“You don’t have to butter me up, Ellie.”
“I’m not. I’m being honest,” she says. “Look, I know I don’t know much about hockey. I know that your coaches wantsomeone who’s responsible and mature to be alternate captain, and that’s part of the reason why we got married. But I think you’re already suited to be alternate captain because of your character. You’re good to core, Camden. Truly good. And if your team can’t see that, then that’s their loss.”
Emotion surges through me at the conviction in Ellie’s tone—at just how much she believes in me.
She blinks, and her expression turns shy. “I know that probably doesn’t mean much, coming from me. I don’t know anything about hockey or coaching…”
“It means everything, Ellie.”
She looks at me, surprised. “Really?”
“Yeah. You believe in me despite all the things that people hold against me. You don’t care that I’ve partied a lot or that I was a manwhore.”
She tilts her head at me. “That’s slut shaming. Not cool.”
I let out a small chuckle. A warm feeling settles at the center of my chest. “Not many people think I have what it takes to be alternate captain. But you do. And I can’t tell you how good that makes me feel. Thank you for believing in me.”
She smiles at me. “Always.”
We’re both quiet for a moment. Ellie plays with the hem of her shirt. “So, um, you had a crush on me when we were kids?”
I nod, hoping she doesn’t think I’m a creep. “Yeah.”
She looks at me. “I had a crush on you too.”
I look at her, shocked. “You did?”
She bites her lip and smiles. “You seem surprised.”
“I didn’t think you liked me like that.”
“Of course I liked you. You were cute and funny and sweet. And the most popular guy in our grade. Every girl in our class liked you.”
I step closer to her and rest my hand on her hip. “The only girl I was interested in was you.”
She beams. “I can’t believe it. I figured you only thought of me as a friend.”
I swipe a lock of hair out of her face. “I almost tried to kiss you one time when we were hanging out in my tree house.”
Her eyes sparkle with amusement. “Really?”
“We were comparing our Pokemon card collections, and I just remember staring at you the whole time while I worked up the nerve to kiss you. But then you looked at me, and I lost my nerve.”
“That’s really cute,” she says.
I chuckle. “I talked myself out of it. I convinced myself that you’d freak out if I tried to kiss you.”
She flashes a teasing smile. “I would have liked it if you kissed me.”
I grin. “You sure about that? I was ten and had no idea what I was doing.”
“I hadn’t kissed anyone yet, so I wouldn’t have known any different.”
“Good point.”
She chuckles, then reaches up and cups my face in her hand, “We can make up for it now.”
I pull her against me and press my mouth against hers, savoring the softness of her lips. When I lap my tongue against hers, she makes a needy sound. I groan. I fucking love hearing her do that.
