“I bet you I could even get you into the facility. You could come work out. Watch some practices,” Cam said.
Shane raised an eyebrow. “You’d want that?”
“Dad, you’ve never been weird about me being a football player. I can’t imagine you’re going to start now.”
“You really wouldn’t mind?”
“Dad, what are you even going to do while you’re here?”
“Play tourist? Catch up on my reading? Become a lump on your couch?” Shane chuckled self-consciously.
On the counter in front of him, his phone buzzed. It was a text from Dawson.Still up for carpooling this morning?
It wasn’t everything Cam wanted, but he’d take it anyway.
“Well, enjoy that stuff today,” Cam said. “I’ll talk to Coach Robertson today and Marty—I’m sure they won’t mind.”
“I don’t want to be a bother. Or an imposition.” His dad was looking awkward again. “I should’ve told you I was coming. Should’ve not come until we’d planned.”
That was just bullshit, and Cam wasn’t going to pretend otherwise. Slipping around the counter, he pulled his dad into a tight hug. “No,” he told him firmly. “I’m glad you’re here. I’m glad you came. I missed you too.”
“You were just close at Western. I knew this would be an adjustment . . .”
Cam got it. It had been hard for him, too. “We’re gonna figure it out,” he promised. “But now I gotta get to practice.”
“You driving in with Dawson?” his dad asked pointedly, grinning.
“Yeah,” Cam said. “But I’ll be home for dinner. We’ll go out. There’s a lot of good places around here. And if you don’t wanna go out, we can always order in.”
“Yeah, apparently you’ve gotten good at that,” Shane teased, reaching out to ruffle his hair. “And you know Dawson is welcome, too, if he wants to join.”
He’d assumed that, but he wasn’t sure he’d ask. Dawson had seemed chill enough but Cam didn’t want to force the issue so soon, even if he already knew he’d miss him tonight.
Things with Dawson weresonew, and still a little unsteady, and then there was the specter of Richard Ackerman hovering. The last father of a partner that Dawson had had, it had gone just about as badly as it could go.
“We’ll see,” Cam said noncommittally.
“Alright.” His dad reached out, squeezing his shoulder. “Have a good practice, kid.”
Dawson was already waiting in the car when Cam arrived in the parking garage. When Cam slipped into the passenger seat, Dawson leaned over and gave him a nice long kiss. Nice enough and long enough that Cam was disappointed when Dawson pulled away, shooting him an apologetic grimace.
“Wish we could keep doing that, but traffic’s bad today. We gotta get going.”
Cam sighed. “I missed you last night.”
“Yeah,” Dawson agreed as he pulled out of the garage. “But it’s okay. Your dad’s cool. You should spend time with him, while he’s here.”
Dawson said it so casually.Your dad’s cool. Cam wanted to believe it, but there was still that voice in the back of his head that kept reminding him that he’djustgotten this. He wasn’t going to force his father on Dawson, not when he clearly had so much baggage about fathers-in-law.Understandablebaggage about fathers-in-law, frankly.
“I was thinking tonight I’d take him to that Ethiopian place we walked to last week.”
“He ever have Ethiopian?”
Cam shrugged. “I hadn’t either though, and it was fucking delicious.”
He didn’t offer for Dawson to join them, and Dawson seemed okay with that, and they downshifted into small talk about practice and the upcoming game Monday against the Jets.
“I’m excited, it’s my first Monday Night Football game,” Cam said.
