Page 55

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Cameron

The night was long and restless, sleeping next to Brady without sleeping next to Brady. He stayed downstairs as long as possible, tiptoeing in well into the night and passing out on top of the covers.

When I woke, he was already out of the room. That was a couple of hours ago now, and the hustle and bustle of Thanksgiving morning, turned afternoon, has slowed some. That means I can no longer hide behind a long list of tasks.

Sucking it up, I step out the back door, walking over to where Alister is leaning against the deck, looking down the beach.

He does a double take, a small smile forming on his lips. “Hey, beautiful.”

“Hey.” I tip my head. “Take a walk with me?”

He holds my gaze a long moment, his chest rising in a full breath because he knows what this is. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

We head the way that leads to Parker’s and Lolli’s houses, moving closer to the water as we go.

“I hope you’re not upset I’m here.” He glances over. “I should have asked you first.”

“No.” I grip his arm, squeezing. “No, I’m glad you came. I would have been upset if I found out you were going to be by yourself and only turned down the invite because of me.”

“Me, turn down a chance at being near you?” He smirks my way, but there’s no mirth to it .

“Ha-ha.” I shove him, and he grins for real this time.

We grow quiet again, and I see Mason up ahead, my favorite curly head of dark hair walking beside him in the sand.

My lips curve and I pause, shifting to face the ocean.

“Cameron, it’s okay,” Alister says. “You don’t have to do all this. I know where things with us are, and I understand.”

My eyes grow watery, and I bite at my inner lip. “I know, but I just…be real with me. I was honest with you from the start, right?” I worry. “I don’t mean before shit hit the fan but after. I told you I couldn’t trust you and trust is…”

“Everything in a relationship?” he offers softly. “If you can trust anything I say, let it be that I do understand that—all too well. I just couldn’t let go of that little bit of hope.”

Of course. It was a break in trust from the one he loved that led him to me in the first place.

We all do dumb things when we’re hurt or scared, don’t we?

Brady flashes in my mind, but I force myself to focus. “But you never felt like I was leading you on or anything? I know there were a few times when you came close and I let you, and I can’t help but feel like I gave you all the wrong signs.”

“You didn’t. Like I said, I was holding on to what we had, and I knew reminding you of our chemistry was my only shot. I took it knowing the chance was slim, and you never gave me any indication we could be more than a stolen moment or two.”

I nod, a heavy breath leaving me.

“In hindsight, I should have seen this coming. Your dad did try to let me down gently, but I didn’t exactly understand it at the time.”

That has my head yanking his way again. “My dad? When did you talk to my dad?”

His smile is sheepish. “When I had a shirt full of sprinkled ice cream and even that wasn’t enough for me to stop staring at you all afternoon. ”

The barbecue back in September. “Well…what did he say?”

Alister smiles a bit, looking over at the others.

“He said, you know, the heart’s a tricky thing.

Sometimes the people who stand closest to you are the hardest to see, but my daughter?

She’s not blind. Stubborn, but not blind.

Be careful, young man. I can tell she’s the one who’s upset right now, but something tells me she won’t be the one hurt in the end. ”

He looks over, a bit of bashfulness in his eyes. “I might have repeated the words to myself several times trying to figure out what he was trying to tell me.” He looks to Brady. “Turns out he wasn’t really talking about me at all.”

Man, I love my dad.

I drop my eyes to my lap.

“I’m sorry if I made things harder for you,” he says. “But I had to try. If I didn’t, it would have been another regret to add to the first one.”

“Thank you for believing I was worth the time.”

“You’re worth a lot more, Cameron Cox, and if I thought for even a second I had a shot, I would keep trying to take it.” He reaches over, squeezing my hand.

I hold on to it for a moment before both our arms fall to our sides, and we start the trek back to the house.

When we get closer, some of the guys are outside, throwing the ball around.

We stand back and watch, and after a few minutes, Alister glances my way.

“So.” He raises a brow. “That’s the Trey Donovan, huh?”

“Yep.”

“Man,” he says. “I must be really good-looking, considering you have impeccable taste in men.”

Laughter flies from me, instantly gaining the attention of a certain beastly man, but I don’t look Brady’s way, even though he continues to stare.

“I pulled up his social media pages last night,” Alister admits, and now it’s my turn to raise a brow. “Think Lancaster knows what a big night Trey had after his team’s win last week?”

I smirk to myself. “Nope.”

“You gonna tell him?”

“Nope.”

Now it’s Alister who laughs, and I can’t help the smile that blooms.

I’m happy we can do this, that things didn’t get so misconstrued along the way where it ended with him hurt and me an epic, deceiving asshole.

Alister knew the score. He’s known since day one that he was fighting a losing battle, but I commend him for trying. Respect it even, and in a way, it’s made my feelings for him into something more genuine, just not in the way he hoped for.

“Thank you, Alister,” I say softly, turning to wrap him in a hug. “Thank you for hanging around long enough to show me what a good man you really are.”

“I’m going to miss you, beautiful,” he whispers.

Tears form in my eyes, and I smile, kissing his cheek as I pull away. “I’ll be around…but you should probably just call me Cameron now.”

He lets out a heavy exhale, but his smile doesn’t go away. “Yeah, you’re right. Well, I guess I should go show these dudes how a real pass is supposed to be made.”

I chuckle, pushing him toward the game.

When I look over, Brady is still standing there watching me.

And he doesn’t look away.

Brady

Most of us are in the kitchen, running around and getting things ready, with several conversations going on at once, but I’m only half tuned in.

My eyes are glued to the sand hill just outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.

I only came inside to check on my turkey and see if the others needed any help with their dishes, but now it seems I’m glued in place.

Trey and Cameron are standing there, chatting with an older couple walking by with a dog. He’s got a football in his hands, and she’s got a smile on her face. I bet those strangers think they’re two young kids in love.

“Guys,” I mumble.

“Let’s move that down there,” I hear Mason say.

“Can we put on Christmas music?” Paige asks someone.

“Guys.” I say it a little louder this time, and I look up, finding they all stopped what they’re doing and are now staring at me. “I’m jealous.”

A few chuckles and a few girlie awws.

I glare. “Not helpful. How do I stop?”

Mason grins, going back to filling the ice chests so they’re ready to be taken down to the bonfire later. “It’s too late for that, my man. There’s only one answer here.”

The others nod, and I look around, waiting. “Well, is anyone gonna tell me what it is? ’Cause I’m all fucking ears, here.”

It’s Noah who walks over to stand beside me.

He looks where I was focused and nods his head as he glances my way.

“His team flew into town yesterday, and his family has a big dinner back home, so it’s just him and his teammates out here this weekend.

It didn’t feel right not to extend the invite, but now I’m wishing I hadn’t. ”

“Nah,” I sigh, shaking my head. “You did the right thing. Shit, why do you think Howl is here?”

Noah chuckles, gripping my shoulder, and lowers his voice so not everyone can hear. “Sometimes it really sucks to be the good guy. It would be a lot easier to be selfish, but easy doesn’t always mean right.”

I nod, his words making sense, especially considering the drama he, Ari, and Chase went through not all that long ago .

Sighing, I look his way. “Now I’m just annoyed I didn’t realize it was his team you were playing on Sunday, and I’d have to watch her watch him play.”

“Yeah.” Noah nods, a sly grin appearing. “But it’s you she’ll be sitting next to.”

I smirk, chuckling as I cut him a glance. “You’ve got a little savagery in you, Riley.”

He laughs, moving back to the kitchen. “This isn’t going to be your excuse when I win the turkey competition, right?”

“Oh, kiss my ass, Prince Charming. I got this in the bag.”

Six hours later, the sun is gone, and I’m lifting my third beer to my lips, shoulders slumped in a full-ass pout.

I did not have it in the bag.

My turkey was good, great even, but Chef Noah’s was the best shit I ever tasted. Even better than last year, that fucker.

My lips turn up. Love that guy.

Alister sits down on the patio lounger beside me, reaching into the cooler at my feet, and pulls out two beers. He offers me one, but I lift mine to show it’s still half-full, and he keeps both for himself.

Yeah, I feel that.

Right here, we have the perfect view of the others, laughing and dancing around the kitchen, tasting all of Paige’s desserts.

“You know, I’ve shared a table with her on Thanksgiving my entire life.” No need to state specifically who I’m talking about. We’re both watching the same blond. “Every single one, every single year.”

“That’s a lot of history.”

I scowl at the night. “Yeah.”

Closing my eyes, I push to my feet, tossing my beer bottle in the plastic recycle bin. “Just…don’t hurt her, man.”

“Funny.” Our eyes meet. “I was going to tell you the same thing.”

Unease curls around my ribs, not only from his words or the heavy tone of them but the look of acceptance on his face. “Alister?”