Westside Series Box Set
Page 24
“They’re insane,” I said, looking over at my brother who was trying to give Parker a carrot to suck on. Callie was batting his hand away and chastising him for being ‘an idiot’. I shook my head and looked back at Andi. “See what I mean?”
“Your mom is really sweet,” she said as she took a sip of her drink.
“Yeah, she is,” I agreed as my mom looked up and winked at me. I smiled back at her. “She’s great. You know she was the one who got me into acting. I was afraid to tell my dad it’s what I wanted to do, so she signed us both up for community theater and did it with me for the first six months. I liked it so much that I kept going back on my own.”
“That’s so cool,” Andi said, looking up at me with a small smile on her lips.
‘That’s the kind of mom she is,” I said, shrugging as I slid my arm around her waist and relaxed a little as she leaned into me.
“That’s the kind of mom I want to be,” she said.
I looked at her in surprise since she’d never mentioned wanting kids before. It wasn’t that she’d been hiding that fact. We just hadn’t been together long enough to have that conversation, which made my doubts about this trip resurface. What if it was too much too fast?
“You want kids?” I asked, not able to help the strangled sound that escaped with my words.
Andi smiled. “In like ten years,” she said, probably realizing that she’d sufficiently freaked me out. “I just hope I can be a mom like your mom – you know, supportive of my kids and what they want to do. My mom wasn’t really like that. She wanted me to be a debutante and get involved in social organizations, but I just wanted to hang out with Gabe and the other guys at the track. I wasn’t into all the southern bell stuff, and my mom never understood that.”
“You were a debutante?” I questioned, realizing how much that didn’t fit the Andi I knew.
“I was,” she said, somewhat proudly. “I took classes on social etiquette, learned to curtsy and had a coming out party.”
“Seriously,” I said, leaning closer to her so I could whisper in her ear. “Please tell me you wore one of those white dresses, you still have it, and you’ll model it for me when we get to Atlanta – and you’ll wear the matching gloves.”
Andi laughed. “And just how on earth do you know what debutantes wear?”
“Phillip dated a few of them in high school. He’s a society boy, and he went to like five of those balls. He told us all about the gloves and the dancing, but of course the highlight of each story was always the after party. He went into much more detail about that . . .”
I trailed off when I realized that the majority of Phillip’s debutante stories involved getting drunk and/or high and then fucking his date while she was still wearing her white dress. And considering the fact that he was currently in rehab, I realized that maybe I shouldn’t have glorified the parts of his life that led to his addiction.
“How is Phillip?” Andi asked.
I shrugged. “Alright, I guess. I haven’t talked to him. Damon, our manager, says he’s doing well. I know the first week was hard, since he was in withdrawal, and I’ve heard that’s painful as hell, but he’s doing better now. I hope he realizes how close he came to losing everything, and that’s what’ll motivate him to stick with his rehab.”
Andi nodded. “Hopefully. Addiction is tough.”
“Yeah, it is,” I said, looking over at my brother who was lifting his son into the air, making him smile. I sort of wished I hadn’t told her about him. “Sometimes people overcome it.”
“You two, come sit down,” my mother said, waving us over. “Andi, you sit next to me. I want to know all about the girl who won my son’s heart, because as you probably know he doesn’t date. He has girls falling at his feet, because he’s just so gorgeous, but not one ever made the cut. I want to know what made you different, aside from the obvious reason that you’re beautiful. That’s a no-brainer.”
“I’m sorry. She’s probably going to badger you,” I told Andi, who just smiled as she took my hand in hers.
“I’m fine,” she said mildly as she leaned up and pecked me on the cheek. “I can handle a few personal questions.”
I raised an eyebrow at her, not sure she knew what she was getting into.
“I’m fine, Camden,” she assured me.
I held onto her hand for as long as I could before the distance separated us. Then I went and sat next to Preston, wanting some time with Parker before he fell asleep for the night, but the whole time I was keeping an eye on Andi.
I wasn’t sure that was a good thing since it only made me hyperaware of every flaw I saw in my family as they all latched onto her. She looked okay though, like she was having fun, and I hoped she was. My stomach was a mess of nerves as I watched her, and I knew in that moment how much I wanted this with her. Hell, I wanted more.
I’d never wanted more, but looking at Andi sitting at my mom’s kitchen table, answering every insane question she was asked, turning to pay attention to Ella when she tugged on her sleeve, and even humoring Asher who seemed to have a crush on her and was attempting to flirt, I wanted so much more.
“Hey, little dude, back off,” I told my younger brother when he walked past me to the bathroom after we’d finished dinner.
He looked up in surprise. “Huh?”
I grinned at him. “She’s mine.”
His mouth twisted into a smirk that I knew looked almost identical to mine. “She’s really pretty.”
“I know. That’s why I’m telling you to back off.”
“Does she have a sister?” he asked, making me laugh.
“No, she doesn’t,” I told him, still laughing as I smacked him on the arm. “Get out of here.”
He laughed as he ran toward the bathroom.
“She is really hot, man,” Preston said. “How’d a fucknut like you ever score a girl as hot as her?”
I started to respond in kind, but he spoke up before I could.
“Hey Andi,” he called across the table, making her look up at him. “How’d a fucknut like Cam ever get a girl as hot as you to fall for him?”
Callie promptly smacked him for that as I shrunk deeper in my seat and dared a glance at Andi.
“Language!” my mother chastised Preston as I saw that Ella was tugging on Andi’s arm again.
Andi turned to her expectantly in time to hear Ella ask, “What’s a fucknut?”
It was official, I wanted to crawl in a hole and die.
“Oh, um,” Andi said, looking visibly uncomfortable as she looked at my mother for help.
“It’s bad word that you should never, ever say,” my mother told Ella.
“But Preston said it,” Ella defended.
“And Preston and I are going to have a talk about that later,” my mother told her, glaring at her oldest son who was acting like he didn’t know what he’d done wrong.
“Fuck,” he muttered. “I figured becoming a father would get me out of being scolded by my mother. I guess not.”
“That’s because you’re a fucknut,” I muttered so no one else could hear me.
“Fuck you,” he hissed back, and then louder, “Cam said a curse word.”
I turned to glare at him. It was just like we were kids again. He was legitimately telling on me to take the focus off of him. And Andi was watching every single part of this unfold. I couldn’t even look at her. I was mortified.
“Camden, don’t curse,” my mother said, and I felt my cheeks flush in embarrassment for being scolded by my mother in front of my girlfriend.
Fuck.
“Not to change the subject,” Andi said then, and my first thought was that she was going to ask to leave. She’d seen the insanity for herself, and she was out. I was being paranoid, and my heart was pounding in my chest as she continued. “But I fell for Cam, because he’s charming. At no point was he a – I’m not sure what that word you used means, but I can guess – and he was never that. Does that answer your question, Preston?”
Andi shifted her gaze to me and smiled. I smiled back. I couldn’t help it. I was so gone.
“He is charming, isn’t he?” my mother interjected, completely killing the moment between Andi and me as Andi shifted her gaze to look at my mom.
“Yes, he is,” Andi agreed.
“He was always that way. The audience always loved him when he was in theater.”
“I’m sure they did,” Andi said, grinning at her.
“I have pictures,” my mom said eagerly, already getting to her feet. “Do you want to see them?”
Oh no.
“Mom, don’t,” I told her, but I knew it was a halfhearted attempt. She wasn’t going to listen.
“Come on, Andi,” she said, reaching for Andi’s hand as she pulled her to standing, surprising her. Andi followed her out of the room, looking slightly bewildered as she looked back at me. “I think I have some old videos too. Camden was so cute when he was fourteen and playing Romeo.”
I watched them leave, feeling helpless against stopping anything that was happening. My mother didn’t exactly change her mind once she got an idea, and Andi was just along for the ride. The feeling of dread was back, and there was nothing I could to do curb it. I hoped to God that bringing Andi here wasn’t going to end up being a mistake.
“Fuck,” I hissed, and then I glared at my brother. “Yes, I cursed. Don’t say a fucking word to Mom. I don’t need her chastising me again.”
He reached over and ruffled my hair. “Aww, are you worried about looking like a baby in front of your girlfriend?”
“Get off,” I said, pulling away from him. “And no, I’m not.”
Preston laughed. “Yeah, right. I see how wrapped up in this girl you are. You like her. I get it. Let’s just hope Mom doesn’t break out the pictures of us when we were kids. I’d hate for Andi to see how we grew up. I’d imagine a girl like her might not know how to relate to a former ghetto kid like you.”
I gritted my teeth as Preston played right into my fears.
“She knows that we didn’t have a lot growing up,” I told him.
“Yeah, but you and I both know the visuals are so much worse.”
I slumped in my chair, knowing he was right. Christmas pictures that showed us with a sad tree and one present each, my dad’s house with the hole in the wall behind the TV because he’d punched it in a drunken rage after he’d lost a bet, the ratty furniture, our second-hand clothes. It was all there for her to see, to know, just how different we were.
Looking around my mother’s house, you’d never know. Ted did well for himself, and their house was nice and new, and my brother and sister had happy childhoods in a safe neighborhood. It wasn’t like that for Preston and me. We’d had it rough, and the more I thought about that, the more my insecurities flared up again.
I seriously hated that feeling. I was a multimillionaire and could buy anything I wanted, but just the simplest reminder could pull me right back into the mind of the kid who’d realized early on that everyone else had more than him. It had been a humbling, degrading feeling that I’d never really gotten over, and it flared up when I thought about the fact that my girlfriend had been a debutant. No matter how she lived now, she came from money. That thought alone made me want to keep hidden all the parts of my childhood that I hated, because I knew if they were exposed, they'd only come back to haunt me.
Chapter Fifteen
Andi
I was snuggled up against Cam’s warm body, not wanting to wake up and face the day. The bed was too comfortable, and the boy in it was too sexy for me to want to think about showering and going anywhere. I knew Cam wanted to show me the finer points of Detroit, but I was pretty much okay with just staying in until we met his brother for lunch.
We were going to check out his gym, and I was wondering if Cam was really going to make good on his promise to fight Preston. I wasn’t sure if that was a legitimate thing they did or not.
Next to me, Cam mumbled something incoherent as he started to wake up.
“No, stay asleep,” I whispered.
He smiled but kept his eyes closed. “Sounds so tempting, but I’d really rather do this,” he said, as he rolled on top of me, pinning me to the mattress.
He looked down at me, his hair falling around his face as he grinned. Then he lowered his head, peppering my face with sweet morning kisses.
I giggled as I tried to pull away from him, but he wouldn’t let me go. After struggling for a minute, his muscled arms straining to pin me, and me letting him just so I could watch his sexy, shirtless body in motion, he paused, hovering above me.
“I slept so good last night. How about you?”
“I did. That hot tub was amazing. I’m totally getting one for my apartment.”
The night before we’d both been wiped out when we’d gotten back to the hotel, so we’d spent some time in the hot tub, just relaxing and talking. Although his family was great and so vibrant, they were a lot to take in. Cam was quieter than all of them, and I wasn’t used to the frenzy of conversation and general loudness that came with spending an evening with them.
He’d assured me dinner tonight would be the exact opposite. We were meeting his dad at a restaurant, and he promised me it would be harder to get his dad to speak than it was to get his mom to stay quiet. He said I might have to pull some teeth to keep the conversation going, but I felt like I might be okay with that.
Cam smiled. “And just where are you going to put this hot tub you’re getting? I’m not sure it’ll fit in your minuscule apartment?”
I shrugged, looking thoughtful for a few seconds. “I’ll get rid of my bed.”
Cam looked offended. “You better not. I love that bed,” he said as he settled his weight over me, his face inches from mine. “I especially love that bed when you’re in it.”
“I’m in this bed too,” I reminded him.
“Yeah, you are,” he said as he leaned down and kissed me.
We stayed in bed until we had to get showered to meet his brother for lunch. We were heading out to the neighborhood where Cam grew up, which he again assured me wasn’t very nice. He sounded like he didn’t want to spend much time there.
I couldn’t really blame him when we crossed over the tracks and he said sardonically, “Home sweet home.”
“Oh,” I said as I took in our surroundings, a little shocked at what I was seeing.
I shouldn’t have been. He’d told me it was bad, and just the fact that Chris felt the need to carry weapons when they visited should have led me to believe that Cam wasn’t lying, but I guess I hadn’t expected it to be as bad as it was.
“It’s gotten worse over the years,” Cam said, staring straight ahead as Chris navigated us to Preston’s gym.
The buildings were generally run down, there were bars on most of the windows, and graffiti decorated everything from brick walls to wooden fences to the occasional trash can. I guess if I ventured into some of the rougher areas around New York City I’d probably encounter the same things I was seeing, but I made a point not to do that for very specific reasons.
I reached over and took Cam’s gloved hand in mine as we drove by what looked like a drug deal. I’d never seen one in person before, and it sort of freaked me out. Cam looked over and gave me a small smile, and I felt this sudden urge to go back in time and protect the little boy he’d been. But I guess he’d done that on his own. He’d done alright for himself when it was all said and done. He had sort of a rags-to-riches story, and I wondered how many reporters had written articles about where he’d come from and where he was now.
“So your brother owns the gym?” I asked, searching for a lighter topic.
“Yeah, he does. Our uncle owned it, and Preston and I trained there whi
le we were growing up. Pres practically lived there while he was in high school, so when my uncle passed away, he left the gym to him. It was sort of falling down and failing for a while, but then it righted itself and Pres has been doing pretty well ever since.”
I narrowed my eyes at Cam as I watched him carefully, remembering what he’d told me the day he’d been showering me with excessive pampering treatments.
“You helped him out, didn’t you?”
He nodded once. “I did. We brought in some newer equipment, cleaned up the place, and made it into a real training facility. With some advertising, Pres started attracting more clients. It’s now one of the premiere gyms in the area. Pauly Belzic trains there.”
“I’m not sure who that is.”
“He’s a fairly well-known MMA fighter. He’s been on a streak this year, which is great for Preston.”
“That’s awesome.”
Cam shrugged. “Pres always struggled to find what he was good at, and he made a lot of mistakes. I’m just glad he finally found his way. He had a few dark years.”
“Right. You said he was into drugs.”
“Among other things,” he said tightly.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what those other things were, so I didn’t ask.
“How long have he and Callie been together?” I asked, changing the subject.
“Off and on since high school, so about seven years.”
“She seems nice.”
Even though I hadn’t really gotten the chance to talk to Callie the night before, I felt the need to keep the conversation going since Cam seemed unnaturally quiet all of a sudden.
“She’s a good girl, but they’re kind of tumultuous as a couple.”
“And they’re not married?”
“No,” Cam said as if it was the most ridiculous notion. And maybe it was. I didn’t know either of them very well. “Callie’s smarter than that.”
Now I really didn’t know what to say, so I sat there wondering if Cam was second-guessing bringing me home to meet his family. It might have been an irrational notion, but it had been plaguing me since the night before. He’d seemed so tense, concerned every time his brother made an off-color comment or cringing if his mother probed too much or if his younger siblings were too loud. I’d never seen him so edgy, which was why I’d suggested unwinding in the hot tub when we got back to the hotel.