Page 21

CHAPTER 21

CAMDEN

W ith the guys gone, I was back with Harlowe and the baby, still feeling Jenner from last night. They’d left for their eleven-day road trip early Monday morning. It was a quick flight to Texas and they gained an hour with the time change. Of course, I did have to leave her to take my exams on Wednesday and Thursday, but it wasn’t like she couldn’t be alone with the baby.

It was that I wanted to be useful.

All my life, the guys had been pushed toward baseball. That was all they’d trained for. I’d been pushed toward… nothing. And that was fine. Trust me, I didn’t want to have their lives because Dad and I wouldn’t have been on speaking terms if I’d been a son. He pushed them too hard and I didn’t have the patience to put up with that.

Jenner sent me a text about the same time Harlowe got one from Brooks after they’d arrived in Texas. I thanked him but didn’t say anything to Harlowe. Not until she asked me.

“Was that Jenner?” she asked, looking over at me. “You have a little smile on your face, so I assume it is.”

I turned my smile into a scowl quickly. “Are you saying I only smile when he’s involved because I can give you years of evidence where he only got my mean face, yet I still smiled a ton. ”

She covered her mouth to quiet a snicker. “No. I’m not saying that. I’m saying you’re smiling right now and Brooks just sent me a text. So…”

I let out a sigh, as if she were annoying me. “Fine. Yes. It’s him.”

“So…” she said again, which meant she wanted all the dirty details. Or at least the ones I wanted to give her. “Did you spend the night at his house last night? I mean, they went on the road for eleven days. He’s probably worried about blue balls.”

After swatting at her, I discovered she was too far away to actually hit. “I did, but when I talk to him after the game, I’ll ask about his balls.” This time, she laughed with me. “That’s the second time I’ve stayed at his house, though.”

“Reallllllly?” She drew out the word though she knew this already.

I nodded as Kelsie began to stir nearby. We both froze to wait to see if she was just fussing or waking up. Once she’d settled back down I told Harlowe, “Yeah. But whatever. If you’re talking about my… Jenner’s blue balls, then I’m guessing Brooks said something. Because Jenner’s balls were nice and empty when he left.” Then I cringed at the idea.

A major downside to my best friend being with my brother was that some of the things that we used to talk about were somewhat awkward. But she was still my best friend and I was her person she talked to. I couldn’t take that away just because she was with my brother now .

“He hasn’t. Brooks has been great since I had the baby. With her, with me. He knows I’ve been healing and even though I’m good now and could probably do things, the doctor said six weeks, so it’s six weeks.”

“Well… that is the bare minimum, right?”

“Yes, of course. But we’ve both heard stories…”

We sure had. More like overheard from the grown women in our lives when we’d been kids. You’d be surprised what kids heard.

Harlowe and I spent the rest of the night watching the game and talking in between. I yelled at the TV sometimes—quietly if Kelsie was asleep—and cheered when things went well.

That was how we planned to spend the entire eleven days the guys were gone.

After the first game, I was in the guest bedroom across from Harlowe’s room. Kelsie was still sleeping in a basinet in there, but Harlowe said they were thinking about moving her to her crib soon. Still, I’d be able to hear the baby wake up and could see if she needed any help.

But I was there, not yet asleep, when a video call came through. It was Jenner, so I answered it quickly while lying on my side on the bed.

“Good game,” I told him after our greetings.

“Thanks. Yeah. We were all in the zone tonight.”

“Your home run was particularly spectacular.” Mostly because it had come at a time when they’d really needed it.

“Yeah. Good thing too. We needed the runs. You study for your exams?” he asked as he fell back onto his bed. I couldn’t see much of the hotel room he was in because the camera was more focused on his face and upper chest. Bare upper chest.

“Yeah. Some. I think I’m ready. But tomorrow I’m going to talk to my mom about a job.”

The corners of his cheeks turned up. “Good. You know she’ll want you to join the family business and I sure as hell won’t hate you working so close.”

A sense of warmth washed over me. Jenner often spoke as if he were in this for the long haul, but what if we didn’t last? Would it be weird to be around him if we didn’t?

Those were things I didn’t want to think about. Instead, I changed the subject. We talked for about an hour before he had to go. Though it gave me too much time to think, overthink, and worry about it.

In the morning, after Harlowe and I had breakfast and Kelsie was all taken care of, I got dressed in jeans and a nice shirt then headed to the park. The offices were part of the place and I had my pass so that I could get in.

Now, someone might’ve dressed like they were going to a job interview, but I didn’t because I was going to see my mom.

“Hey, honey.” She waved me in after I got through her several layers of gatekeepers. They’d all brushed me by because they’d known me as long as they’d worked here. “What brings you in today?”

After sitting in the chair across from her, I said, “I’m wondering if you have a place for me. ”

She furrowed her brows. “A place for you? What do you mean?”

“I’m graduating really soon and am kind of hoping you have an opening in the PR department that I could apply for.”

Mom snorted. “You wouldn’t have to go through a formal process, Camden. You’re my daughter. I’ll make sure there’s a place for you.” She clapped her hands softly. “I’m so happy you want to join the organization.”

“Wait. No.” That wasn’t exactly what I wanted even though we all knew my mother would fire someone to have a place for me. That would’ve been absurd. “I don’t really want it to be too easy, though. Like I’d want a boss that isn’t you—”

“I’m technically everyone’s boss here, honey.” She was fighting a smile, but the best part about Mom was that as far as I knew, she let her department heads run things for the most part and only got involved when necessary.

So I rolled my eyes. “Yes, Mother. I know that. I just meant that I don’t want anyone to think that I’m not qualified for the job. That the only reason I got it is because I used to live inside of you.”

Mom let out a quiet, beautiful laugh. “Honey, people will assume that. There will always be people who assume that. The only thing you can do is work hard and prove that you belong here. It’s what your brothers have to do every game. Prove that they belong here. Hell, I had to do that. You don’t think I faced the same thing when I came in to take over for Dad? I did and I worked hard. There’s not a single person here now that believes that I’m not right where I should be. Now everyone is allowed mistakes, but I don’t have any worries about you.”

“I do have experience,” I countered.

“Yes. I know. And you’ll have a degree. Some of the things you’ve worked on during college—work at the camp, this new social media campaign with the youth non-profit—are all feathers in your cap.”

“Right. I know. I know I’m qualified for an entry-level position here. I just want others to know it’s not just you pushing me on them.”

Uncharacteristically, Mom rolled her eyes. “Fine. I’ll show your resume to my head of PR. Email it to me. I’m sure he’ll be excited to have you.”

“What choice will he have?” I countered. “The boss is asking.”

Now she shook her head. “Stop worrying. I’ll talk to the head of PR and have HR work up an offer that I know you’ll like.”

“It’s not about the money,” I said right away. “You know I have a bunch of that.”

“I know. And it’ll be on par with other entry-level PR positions. The Knights pay well is all.” Mom set her hands on her desk. “Did you happen to stop at the non-profit to get that information for me?”

“Yes.” I’d gotten it and forgotten about it, but at least it was right here in my purse. “Why didn’t they email it?” I reached out with the envelope I’d been given .

“Some of the information I wanted hardcopies of. You know I’m still old school.” She moved closer to the desk after taking it from me. “We’re thinking about creating a signup on the camp website just for the Youth Development kids. So they can just fill it out to express their interest and be enrolled. Of course we’ll have to cross-check them with who actually goes to the center, but we’ll get it worked out.”

“Is what I gave you just for this year?”

“Yes. I just wanted to have this for a start. Don’t worry. I won’t keep asking you to pick things up from them.”

“It’s fine with me.”

“All right,” I said as I stood. “I’m going to go study for a while, finish up a few things on my final project for one class, and get it turned in. It’s done. I just want to recheck a couple of things.”

“Going to Harlowe’s again?” she asked

“Yup.”

“Well, hug my granddaughter for me.” Mom saw Kelsie regularly even when Brooks was out of town. The only rule was Dad wouldn’t be allowed if he said even the smallest thing off to Harlowe or about her. It was his punishment for calling her ‘easy pussy’ once.

“I will.”

Mom pushed to her feet to come around her desk and pull me into her arms. “I’m so excited to have you here.” She gave me an extra-hard squeeze before releasing me.

After talking to Mom, I felt a little more settled, at least in my professional life. I was about ten days from graduation and now I had a job. Many of the people in my major had already secured jobs and I hadn’t been giving it my attention. Mostly because I’d known I didn’t want to leave Kalamazoo and then more recently had gotten distracted by Jenner.

Back at Harlowe’s, I went over my final project then turned it in. Right away, I dove into reviewing for my final exam the next day.

Wednesday and Thursday, I took my exams then set out to organize what I wanted to keep from school and what I didn’t.

Harlowe didn’t need me to be there, but she’d said that she was glad to have the backup. One thing this road trip proved was that she could do it on her own because she had barely asked me for any help, but she was glad she could if she needed to. While I probably wouldn’t always stay at her house, she knew she could call me at any time.

Grades came in on Friday and while I hadn’t been worried, it was nice to see that I’d done well and met all the requirements for my degree.

I talked to Jenner every day and began to look forward to his calls and texts.

The team left Colorado late on Thursday evening. With the time change and the flight, they didn’t get home until late. I was already asleep for sure but planned to go to the game with Harlowe and Kelsie today. We were driving separately so that I could take mine to—I assumed—go see Jenner afterward. Hers because changing the car seat was a pain.

It was still six games before they got a day off .

This game was going to be a little different. I wasn’t going to worry about cheering for Jenner if his actions warranted it. Basically, I’d be supporting him publicly.

Monroe was there in her dads’ seats with Everly while Harlowe, Amity, and I were in my dad’s season tickets. They were only a couple of rows apart. Luckily for us, the people behind my seats didn’t mind switching with Monroe and Everly so that we could kind of sit together. It helped that I promised them each a signed ball by whoever they wanted after the game. They’d just have to stick around for it. Of course, I had to convince them I could come through, though the woman said she would’ve made her boyfriend switch seats either way. Dad was up in a suite with Mom.

The girlfriends cooed over the baby—who was fast asleep against her mother.

“Does your dad ever sit in these seats?” Monroe asked as we waited for the guys to finish warming up.

“Yes,” I told her. “I wouldn’t say a lot because he’s up in a suite with my mom so much, but he never wants to let these seats go, he said. I don’t mind because then I get to use them.”

The group of us laughed at that, but it was true. One big difference between me and the rest of the WAGS—as fans called wives and girlfriends—was that Urban came home to Everly last night, as Brooks did to Harlowe. Silas and Amity lived together, so of course they’d seen each other last night and while Monroe and Cobb hadn’t officially moved in together because her dads preferred she stay in her apartment until graduation and she’d agreed, I had no doubt that they’d been together last night.

But I’d been at home at my parents. Alone.

I needed to figure out the whole living arrangement now that I was about to graduate. Literally tomorrow.

Jenner gave me a head nod when he first came up to bat. It was the only way he could acknowledge me in the moment. When he hit the ball, I jumped to my feet and cheered the way I did for my brothers. The women noticed but didn’t say anything.

After the game, we went down to wait outside of the clubhouse. Kelsie was awake, so I was holding her, talking to her as if she were my best friend.

Silas came out first. “Hey, pretty baby,” he said to Kelsie as he kissed her on the head. After his gaze landed on me, he asked. “What was up with you today? Feeling the team spirit?”

I furrowed my eyebrows. “I don’t know what you mean.” But Harlowe bit her lips together like she was trying not to laugh.

“You were cheering for Jenner tonight, which you never do. You barely cheer for your brothers because you hate all baseball players, remember?”

My heart thumped against my chest and I tore my gaze from his to meet Harlowe’s eyes. All signs of humor left her when she saw whatever was on my face. If Silas suspected something… my cheeks burned.

“I always cheer for you all,” I countered, not wanting to give him any more ammunition. “I cheer for anyone who does something good. I love the game, not the players. I mean… I love my brothers but… you know what I mean.”

“Not him.”

I shrugged. “Maybe he doesn’t normally do anything good.”

He snorted. “Please. He’s ranked high among shortstops. I mean, if you were going to fall for a ballplayer, I guess I’d rather it be him. I at least know him.” Then he held up his hand. “I know. Never going to happen. I’d probably kick his ass if it did, but I’m just saying. It’s nice to see a softer side of my baseball-player-hating sister.”

Even Silas didn’t think I could fall for Jenner and much like before, the fact that I’d actually loved him all this time covered me like a warm blanket. So warm, I thought my brother might notice.

Amity had been watching our interaction then narrowed her eyes at something she saw on my face. Then she cleared her throat. “All I know is I’m still standing her not yet having been kissed. I’m starting to have a problem with that.”

My brother slid toward her, cupped her cheek, and kissed her softly. Once then were done, I mouthed, thank you to her. She gave me a quick nod of acknowledgment which meant, she’d known exactly what she was doing.

My only issue with my relationship with Jenner was trust. I trusted him, clearly, or I wouldn’t have been with him, but I had trusted him before then gotten hurt .

One by one, my brothers came out, claimed their girlfriends, then left. It was just me, Harlowe, and Kensie waiting there when Brooks came out. Thank god it was him otherwise, they’d wonder why I was still there.

After kissing Harlowe, Brooks said, “I’ll claim my baby from you.” He held his hands out but I didn’t move.

“But she smells so good,” I whined.

“Just use baby soap. You can smell like her too.”

I furrowed my brows and handed him the baby. “It’s not the same.”

“You want to walk out with us?” he asked as he slid an arm around Harlowe.

“No thanks. You go,” I told him but he cocked his head to the side.

“Why would you stay? What would you be waiting for?”

That was a good question. I opened my mouth to spout a lie when Harlowe said, “We better get moving. Kelsie’s going to need to eat. I’d rather get home before that happens.”

And for the second time that night, one of my brother’s girlfriends saved me. Again I silently told her my thanks as they started to walk away.

I was alone out there when Jenner finally came out.

“Wow,” I said with a small grin as he made his way over to me. “I never thought you were a primper.”

He cocked his head to the side. “What?”

“You took so long. ”

Jenner came to a stop right in front of me. “I dragged my feet because I didn’t think you’d want me out here until your brothers all left.”

I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. “You would be right. Not until I tell them.”

“Which will be soon,” he urged.

“Which will be soon.” It had to be, given that Silas would figure it out in no time. All of them were too observant for my own good. “So, you have something planned?”

“I’m taking you out to dinner.”

“In public?” I asked, stemming the anxiety that gave me.

He shrugged. “I’m ready for things to be public.” Then he ran his tongue over his bottom lip. “You have no idea how much I want to kiss you right now, but I suspect this isn’t the level of public you’re ready for.”

After blowing out a quick breath, I said, “Not yet.”

“Well, it’s a big city and I know what all of your brothers’ plans are for tonight, so I think we’re good.” He leaned in close. “I don’t want to hide you, Camden. I want to be someone you can rely on. Lean on. Hiding you isn’t in the cards.”

And suddenly, I was consumed with guilt over the fact that it sure seemed that I was hiding him and I vowed right then that this wouldn’t last long.

Too long and I could lose him all over again.