Page 30 of Man Advantage

“That you forgot that entire year? No. No, I will not let that go.”

“We barely even knew each other!” I crossed my arms. “And now that I’m remembering a bit more, I seem to recall you stole my crayons and never gave them back.”

“I don’t remember that.”

I arched an eyebrow. “Got a little selective amnesia going on, do we?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yeah, Mrs. Vincent might’ve bought that, but I didn’t then and I don’t now.”

He eyed me. “Do you have any evidence to back up your accusations?”

“Besides a lack of crayons?”

Inclining his head, he asked, “Are you saying you’d still have them now if I hadn’t taken them back then?”

“So you admit to taking them?”

He huffed sharply. “Fuck you.”

“That’s not a no!”

He just rolled his eyes.“Anyway.It’s still nice out.” He nodded toward the sliding glass door. “Want to sit outside with a couple of beers?”

“Sounds perfect.”

While I took our beers out to the deck, Trev went upstairs to check on the boys and let them know where we’d be.

He returned a couple of minutes later, and we sat at the wrought iron table where we’d had lunch earlier.

It was amazing how much quieter the yard was when it was just the two of us. There were birds chirping as a gentle breeze rustled some leaves and made water slosh lazily against the sides of the pool, and the afternoon felt still and calm.

We didn’t talk much. We mostly just relaxed and drank our beer, and I basked in his company as much as I did the late summer warmth. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed him, and I vowed—same as I had at least a thousand times since I’d arrived in Pittsburgh—to never lose touch with him again.

I hadn’t been prepared for how profoundly right it was to have him back in my world. For just how wrong it had been that we’d gone so many years without breathing the same air. Never again. No way in hell.

I also hadn’t been at all ready for this version of Trev. Even seeing him on TV hadn’t prepared me for the grown-up professional athlete, chiseled to perfection by his job.

I definitely hadn’t been ready for the dad whose kids absolutely melted his heart. For as much as I knew what hockey could do to a man’s body, why had no one warned me about how spectacularly attractive fatherhood could make someone?

I’d crushed on him a lifetime ago, both when we’d dated and—secretly—after we’d broken up.

That crush hadnothingon what he was doing to me now.

CHAPTER 9

TREV

The boys were mercifullyeasy at bedtime. I’d joked with Bryan that that was the gods balancing things out after the first two years, during which I was pretty sure he and I got about six minutes of sleep between us. Now, they might put up a little bit of a fuss if they were in the middle of something, but once they started their routines—baths, pajamas, brushing their teeth—they didn’t really fight it.

By eight thirty, they were both out cold, leaving Cam and me with the rest of the evening to chill. We settled in the living room, this time with water instead of beers.

“So.” He pulled his feet up under him on the couch and faced me. “You ready for training camp?”

“Hell yeah.” I grinned. “I’m always excited for the season to get started. Though…” I grimaced. “I think camp kicks my ass a little harder each year.”

Cam arched an eyebrow. “Could that just be that you’re getting older?”

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