Ithadbeensucha good game Cam decided that doing this just made sense.
There was nothing to be afraid of. They were just streets. It was bustling right now, people milling around the stadium complex after the game, wanting to celebrate the win, with the Thunder beating the Texans thirty-four to ten.
He would be perfectly safe heading home to his apartment building before changing and heading out later to the victory party at Vault that Aidan and Levi had quickly put together in the locker room after the game.
Pulling out his phone, Cam sent a quick text to his dad, responding to his series of encouraging and excited messages he’d gotten during the course of the game.Thanks,he typed back.Feels good. You’ll be proud—I’m headed home, on my own. Will be safe.
His dad’s response came in almost immediately.Proud of you, kid. For more than one reason :)
Cam tucked his phone into the pocket of his pants and headed out towards the causeway that led from the stadium to the grid of streets.
He’d put a hat on over his wet hair and he kept the hood of his jacket up, and not surprisingly, there seemed to be no recognition from anyone he passed on the street.
That was the kind of under-the-radar situation Cameron was used to. The kind of under-the-radar situation he counted on.
Players like Aidan and Nate and Lane—even Levi and Griff and, to some extent, Dawson—always drew attention.
People recognized their faces, and a lot of the time they got stopped for autographs and selfies, and even the occasional drunken, belligerent comment if they hadn’t won the game.
Maybe Cam got paid less and got less attention, but he also gotlessattention, and that could be kind of a blessing. Nobody was ever going to send the punter death threats.
And if they did, Cam would understand the fans’ frustration, because he probably would’ve fucked up pretty damn bad.
It was only a short ten-minute walk from the stadium to the apartment building. On the way to the game, he’d driven with Dawson, but Dawson had said something about heading over directly to Vault with Aidan and leaving his car in player parking until tomorrow. He’d looked over at Cam and Cam had just given him a shooing motion, making it clear that Dawson didn’t need to worry about him.
And if Dawson didn’t need to worry about Cam, thenCamwasn’t going to worry about Cam.
The streets were still pretty full when he made his first turn.
His breath came a little faster when he made the second, but it seemed like everyone was just trying to get wherever they were going, on this Sunday evening. He passed several groups of people, one of all guys and several others that were mixed, men and women both, and was proud his footsteps barely faltered.
Before, he hadn’t kept a wary eye out. He’d taken his safety for granted. But he’d learned that lessonalmostthe hard way, and he wouldn’t fall into that trap again.
Cam had thought it would be harder to take this step, but he realized as soon as he used his keycard to get into the side door of his building, that it had been actuallyreallyeasy. Nobody had looked twice at him. Nobody had even remotely threatened him. Nobody gave a shit that they’d passed him by.
He was going to be okay.Betterthan okay, in fact.
It was just a ten-minute walk home, but as Cam rode the elevator up to his floor, he felt like he’d slayed a dragon.
Climbed right through the thorns and walked right up to the castle where it lurked. Drew his sword like it was easy, and just struck him down.
In his apartment, he grabbed a beer from the fridge, popped it open, and went to his closet to figure out what he could wear that might convince Dawson that a bad idea might actually be a good one.
An hour later, he was dressed, hair done, and he shrugged on his coat after slipping his wallet and phone into his pocket. He could call an Uber, but he was going to be doing that on the way home, probably, with Dawson in tow, and so wouldn’t it be smarter—and additionally brave?—to walk to Vault on his own?
It wasn’t that much farther than the walk from the stadium had been.
On the elevator ride down to the ground floor, he pulled the directions up on his phone, and decided,yes, he could do this. It was no big deal. Acting like it had been such a big deal had been the whole problem.
He was an adult. He could walk somewhere, by himself, after dark, without panicking.
And Cam believed that, at least up until he turned down one of the side streets about halfway to Vault, and realized it was basically empty.
Dark, too.
A few streetlights were shining, but it was more of an alley than an actual street and Cam hesitated in the opening. He couldn’t call an Uber now. Not to go less than a quarter mile. He just needed to get through this alley. It wasjustan alley.
So what if there was a group of guys at the other end? They were just guys. They weren’t going to jump him. Not everyone was out to get him.
