Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 125852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 629(@200wpm)___ 503(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 629(@200wpm)___ 503(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Of course. It was a break in trust from the one he loved that led him to me in the first place.
We all do dumb things when we’re hurt or scared, don’t we?
Brady flashes in my mind, but I force myself to focus. “But you never felt like I was leading you on or anything? I know there were a few times when you came close and I let you, and I can’t help but feel like I gave you all the wrong signs.”
“You didn’t. Like I said, I was holding on to what we had, and I knew reminding you of our chemistry was my only shot. I took it knowing the chance was slim, and you never gave me any indication we could be more than a stolen moment or two.”
I nod, a heavy breath leaving me.
“In hindsight, I should have seen this coming. Your dad did try to let me down gently, but I didn’t exactly understand it at the time.”
That has my head yanking his way again. “My dad? When did you talk to my dad?”
His smile is sheepish. “When I had a shirt full of sprinkled ice cream and even that wasn’t enough for me to stop staring at you all afternoon.”
The barbecue back in September. “Well…what did he say?”
Alister smiles a bit, looking over at the others. “He said, you know, the heart’s a tricky thing. Sometimes the people who stand closest to you are the hardest to see, but my daughter? She’s not blind. Stubborn, but not blind. Be careful, young man. I can tell she’s the one who’s upset right now, but something tells me she won’t be the one hurt in the end.”
He looks over, a bit of bashfulness in his eyes. “I might have repeated the words to myself several times trying to figure out what he was trying to tell me.” He looks to Brady. “Turns out he wasn’t really talking about me at all.”
Man, I love my dad.
I drop my eyes to my lap.
“I’m sorry if I made things harder for you,” he says. “But I had to try. If I didn’t, it would have been another regret to add to the first one.”
“Thank you for believing I was worth the time.”
“You’re worth a lot more, Cameron Cox, and if I thought for even a second I had a shot, I would keep trying to take it.” He reaches over, squeezing my hand.
I hold on to it for a moment before both our arms fall to our sides, and we start the trek back to the house.
When we get closer, some of the guys are outside, throwing the ball around.
We stand back and watch, and after a few minutes, Alister glances my way.
“So.” He raises a brow. “That’s the Trey Donovan, huh?”
“Yep.”
“Man,” he says. “I must be really good-looking, considering you have impeccable taste in men.”
Laughter flies from me, instantly gaining the attention of a certain beastly man, but I don’t look Brady’s way, even though he continues to stare.
“I pulled up his social media pages last night,” Alister admits, and now it’s my turn to raise a brow. “Think Lancaster knows what a big night Trey had after his team’s win last week?”
I smirk to myself. “Nope.”
“You gonna tell him?”
“Nope.”
Now it’s Alister who laughs, and I can’t help the smile that blooms.
I’m happy we can do this, that things didn’t get so misconstrued along the way where it ended with him hurt and me an epic, deceiving asshole.
Alister knew the score. He’s known since day one that he was fighting a losing battle, but I commend him for trying. Respect it even, and in a way, it’s made my feelings for him into something more genuine, just not in the way he hoped for.
“Thank you, Alister,” I say softly, turning to wrap him in a hug. “Thank you for hanging around long enough to show me what a good man you really are.”
“I’m going to miss you, beautiful,” he whispers.
Tears form in my eyes, and I smile, kissing his cheek as I pull away. “I’ll be around…but you should probably just call me Cameron now.”
He lets out a heavy exhale, but his smile doesn’t go away. “Yeah, you’re right. Well, I guess I should go show these dudes how a real pass is supposed to be made.”
I chuckle, pushing him toward the game.
When I look over, Brady is still standing there watching me.
And he doesn’t look away.
Brady
Most of us are in the kitchen, running around and getting things ready, with several conversations going on at once, but I’m only half tuned in. My eyes are glued to the sand hill just outside the floor-to-ceiling windows. I only came inside to check on my turkey and see if the others needed any help with their dishes, but now it seems I’m glued in place.