AJ pokes me with his elbow and snaps my attention back to what we’re doing.
“Uh, yeah. Hi. Cameron Jameson and plus one.”
Yeah, I’m definitely not introducing AJ to the girl—woman—but he doesn’t seem to have any issues with it.
“I’m AJ, also known as Cam’s plus one,” he says brightly.
“Nice to meet you,” she says, with stars in her eyes. “Uh—” She has to clear her throat, and then looks down. “Here are your name tags, and uh—” Her brain seems to short-circuit when AJ leans down to grab the name tags and hits her with that blindingly bright smile.
“Thanks so much,” I mumble, and I grab AJ’s hand to pull him away.
Okay, so now we’re holding hands.That’s fine, that’s what we planned.
So I begin leading him right to the bar, to my friends, and don’t allow myself one single glance to see if Soren is here.
I’ll just pretend this is normal.
But life just won’t let me catch a break before I’m forced to face my biggest regret.
Soren appears out of fucking nowhere it seems. His hair is way too dark, and since I remember what his fatherlooked like when he was in his forties, I suspect he’s colored it, but his smile—slimy and almost a sneer—looks exactly the same as it did twenty years ago.
Those blue eyes I used to love staring at for hours jump from me to AJ, and the spark in them is more infuriating than anything else.
“Cam,” he cheers, and I hate how my breath catches. “I can’t believe you’re actually showing your face around here.”
I feel AJ go rigid next to me, and I know his protective instincts are kicking in. I don’t know if I want to stop whatever he’s going to do or not, but first I need to let him know who this is.
“Soren,” I say, in the most monotone voice I can conjure, and somehow AJ’s grip on my hand tightens even more.
Funnily enough, the last thing on my mind at the moment is Soren getting his ass beat, but my worry for AJ and the legacy he’s worked for kicks in.
6
AJ
This asshole has a death wish,and I’mmorethan happy to oblige.
I knew who he was as soon as he stepped in our way—I might’ve researched him—but when I heard Cam’s tense voice utter his name, I remembered everything he did to him when they were,gag,together.
With the same scowl I offer defensive linemen in any game, I take one step forward and I’m surprised when Cam doesn’t yank me back. He always tells me to be careful.
“Move,” I growl at Soren, and only scowl harder when he tilts his head back to look at me with idiotic surprise.
“Ex-excuse me?” he stutters, but recovers to act all high and mighty.
“You’re being rude to Cam, and I don’t tolerate rudeness, somove.”
“I wasn’t rude,” he protests, his voice going high-pitched. “I’m just surprised that he’s here because?—”
“Because he’s the most successful sports agent in the country?” I interrupt with my voice lower. “Or because he’s so much better looking nowadays? Is it because he still has so many good friends from high school and wants to hang out with them? Is that why you’re surprised?” I demand.
This time, Cam does pull me back, and I let him.
He gives me a look I can’t decipher, since I’ve never seen it before, but it looks close enough to his “pissed as hell” look that I keep my mouth shut.
He doesn’t even spare Soren a single glance, so I don’t have much to say, not really.
He’s probably mad, I think, and yeah, even my thoughts are sulking as he drags me over to where we were trying to go all along—the bar.
