He flashes a sexy, lopsided grin. “I’ll have to play for you sometime, see if you think my skills have held up over the years,” he says, a playful lilt to his voice.
He holds my gaze, his blue eyes bright. There goes my tummy flopping around again, just like it did when we were kids, when he’d give me this same sweet look.
I feel like a kid with a crush again, even though I shouldn’t. Camden’s just being nice. I’m certain he’s not interested in anything other than catching up with an old friend. I mean, he’s a professional hockey player. And he’s insanely hot. I bet he has a girlfriend. Or if he’s single, I bet he dates models or celebrities. He wouldn’t be interested in a regular girl like me.
Actually, I’m not even a regular girl.
The flicker of excitement dies down, replaced by a sad, disappointed feeling.
“Dude, what the fuck?”
I look up and see Ryker standing behind the kitchen counter, holding up a hot pink lace bra. My eyes go wide.
Camden lets out an easy laugh. “Oops.”
“What the hell was this doing in your liquor cabinet?” Ryker asks.
Camden just shrugs. “Not sure.”
Ryker and his teammates just shake their heads.
“Wild night with a lady friend?” Xander teases.
Camden’s mouth curves up in a sly smile. “Something like that.”
“Did you at least get her name this time?” Blomdahl asks. Camden doesn’t answer him. He just laughs along with his teammates.
Well. That settles it. Just like I suspected, Camden is single and hooks up. A lot.
My mind starts to wander. I wonder what he’s like during a hookup. Pretty wild, I bet, judging from the lingerie hidden away in his kitchen.
Heat scatters across my skin, intrigued at the thought, but then the cold splash of reality hits me. I shouldn’t be thinking about him like that. He’s my childhood friend. I shouldn’t be picturing what he’s like in bed.
And it’s not like I have any experience with…that sort of thing.
A shameful feeling drags through my gut. I shove away the thought and refocus on painting gold dots on his cheeks.
He flashes that pantydropping smile. “How do I look? Like a pretty unicorn, right?”
I chuckle, that uneasy feeling slowly fading. “The prettiest.”
When I finish, he stands up and faces his teammates. He holds his arms out at his sides like he’s presenting himself. “Well, boys? How do I look?”
“Like the scariest fucking unicorn I’ve ever seen,” Del deadpans.
I cover my mouth as I chuckle.
Camden’s smug grin doesn’t budge. “Just for that, you’re getting a unicorn drawn on your face too.”
An hour later, I finish painting all the guys’ faces. They’re all taking photos and texting their fiancées, laughing and joking the whole time.
I pack up my paint kit and offer to take a photo of all of them together. They stand in a line, arms linked as they pose. All of them are grinning except for Ryker and Del, the two grumps of the group.
I snap a bunch of photos and hand them back their phones.
“Thanks again for being a good sport about all this,” Xander says.
“It was a lot of fun,” I say. “Congrats on your engagements, guys.”
