Page 17

“Do you want to play with us?” Zane asked. “We can start a new game for you and show you how!” The excitement in his voice and in his brother’s face melted my heart.

I smiled. “Definitely. Let me just check in with Cam first and then I’ll join you, okay?”

“Okay!” they both said.

I looked around. “Where is he, anyway?”

“Downstairs. Zach, you can’t use that spell with that sorcerer! He’ll take your—no, use your dagger!”

I left them to it. They could argue while they played, but it didn’t usually get too heated, and Bryan and I liked to let them sort things out. If it got out of hand, we’d step in, but it rarely did.

Keeping an ear tuned to the living room in case World War Twins broke out, I went downstairs. If Cam was down here, he was either working out or doing laundry, and since the gym door was open and the laundry room light was off, I could do the math.

I stepped through the gym’s door and…

Oh.

Fuck.

Me.

He had his back to me, and he was doing a set of lat pulldowns.

His shirt was off, giving me the most spectacular view of his powerful back.

Cam wasn’t a big guy—never had been—but I hadn’t been prepared for how mouthwateringly cut and sculpted he’d become.

I swear to God, my knees went a little weak as I watched his muscles work with his slow, controlled reps.

And the sweat gleaming on his flushed skin…

and darkening the ends of his hair… and rolling down the back of his neck… and…

I pulled my gaze away and gulped in a breath as I tried to compose myself.

The weights clinked into place, and I turned just as Cam did.

“Oh, hey.” He got up and faced me fully, grinning as he absently ran a towel over his powerful arms. “You coming to work out after practice?”

I scoffed. “Not after training camp, no.” I gestured over my shoulder. “I’m lucky I made it down the stairs, and the jury’s still out on me making it back up.”

“Oh, come on.” He playfully swatted me with his towel. “You’re a professional athlete. You can’t be that worn out.”

I arched a brow and inclined my head. “Have you ever done training camp? At this level?”

“No, but you have, so you should be used to it.”

Groaning, I rolled my eyes. “There’s no getting used to training camp.”

“Drama queen,” he muttered.

I flipped him off, and the way he laughed did more to screw with my blood pressure than that sweat on his skin had a moment ago.

What is wrong with me? Jesus Christ.

I cleared my throat. “Anyway. I, uh… I just wanted to check in with you. See how things went this morning.”

“This mor—oh, at training camp?” He shrugged and rubbed the towel over his neck and shoulders, oblivious to what that was doing to my stupid brain. “It was a lot of fun. The boys know hockey better than I ever will, that’s for sure.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, they’ve really picked up a lot. They’ll probably never play, but I could see them growing up to be analysts or commentators or something.”

Cam pursed his lips. “I could see that. Zach would be a great commentator. Being an analyst sounds like it would bore him but fascinate Zane.”

I couldn’t help smiling. “You’ve figured them out.”

“They’re not hard to read. And their personalities make it really easy to tell them apart.”

“I know, right? We admittedly struggled a little bit when they were babies, but as they got older and started interacting with the world, it was stupid easy.”

“I can see that.” Cam paused, and he started wiping down the machine he’d been using. “And this morning—it wasn’t bad. Especially once Bryan went over to the other side.”

I grimaced. “Yeah, I bet that was a bit awkward before he left.”

“A bit.” He glanced at me. “I thought you were going to tear his boyfriend’s head off. Over that thing with the sticks, you know?”

Indulging in a frustrated groan, I nodded. “I considered it, believe me.”

“I don’t blame you. That was such a dick move.”

I didn’t know why I was so relieved that Cam was on my side about this, but there it was. “Yeah. He likes to pull shit like that.”

“And you haven’t strangled him with his own innards yet, why?”

“I mean, there’s the whole ‘going to prison’ thing. I’m told the League frowns on that, and I’m pretty sure Bryan would have a slam-dunk case for sole custody.”

“Ooh. Yeah, you make a valid point.” Cam glanced at me and winked. “So you just have to make sure you don’t get caught.”

The laugh that poured out of me felt amazing after my thoughts had turned to Bryan and his assclown boyfriend. “Yes. Exactly. I just need to not get caught.”

“Well, if you need an alibi, you were here working out with me.” He met me with puppy dog eyes that took me back to our high school days. “I swear, Your Honor, he was here the whole time.”

I snorted. “You’re a dork.”

He shrugged as if to say, Uh, yeah? No shit?

I chuckled, but it faded as some of my earlier thoughts crept in.

Of course Cam immediately noticed. Tilting his head, he asked, “What’s wrong?”

Sighing, I rubbed the back of my neck. “I’m… I guess I’m worried this crap with Chats and Bryan will bite all of us in the ass.”

“How so?”

I explained my concerns about this affecting other queer players in—or coming into—the League. When I’d finished, Cam’s expression didn’t suggest that I was off-base in my thinking.

“Shit,” he murmured, leaning his hip against the stair machine. “That’s a lot of pressure.”

“It is. And I don’t think Chats cares, so it’s on me, and…” I huffed out an exhausted breath.

He wrinkled his nose. “Is it too much to hope he ends up on the injured list for a while? Maybe a puck to the balls or something?”

I burst out laughing, which was a relief. “Stranger things have happened.”

“Hey, I don’t usually wish injuries on people, but I can make an exception.” Cam gave me an innocent look and half-shrugged. “Especially since it would mean him and Bryan spending lots and lots of quality time together.”

I snorted. “It’s probably bad karma to hope, but…” I held up my crossed fingers.

He made the same gesture.

Chuckling, I motioned toward the stairs. “Anyway, I just wanted to touch base with you. The boys want to teach me their game, so I better get back to it.”

“Oh, cool. I’m about done here, so after I grab a shower, I’ll come watch.”

Can I join you in the ? —

Trevor. Dude. For Christ’s sake.

I cleared my throat. “Sounds good. Then we can figure out dinner. Maybe take the boys out since I don’t feel like cooking tonight.”

“Your call.” He smiled. “I can cook too, you know.”

The thought of him cooking dinner for my kids made me all stupidly warm and fuzzy inside. Of course he was going to cook for them. It was part of his job, especially once I started going out on the road.

But I was a colossal dumbass when it came to this man, and I apparently wasn’t going to stop being one any time soon.

“We’ll figure something out. I’ll see you upstairs.”