Page 28 of Man Advantage

“You don’t say.” Then Cam turned an uneasy look on me. “That’s, um… That’s okay, right? That they saw my scars? And asked about them?”

“Yeah, of course.” I shrugged. “I just hope it didn’t make you uncomfortable. Him asking about it, I mean.”

“Nah. Kids are just curious.” He studied me. “When did you have ankle surgery?”

“Ankle—oh. Not me. Bryan. He ruptured his Achilles tendon—must’ve been two years ago, I think?”

Cam grimaced. “Ouch. One of my coworkers did that. She was in so much pain forages.”

“Bryan was, too. It was awful. Like, I’ve had some pretty painful injuries from hockey, but I’ll pass on that one.”

“Good call. And I think I’ll pass on some of those hockey injuries.” He chafed his arms. “I made the mistake of watching a compilation of worst hockey injuries last year, and… ugh. No, thanks.”

I laughed and elbowed him, pretending not to notice the frisson as bare skin brushed bare skin. “You didn’t have to watch all of those, you know.”

“I know. But it’s kind of like a trainwreck. It’s hard to look away.”

“You’re not wrong. I just don’t watch the compilations because there’s always a chance I’minthem.” I shuddered. “I’d just as soon not watch some of my greatest hits, thank you.”

“Well,” he said dryly, “you could try not getting fucked up as often?”

Rolling my eyes, I elbowed him again. “Shut up.”

He just cackled.

God, it was good to have my best friend back.

CHAPTER 8

CAM

If I hadn’t already hadlittle hearts in my eyes starting the day I’d arrived in Pittsburgh, I’d have absolutely had them now. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Trev was hot, and he was cute, and I was a sucker for his smile, and—I mean, what about himdidn’tmake me stupid?

But I wasnotprepared for what it felt like to watch this man with his kids.

Most dads obviously loved their kids and would move heaven and earth for them. There were some dads, though, who were also utterly in love withbeingdads, and their entire world was a thousand times brighter whenever their kids were around.

Trev fell very firmly into that second category, and it was the cutest thing ever. Watching him watch them—the way he smiled, the way their antics made him laugh—this was a man who absolutely adored his children, and it made me all fluttery inside.

He didn’t let them walk all over him, either. When the boys fought over a pool toy, Trev told them both to sit in the poolside chairs for two minutes and cool down. Afterward, he had themapologize to each other, and warned that if they fought over the toy again, that would be the end of pool time for today.

He wasn’t mean or loud about it, just very matter-of-fact and firm. They apparently took his warning to heart, too, and there wasn’t any more arguing.

The boys seemed pretty well-behaved anyway, and they got along better than I had with my siblings. Maybe because they were twins? I didn’t know.They had all the energy I would expect from a couple of six-year-olds, especially six-year-olds who were playing in a pool, but they seemed pretty easygoing too.

And they were still young enough to be absolutely delighted when Trev got into the water and joined them for a few games. They’d been enthusiastic when I’d played with them, but their dad? That was the highlight of their day, I thought.

At one point, we even put them on our shoulders and let them whap at each other with pool noodles, both of us laughing hysterically as they gleefully battled it out.

After that, we left them to play on their own, and we reclaimed our spots on the edge of the pool. As Trev hoisted himself up beside me, and I was so mesmerized by water running down his flawless body that I almost didn’t hear him speak.

“I should get lunch going.” He stood and reached for a towel, oblivious to me ogling his massive thighs or the way his shorts clung to his narrow hips. “Burgers still sound good to everyone?”

“Yeah!” the boys cried.

Trev smiled, looking so utterly adorable, then turned his attention to me. “What about you?”

Me? What about…

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