling tense.

I scowl and mouth the word "rude" at the guy who took Dom's photo, which makes him chuckle. Wanting to give him some space while we’re in public, I try to pull my arm back, but he keeps me locked to his side.

“I’m not ashamed to be seen with you, Cam. The whole world can look if they want to, because I’ve got the sexiest, smartest, most beautiful, talented?—"

I push to my toes and kiss him because I can. Because he's mine. And because I feel truly happy for the first time in a very long time.

CHAPTER 24

DOM

I leave Cam sleeping wrapped in a pile of sheets. It's hard not to succumb to the urge to trail kisses up his spine until he's awake enough to kiss me goodbye.

Jesus, Dom, it's just a breakfast meeting. It's not like you're going to be gone for weeks instead of a few hours.

I know Cam plans on getting back into the studio today. He's been practicing a little here and there, and keeping up with his yoga, but hasn't spent any significant time in the studio during his forced recovery. It's been four days since the incident, so I agree it's time for him to get back to it. We've been talking about his audition tape for the World Ballet Championship, and there isn't long to complete it. Cameron decided he wants to go through with it, even if Emile manages to block his entry into the competition. He wants to at least know that he tried, that he did everything he could and pushed himself to succeed.

"If I give up, then it's on me," he said.

Today he's going to practice his original choreography, and later tonight, when the lighting is exactly right, we're going to record it to send in with his application. Between practice sessions,he's also going to work on adding to the biography portion of the application, turning it into somewhat of an essay about his artistic journey and why the competition is important to him. Especially if any of the drama with Alistar goes public, he'll need to be able to show what kind of character he has.

"Break a leg, tiny dancer," I whisper to him as I back out of the room to go meet Dwayne.

As pathetic as it sounds, I miss him the moment I close the door behind me. I've gotten way too comfortable spending all my time with one person. He probably needs breathing space.

Dwayne meets me at our favorite greasy spoon diner a few blocks from the gym. He lifts two fingers off the table in a half-hearted gesture of a wave.

Things between us have been more than awkward. It's worse than after dad died, and I wanted to move across the country to keep pursuing the sport that killed our father. Dwayne followed me and supported me, even though our mother would barely talk to me. And after my accident nearly proved her right, he was the one that stood by me and watched me spin my wheels, sinking deeper into despondency, the longer I went without being able to fight. It was Dwayne that made me see the silver lining, that pointed out everything I still could do with my career. And when I called him all those months ago, despite not wanting me to do the fight, he still came back to Vegas and helped me pack my things and move home so he could train me.

If he could forgive me for all of that, will he be better able to forgive me for this? Or is this going to be the last straw?

For a while, we stick to planning the details for the fight. He's got our flight confirmations, a car service booked, and the resortthat is hosting the fight is providing accommodations. All we really have to worry about is the weigh-in, staying warm, and staying calm.

"Speaking of staying calm," Dwayne says, shifting uncomfortably. He looks around as if checking that no one is paying attention to us.

I think for a moment that he's going to say something about the elephant in the room, and I steel myself. I've been waiting for him to bring it up first, so I could have the opportunity to apologize and assure him that I have good intentions when it comes to Cam.

But that's not what he wants to talk about. Well, it is, sort of. But not the way I thought it would come up.

Dwayne pulls a small stack of tabloids and this morning's sports section out of his messenger bag and plops it on the table in front of me. Plastered all over the new and tabloids are pictures of me and Cam. Interestingly, they're completely different pictures. The tabloids have the photos that were taken last night, although more had been taken than I was aware of. There are pictures of us sitting close together in the booth at the restaurant, feeding each other and laughing. And there are photos of us walking down the street, arm in arm. I had a good feeling the photos the man on the street took might end up online or in a tabloid, and after a brief moment of panic, I realized I didn't care. Other than not wanting to drag Cam into the ugliness of the public eye, I could give a shit less what anyone thinks about me or my relationship.

The photo in the paper is different, though. This isn't some grainy photo taken by a rando with a cell phone. This, I'm pretty sure, is one of the photos that Cam told me about. The ones fromwhere Alistar had him fired. Which means Alistar is trying to distract from his own scandal by creating new ones. The picture itself isn't damning, it's just a photo of us jogging across the park. Just like the other photos, I don't give a shit if the whole world knows I'm with him. No, the worst part is the headline.

Dom Connor Caught With Male Escort

Pictured: Retired boxer Domenick Connor kisses an attractive young man half his age while out for a stroll in an Atlanta park.

It might seem like a modern day "Pretty Woman" scenario, but a source close to the unlikely couple says that America's favorite "Gentle Giant" is being extorted by young male dancer Cameron Rae Stevens. The anonymous former friend and coworker told us that twenty-four year-old Cameron Stevens, also known as Cameron Rae in the exotic dance and escort circuits, has been known to seduce, extort, and attempt to discredit older men who fall vulnerable to his charms. More on page 7A about the scandalous investigation into his involvement with his former employer and lover…

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