Cam Hartson definitely had Big Dick Energy. Though she’d never admit that to Joanna.
“You heading home?” Cam asked, as Michael walked out of practice, his sports bag slung over his shoulder.
Michael shrugged. “Yeah. Gonna catch a ride with one of the guys.”
“I could give you a ride. There’s something I wa
nt to talk to you about. Maybe we can head to my place and grab a drink or something?”
Michael frowned. “What kind of thing?” He pulled his duffle from his shoulder and let it fall to the ground with a thud. “Is there something wrong?”
“Nothing at all. It’s nothing sinister. I just thought we should talk about the work you’re doing for me. Only if you have time.” Cam kept his voice even. No need to alarm Michael. It was pretty simple. Tell Michael he didn’t feel comfortable in letting him lie to his mom without getting him all riled up. Then after he came back from L.A., the boys would slowly get used to him. They didn’t need to rush anything, but he wanted this clean slate.
His relationship with Mia was too important to start it with a lie hanging over his head.
“Okay.” Michael shrugged, opening the door of Cam’s Audi and throwing his bag in the back. Then he turned to Leon and pointed at the car. “No need for a ride, I’m covered.”
Leon nodded. “Okay. See you tomorrow.”
Climbing into the passenger seat, Michael fastened his seatbelt and turned to Cam. “That was a good practice today.”
Cam turned on the engine and backed the car out. “You guys are really coming together as a team. You gotta work on a few plays, but I think you have a chance of winning this week.”
“Not if Ben keeps fumbling the damn ball.” Michael sighed. “The guy dropped more than he caught today.”
“We all have off days.” Cam glanced at Michael from the corner of his eye. He really wanted the kid to like him. Yeah, part of that was because it would make things with Mia so much easier, but it was more than wanting to be with Michael’s mom. He genuinely liked him. He might be a bit pissy occasionally, and cocky when he didn’t need to be, but what teenage football player wasn’t? Cam cringed when he thought about the young thug he had been when he’d captained the team. He thought he was the king of Hartson’s Creek.
Michael would grow into his skills. And maybe he’d even get a sports scholarship. That was something else Cam could help him with – he had connections and knew what the scouts were looking for.
Pulling up outside his house, Cam climbed out of the car and pointed at Michael’s bag. “You can leave that here. I’ll give you a ride home when we’re done.”
“I live five minutes away. I can walk.” Michael gave him a confused look.
Yeah, but if he timed it right, giving Michael a ride home meant Cam might get a glimpse of Mia. And he was all about that. He’d been thinking about her and their weekend together all day. The memory of her naked body curled into his had been seared into his mind.
And then she’d sent him flowers in a complete twist of normal conventions. He’d laughed like crazy when he read her message.
He wanted to be with her again. And soon.
“How was your trip to the waterpark?” Cam asked Michael as he opened his front door.
“You know about that?” His voice rose up.
Cam blinked. “Yeah. I heard Josh telling your mom about it.”
Michael glanced at him from the corner of his eye. “It was good. Thanks.”
Damn. He needed to be more careful. At least for the next couple of weeks. His face felt hot – he needed to splash some water on it. “You go on into the kitchen. Grab yourself a soda or something. I just need to do something really quick.”
Michael shrugged. “Okay.” He sloped off down the hallway to the kitchen. He’d been here enough times to know where everything was. Taking one last glance at his back, Cam turned and headed upstairs, wanting to put some space between them.
In the bathroom, he filled his cupped hands with cold water and splashed it onto his cheeks. Looking up at his reflection in the mirror, he took a long, slow inhale.
There was no way he could mess this up. He didn’t want to make things between him and Michael difficult.
“Just go talk to him, asshole,” he muttered. “Get this over with.”
Why was he so on edge? If he was going to be spending more time with these kids, he needed to learn how to deal with them. Maybe he needed to talk to his brothers for advice.