I hadn’t talked to him since he’d gone into rehab. None of us had. Not yet at least, but I knew he’d ask to see Van. I guess part of his treatment would be learning to acclimate to his old life while staying clean, and he needed someone to support him through that. Van was the obvious choice since they were so close. I just wished Phillip would have asked for all of us to visit. I wanted to see him, but I knew the last thing he needed was to be pushed.
I suddenly snapped back to the moment when Andi slid her hands under my shirt and started to unbutton my jeans. She was on her knees in front of me, smirking up at me with a wicked look on her face. Knowing what was about to happen, I pushed all thoughts of Phillip out of my mind.
“Can we check out the hot tub?” Andi asked, the words murmured against the sensitive skin of my hipbone.
I sucked in a breath as I watched her release the zipper on my jeans and slide it down ever so slowly, teasing and torturing me as she nibbled on my hipbone. How she knew that drove me nuts, I had no idea, but I really didn’t want her to stop.
“That’s for later,” I breathed out as her tongue took one long sweep from my hipbone to the top of my boxers, and she started to tug at my jeans.
I lifted enough for her to pull them down and settled back against the couch as she took me into her mouth. The sudden sensations from her hands and her warm mouth hit me like a truck, so I closed my eyes and gave in to the pure pleasure I’d been craving for weeks, wishing it would never end.
“So this is just a quickie?” she asked when she pulled off, giving me a moment’s reprieve.
My breathing was ragged as I looked down at her swollen lips that were wet with saliva. She was so fucking hot. Goddammit, I was lucky.
“It just might be if you keep doing that,” I said as my breathing started to return to normal. Andi smiled before sweeping her tongue up my length, and I let out a groan. “Fuck, Andi.”
“If that’s what you want,” she said, pulling off once more before she stood and slid down onto my lap so she was straddling my very demanding erection.
“You’re not nearly naked enough to be that close to me,” I told her, and then I watched her stand, take a step back and smile seductively, her gaze never breaking mine as she started to peel her layers of clothing away. At last she was standing before me wearing a black lace bra and matching panties. Had I been a sixteen year-old boy, I would have lost my load right there.
As Andi resumed her position on my lap, her long dark hair surrounding us like a curtain, she began a slow grind against me.
“What the hell are you doing?” I asked her breathlessly.
“Teasing you,” she said coyly.
I shook my head. “I haven’t seen you for two weeks. Fuck teasing. You can do that later. Right now I just want you.”
She smiled. “Yeah? How do you want me?”
“Naked and laid out beneath me,” I said decisively, because of all the positions I’d imagined us in while I’d been missing her, that one was my favorite.
Of course, in my dreams she’d been in my king sized bed in L.A., the windows were open, and the ocean was crashing outside. I’d imagined the moonlight streaming in through the windows and bathing her in a soft glow as I slowly slid into her. I’d have to make that fantasy a reality soon, but for now I’d settle for a hotel couch in Detroit.
Andi smiled as she slid off of me and lay back on the couch, watching me as I stood and undressed for her like she’d done for me and tossed a condom next to her head. She sat up enough to reach behind her and unhook her bra, freeing her perfect breasts as I crawled back onto the couch, covering her with my body weight.
“I love that feeling,” she said as she wrapped her legs around my waist, cradling me between her thighs, her warmth engulfing me.
“What feeling?”
“You. Your bodyweight pressing against me,” she said as her hands slid up my back to my shoulders, pulling me against her so we were touching in as many points as possible. “It makes me feel safe.”
I ran my thumbs over her cheeks, watching her eyes sparkle with the excitement of what we both knew was coming next, but I also saw something more, something that I imagined was identical to what I was feeling. I’d never admit it out loud, because it was too soon, but I wasn’t sure how else to define the all-consuming need I felt to constantly be around this girl.
“You’re always safe with me,” I said softly as I lowered my mouth to kiss her, slowly and seductively, allowing my tongue to sweep languidly over hers as I rocked against her just enough to drive her wild.
She groaned into my mouth when I hit that right spot, making me smile in spite of myself as I trailed kisses down her jawline to her neck, sucking softly at her collarbone.
“I love being here with you, Cam,” she said softly, breathlessly. “Thank you for inviting me.”
I sat up and appraised her as I reached for the condom I’d discarded. “I can’t imagine spending this week any other way.”
And in that moment, I was speaking the truth. I didn’t regret bringing Andi home with me. Meeting the parents would be weird, but I’d get through it. And when it was over, we could come back to our suite, and it would just be us. I had to get my fill of her before I was forced to leave her again, but I knew as she lay stretched out beneath me looking sexy and beautiful and so incredibly vulnerable that I’d never get my fill of her. That was how addiction worked, and I knew for sure that my addiction to her ran deep. It ran deeper than I’d ever imagined, but the truth was, I didn’t even care.
“I personally think we should have gone to Fiji,” I told her as I slid the condom over my length, my eyes on Andi the whole time.
“Fiji?” she questioned as I eased back over her, my hands braced on either side of her head.
“Yeah, it’s where Dillon and Mere went. It’s a hell of a lot warmer there.”
Andi smiled. “Fiji sounds amazing, but this is good too. Anywhere with you is good.”
“But it’s freezing here.”
Andi’s arms came around me, pulling me closer than I already was. “I’ll keep you warm.”
“That’s what I’m counting on,” I said as I kissed her.
* * *
“Mom?” I called into the house, not bothering to knock.
“Camden?” my mother called back in surprise. “Is that you?”
She came into the front hall in a burst of energy, a wide grin on her face as she paused for a few seconds to shake her head.
“How is it that you look more grown up every time I see you? I swear your life on the road isn’t good for me. It makes me feel old,” she said as she pulled me into a hug.
I’d towered over her small frame since I’d hit puberty, but she was a fierce little thing with a vibrant personality. I liked to think I inherited that trait from her, just like I’d inherited her brown hair and green eyes.
“Mom, you look as young and beautiful as always,” I told her.
“Oh, please,” she said, waving me off. “I’m a mother to four kids, and I’m a grandmother. Can you believe it?”
“Well, considering I’ve met your grandson, yes, I can.”
She smacked my chest. “You’re such a smartass,” she said as she turned to Chris to pull him into a hug. She’d been treating him like a member of the family since he’d started trailing me around three years earlier. “How are you, Christian?”
“I’m good, Mrs. Harlow,” he said, even though she’d told him to call her Lena more than a dozen times.
I think he did it because she refused to call him Chris, just like she refused to call me Cam. It was a nice, subtle passive aggressive tactic if you asked me.
“Oh, it’s Lena, and you know it,” she said chastising him as she turned to Andi. “You must be the reason my son has had a smile on his face since Thanksgiving. Am I right?”
Andi smiled nervously. “I hope so.”
“Oh, I know so,” my mom said. “I’m Lena. It’s so nice to meet you.”
&n
bsp; “I’m Andi,” Andi said, sticking her hand out for my mother to shake, which I knew was never going to work.
My mom shook her head as she pulled Andi into a hug. “What is Andi short for?”
“Andrea, but no one really calls me that.”
“Then Andi it is,” my mom said as she pulled back.
I shot Chris a look, wondering why Andi got to be called by her nickname, but we never did. He just shrugged. Not much bothered him.
My mother stepped away from us to open the basement door. “Ella! Asher! Come on up.”
I heard my half-brother and sister grumble something about finishing their game and smiled to myself. They were just like Preston and me when we were younger, and after a few seconds I heard them scrambling up the stairs.
“Ted went to the store, because we ran out of milk, but he’ll be back in a few,” my mother explained as her two youngest children practically ran into me, wrapping their arms around me.
“Cam!” they screamed in unison.
“Hey guys,” I said hugging them back.
They kind of adored me, and I kind of loved it. And it wasn’t even because of Westside, although Ella thought it was cool that she could tell people that her brother was Camden Baylor. I sent her autographed things about once a month so she could pass them out to her friends, and for her birthday, we’d even done a private concert in my mother’s backyard. The six-year olds had been in heaven, singing and dancing to our songs. I was shocked they knew all the words. I was sure they didn’t understand what half of them meant, but that might have been a good thing.
Asher thought I was cool just because I was older. I’d been thirteen when he was born, and even though we’d lived in different houses, he’d always looked up to me. Most recently he’d started taking guitar lessons, and I’d promised him we could jam together when I visited, which he thought was the coolest.
After my brother and sister said hi to Chris and met Andi, my mother ushered us all into the kitchen where she had trays and bowls and plates covering every flat surface. She always went all out when company came over, no matter who it was.
“Hey, man,” I said, seeing Preston sitting at the table.
He was munching on a carrot covered in dip. He rose to hug me when he finished chewing, squeezing me tighter than I figured was necessary, but it had always been a thing with him, proving he was tougher and stronger than his little brother. I let him think that until I beat his ass in a match.
“Hey kid,” he said, clapping me on the back and trying to knock the wind out of me.
“Hey Pres. Where are Callie and the baby?”
Preston jerked his thumb behind us to the living room where I could see Callie sitting on the sofa with a blanket over her chest. I realized quickly that she was feeding Parker and struggled to not make a face. That wasn’t something I was used to seeing.
“I told her just to give him a bottle, but she thinks this is better,” he said, rolling his eyes.
“It is good for him,” Callie yelled back. “Hi Cam. Hey Chris.”
Preston lowered his voice as he leaned toward me. “She loves that shit. I don’t think she wants to stop, and I’m afraid my kid’s gonna be on the tit until he’s old enough to ask for solid foods. It makes it a little less appealing when I want a piece of that action.”
“Oh, sorry about that,” I said, making a face at his visual description. My brother had never been one to mince words and didn’t hesitate to say what was on his mind.
“Yeah, man. Her breasts are all swollen and shit, which is hot as fuck, but she won’t let me touch them. She says they hurt. I’ve never wanted to motorboat that shit more in my life, and I can’t. And that’s not the worst of it. You ever tasted breast milk?” He shook his head. “Tastes like shit.”
“Yeah, I can’t say that I have.”
“Well, don’t do it,” he warned me.
“I’ll make a note,” I told him, hoping he’d change the subject.
“Who’s the girl?” Callie called out from the living room.
“Um, hi. I’m Andi,” Andi said warily, waving to Callie as I slid my hand into hers.
Callie’s gaze shifted to our hands as she said, “Ah, the ‘girlfriend’. It’s nice to see that you’re real and not a fictional story to hide the fact that Cam’s really in love with my brother.”
“Shut up, Callie,” I said putting my arm around Andi, hoping to shield her from the unfiltered nature of my family.
We didn’t really pull punches, and most of the time we said what was on our minds, but Callie and Preston were the worst. I cringed at least ten times whenever I was around them. But at least they weren’t fighting. That wasn’t something I wanted Andi to see.
They didn’t have the best relationship. They fought a lot, and then they had a lot of make-up sex, which was how they’d gotten Parker. In fact, they’d been broken up when Callie found out she was pregnant. Oops.
My brother had tried to marry her after she told him, but she refused, citing all the reasons they’d broken up in the first place, so he automatically accused her of cheating. After a paternity test determined that the baby was his, they made up and had been getting along relatively well ever since. I wasn’t sure if they were in it for the long haul, and a part of me worried about stability for my nephew, but there wasn’t a lot I could do. My brother made bad decisions a lot and didn’t always think things through. I’d hoped that would change now that he was a dad, but I wasn’t sure it would. He was too much like our dad, who had made a series of bad decisions until he’d finally gotten his shit together a few years earlier.
Since then he’d been good, but he hadn’t been for a long time before that. Gambling and drinking had been his vices, and they were what cost him his marriage. I was glad when my mom met Ted. He was a nice, respectable family man who worked in sales. He was a great father, and he treated her well, like she deserved to be treated.
“Cam’s not gay,” Andi told Callie confidently. Then she turned to look up at me. “He’s probably the sweetest, most sensitive, caring guy I’ve ever met, but trust me, he’s definitely he’s not gay.”
I leaned down and kissed her lightly, thanking her more than she knew for stopping us from going down a path I was tired of taking. Our families thought it was hilarious that the media and our fans thought Dillon and I were in love with each other, and they tended to tease us about it whenever they could. I wished they’d let it go. It was an old joke, especially when I was standing next to Andi, basically introducing her as my girlfriend.
“Cam’s only gay on Tuesdays,” Preston teased, reaching over to ruffle my hair.
I ducked out of his way at the same time I pulled away from Andi, falling into a fighting stance. Pres followed suit and squared off against me.
“You wanna go, little brother?”
“Any time, old man,” I said, bouncing a little on the balls of my feet.
I hadn’t fought anyone since the tour ended. Dillon, Chris, and I sometimes passed the time by sparring with each other behind our tour bus, laying out mats and going at it, getting out any pent up tension we had or just releasing the energy we’d built up from being on the bus for hours at a time. But even if I hadn’t thrown a punch in a few weeks, I felt confident I could take my brother down.
“Bring it on,” Preston said, and I lunged for him right as my mother yelled at us to stop.
We froze, just like we had when we were kids, and turned to look at her, our hands still raised in our fighting stances.
“No fighting. Not tonight, and not in my house. Save it for the gym.”
As the mother of three boys, she was used to us fighting, but she didn’t like it. Growing up she’d hated that Preston and I both studied MMA, but it was either learn to fight or get your ass kicked in our neighborhood, so she didn’t protest too much. Besides, our uncle taught us the proper techniques so we didn’t learn bad habits, and usually when we sparred, we wore protective gear.
I looked at Preston
as our mother’s words washed over us. He nodded once.
“Fine,” I said, dropping my hands.
“Tomorrow,” Preston said as he dropped his hands too.
“Done,” I agreed.
“Everyone get some food,” my mother said as Ella and Asher attacked the chips and dip. “There are drinks in the kitchen.”
I returned to Andi’s side, instantly wondering what she’d thought of everything that had just gone down. How simple it was for me to lose my carefully crafted persona that I’d adopted when I’d joined Westside. It was so easy to slip back to who I used to be when I was around my family.
A few minutes later, Ted came back from the store, and Callie finished feeding Parker and returned to the kitchen, and the conversation got loud and frenetic as my family all talked over each other. Even Chris filled a plate with food and listened as my mom talked his ear off. Preston and Ted were talking to Asher about some new video game, and Ella was stroking Parker’s head as Callie told her all about how he could hold himself up now.
I watched Andi watching them all in what I thought might be wonderment, but it also might have been fear since to an outside observer, they could be a little overwhelming. It was worse when Dillon and his parents came over, so I was glad it was a smaller group tonight.
“You want something to drink?” I asked her.
She looked over at me and smiled. “Sure.”
I guided her with my hand on her lower back to where the drinks were set up on the island in the kitchen.
“Sorry we’re so crazy. It’s just – my family is kind of loud.”
She smiled as I reached for the Coke Zero to pour a cup for her, knowing it was her favorite. I’d told my mother to buy it for her.
“I actually think they’re kind of fun,” she said softly.
Westside Series Box Set Page 23