I snort out a laugh at her melodrama, which cuts my angst by at least half, even though I can still feel the weight of Cam’s eyes on me. “I just saw you last week when you accosted me at work and forced me to postpone a session with a tight end coming back from an injury because you told me you had an emergency.”
She shrugs casually. “I did.”
“New shoes are not an emergency, Grandma,” Oliver says, tossing me a wink.
“She got you too?” I ask with a laugh.
He grins. “Strolled right into the locker room with a bag full of shoeboxes. Five minutes earlier and the room would have been filled with half-naked men.”
My grandma shrugs. “I’ve always had good timing. Besides, your teammates were really helpful when I couldn’t decide between all the boots I bought. That goalie of yours has really good taste.”
“Do you want to sit down, Maddy?” The low rumble of Cam’s voice has my head jerking towards him, my toes curling in myshoes to keep myself from flying over there and launching myself into his lap. He smirks at me, as if he knows exactly what’s going on in my head.
Smug, gorgeous asshole.
“Definitely sit, Mads,” Liv says. “There’s a seat next to Cam.” Her eyes bounce between me and Cam, and I know she knows what Cam and I have been getting up to but Jesus, would it kill her to be like fifty percent less obvious? I give her a dirty look, but she just smiles wickedly, her eyes full of mischief. Damn the gods that placed me directly in this family full of mischief-making women. A glance over at Brian tells me that he’s either oblivious or a really good actor, so I take a slow breath to settle my nerves.
“Why don’t we go to the table?” my mom says, pushing up from her chair. “Dinner is ready—we were just waiting for you, Mads.”
“Thank god. I’m starving.” Oliver stands and walks over to me, slinging an arm around my shoulder and kissing the side of my head. “Happy Halloween, Mads.”
My dad wraps his arm around my waist on my other side and tugs my mom in so for a second, the four of us are linked. “Happy you’re both here.” He kisses my cheek and then Oliver’s, before pressing a kiss to my mom’s lips. “Love you, Ems,” he murmurs against her mouth.
His voice is infused with a layer of emotion that, to anyone outside this family, would seem misplaced for a simple family dinner. But my dad grew up like I did, in and out of foster care with no family and no real home, and he never takes a single second of our family time for granted.
“Jer,” she says quietly, smiling and laying a hand on his cheek. “Love you, too. And both of you,” she says, turning to me and then to Oliver.
“Yeah, yeah, you love each other and you love us; what else is new. Can we eat now? I’m seriously starving. You have no idea how hungry a guy gets after a whole entire hockey practice.”
“I definitely wouldn’t know anything about that,” my dad says, rolling humor-filled eyes at Oliver. “Little shit.”
He’s grinning and everyone laughs, and I don’t know if it’s the moment between my parents who are still so wildly in love after decades together or the fact that I can feel Cam’s presence like a tangible thing or the way I’m drawn to him so strongly despite knowing being with him risks entirely imploding my professional life, but my heart gallops, emotion tightening my throat and making it a little hard to breathe.
We break apart, and everyone heads towards the dining room, but I lag behind, trying to pull myself together. When a big, warm hand brushes against my lower back, I jump, sucking in a sharp breath.
“You okay, Wildcat?” Cam asks with a smirk, his hand still lingering on my back, and I swear I can feel the heat of his palm through my sweatshirt. “You seem a little jumpy tonight.”
“You’re in my parents’ living room,” I hiss.
His smirk turns into a full-blown grin. “I was invited.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Don’t you have kids? It’s Halloween.”
“Riley is at a friend’s house, and Ethan is trick-or-treating with some kids from school. Liv asked me if I wanted to come here with her, and if you think I was about to pass up a chance to see you outside of work, you don’t know me nearly well enough.” He moves his hand from my back and runs his fingers over mine. The touch is light, but I get goosebumps anyway. “I really want you to know me, Maddy,” he says in a low voice. “And I want to know everything about you.”
“Oh my god,” I mumble. Cam’s eyes are locked on mine, the blue so clear it feels like I can see right to the heart of him, and what I see has my own heart stuttering in my chest. And when he links his pinkie with mine and gives me a soft smile, that heart leaps out of my chest and falls right at his feet.
My body leans towards him as if it has a mind of its own, drawn in by that look in his eyes and the way his finger feelstangled with mine, and the dark curl falling over his forehead that makes me weak in the knees.
“Wildcat,” Cam says, his voice a little hoarse, and when he rests his other hand lightly on my hip, I turn to face him fully, my entire body humming with anticipation at his proximity. For one wild second, I don’t care that we’re in my parents’ living room with my family only twenty feet and one wall away.
“Yeah?”
He leans in until his mouth is by my ear, and I shiver at the feel of his warm breath on my skin. “Will you come eat tacos with me?”
“What?” My voice comes out a little breathy with confusion as his words yank me out of my lust haze.
He grins at me. “Liv said your dad made tacos. It’s time for dinner.”
