“Not interested.”
“You’re fucking insufferable.”
“My whole goal in life is to make you suffer.”
“Can you not be an ass for once?” I settle myself on the ground, leaning my back against the tree trunk with my legs lying out in front of me.
“I’m sure I could, but why would I want to?”
“Fucking hell,” I breathe, watching as Cameron begrudgingly sits next to me on the ground. “Look, I know we got off on the wrong foot back in college, but can we at least try to set all that shit aside? The team is never going to take us seriously if we’re always at each other’s throats.”
Cameron sighs and lets his head rest against the tree. “You’re right. We should both make an effort to put that behind us.”
“That’s all we can really do.”
He glances over at me, and his face is softer now than it was a minute ago. “Let’s get to know each other then. Maybe we’ll find some common ground or something.”
“Fine,” I shrug. “What do you want to know?”
“Why do you wear the number seventy?”
“I don’t really have a reason,” I state. “That’s the first number I was given as a kid, so I stuck with it. It’s not some deep meaning.”
“Fair enough,” he replies. “Are you going to ask me about my number?”
I can’t hold back the laugh that slips out. “You wear number ninety-six, which is the inverse of sixty-nine, and you’ve always been a fuckboy. It’s not hard to put that together.”
Cameron shakes his head. “I’m not the fuckboy you think I am, Zhuri.”
I give him a disbelieving look. “Did you or did you not try to hit on me when we met with the hopes of bringing me into your bed?”
His lips turn up in a small smile. “Can I plead the fifth?”
“Like I said.”
He lets out an easy laugh as his smile grows. “Fine. Yes, I did try to hit on you, but no, I did not pick ninety-six for a specific reason. I don’t really sleep around anymore.”
“You don’t?”
“Nope,” he shrugs. “I did before, but the older I get, the less that interests me.”
“You really are full of surprises,” I say softly. “I never would have expected that from you.”
When Cameron replies, his voice is so low it’s almost inaudible. “I’m not like everyone thinks.”
I can feel a thickness in the air now, so I change directions to avoid delving into some deep topic. “How often did you watch Dragons’ games?”
“As often as I could. I lived in Boulder until I was twelve and always rooted for the Denver teams. When the WHL was created, I jumped right in as a Dragons fan. You guys were really damn good.”
“You actually watched me play?” I ask in complete disbelief.
“I wasn’t lying when I said you’re the best left winger I’ve ever seen,ljepota.”
“Lye-poh-tuh? What the hell does that mean?”
Cameron laughs lightly with a sly smile on his face. “You don’t speak Croatian, Zhuri baby?”
“No, Cameron, I don’t speak fucking Croatian,” I deadpan, and he only laughs harder.
