Page 28

Chapter 28

Try-Hard Douchebag

Carter

I thought I’d nailed the dress code. Smart casual, they call it. Not too stuffy, not too casual. My slate blue button-down with the top two buttons strategically undone and tailored chinos had gotten me compliments from actual fashion designers, but under Brett’s scrutiny, I might as well have shown up in a clown suit.

The outdoor patio was objectively perfect with string lights casting a warm glow, heaters warding off the mild night chill, and waves crashing rhythmically against the shore below.

“More wine?” I offered, holding up the bottle of cabernet I’d brought in my carry-on from a vineyard I’d photographed last year. The owner had sent me a case as thanks.

Brett’s glass remained half-full. “I’m good.” Two syllables. Progress.

I filled Mateo’s glass instead, earning a warm smile that felt like finding an ally in enemy territory. Not that this was enemy territory. Technically.

Miles sat to Nora’s left, and I watched as he quietly topped off her water glass without being asked. I’d been noticing the way Miles anticipated Nora’s needs before she voiced them all evening. How he subtly shifted his chair closer when she shivered despite the heaters. The way his hand occasionally brushed hers on the table when he thought no one was looking.

It wasn’t possessive. It was nurturing. Like breathing to him.

“The sea bass is excellent. I’m not normally a fish person, but maybe I need to reconsider.” Miles served himself another filet.

“Mateo’s the chef in the family.” Brett’s expression softened when he looked at his partner. “I can make casseroles, Nora tends to undercook everything, and Josie... well, she sets toasters on fire.”

“Hey!” Nora pointed her fork at him. “The chicken was pink only once!”

“Your grilling skills are as formidable as your casseroles.” Mateo’s eyes crinkled behind his glasses.

“Those are just my survival skills getting me through.” Brett smiled around his fork, affection in his words.

I seized the opening. “Knowing how to grill is definitely survival. My cousin once tried to grill indoors during a rainstorm. The fire department made him sign a pledge never to attempt cooking again.”

My timing was off, landing in that awkward space between funny and trying too hard. Brett’s expression remained unchanged. Mateo chuckled politely. Miles gave me a sympathetic glance.

Dominic, surprisingly, was the one who picked up the thread. “My college roommate did something similar with a George Foreman grill. We had to evacuate the entire dorm at three in the morning.” He shook his head, a small smile playing at his lips. “The drunk asshole was trying to make paninis with no bread.”

I gave him a grateful nod for the assist; otherwise the table would have gone silent, and I would have found a way to make an even bigger fool of myself.

Nora laughed, the sound loosening something in my chest. I watched as Dominic’s hand disappeared beneath the table, likely finding Nora’s. Her smile widened slightly, a private moment in full view.

A month ago, seeing them together might have triggered the sharp edge of jealousy I’d been fighting since learning I wasn’t Gummy Bear’s father. But now? Watching Dominic slowly open up and seeing how he looked at Nora? It felt right.

We were figuring this out, this strange group we were forming around Nora and her baby. Their baby. Our baby? The boundaries were blurring in ways that terrified and exhilarated me.

“So, Carter,” Brett’s voice cut through my thoughts. “Nora tells me you’re a photographer when you’re not buying hockey teams.”

The “buying hockey teams” part had a distinct edge to it. I forced myself to meet his gaze directly, fighting the urge to hide behind my usual rapid-fire charm offensive.

“Photography’s my first love. It started as a hobby in college but turned into something more. I’m working on a part-time basis right now with the St. James Foundation.” I paused, realizing I was slipping into my networking voice. “I’m lucky I can pursue what I love.”

Brett studied me, his coach expression unreadable. “And the Titans? Just another hobby?”

There it was, the challenge beneath the question. Prove you’re not playing games with my daughter’s team. With her. With her heart.

I set my fork down carefully. “No, sir. Not a hobby. An investment in something I believe in.” I glanced at Nora. “In people I believe in.”

The table fell quiet. Miles and Dominic watched me, measuring my words. While the three of us had talked some, especially after I’d first bought into the team, we hadn’t discussed how this would play out. They were the two who already had a bond, and I was the outsider, which made this trip here with Nora even more vital.

Brett’s expression didn’t change, but something shifted in the air between us. Mateo reached over, his hand briefly touching Brett’s forearm.

The conversation gradually eased after that, flowing more naturally as we moved from photography to hockey to stories from Nora’s childhood. Every now and then, I’d catch Brett watching me, but he was doing that with all of us.

When dinner finished, I stood quickly. “I’ve got the dishes.”

“I’ll help,” Nora offered, but Mateo waved her back down.

“You sit and relax. Carter can help me.” He stacked plates. “Brett, why don’t you show Miles and Dominic your memorabilia room? I think they’d appreciate it.”

Brett hesitated, then nodded. “Sure.”

I followed Mateo into the kitchen, arms loaded with dishes, feeling like I’d been granted temporary reprieve from the firing squad.

“You don’t have to put on a show for us,” Mateo said as soon as we were alone, his voice gentle as he rinsed plates.

I busied myself loading the dishwasher, grateful for something to do with my hands. “I want him to see that I’m serious. About the team. About...” I gestured vaguely toward the patio where Nora was sitting alone, typing on her phone.

“About Nora,” Mateo finished simply.

“Yeah.” I stared at the plate in my hands. “Is this whole situation unrealistic long term?”

Mateo considered this, wiping his hands on a dish towel. “Life rarely fits into neat boxes, Carter. Brett knows that better than most.” He leaned against the counter. “He’s protective of Nora because he couldn’t protect his wife, and by extension feels like he didn’t protect his daughters. It’s not about you personally.”

“I get that.”

“Do you?” Mateo’s gaze was kind but direct. “Brett sees how all three of you care for her. That’s what matters in the end. Not your portfolio or your bank account or how many Michelin-starred restaurant recommendations you can make.”

I winced. “Was that too much?”

“Only slightly.” His smile took the sting out of it. “Relax. Be the person Nora sees when she looks at you. That’s who Brett wants to know.”

The advice hit like a gentle uppercut, knocking loose the performance anxiety I’d been carrying since we arrived. I’d been so focused on impressing Brett that I’d forgotten how to be myself.

“So basically, stop being a try-hard douchebag,” I summarized, reaching for humor as a shield.

Mateo laughed. “I wouldn’t have put it quite that way.”

The patio door slid open, and Nora walked in, her cheeks flushed slightly. She looked between us, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. “Everything okay in here?”

“Just getting life advice from your future stepdad,” I quipped, earning an eye roll from her.

“I was thinking of going for a walk. Want to join? I’m sure Dom and Miles will want to come too.” She paused, grinning at Mateo. “You and Dad aren’t invited.”

“Gee, thanks.” Mateo closed the dishwasher. “You kids have fun and be safe.”

I followed Nora toward the door where Miles and Dominic waited, the ocean breeze carrying the promise of something I couldn’t quite name but desperately wanted to be part of.

We headed to the back gate and down a flight of concrete stairs until we hit sand. The beach spread before us, silver-blue in the moonlight, waves rolling in with a hypnotic rhythm. The smell of salt and seaweed filled my lungs, a welcome change from the tension I’d been holding in my chest all evening.

“I’ve missed this.” Nora kicked off her sandals and set them on the bottom step.

We fell into formation without discussion. I was on Nora’s right, Miles on her left, and Dominic hung back a step or two. It was like we were protecting her from all sides, though from what exactly, I wasn’t sure. Maybe from the world. Maybe from ourselves.

Moonlight caught Nora’s face and painted shadows across it. The breeze lifted strands of her hair, and my fingers itched to tuck them back into place. I shoved my hands into my pockets instead.

For several minutes, we walked in comfortable silence, our footprints trailing behind us in the damp sand. The silence wasn’t uncomfortable, more like we were all exhaling after holding our breath through dinner.

Miles broke the silence, his voice barely audible over the waves. “Your dad is more intimidating than I expected.”

Nora laughed, wrapping an arm around his waist and matching her steps to his. “He’s a teddy bear.”

“A teddy bear with the death stare of a honey badger.” I didn’t even want to think about what it would be like to truly be on his bad side.

Dominic chuckled from behind us. “More like a grizzly who just came out from hibernation and found someone stealing his cub.”

“You’re all being dramatic. He’s just protective.” She bumped her shoulder against mine, the brief contact sending a ridiculous flutter through my chest. Lately, it was like I hadn’t even been inside the woman or kissed her silly.

“He watches us like he’s calculating how quickly he could bury our bodies out here.” I gestured toward the dark stretch of beach ahead, where the shadows would perfectly conceal whatever remained of the three men who dared to care about his daughter. “I swear I saw him mentally measuring the depth required per body mass.”

“To be fair, if I were in his position, I’d be measuring you all for coffins too.” She grinned, moonlight catching on her teeth, making her look both innocent and dangerous in a way that only compounded my fascination with her. “Three guys show up with his pregnant daughter? It’s a dad’s nightmare scenario.”

Miles made a choking sound that might have been laughter. “When you put it that way...”

“I thought he was going to snap his fork in half when Carter started listing off restaurants in Monaco.” Dominic finally caught up to walk on my other side, the four of us forming a strange little procession across the sand.

“I was trying to be helpful!” I threw my hands up, heat creeping up my neck as I relived the moment. And every other cringe-worthy moment from dinner. “He mentioned travel! I have connections! I know people!” Why didn’t I just print my bank statement and tape it to my forehead? It would have been less obvious.

“He mentioned visiting his sister in San Diego.” Nora’s eyes sparkled with amusement, not entirely unkind. “You suggested a helicopter tour of wine country.”

I groaned, scrubbing a hand over my face, feeling the rough texture of my stubble against my palm. “I’m a disaster. A walking, talking, restaurant-recommending disaster.”

“You’re not.” She took my hand, her voice softening. The unexpected touch made me freeze momentarily, her fingers warm against my suddenly clumsy ones. “You’re...”

“Too much?” I offered, preparing for the gentle letdown I’d heard countless times before. Carter Campbell: enthusiastic to a fault.

“Just enough.”

Well, shit. Was that a grain of sand in my eye?

We walked farther down the beach, where a large piece of driftwood had washed ashore. Miles and Dominic sat on opposite ends, and Nora settled between them. I remained standing, watching the dark waves roll in, feeling strangely vulnerable.

“You know what’s weird?” Miles broke the silence again, always knowing when it was time to. “How normal this is starting to feel.”

“What, the four of us on a beach at night?” Dominic’s tone lacked its usual edge, and he sounded relaxed for the first time ever since I’d known him.

“No, this...” Miles gestured between all of us. “I keep waiting for it to implode.”

I crossed my arms, sand shifting beneath my feet. “Maybe it won’t. I hope it won’t. I kind of like having people to celebrate Christmas with.”

“Why don’t you have anyone to celebrate with?” Dominic asked carefully.

They all looked at me, and I felt exposed in a way that had nothing to do with the moonlight. I was usually the one making jokes, keeping things light. But Mateo’s words echoed in my head: Be the person Nora sees when she looks at you.

“The invitation from my parents to join them is always there, but they’ve waited for the last decade to see me fail at life, and I’m tired of having to listen to their disappointment.” I turned to look out across the ocean, the waves filling the brief silence while they waited for me to continue. “When I decided to switch my major from business to visual arts, they acted like I’d announced I was joining a cult.”

“That’s rough,” Miles said. “Parents and their expectations.”

I glanced back at him, surprised by the understanding in his voice. Miles was usually so composed that it was easy to forget he might have his own shit to deal with.

The tension dissipated, and somehow, we’d crossed into new territory. Not friends exactly, but something more than rivals. Something we didn’t have a name for yet.

We fell silent again, and I sank down onto the sand near Nora’s feet, letting the cool grains run through my fingers. She shifted, sliding off the driftwood to sit beside me, her shoulder pressing against mine.

Her hand found mine in the sand, fingers weaving between mine with a casual intimacy that stole my breath. She didn’t speak, just held on, grounding me. I squeezed back, overwhelmed by how much I wanted this, wanted her, in my life.

After a while, she shivered slightly. “We should probably head back before Dad sends out a search party.”

“Or before Carter starts listing exotic beach resorts he’s visited,” Dominic deadpanned.

I flicked sand in his direction. “Jackass.”

We all laughed and stood, brushing sand from our clothes. As we turned back toward the house, Nora fell into step beside me, leaning slightly into my side. The others walked ahead, giving us a moment.

“Thank you for coming,” she said softly. “I know this is awkward and complicated, but having you here... it means a lot.”

Her eyes reflected the moonlight, and I wanted to kiss her. Not because I hadn’t already, but because I wanted to again. Because I wanted it to mean something more this time.

“Nora!” Miles called from up ahead. “Come see this shell. It’s perfect.”

She hesitated, glancing between me and Miles. I stepped back, giving her an easy smile. “Go.”

“Save that thought,” she whispered, brushing her fingers against my cheek before jogging ahead.

I watched her go, joining Miles to examine whatever treasure he’d found. Dominic hung back, glancing at me with what might have been understanding.

The moon cast our shadows long across the sand. We were four distinct silhouettes that somehow fit together, and I couldn’t tell where one ended and another began.

Maybe that was the point.