Page 27 of Man Advantage

As I watched, I couldn’t help smiling. Whatever worries I might’ve had about Cam and the boys getting along—they were gone. I wasn’t naïve enough to think this would all be sunshine and roses. Getting along with him when they were all having fun was one thing. Listening to him when he told them it was time to do homework or chores—that was where things could get dicey.

This was a good start, though. A really good start.

And… okay, when was I going to stop getting butterflies every time Cam did something? Because this was getting a little ridiculous. Laughing at something? Butterflies. Coming upstairs from the gym, sweaty and shirtless? Butterflies. Just…breathing?Fuuucking butterflies.

And now here he was, making my kids laugh while they all took turns swimming to the bottom to retrieve the weighted rings. He didn’t try to coax them into deeper water. He didn’t give Zach grief when he struggled to get one of the rings. He didn’t criticize Zane’s form when he got tired and reverted to dog paddling. In fact, he helped Zane to the edge of the pool, and he kept both of them distracted with a long-winded story from our youth. The boys laughed their heads off at the story. I recognized it for what it was—giving Zane a chance to rest a little so he could swim more comfortably and safely.

Sure enough, after Cam’s story, they returned to their game, and Zane was back to swimming the way he’d learned in his lessons.

After a while, the boys got bored with chasing rings, and they were content to splash around on their pool noodles. While they did that, Cam hoisted himself onto the edge beside me. I was glad I had the responsibility of keeping an eye on the kids right then; it kept me from shamelessly ogling my gorgeous and half-naked friend’s perfect, wet body.

Watching them with a smile, he leaned back on his hands. “Can you imagine if we’d had a pool like this when we were kids?”

I made a face. “We’d have spent half the time cleaning pine needles out of it, and the rest of the time, it would’ve been too cold.”

He tsked. “But that one or two days every summer where it was hot? Man, they wouldn’t have been able to drag us out.”

“I know, right? We’d probablystillbe in it.”

We both laughed and kept watching the boys playing in the water.

I loved this. Enjoying a relaxed summer afternoon with my sons, and also chilling with the friend I’d been missing so much for so long. As furious as I’d been with Bryan for his ultimatum, I could almost kiss him for it now because it was the reason I had Cam here.

In between games, the boys swam over to us.

“What’s for lunch?” Zach asked.

I pretended to give it some thought. “I was thinking I could grill some burgers. Sound good?”

Both boys lit up. “Yeah!”

I chuckled. “Figured I wouldn’t have to twist your arms. Maybe another half our or so, I’ll start cooking?”

“Okay!”

They started to push off from the side, but then Zane pointed at Cam’s chest. In an intensely concerned voice, he asked, “What happened?”

Cam glanced down. My stomach flipped as I realized my son had been indicating the silvery crescent-shaped scars on each of Cam’s pecs. Panic knotted my guts as I scrambled for an explanation that would make sense to a six-year-old while not making a trans guy feel uncomfortable.

Cam, however, responded without missing a beat. “Oh, I had surgery a few years ago. But it’s all healed now.”

“Did it hurt?” Zane asked with all the innocence of a child.

“When it was healing, yeah.” Cam shrugged. “But afterward, I felt a lot better.”

“Oh. So like my dad’s foot.”

Cam tilted his head, flicking his eyes toward me before asking, “What happened to your dad’s foot?”

“It was hurting him,” Zane explained. “He went to the doctor and they fixed it. He had crutches for a while, but now he’s better.”

“Oh.” Cam smiled. “Yeah, it’s kind of like that. It hurts for a little while, but then it doesn’t anymore.”

“Oh. Okay.” And with that, Zane and his brother were focused on something else—this time, using their pool noodles to stage swordfights in the water.

“They’re really not bothered by much, are they?” Cam asked.

“No, they’re not. They’re curious about things, but I’ve found as long as we take them seriously and give them an answer, they’re like—okay, curiosity satisfied, moving on.”

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