Page 52

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Cameron

We’re all chilling at Payton’s studio, having just finished the meal Ari cooked for us while following along to Noah via FaceTime. Noah who, two hours later, is still on the screen on her phone that’s propped up on a candle, plugged in to keep charged.

“I already went to the store to get everything but the turkeys,” Noah says with a smirk, looking over at Brady.

“Yeah, you stay away from my turkey, my man. I’m beating you this year, watch.”

Noah chuckles. “What do you think I’m going to do? Inject it with something before you get there?”

“See how easy he came up with that!” Brady snaps, trying to get us all on his side. “I’m telling you I should have won last year.”

Noah fights a grin, disappearing from the screen for a moment.

Deaton runs by with his stuffed elephant, and I reach out, pulling him in for some love.

“Well, with both of you making turkey and Noah’s ham, we should have plenty of meat.” Chase looks around. “We just need to double up on sides.”

“And dessert!” Paige lifts a pencil in the air, taking notes like she’ll be tested on this later.

“And dessert.” He nods. “Noah, you bake too or what?”

“I can,” he says, coming back into view with a glass of water.

“Or I can ask Nate if his mom might be willing to make something for us,” he says, referring to Ari and Mason’s cousin.

He plays for USD, so he and Noah share an apartment since it’s close to the NFL team Noah plays for.

“Unless someone else wants to volunteer…” When no one says anything, he chuckles. “Paige?”

We look toward the little ballerina, whose cheeks are as pink as her fingernails.

“You bake?” Chase asks.

“A little.” She tucks her hair behind her ear. “I’m happy to make a few things if there’s room in the kitchen.”

“You can always come down to my brother’s with us,” Payton suggests. “Or even Lolli’s place.”

Lolli is Nate’s future wife, and she and Parker, Payton’s brother, own beach houses just down the road from the one our parents gifted us.

“Okay, perfect.” Paige smiles, going back to her homework.

“Wait. You’re not staying in your room, Mase?” Ari asks her twin.

He shakes his head. “Deaton has a room at Parker’s, so we won’t have to bring anything from here, and with more people coming than just our crew this time around, it just makes sense. You guys are going to need all the extra space.”

“How many people are we talking?” I tickle Deaton, locking him in my arms as he wiggles like crazy, trying to get free but not really wanting to.

“Calmy, no!” He giggles, arching his back when I blow raspberries against his neck.

“No?” I flip him into my arms until I’m cradling him like an infant. “But Calmy wants all the love bugs.”

“Wuv bugs?!” he laughs, wiggling until I set him free, and darts across the carpet until he’s throwing himself in his mama’s arms.

Chase looks to Mason. “Fernando, Jeremy, Cedric, and…um.” He clears his throat, his eyes moving to Brady.

Brady’s gaze skates past mine and he lifts a shoulder, his attention going back to his phone. “Maybe one or two others, not sure yet. ”

“Okay, so obviously Noah is with me.” Ari smiles, looking over at her man on screen. “And, Paige, you’re still using Lolli’s spare room when you go back and forth from here to Oceanside, right?”

“I am.” She looks up with a smile. “How do we feel about pumpkin cheesecake with candied pecans?”

Several of us chuckle, and she blushes all over again, sliding down in the chair and going back to her notebook.

Chase shakes his head, fighting a grin. “Okay, so Mason’s room is free,” he reiterates.

“Fernando and Jeremy are already roommates, so we can put them both in there,” Mason says.

“So that leaves possibly three people.” Noah pulls his hoodie over his head, leaning closer in the camera view.

The room goes quiet, and when I look around, Chase, Mason, Ari, and Noah are looking at me. “What?”

“Nothing,” Ari says quickly.

Too quickly.

I glare at my best friend.

Noah clears his throat. “Well, I can attest to the couch being pretty comfortable. That covers one more.”

“Then we’re all good.” Brady looks up, shoving his phone in his pocket.

“Are we?” Chase asks.

I make a silly face at Deaton, and he covers his face with his tiny hands, pulling them away a moment later and trying to make the same one back. I laugh and make another.

“Paige at Lolli’s, Mason at Payton’s, Noah with Ari, and me with Cam.”

I freeze, my eyes snapping to Brady. “What?”

He frowns. “What?”

“Okay, then, it’s settled.” Ari claps her hands and jumps up. “Noah, love you. I’ll call you when we get back in our dorm.”

She hangs up, takes my hand, and yanks me to my feet, tugging me right out the door .

We get to the sidewalk before I think to pull myself free, spinning to face Ari. “Did he just say we’re rooming together this weekend?”

“He did.”

“For three days?”

Ari scrunches her nose and nods.

“Jesus fuck.” I drop my head back. “He’s trying to kill me.”

Ari loops her arm in mine and drags me down the path toward our dorm. “Well, let’s look at the bright side.”

“What bright side would that be?”

And then she blows my damn mind.

Brady

I blink, then blink again.

“What just happened?”

“Didn’t you two ‘break up’?” Chase smirks.

“Fuck off, we weren’t really together, but yeah, we’re not pretending anymore. Why? What’s that have to do with anything?”

Mason laughs, and I swing a glare his way.

“Is someone going to talk or not, assholes?”

“Well, Cam didn’t seem to think you two would be sharing a room together.”

My head tugs back. “Yeah, that’s because she doesn’t need to think about it. It’s just what we do.”

“It’s what you did.”

I lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees. “What am I missing here?”

“Oh, Brady.” It’s Paige who talks, and I look up to find her packing her things in her book bag before hanging it over her shoulder. She walks over, putting her hand on my arm with a little pat. “You’re in for a ride. ”

I frown, trailing her as she walks over to Payton, kissing Deaton on the head before walking out. “Wait. How did you know we ended our fake-dating shit?”

Chase turns to Mason, who glances at his girl.

Payton opens her mouth, but nothing comes out, a small shrug following. “She may have told Ari, and Ari might have let it slip when I picked up Deaton on Tuesday.”

“Why would she tell Ari?” I ask. “You guys knew what we were doing since day one.”

“Because, my man.” Mason drops down on the couch next to Payton, hauling his son into his lap. “Girls tell their friends when things are sad, bad, and ugly.”

“Yeah, well, that doesn’t match anything about us.”

“Oh, you’re an us again?”

I throw a pillow at Chase’s head, flipping him off when he laughs.

“Come on, man, just say it.” He digs into a bag of chips.

“Say what?”

“That you like her.”

“I love her.”

Their eyes grow wide.

“No, I mean I love her like I love all the girls,” I rush to say. “Like you love her. Stop smiling!”

They’re all laughing now, and I sit back in the chair.

“You guys are idiots.” I sigh, glancing over at Payton. “Think she told anyone else our little deal was off?”

“I don’t know.” She offers a small smile. “But I think if you’re asking that question, then you’re hoping she hasn’t.”

I face my boys, both of them staring with easy, open expressions. Understanding. Acceptance. Unity.

I push out of the chair and walk out, but I don’t go back to the house. I roam around until I find myself walking through the gate of the practice field.

I climb up into the bleachers, choosing the section the girls sit in when they come to study while we practice just because they want to be there for us.

Cameron is always there for me.

Smiling and laughing and playing along in any and all of my nonsense. She’ll jump on my back or grab my arm, and just like that, we’ll be the life of our little party. She’s cheered me on with women, on the field, and off it. Never once has she judged me for what she’s seen or heard.

Never would she.

I close my eyes, a frustrated sigh leaving me.

She is gonna be pissed at me when she finds out what I did, even if I did it for her. She’ll forgive me, though, after giving me shit of course. It’s in her nature.

My sweet and sour Hellcat.

My lips twitch, and I take out my phone, pulling up her name.

I haven’t actually talked to her since I opened my big-ass mouth the Sunday before last, outside of the hey and what’s up and see you later .

We fell right into the school week and practice, had an away game, and this week started the same.

Sure, we had Monday classes together, but it’s not like her class with Alister where we work as partners.

No, we’re stuck staring at the overhead, listening to lectures. But it wasn’t awkward, was it?

It’s Tuesday now, and tomorrow afternoon, we’ll load up as a group and make the drive to Oceanside for Thanksgiving weekend.

It’ll be the first time we’ll be around others together outside our little friend family. If they don’t know we’re “no longer together” already, they will soon enough.

I dread that moment.

I’m not good at this stuff—vulnerability and the unknown.

I like to know the score before I join the game, and if that’s not possible, then I make sure it’s one I can win regardless of the facts.

This is different .

The game is complicated—has one too many players and no rule book.

There are no plays to pick from and I’ve already used my time-outs.

The only thing I can do now is let the clock run out and see who takes it all in the end.

Alister or me.

The visitor…or the home team.