Dreaming of a Hero (Heroes Series Book 2)

by Lyssa Layne

  “Having fun?”

  I nod. “It’d be better if I got to see you in your sexy bikini.”

  Her tongue runs over my earlobe, sucking it into her mouth. “Maybe later,” she whispers and stands up, walking to the table and taking a seat with the other women and the babies. I shake my head, watching her walk away and shift my legs, hoping to hide the excitement she created.

  Grant Adamson takes a seat beside me, slapping my back and laughing. “Women, huh?”

  I bob my head up and down. “That’s an understatement.”

  We both laugh and Grant offers me a beer. “No, thanks. I’m trying to give it up.”

  He nods. “Sorry, I didn’t know, but good for you. How’s Chicago treating you?”

  Grant and I chat about Chicago, trades, glory days, and he even gives me a few pointers with Camila which I’m grateful for. Note to self: Pamper Cami when she gets back after any trip to D.C., apparently her clients there are high maintenance. Tate chimes in as well, sharing some of her favorites with me, some that I already knew and others that are new to me.

  “Seriously? She likes anchovies on her pizza?”

  Grant and Tate both nod their heads in unison, laughing as they do.

  “Apparently all of the ladies do, we found out when Colie was pregnant the first time and refused to eat any pizza unless it had anchovies. Mia and Camila both tried a piece and ever since the three of them share a pizza because neither of us are touching that,” Tate explains.

  “So you guys know her pretty well. I appreciate all the insight. It’s kind of tough to find out all these likes, dislikes, and mannerisms when we’re two-thousand miles apart. Not to mention, I worry like hell about her all the time.” There’s a hint of jealousy in my voice that these two men know my girlfriend so much better than I do, but at the same time, they’ve known her for much longer too.

  “No need to worry, we’ll keep an eye on her for you. Besides, she’s hardly ever in town and when she is, our wives are usually with her.” Grant makes the comment and Tate nods in agreement.

  “Thanks, guys. I appreciate that.” I take a sip from my bottle of water and behind me, I hear the screen door open and a familiar voice that makes me cringe.

  “What? You didn’t wait for me to get the party started?” Blake calls out to the party.

  The Adamson and James’ families greet him while he makes his way to around the deck, saying hello to everyone. I watch him with the ladies, giving each of them a kiss on the cheek. Camila seems ever so slightly nervous as he greets her, but I brush it off. Blake pulls off his shirt and does a swan dive into the deep end. Without acknowledging my brother, I stand up and walk over to the table. With Camila’s back to me, she jumps when I place my hands on her shoulders.

  “Sorry, babe. You okay? You seem a little tense.” I lean down to kiss her cheek but she jumps up out of the chair, spinning around quickly.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Of course, I am. Why wouldn’t I be?” she rambles, glancing over my shoulder at the pool.

  I follow her gaze and see Blake watching us. Son of a bitch! She hasn’t told him.

  CHAPTER 19

  Evan

  I snatch Camila’s hand and drag her into the kitchen. She slowly closes the sliding door, not turning around immediately to confirm my assumption. Not even trying to control my anger, I throw up my hands and yell, “What the fuck, Cami? You haven’t told Blake?”

  Camila crosses the room, her hands guiding my arms to my side, rubbing my biceps in a calming manner. “Evan, I just haven’t—”

  “Haven’t what? Told your best friend that you’re fucking his brother?” I push her arms off me, pacing back and forth.

  “Is that what this is? It’s just about the sex? Then—” Her voices rises and red creeps over her neck as she says this.

  No, no, no. Now it’s my turn to grasp her forearms, trying to calm her. “No, baby. I’m sorry.” I kiss her forehead and take a deep breath. “Well, I mean the sex is phenomenal,” I tease her, laughing nervously and getting a small smile out of her. My hands move to her cheeks and I shake my head. “You know it’s so much more than that, Cam.”

  Her hand moves on top of mine and she nods. “I know and I’m sorry I haven’t told him. I’m just not sure how he’ll react so I’ve been putting it off. You know his friendship is important to me.”

  I sigh, pulling her against me and hugging her. I rest my chin on the top of her head. “I know, Cami, which is why I think we should tell him. After all, he is my brother, too, whether we get along or not.”

  Camila’s arms squeeze me tightly and there’s no place else I’d rather be right now, not even in bed with her. I love the intimacy we’re sharing in this moment, being one with each other, and completely understanding the situation.

  Camila pulls away slightly and looks up at me. “I’ll tell him today.”

  I brush my lips across her forehead. “We’ll tell him, we’re a we now,” I say with a grin, loving the sound of it.

  Apparently, Camila does too as she pushes off her tip toes and presses her lips to mine. The door opens and she quickly falls back to her flat feet, looking behind me. Her fingers grip my waist and I turn around to see Blake walking in.

  “Hey, what’s going on?” Blake asks, reaching in the fridge and pulling out a beer.

  Camila steps in front of me, our bodies still touching and I rest my hands on her waist. She clears her throat and Blake looks up at her.

  “Evan is no longer my client,” she states, her voice unwavering and sounding just as confident as she normally is.

  Blake draws in his eyebrows and looks up at me. “What the fuck, Evan? You got a new agent and didn’t even tell me?”

  “Well, I wasn’t really given the choice,” I say, trying to hide my smile.

  Camila takes a deep breath, her shoulders rising. “I dropped him, Blake. I no longer wanted him as a client because…because…”

  I glance down at her, getting pissed that she won’t just divulge the truth. I squeeze my hands on her hips and she blurts out, “Because we’re dating!”

  Blake doesn’t move, doesn’t blink, doesn’t even open his mouth to speak. Camila’s hands move over mine and I link our fingers together, giving her hands a light squeeze, letting her know she’s alright. Finally, he pops open the beer, takes a drink, and shrugs before he heads back outside.

  I spin Camila around to face me. “See, that wasn’t so hard.”

  She shakes her head. “No, just wait for it. If Blake doesn’t say anything right away, that means he’s stewing and I’ll hear about it later.”

  “Not if I’m around and I’m not leaving your side until I get on my plane to Chicago tomorrow.” I lean down and kiss her, forcing her lips apart and slipping my tongue inside her mouth. Reluctantly, she returns the kiss, but I can tell she’s not into it.

  I step away from her and nod to the back door that Blake just walked out. “Go. Work it out.”

  She looks at me surprised and I shrug. “I’d love to say I want you to work it out for your friendship, but honestly, I don’t want you distracted when we leave here. I want all your attention.”

  It’s selfish. I know it. She knows it. But we both laugh as she gives me a quick kiss and goes to find my brother.

  Camila

  The waves crash in front of us and seagulls squawk overhead. Blake leans his elbows on his knees, his beer dangling in between in his fingertips. I dig my toes in the sand, not sure exactly what to say. We’ve been sitting like this for ten minutes, neither of us saying anything.

  “Why Evan? Why was he worth breaking your rule for?” Blake continues to stare straight ahead, not looking at me.

  “He gives me what I was missing. Intimacy, friendship, protection. I had some of that with you and some with Gregg, but with Evan, I get it all.”

  “You could have had that before, Cami,” Blake says, glancing over at me.

  When he calls me Cami, his reference is clear as though it’s not alrea
dy. It’s also a dig and it’s like a knife twisting in my back. “Come on, Blake. You and I were a long time ago. Neither of us knew what we were getting into when we entered this profession and we both agreed that our relationship needed to stay platonic.” When we made that agreement, I insisted he ditch my pet name since I wanted to be as professional as possible.

  “Yeah, Cam, when we started. I thought down the road that you’d change your mind, give us another chance. Even when you were with Gregg, I figured you’d get tired of that and come back to me. I never thought we were done for good.” Blake chugs his beer.

  I lightly touch his forearm. “Come on, Blake. Don’t put all of this on me. Maybe in the beginning I thought we would eventually be together, but then you met Molly and that was the game changer.” Molly is Blake’s on-again, off-again girlfriend. For their own reasons, their relationship has never been in the public eye, but when you see the two of them together, it’s obvious they are meant for each other.

  Blake crushes his empty can in his hands and stands up. “Yeah, I guess it was.”

  I look up at him, he holds out his hand, helping me up. Slowly, he lifts me off the ground, giving me a bear hug and immediately I know everything will be alright. Blake sets me back down and looks in my eyes.

  “If you’re happy, I’m okay with it, but Cami? Just because he’s my brother doesn’t mean that I won’t kick his ass if he ever hurts you.”

  I smile and lean up, kissing his cheek. “Thank you,” I whisper and I know that he’s speaking the truth.

  CHAPTER 20

  Camila

  “The view is amazing! Evan, you can see the stadium from here.” It’s the first time I’ve been in his new penthouse apartment with him. My schedule has been insane, but every opportunity he has to fly out to California, he has. Luckily, this week’s work trip includes checking on my clients in Chicago and scouting a few new players at University of Illinois.

  He slides his arms around my waist from behind, resting his chin on my shoulder. “I know, whoever bought this place has excellent taste.”

  I laugh as he hasn’t changed a thing since I first decorated it, before he even knew he was moving here. My hand slides up his neck and over his scruffy beard that he refuses to shave due to superstitious reasons. “I did add one piece of decor,” he mumbles around my ear in his mouth.

  I close my eyes, enjoying the tiny sensations his tongue sends through my body when it flicks my ear. “Mmm, you did? What’s that?”

  Evan takes my hand in his and leads us to his bedroom. A smile toys on my lips as I imagine this is just a ploy to get me in bed, not that he needs one. I take a seat on the king size forest green bedspread and lean back as I kick off my heels. Evan continues to the nightstand and hands me two frames.

  I laugh, completely surprised that he wasn’t kidding. “Babe! This picture is horrible.” It’s a selfie he took of us after our surfing lesson, my hair is wet and matted down. I look like a raccoon from my running mascara, but we’re both sporting the biggest grins. I don’t know about him, but I think that was the moment I knew I wanted more with him.

  He takes it from me, inspecting the picture himself and shrugs. “I love it. It’s you, naturally and the first time I actually saw your real smile.”

  I take his hands, kissing his knuckles. Looking at the other picture, I narrow my eyebrows. “Where did you get this one?”

  “From Blake’s fridge. You have no idea how many times I stared at that, wondering if I’d ever get to know that woman in the picture.” Evan takes it from me and sets it back on the nightstand. He crawls on top of me, forcing me back on the bed. “Ever since Super Bowl weekend, I wanted you and now you’re mine, all mine.” He almost growls that last part and my stomach flutters as he does.

  “Yes, I am. Now, what are you going to do with me…?”

  Evan looks up, staring into my eyes and I wiggle beneath him in anticipation as he runs his fingers down both of my arms. Our fingers linked together, he rubs himself against me and I close my eyes, moaning.

  “Mmm, Cami. How bad do you want me?”

  I nod, thrusting my hips into his. “Bad. I need you, Evan,” I whisper.

  There’s one small click and then another. When I open my eyes, Evan’s got a mischievous grin on his face and I’m handcuffed to his headboard. Evan’s eyes twinkle and I lean up to kiss him.

  “You’ve just been waiting to use these ever since you found them in my guestroom, haven’t you?”

  With that gleam in his eyes, Evan nods and pulls off his shirt. “Tonight you’re mine, Camila. No distractions, just me having my way with you, doing whatever I want.”

  His hands move to the zipper of my jeans and I lift up my hips. “Sounds like the perfect night.” And with that, Evan peels off my pants and the fun begins.

  Evan

  It’s three in the morning and I’m finally drifting off to sleep. I can’t believe we spent almost six hours in the bedroom doing absolutely nothing other than teasing, tempting, and tickling each other. Camila taught me how to bring her to the verge then slowly let her down without orgasming. Then she took her turn doing the same to me. I wasn’t keen on the idea, figuring I’d end up with a massive case of blue balls at the end of the night. But that definitely wasn’t the case. No, instead, it led up to an unbelievable bout of lovemaking followed by the most mind-blowing orgasm I’ve ever experienced.

  I tighten my arm around her once more, not quite asleep and wanting to make sure it wasn’t a dream. I’m already head over heels about this woman and while I’ve never been in love before, I think this might be what it feels like. My eyes can barely stay open as I brush my lips across her bare shoulders, but I don’t want to miss a single moment when she’s with me, even if she is asleep. My fingers leisurely glide across her body, learning and memorizing every inch.

  I’m just about to give in to the Sandman when someone pounds on my door and I hear yelling on the other side. Quickly, I jump up, ready to defend whoever it may be. I pull on a pair of boxers, take one last glance at Cami, and then walk to the foyer. Taking a look through the peephole, I see my brother on the side.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” I ask, opening the door wide and he stumbles in.

  “Aw, don’t be so excited to see me, little bro,” Blake says, slurring his words. Great, another night taking care of one of my drunk family members. I push him toward the sofa and he plops down, falling back on the cushions.

  He takes in the apartment, mumbling about how he likes it, betting Camila decorated it, and a bunch of other jibberish I can’t understand. I go to the kitchen and fix him a tall glass of ice water. When I bring it back to the living room, he’s staring over the city.

  “Guess Chicago hasn’t been that bad, has it?” Blake comments, taking a drink from the glass I handed him.

  I shrug and take a seat behind him on the audiman. “I guess not. What are you doing in town?”

  Blake stares out the window for the longest time before he answers. “Getting my heart broke.”

  I sit up, wondering what he’s talking about, but judging from his body language, he’s not going to say anymore. Blake sets the water on the coffee table. “Mind if I crash here tonight?”

  Well, yeah, I kind of do. I typically only get to see Camila every couple weeks and she’s finally in Chicago so I really don’t want to share her with Blake. But he’s my brother so of course I’m not going to turn him away.

  “Yeah, that’s fine.”

  “Cool.” He lies back down on the couch. “I’ll just stay here if that’s alright.”

  “Fine by me,” I say, standing up and tossing him a blanket from the closet. “Camila’s here so keep it down if you watch T.V.”

  Blake sits back up. “So you two are for real?”

  “Not sure what you mean by that, but yeah, we’re really together.” The irritation in my voice is evident and Blake grins at it, only pissing me off more.

  “Look, bro, I’m happy for you, jus
t shocked that’s all.”

  I ball up my fists. “Why’s that? You didn’t think I could get a girl like her?”

  Blake laughs, shaking his head. “No, man. I’m just surprised she broke her rule and fell for a Purser again.”

  “Again?” I question, my pulse beating in my ears.

  “Yeah. She not tell you about us?” Blake smirks and I want to punch the smile off his face.

  “Um, no, neither of you did. You both vehemently denied you’re anything more than friends.”

  Blake scoffs. “Yeah, now, little brother. How could you not think we haven’t slept together?”

  In one movement, I’m standing over Blake, pulling him up by his shirt. “When?”

  Blake’s cocky grin doesn’t disappear. “It was awhile ago, right when we both got in the industry. Then she created her dumbass rule and said we couldn’t see each other anymore. So we quit fucking, but our feelings never went away. She’s only using you to get back at me, Evan. Don’t kid yourself.”

  I shove him toward the door. “Get the fuck out, Blake.”

  He stumbles toward it, a sneer on his face and I slam the door behind him. Camila and Blake, I was right all along. I should’ve known better. Fuck, I’m an idiot! Thank god Blake just walked out that door or I would’ve had him laid out across my living room floor, beating his sorry ass. Heading back to the bedroom, I swat at the ugly vase sitting on the hall table. When the crack of the breaking pieces hit the ground, I finally start to relax.

  CHAPTER 21

  Evan

  I’ve haven’t gone to sleep yet. It’s seven and I know Camila will be up any minute, but I don’t know what I’m going to say. I believe Blake, anyone who heard him would believe him. I asked Camila so many times, why wouldn’t she have just told me the truth at some point? Sitting on the couch, my leg bounces from my nerves and I continue to clench and unclench my fists. The bedroom door creaks open and I hear her footsteps coming down the hallway.