“Thanks, Leon.” Coach gave him a wink. “One down, one to go. Come on, show a little spirit here. Coaching will be good for your play. You get to learn how to spot weaknesses and work with others on them. Plus it’ll earn you points with me.”
“I can do it. My brother’s joining the team, too.”
Cam turned to see Michael with his hand up. He’d been running drills with Cam, though avoided talking to him.
“We can go together,” Leon said, slapping Michael on the back. Michael looked pleased to be noticed by the older player. “You’re Josh’s brother, right? Noah won’t stop talking about him. I think he wants my mom to adopt him.”
“She’s welcome to him,” Michael mumbled, and Leon laughed.
Coach nodded at them both.“Great. I’ll email you all the details. Okay, team, help me collect up the equipment and then hit the showers.”
Half an hour later, Cam was walking across the parking lot when he heard somebody call out his name. He turned to see Michael running toward him, holding his hand up as though trying to get Cam to stop.
“Everything okay?” Cam asked, as Michael reached him, his breath coming in short spurts. Michael looked over his shoulder at Cam’s dark blue Audi.
“You got your car back,” he said, swallowing hard. “I guess that means you got the invoice, too.”
“Yeah, I got it.” He’d paid it, too.
Michael shifted his feet. “And you plan on sending it to my mom?”
No he wasn’t. Cam wasn’t that much of an asshole. “I don’t think that’s your concern.”
“But it is. It wasn’t my mom’s fault your car was dented. I’m the one who should pay for it, not her.”
“You got a spare eight thousand hanging around?” Cam had been pleasantly surprised at the cost. Two thousand less than he’d anticipated.
“Um, no?” Michael raked his fingers through his hair. “But maybe I can work it off or something. Make a payment plan with you. I’m hoping to get a weekend job as soon as I turn fifteen. Until then, I can do stuff like cut your lawn or tidy your yard or something. I do it for my uncle and he’s happy with my work.”
“You want to make a payment plan?” Cam repeated. “How long do you think it’ll take you to repay eight thousand dollars?”
Blowing out a mouthful of air, Michael grimaced. “A while. But I’m a man of my word, sir. The money will come back to you.”
Cam tipped his head to the side and stared at the boy. He’d been avoiding Cam ever since he’d started working with the team. It was understandable, as they hadn’t gotten the best start after all, but he could still remember Mia’s request to try to mend some bridges.
“Does your mom know about this?” Cam asked him.
“No. And I don’t want her to. She’ll only tell me not to worry about it, but that’s a crock of sh—, I mean a load of trash, because she’s the one who always worries about money.”
“You shouldn’t keep secrets from your mom.”
Michael sighed. “I’m a teenage kid. That’s practically my job. But seriously, she’d go ape on me, and I’m only trying to make her life a little easier. She works too hard and has too much to worry about already.” He lifted his gaze to Cam’s. “Please, can we work this out between us? Man to man?”
There was something in his voice that made Cam stop in his tracks. He knew enough about what Michael had been through this year to understand why he wanted to take control of something. Anything. And he had a lot of time for a kid that wanted to repay his debts. As much as he didn’t need the money, maybe Michael needed to feel like a man.
“What do I tell your mom when she asks for the invoice?” Not that he was ever planning on giving it to her. But if Michael had a good idea on how to stop her from going apeshit about it, he was all ears.
“I don’t know.” Michael screwed up his nose. “Maybe you can stall her for a while. Tell her you’re still waiting for the final amount. Give me time to think about something better.”
Cam bit down a smile. “If she finds out, it’s your funeral.”
“Yeah, I know. But it’ll be more of a cremation. When my mom gets mad, it’s like a nuclear explosion.”
His smile was threatening to break through. Cam turned to his car and pressed on the fob, the locks unclicking instantly. “You heading home now?” he asked Michael.
“Yeah.”
“You want a ride?” Cam inclined his head at the car.