Page 27

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Cameron

I kiss his cheek, his forehead, his cheek again, and then Mason is stealing him from my arms.

“Okay, I’m taking my son now.” He chuckles, lifting little D and settling him on his shoulders.

“No fair. Today is the only day he was with me all week, and you’re picking him up early.”

“Because I took my midterms last week, so now I have the afternoon free until practice.”

“Maybe I’ll leave early too. I don’t have class for another two hours.” I smile suddenly. “Yes, I’ll leave and come hang out with you guys.” I can test out my lesson plan, see if I can keep baby D engaged, and?—

“Sorry, Cammie Girl. This is a boys-only trip.”

I whip around to find Brady sauntering in, his AU hoodie up, the drawstring hanging from the collar and tucked in his mouth. It shouldn’t be hot, but it kind of is. Like backward-hat hot.

He grins when my eyes meet his earthy-brown ones, and I don’t know why, but I just…stare, my head lifting little by little as he comes closer. A fly caught in his trap.

Granny Grace coughs, and I jerk my attention toward her, narrowing my eyes when she’s simply smiling at the pile of papers in front of her.

Wait. I turn back to the boys, noting Chase has stepped in behind Brady. “Trip? What trip? ”

“We’re going to the Halloween store just outside town,” Mason shares, glancing from Brady to me.

“Paige made Deaton’s last year, and she started on this year’s, but I guess that flood from last week messed things up pretty bad at her studio, and Payton didn’t want to add to the stress, so we’re going to see what we can find. ”

“And why can’t I go?” I cross my arms. “I need a costume too.”

“Liar.” Brady smirks, leaning back on the high desk. “Ari told me she ordered you guys something. Rude, by the way. Aren’t we supposed to be, like, Barbie and Ken or something?”

“Sure, if you want to guarantee that someone else will be wearing the same outfit. You might as well go as Hugh Hefner and put a tail and bunny ears on me.”

“I don’t know, I think you’d look good hopping around with that booty out.”

A scoff sounds, and we all look over to the source.

It takes Granny Grace a moment to realize and she glances up. “What?”

“Nothing,” I chuckle, passing the diaper bag to Brady, who passes it to Chase, his grin pointed at Granny Grace.

“Oh, no.” Brady spins, fully facing Granny Grace, and places his forearms on her desk, giving her his full attention. “I want to hear this.” He gives her his best crooked grin.

She scoffs again but sets her pen down, pushing her glasses up on her head, and mimics his position from her side, leaning close the exact same way.

“Hello, Granny Grace,” he drawls, peeking my way to confirm that she is, in fact, the person he is guessing she is based on our chats.

“Hello, Brady.” She makes his whole-ass day by knowing his name, his growing smile the proof. “I’m going to go ahead and save you a whole lot of trouble. How does that sound?”

I bite back a smile, and Brady flicks his eyes to Chase in amusement before looking back to her .

“If that girl right there wore nothing but a leotard and a puffy little ball on her ass, with those curves and that gorgeous, golden hair of hers, the night would not go the way you wanted it to.”

“Yeah?” He grins.

“Yeah. She’d be cold, and some poor fool would be knocked out cold.”

Brady frowns for a split second before his head falls back on a laugh, the other boys joining in.

Granny Grace doesn’t let him see her grin but buries it as she looks down at her papers again.

Brady steps over, taking Deaton from Mason’s shoulders, and Mason unfolds the stroller.

Brady comes closer, turning so Deaton is in my reach. “Give Calmy hugs, little man.”

Deaton leans over, and I squeeze his little body.

“Don’t worry, Girlfriend.” Brady smiles. “My costume of choice will not disappoint. I might even tell you what it is during our lunch date tomorrow.”

“Do you already know what you’re going to get?”

“Nope, but whatever I do pick out, it will be with you in mind.”

I roll my eyes dramatically, taking his shoulders and spinning him around, pushing him toward the door. “Okay, jerk faces. Bye. Go have your man time.”

The others wave their goodbyes, but Brady pauses by Granny Grace’s desk once more, looking down at the photo of her and her late husband sitting on top.

“Nice picture, Granny Grace.” He leans forward. “I drive a Chevy too.”

Granny Grace looks up, small creases deepening her wrinkles at first, but then her soft smile falls on the frame. “He always said the smart ones do.”

Brady places his hand over hers, and she glances up at him, but he’s already walking out .

I watch his form as he walks through the door, a sense of warmth settling over me.

Just before the doors begin to close, I hear him ask, “Either of you know what the hell a leotard is?”

My lips tip up, and this time when I look over at my friend, because that’s what she is, Granny Grace is looking at me.

“What?”

“That boy is gone on you.”

I laugh, shaking my head. “Oh no, we’re…” I pause, not wanting to say fake dating because that would be a whole-ass story to get into. “Just having fun.”

“Oh, honey.” She stands, taking her stack of papers with her as she rounds the desk, patting my shoulder on her way. “Bless your little heart.”

“Okay, but don’t we have to add in learning to read or write or something?” Alister stares down at the partial lesson plan I created without him last class.

“You can’t make lemonade without the lemons.”

He blinks at me and I laugh.

“Did you even read over the instructions?”

Alister smiles. “I just figured I’d let you lead.”

I scoff. “You sound like Brady.”

Alister stares into my eyes. “What can I say? The man clearly has good taste.”

Not sure taste is the right word here, but this doesn’t feel like the time for a vocabulary correction, so I pretend neither of us said a word.

“So basically we are creating a yearlong lesson plan for preschool and transitional kindergarten. Last week’s assignment was to complete the introductory phase. ”

“So going over the basics?” he guesses.

“Not really ‘basics’ because that can be subjective. Some kids will come into preschool with zero knowledge as far as academics go. They might not even recognize shapes fully yet or colors outside the primary ones. Tons of kids are still learning to speak confidently or at all at ages three and four. Our job is to create a lesson plan for all types of learners. It’s like creating a foundation to build on. ”

“So kind of testing the waters, seeing where everyone is and what needs to be done to get them to the next phase?”

I nod with a smile. “Exactly. So you just have to go through that and add any ideas you might have, and this week we have to work on explore and engage . Which one do you want?”

Alister shrugs, a cute little crease forming along his brow as he reads over the instruction sheet. “Can we just do them together?”

My pen freezes over the diagram, and I look over at him, slowly rolling the pen between my fingers. “I don’t think we’ll get much of anything done today. There’s only twenty minutes left.”

Alister’s eyes glitter as he watches me. “You afraid to see me outside class all of a sudden, Cox?”

I pin him with a playful glare. “You wish, Howl.”

“I really, really do.”

My mouth opens but nothing comes out, and then I’m chuckling. “Okay, fair. I fell right into that one.”

Alister grins, taking his own pen in his hands, and starts making little notes in the column of the document. He’s just finishing when class ends, and when I go to take the papers, he tugs them back. “Just send me the file, and I’ll add this all in tonight after practice.”

“No, it’s fine. I can’t really move on to the next part until I know this one is all tightened up anyway.”

“But you’re not going to work on the next one because we’re going to do it together.”

Right. Partners.

I squash my lips to the side. “Are you sure? I can have it done before you’re even out of practice. I have nothing else today after this.”

Alister considers my words, a mischievous grin growing.

“How about this? You come and watch practice today. No studying. Just watch and I’ll get this done and set us up for the next section.

” When I hesitate, he adds, “You can even just add me to the document instead of sending it to me. That way you can see in real time if I’m getting it all done, which I promise I will. ”

I chew on my lip. “If I come to practice and watch?”

“Yes.” He smiles.

Ha. He has no idea he just got suckered because I was already planning to go to practice, and despite my studying in the bleachers, I always do a little watching.

Alister has been kind of hard not to watch this past week.

My best friend calls me out on this very fact not two hours later when we’re sitting in our usual spots, blankets folded over our laps.

“I’m not staring at him,” I defend. “I’m staring at the team.”

“Right.”

I frown at my friend, but Ari only laughs, a gentle expression on her face.

“You doing okay?” she wonders.

“I’m fine.” I face the field again, my gaze trained on the quarterback.

“You know it’s okay to be happy for him, right? It doesn’t mean you’re happy that Mason can’t play.”

“I know.” My attention is trained forward.

“It’s just sad, you know. He gave up a starting position to follow his ex here, and the day he arrived, it all blew up in his face.

Now he’s stuck at second-string, and I mean, look at him, Ari.

He’s good. Really good. Sucks he…believed in love so much and Cupid just shit on him. ”

She huffs a laugh. “Yeah, that does suck but…everything happens for a reason, right? Me and Chase, Payton and Big Deaton. ”

My brows pinch as I try to make sense of her words, and when I can’t, looking to her in confusion, her smile seems to soften even more.

“Has Mason talked to you about the draft?” I blurt out suddenly.

She frowns, studying me. “No. I assume he’s all prepared. Why?”

“No reason.” I face forward, yelping when suddenly Alister is there.

“Thought I said no studying?” he scolds teasingly, looking to my lap.

I show him the screen of my phone, nothing but a picture of Ari and me at Noah’s game last year on the screen, and he nods approvingly.

“Good. Just double-checking.”

“Looking good out there,” Ari tells him.

He looks to her with wide eyes, making her smile in return.

“Hey, I can still compliment you on your game even though my brother is out.”

“I appreciate that, thank you. It’s…tough, not going to lie, but I think I’m doing even better than last week.”

Ari nods. “I bet your family is happy for you.”

Alister gives her a tight smile and looks to me. “I’ll get all that done tonight. Promise.”

I nod, watching as he runs off. He disappears into the tunnel, and I look at the rest of the group, but it looks like Brady is already gone.

“Okay, I need to head back. Paige is picking me up to take me to the airport in a half hour, and I want to change first.”

The two of us get up, heading back to the dorm.

“You’ll call me when you land?” I ask her, helping her toss her bag in the back of Paige’s car.

“Of course.” Ari hugs me. “Have fun at the party without me. ”

“Have fun at your party without me! I can’t believe you’re going to a freaking celebrity party. Who even are you?”

“You never know. The way things are looking, all three of us might be the next hit show.” She lifts her arms, palms up, and pulls them outward slowly as if to reveal something. “I can see it now, Housewives of Oceanside.”

I frown, meeting Paige’s matching one, and look back toward my best friend. “I don’t get it.”

“Ditto!” Paige calls.

Ari only laughs. “’Kay, bye, love you!”

“Love you!” I close the door, and just as she pulls away, a familiar truck rolls into the parking space across from the curb, the window sliding down as I walk over to the driver’s side.

Brady’s brown eyes gleam. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“Yeah, fancy seeing me outside my dorm building at the exact same time Ari has to leave.”

“What are the chances?” He grins. “If I offer to buy dinner, will you share your bed with me again tonight?”

“What’s wrong?” I tease, crossing my arms and leaning in a little closer, against the door. “Chase stop letting you sleep in his?”

“I like the feel of your body better.”

I drop my eyes to the ground for some reason, then peek back up. “Do I get to pick what we eat?”

“Only if I get to pick the movie.”

“Deal.”

Brady turns the truck off, rolls up the window, and climbs out, stepping right up to me. “Lead the way, Hellcat.”

I stare up at him, a strange…something swirling in my stomach.

Only when he raises a brow do I remember to move.

His chuckle heats my neck as I slip by, but the shiver that runs down my spine is because of the cold.

I mean…what else would it be?