I take the hat off my head, running a hand through my sweat-slicked hair, before flipping it backward. It’s shadier under the trees, so there isn’t much sun to block right now.
Bodhi hasn’t taken his eyes off me. “You’re being weird, Cam. Are you nervous about the team or something?”
I lean back against a tree, moving off the trail slightly. “No. I feel good about the team, honestly. Practices have been going well. I think we’ll look good when preseason starts in a couple months.”
“You and Zhuri still getting along?”
“Yeah,” I reply, trying to tamp down a smile. “We’re friends now, so we’re all good.”
“That’s good,” he hums, still looking at me like he doesn’t quite believe everything I’m telling him.
He’s right to do so, but I’m sure as hell not going to tell him that.
I close my eyes for a moment and don’t see the person jogging down the opposite end of the trail until they stop in front of us.
“Well, if it isn’t Cameron and his brother, the fetus.” Bodhi rolls his eyes while I laugh, smiling over at Zhuri. “You two out for a jog?”
I cock my eyebrow. “What gave it away?”
She huffs a laugh. “The athletic wear is pretty telling.”
“I’m not a fetus, you know.” Bodhi crosses his arms and stares at her, pretending like he’s actually offended.
“Sorry about Icy,” she says. “She never thinks before she speaks.”
“It’s fine,” he chuckles. “It was kinda nice to not hear about how cool it must have been to have Cameron Kovacic as a brother, so I’ll happily take the fetus comment over that.”
Zhuri looks over at me playfully, and that look still does things to me that it shouldn’t. “I’d never think that, Bodhi. Can’t be many worse things than having that one as a brother.”
“What the fuck?” I laugh. “I’m not that bad, Hart.”
She winks at me, and I smile like the goddamn fool that I am.
I’m becoming a fool for the one woman I can’t have.
Bodhi looks between us curiously but doesn’t say anything.
“You ready for the next photoshoot, Cam?” Zhuri asks, stepping a little closer to me.
“Probably won’t be as fun as the last one,” I shrug, “but it should still be good.”
“The last one was really fun, wasn’t it?” she smiles. “I know we all have to dress nicely before games, but I don’t often get to wear actual formalwear. It was fun to do that for a bit.”
I rub my thumb over my bottom lip, not peeling my eyes off Zhuri. “It was definitely fun. You looked good.”
She looks away from me and smiles. “Thank you. You didn’t look too bad yourself.”
“Oh, I know,” I smirk, clasping my hands together behind my head.
Zhuri rolls her eyes now. “Can’t you just take a compliment without ruining the moment?”
“No, he can’t,” Bodhi interjects, and I shove him lightly on the arm.
“Shut up, Bodhi.”
He throws his head back and laughs, and I roll my eyes.
“Well,” Zhuri says a little uncomfortably, almost like she doesn’t want to end this conversation any more than I do. “I should probably let you get back to your jog.”
