Page 91 of Cougar

“Is Jayla here?” Now I’m whisper-yelling.

“Yeah,” Zach replies.

My gaze drifts from his bare chest to his boxer briefs, and I literally choke on the air as it’s forced from my lungs like a punch to the stomach. “Are you…? Did you…?” I close my eyes and press a palm to my forehead in an attempt to calm myself down. Jay and I talked about this. She admitted she and Zach had sex. Knowing about it is one thing, but the fact that they were having it on the opposite side of the house while I was with Cam? I can’t deal.

Cam seems to know me better than I thought, because just as I’m about to lose my shit, he moves to cover my mouth again. I slap his hand away.

“Zach!” Jay calls out from the bedroom. “Did you get lost? Where’s my water?”

Inhaling a deep breath through my nose, I pinch my lips together and point a shaky finger at Zach. “Not a word,” I growl through clenched teeth. “And if you hurt my daughter or get her pregnant, I will see to it personally that Bass breaks your pretty little face and your throwing arm. Got it?”

“I didn’t see anything.” He puts his hands up in surrender and takes a step back. “This is so fucking weird.” He sidesteps me and heads into the kitchen to grab a water from the fridge.

“Zach!” Jay shouts again. “Seriously, I’m dying of thirst in here. What are you doing?”

“I’m coming!” he calls out as he stops in front of Cam and me, his gaze flicking between us. “I won’t say anything, but when—notif,whenshe figures it out, I won’t lie to her.” Then he turns and retreats down the hall.

“He won’t say anything,” Cam reassures me, but it does nothing to ease the shame I’m feeling.

“I need to go.” I turn and head back to Cam’s room to get dressed.

“You promised,” Cam says from the doorway.

“Promised what?” I ask as I adjust my bra into place and snatch my shirt from the floor.

He steps into the room and closes the door. “You promised if you had any doubts, you’d talk to me first.” He switches on the bedside lamp. “There’s doubt written all over your face. Don’t let Zach make you feel guilty. Naturally he’d want to protect Jay. That’s what you do for the people you love.”

True. But it doesn’t change the level of ick I feel that while I was in here with Cam, my daughter was on the other side of the house having sex with Zach. Bile rises in my throat, and I think I might actually puke.

“Do you know how fucked-up this is? While you and I were in here”—I throw my arm out—“they were in there… you know.” I groan and cover my face. “Zach’s right. This is so fucking weird.”

“Okay, it’s a little weird.” He chuckles.

“It’s not funny, Cam. Were you aware that they were having sex in your house?”

His smile falls. “Of course not. But—”

“But what?”

Cam rolls his eyes. “Don’t bethatparent, Emerson. They’re teenagers. If they wanna have sex, they’re gonna have it. Whether it’s at my house, your house, the car or in the damn bushes.”

I cross my arms over my chest and look away. Chris and I used to have heavy make-out sessions in his car after school or at the movies, but our parents were too strict about leaving us alone. And bedrooms were off-limits. “I wasn’tthatteenager,” I murmur.

“What does that mean?”

“Nothing.” I wave him off. “Can you give me a ride home? I had Bass drop me off.”

“Of course.” He snatches his basketball shorts from the floor and slips them on.

The drive to my house is short, and neither of us speaks until Cam pulls to a stop in front of it.

He looks over at me, and I can see the worry etched into his face. “Are we good?” he asks.

“We’re good.” I give him a reassuring smile before I open the passenger door.

“Emerson.” I turn to him. “What did you mean earlier when you said you weren’t that teenager?”

“I knew you were gonna bring that up.”

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