God, this is so confusing. It’s as if he’s jealous, but why? “I haven’t heard from you since the night you showed up at my place to get me naked. Now you want a say in who I hang out with?”
His hand pushes through his hair, which looks almost black in the dim light, and he groans. “Fair enough.” He crosses to me and drops down on the seat next to mine. Elbows on his knees, he scrubs his face with his hands. “Fuck.”
“I uh . . . I like your house.” Generic, safe, and totally lame subject change.
He turns his head, and there’s a slight tilt to his lips that look far from amused. Sexy hair, thick jaw, full lips, and eyes that even when they’re smiling look as if they want to devour me.
My heart pounds. This is so wrong. I’m around Cameron for ten seconds, and I’m visualizing all the things I’d do to him if we were alone, but Mason only makes me want to punch him in the arm and give him a wedgie for being obnoxiously sweet.
The silence between us is thick with tension. “The party was a good idea.” I motion to the crowd that is now gathering outside for the fireworks. “Don’t think Gibbs ever did anything like this for his fighters.”
I feel his eyes on me, and when I turn, I almost recoil at the intensity behind his stare. “Can you stop acting like we’re two old friends shooting the shit when you know good and fucking well you’re thinking the same thing I am.”
My mouth falls open and I force it shut, only to have it drop open again.
“I’ve had my hands and my mouth all over every inch of that gorgeous body, doll. You think I can’t read you? Know what you’re thinking about right now?”
I swallow hard. “What am I thinking about?”
“Same thing I am.” His eyes move over my body in a slow caress, and he leans in close. “Us naked, our bodies tangled together sweat-soaked from fuckin—”
“Dad!”
My head jerks toward the direction of the voice, heart pounding, and body jacked the hell up from what Cameron was describing. Pull it together, Eve.
A boy, no not a boy, a man but one who just recently made the transition, is headed toward us. He’s tall. My guess is he’s close to six foot, and he looks like a lanky, lighter shade of Cameron.
“Oh my God.” I cover my mouth when realization sinks in. This has to be his son.
The kid approaches, his blond hair sticking out all over like a rock star, and he’s wearing a pair of black skinny jeans and a faded black concert tee that looks one size too small. It’s not the kind of style I’d expect from an offspring of Cameron’s, but this kid rocks the look.
“Dude, we’ve got a problem.” He looks at me and then back to Cameron with questioning eyes.
Cameron groans. “Ryder, this is Eve.” He meets my eyes in a meaningful and what seems like apologetic way. “Eve, my son. Ryder.”
I shake the kid’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Yeah, you too.” He flashes a knockout smile, and I’m not surprised to see he looks even more like his dad than I thought. “You must be the vamp.”
Vamp?
“Ry.” The nickname comes out as a warning, but Ryder chuckles.
“I don’t mean to interrupt, but um . . . Dad, can you come here for a second?”
“You can talk in front of Eve,” Cameron says.
Warmth explodes in my chest. Two one-night stands and a breakfast and he’s comfortable with me being witness to a conversation he’s going to have with his son? I refuse to let my heart go to all the places it wants to and decide Cameron knows his son best and whatever he has to say is most likely not a big deal.
Ryder’s eyes shift between Cameron and me, and he decides with a shrug. “Okay.” He looks at Cameron. “Mom’s here.”
I suck in a breath.
“Fuck!” Cameron jumps up from his seat and storms off without saying goodbye. No see ya later. No I’ll be right back. Just gets up and takes off to go see his ex-wife.
Ryder gives me a halfhearted smile as if he’s taken notice of his dad’s rude departure. “Nice meeting you, Eve.”
“You too.” My response is soft, but it doesn’t matter. By the time the last word is out of my mouth, he’s gone anyway.
Talk about emotional whiplash. One minute he’s talking about us, and then poof! he takes off to be with his ex. This shouldn’t be surprising. It’s what I expect and probably deserve. My head tumbles with questions, feelings, and emotions I can’t even name. I rub my temples, trying to make it all stop and only manage to give myself a headache.
This was a mistake. A huge one.
Boom! The sound of fireworks and the follow up of collective ooh’s and ah’s fill my ears. I inch closer to the crowd for a better look. One after the other, fireworks launch into the sky and light up the crowd of faces in every color of the rainbow. I find Mason standing with Blake and Layla, but I stay where I am, afraid of getting too close and having him touch me in some way.
God, I’m a royal bitch.