Cameron (Wild Men Book 7)

by Melissa Belle

  “Hey, Cam.” I turn to see my three cousins staring at me from a few feet away.

  Dylan’s gaze leaves my face and shifts behind me in the direction my father just walked.

  “Uncle Tyler’s in a mood,” he says lightly.

  I shrug as I step forward to meet them. “He always is.”

  Dylan gives me a hug, followed by Colton and Brayden.

  I blow out a breath. “That’s Tyler Wild for you.”

  “Sorry, Cam.” Brayden eyes me with concern.

  “You guys hungry?” I say, wanting to change the subject. “I know I could use a drink.”

  As we chat, I glance past him, and my gaze lands squarely on Savannah. She’s dragging the water cooler across the floor, and it’s clearly an effort for her. Some of her hair has come loose from the ponytail she always wears, and she stops to push a few strands out of her face. When she does, she locks eyes with me. We stare at each other in silence, but when I don’t make any move to acknowledge her, she puts her head down and keeps moving with the cooler.

  I feel like an ass. But I can’t introduce her to my cousins right now. I make a quick decision.

  “Why don’t you head into the lobby?” I say, turning to Dylan, Colton, and Brayden. “I’ll meet you there soon.”

  The three of them have to pass Savannah to reach the doors leading to the tiny lobby area, but her back is to them, and they’re too busy laughing and chatting with each other to notice her.

  Once they’re gone, I put two fingers to my lips and whistle.

  Savannah jerks her head up at the sound.

  I laugh as I hustle toward her.

  “Was that you?” she asks indignantly, a crease forming between her eyebrows. “You sounded like you were catcalling.”

  “Maybe I was,” I say, which earns me a blush.

  Her cheeks are pink already from the cold arena, but she flushes a deep red at my teasing. “Right,” she says in a flat tone. “My hair’s a mess, and I’m sweating like a pig from dragging this damn thing.”

  She gestures to the cooler next to her, and I immediately grab it. “Let me take it for you. I’m heading that way anyway.”

  Her eyes warm. “No, you weren’t. You were headed to the showers. But I appreciate the help, Cam.”

  Her sincere gratitude always gets me. Savannah doesn’t ever ask for anything, and that makes me want to give her everything.

  “So how are things?” I say as she walks next to me, the water cooler bumping along behind me.

  “They’re okay.” She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m getting together with my sisters tonight.”

  “Cool.” I have a crazy, passing thought to invite them to join my cousins and me at the bar. I barely manage to keep my mouth shut.

  The day I introduce the Wild cousins to a woman other than Amy will be a big deal, and I won’t do that to Savannah tonight. She and I are just becoming friends; we’re not dating, and to do that to her would be selfish.

  “Are you looking forward to the conference we’re going to in Milwaukee?” I ask her. “I know you didn’t want me tagging along at first.”

  “I don’t mind you coming with me.”

  Another blush as she must realize how suggestive that sounded, and I laugh to myself.

  Savannah clears her throat. “It will be fun. But I’m sure you have plenty of better things to do.”

  I eye her steadily. “I’m looking forward to the trip. It’s a business trip fully endorsed and approved of by Coach. You know, so you and I can hang out together more. Being with you is the only real thing I’m excited about with the trip, to be honest.”

  “Oh.” She fiddles with her swinging ponytail. “You played awesome tonight.” She turns to me with a big smile, and my heart lurches. “That first goal was freaking amazing. I was screaming so loud.”

  “Yeah?” I’m so busy looking at her I nearly ram my head into a metal pole as we walk by. “I heard you.”

  “Really? I never know if anyone hears me when I cheer.” She sounds sincerely uncertain. “With your helmets, and the crowd noise…”

  “I heard you,” I say firmly. “Your voice is one I’d recognize anywhere. And it always puts me in a better mood. Which is saying something when I’m on the ice.”

  Her blush is fully functioning now. She increases her pace as we reach the equipment room and step inside. I dump the water out of the cooler and into the sink and then hose it down.

  “I’m sorry you don’t like playing,” she says quietly. “I wish I could help.”

  “You always help.” I lift the empty cooler onto the nearby shelf and turn to face her. “I’m sorry you get stuck with all this shit,” I say, gesturing to the cooler.

  Coach Craig asks Savannah to do practically everything for this team, and she always does without complaint. I’ve never seen someone work so hard at a job they clearly don’t like. I may not like hockey, but I at least get to let loose and act like a kid for a few hours. Being a coach’s assistant doesn’t allow a person to burn off any steam.

  “Oh, I don’t mind,” she says quickly.

  She can deny it all she wants to, but Savannah does not like working for the Cannons. Coach Craig is a crappy boss, and he’s also disorganized as fuck. All of the crap he doesn’t get done ends up at Savannah’s feet for her to pick up and fix. From the little she’s told me, she likes being in the same place her father coached at, though, and I’m guessing that’s why she stays.

  She turns to leave the room. “Have a good night,” she says softly.

  Chapter Nine

  Savannah

  “Savannah, did you hear?” Celie’s out of breath when she dashes into the Climax Bar & Grille and plunks herself down across from me at one of the front tables. “I have unbelievable news!”

  “What are you talking about?” I wrinkle my nose. “Are you trying out a new hair product for your salon?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “I can barely breathe.” I wave my hand in the air. “You may have put a bit too much on.”

  Celie gives me a look. “Hey, you’re missing my point here with all this bitchiness.”

  I flinch. “Don’t use that word.”

  “Sorry.” She mouths, “I love you,” to me, and her brown eyes widen in apology.

  I look away and then take a deep breath. “So the news…” I prompt her, rolling my drink coaster toward her.

  Celie stops the coaster with her hand. “Daddy’s getting remarried.”

  I stare at her, losing focus of her face.

  “What?” I get out.

  “He told Uncle Fred this evening. Mama went straight to bed.”

  I can understand my mother’s shock.

  “It gets worse, Vannah,” Celie says. The shadow in her eyes tells me she’s slightly worried about how I’ll take this news, but she’s too excited to stop herself. “His fiancée’s pregnant. With a boy.”

  A son.

  I clench my jaw tightly and turn away from her.

  My father always wanted a son. That’s why he convinced Mama to try one last time after three girls. Daddy was certain I’d be the one. That’s why I was the biggest disappointment of us all. I always wondered if that was partly why he left—Jason Watts was far more of a son to him than his daughter could ever be.

  I don’t want Celie to see my expression. But she gets up off her chair and envelops me in a hug. “She’s like twenty years younger than him or something. Anyway, it doesn’t mean anything. He’s just a penis, anyway. A sperm donor.”

  “I don’t think of him that way.” I push Celie off of me. “He wasn’t just a sperm donor to me, so please don’t talk about him like that.”

  Celie puts her hands up in surrender. “I worried you wouldn’t take it well. And I admit, the idea of Daddy with a new family is…”

  She doesn’t finish her sentence, and I don’t want her to.

  Before she can continue, Molly slides into a seat at our table.

  She takes one loo
k between us and turns to me. “A son, huh?”

  “That’s what Celie says. We’re going to have a brother.”

  It sounds foreign to say out loud.

  Celie clears her throat and says she’s going to use the restroom.

  Once she’s gone, Molly says, “He’s coming here this year, you know.”

  “I know.” I roll my coaster back toward me. This will be the first time the Caves have come to Climax since my father became their coach.

  “It will be a blip on the radar, right?” Molly says. “You’re so busy with dancing and your job…”

  “Right.” I put on a smile. “Let’s just have fun tonight. I don’t want this news to ruin our evening out.”

  Cameron

  Two hours and as many beers later, I’m in a booth at the Climax Bar & Grille next to Dylan who’s wearing his baseball cap so low on his face even I wouldn’t recognize him.

  “Dude, I think you’re safe,” I tell him. We’re in the backmost corner of the bar, which is dusky to begin with. Back here, no way anyone recognizes him.

  He keeps the cap on but adjusts it to a normal level on his head. His dark eyes zero in on me.

  “You’ve been acting weird for the past hour.”

  “Have not,” I say immediately.

  “Yeah, you have,” Colton says as he returns from the restroom and slides into the bench next to Dylan. “First, you went and hit on that waitress, but then when she came back to talk to you, you ignored her.”

  “You did do that,” Brayden points out from his seat next to me.

  “I didn’t. I wasn’t hitting on anyone,” I say.

  I wasn’t. I was asking the waitress to send a round of drinks over to the front table, which happens to have three women sitting at it, one of whom is Savannah Virginia McMann.

  Savannah hasn’t spotted me yet, but I noticed her the second she walked in. I’m assuming the two women with her are her sisters. She never said where they were going out, and I’ve never seen her here before. When she stepped through the front door, shaking off the snow from her adorable pink hat with a pom-pom on each side, I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.

  And I’ve been fucking distracted ever since, a fact my cousins have clearly noticed.

  “So,” Brayden says, “Colt has some news.”

  Thank Christ. Someone else for us all to focus on.

  I turn to Colton. “What’s up?”

  Colton breaks into a grin. “Sky’s pregnant.”

  “Seriously?” I say. “That’s awesome news!”

  He nods. “She’s not twelve weeks yet. We were going to wait to share our news, but then we couldn’t. Not from all of you. We just told these guys this week,” he says, gesturing to Dylan and Brayden.

  “You and Sky will be incredible parents,” I say. “I know your dad’s so happy right now.”

  Colton’s blue eyes go cloudy, reflecting his emotion over his late father, who died when he was a teenager. “Thanks, Cam.”

  “Do Ayden and Jenson know?” I ask, assuming he told Jenson first. Jenson and Colton are best friends and have been forever.

  “J, yeah. He knows.” Colton shrugs sheepishly. “I had to tell someone as soon as Sky took the test. Jenson’s the only one of us with kids, so he got the phone call. We’re going to tell Ayden and Bella when we get back to L.A. They would have come with us to Montana, but ever since Bella was signed to a songwriting deal, she’s been getting invitations to perform. She had a huge slot this week, and Ayden stayed to support her.”

  “I’m stoked for her,” I say.

  Colton points his beer bottle at Dylan. “Dyl and Jasalie are expanding their family also.”

  Brayden and I look at each other in confusion and then at Dylan.

  “Jasalie’s pregnant?” Brayden asks. “You two never said anything when we were in Montana.”

  Dylan smiles, his enthusiasm matching Colton’s. “Jase isn’t pregnant. Maybe someday, but we haven’t tried yet; we’re adopting out of the foster care system first.”

  Dylan’s wife grew up a foster kid, and her dream has been to give a child a permanent home through adoption, something she didn’t get to experience.

  Dylan tells us how he and Jasalie are taking classes first, and then they’ll eventually be matched with a foster child who’s legally free to be adopted.

  “They want the kids in the system to be able to return to a blood relative who is stable and can care for them,” he says. “But of course that doesn’t always happen. If it did, the system wouldn’t have so many homeless kids.”

  “The entire system needs help,” Colton says. “Jasalie was telling me about her childhood and how much she was bounced around.”

  “That’s amazing you two are doing that,” Brayden says to Dylan.

  He shrugs. “It’s what we want to do. We want to be parents, and it doesn’t have to be in the traditional way. I know it will come with its own unique set of challenges, but I can’t wait.”

  “My two football cousins about to enter fatherhood,” I say.

  “Yeah, we’ll be grandparents before you even decide to date again,” Colton says to me with a smirk.

  I flip him off and stand up. I push past Brayden and head for the bathrooms.

  When I see the familiar quick steps and swinging ponytail just ahead of me in the hallway, I hang back. I don’t want to scare her. But my reaction to seeing Savannah is the same as always—I gravitate toward her despite myself. And like always, I feel better just being near her.

  Savannah

  I take my time in the restroom, needing as much time as possible away from Celie.

  Ever since some mystery guy sent drinks to our table, she’s been bugging me to find him and ask him out.

  “Who cares if you don’t know him?” she pestered me. “He obviously noticed you. Maybe he could help you achieve your new year’s resolution. You know, since you can’t date Cam,” she says with a laugh.

  Molly groaned. “Give it a rest, Cel. Leave Vannah alone!”

  Finally, I excused myself for the bathroom. And I’m still here, mindlessly staring into the mirror over the sink. My green eyes look especially murky right now because I’m feeling very out of sorts. Mama used to tell me I didn’t need a mood ring when I had my own permanent disposition gauge.

  I don’t want some strange man creeping on me in a bar. Only one man has ever turned me on, and he’s off-limits. Coach Craig would flip out if I were to date a player. To date the star player, the only one he can count on to score goals and keep our fans happy? He’d no doubt want to fire me on the spot.

  If Cam really and truly asked me out, though, I don’t know that anything would be enough to scare me off. I want him so much it hurts. The idea of kissing him makes my insides turn to mush, and I get warm—hot, really—all over, but especially between my legs. It’s a new sensation for me, but one I enjoy quite a lot.

  I step away from the sink reluctantly. I open the bathroom door, leaving the confines of my safe space, and lock eyes with…Cameron.

  He pushes off the wall like he was waiting for me.

  “Savannah Virginia. Fancy meeting you here.”

  His mouth tilts upward in that way I love. Cam always looks like he’s trying not to laugh, and I enjoy his light-hearted nature.

  “Hi.” I stand before him stiffly. “Um, what are you doing here?”

  “Right here?” He points to the spot against the wall where he just was. “Waiting to say hi to my favorite person on the Cannons.”

  My face goes so hot I feel feverish. “Oh.” I drag one of my feet, covered in my favorite black ballet flats, on the floor, tracing the swirly pattern on the carpet with my toe. “I didn’t know you were here.”

  “We’re way off in a dark corner.” He stuffs his hands in his pockets. “Did you enjoy the shots? I wasn’t sure what you liked.”

  I widen my eyes. “You sent us the drinks? Celie kept insisting it was a hot stranger trying to hit on me.”

  His
expression changes from its usual friendliness to something darker, almost like he’s upset. “Sorry to disappoint you. It was just me.”

  I start giggling in relief. “No, you don’t understand. This doesn’t disappoint me; I’m so happy it was you and not some creeper.”

  He wrinkles his nose. “Some creeper?”

  “That’s what hot strangers are,” I explain. “You think I want some random horny guy scoping me out and sending me stuff? I’ve been freaking out for the past hour.”

  His beautiful dark eyes soften. “Shit. I didn’t mean to alarm you. I just wanted to say hi. And this dinner has me pretty busy, so I couldn’t come over and chat like I wanted to.”

  “Oh.” I fling my hand into the air in an attempt to look casual, but I do it too aggressively, and I accidentally slap Cam in the chin. “Oh, my God. I’m so sorry.”

  “I’m okay, Savannah.”

  He grins and touches his chin, which just draws my attention even more to one of my favorite parts of him—his sexy facial hair. I reach out again and gently run my hand along his jawline, lingering on the spot where I accidentally hit him.

  Cam inhales sharply, his eyes flicking to mine and his voice going completely gravelly when he says roughly, “That feels nice.”

  I retreat so fast my back slams into the wall behind me.

  “Hey.” Cam reaches out his hand. “I wanted to ask you something.”

  “Okay.”

  “How about we drive to Milwaukee instead of fly?”

  I stare at him. “I don’t know if Coach Craig will like that.”

  “Of course he will.” Cam winks at me. “It’s cheaper. And we’ll get there by the same time.” He pauses. “Close enough, at least. Our flights are scheduled for mid-afternoon, so we can leave in the morning instead.”

  “What if it snows?”

  “No snow for the next few days. I checked the weather an hour ago. You know Minnesota—that can always change, but we’ll go with it, right? My truck’s got all-wheel drive.”

  I’m about to say no automatically, but then I remember Celie’s teasing.

  And then and there, I make the decision to break every single one of my rules.