Page 115 of The Long Game

He leaned against my touch with a sigh. “Call me Cam again.”

I lowered my voice. “Cam.”

Cameron let out a little grumble. “Okay, now tell me, how am I being sweet and why should I stop?”

“Worrying over my mother,” I answered, barely able to ignore the roaring in my chest. “It’s making it really hard for me to resist you.”

His head turned, lips grazing the skin of my palm, then trailed down to my wrist. “Why would you ever want to resist me?” He nipped at my skin, wickedly fast. “It’s frowned upon. Experts recommend not resisting things that are good for you.”

I giggled. Giggled.

Cameron’s eyes shifted to mine, and when he said against my skin, “I could spend a lifetime hearing that sound.” I didn’t even question his words. I knew they were true.

My chest expanded. “I—”

Someone cleared a throat next to me, and we both turned.

“Hi,” Mr. Vasquez—Robbie—said, a careful expression on his face. María was by his side, and she nudged his leg before smiling at me. He rushed out, “I’m sorry to interrupt.”

“That’s okay,” I assured him. And I meant it. “You’re not interrupting anything.”

The man by my side grunted a soft complaint.

Robbie’s eyes shot to Cameron before returning to my face. “I just wanted to say thank you. For what you’ve done for Tony and María, and for… everything. Ever since Tony started spending time with the team, he… he sounds and looks more like himself. It has made me realize that he was spending too much time on the farm. Working too much when he’s just a kid. I—” His throat worked.“Thanks for giving him a job doing something he loves.” Robbie looked down at his daughter with a smile. “Happy?”

She lowered her voice to a loud whisper. “Ask her for the tickets.”

The man cursed under his breath. “María—”

“Do it,” she repeated. “You told me you were a j-word to her, so apologize. You make me apologize all the time when I’m rude, then it’ll be okay to ask. Tony will love it. You know he wants to try out for that team in Charlotte. He’ll lose his mind.”

The man pressed his lips into a tight line and sent me an apologetic look. “Please, ignore—”

“Consider it done,” I told him. “We can talk about dates tomorrow after the girls’ game. There was something else I wanted to ask you anyway. But it can wait. We’ll talk tomorrow.” Robbie still looked unsure, so I felt the need to slip into my old self. “The Miami Flames will be happy to have you for a visit, I promise.”

Cameron’s body tensed against mine. It was only an instant, but all the hard muscles I was leaning against flexed and tightened with his breath.

María clapped her hands, recalling my attention. “Yay!” she exclaimed, throwing herself at me without warning. “Celebration hug,” she said against my cheek, and I couldn’t help it. I squeezed her in my arms. Then, as if she wasn’t thinking about it, she let out a soft, “Ah. This feels so good. We should do it more often.”

I hugged her even tighter.

When she released me, she was smiling, and I didn’t know what my face was doing but my chest felt like mush. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Miss Adalyn.” She looked at the man sitting by my side. “I’ll see you tomorrow, too, Coach Campanile.”

Robbie muttered something under his breath.

Cameron let out a chuckle, bringing his arms around my shoulders and pulling me back to him again.

“Oh!” María said, already walking away as she pulled at her dad’s hand. “Don’t forget to give Coach his shirt!” Then, she disappeared around the far end of the long table, dragging Robbie along with her.

“What shirt?” Cameron asked.

I sighed. “That was supposed to be a surprise.” I shook my head. “It’s back ho—” I stopped myself. I didn’t know why, but I did. I cleared my throat. “Back at the Lazy Elk.”

Cameron hummed. “Close,” he murmured, his arm snaking around my waist. “It’s okay, love. I’m not one to give up at halftime.”

Cameron unlocked the front door of the cabin and stepped to the side.

I looked inside, toward the hallway that turned to the right, leading to Cameron’s room. Right across from what had been mine. My eyelids fluttered shut for just an instant.

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