A message from Adalyn popped up on the screen. A voice memo.
With a frown, I hit play.
“Hey, wassup,” her voice drawled. Something was wrong. Adalyn didn’t drawl. She also never spoke so… weakly, her voice so frail. I came to a stand and looked for my clothes, her voice filling the room. “She’s here, with me. We’re sitting in my bed that’s not really a bed and getting through the storm together. I hope that’s okay, because if you don’t mind, I’d like to keep her. Just for tonight. Miami’s storms are much scarier but she’s keeping me warm and distracting me from the pain and the noise outside.” A sigh left her lips.
But all I kept thinking was Pain, pain, pain, she’s in pain.
My finger moved to stop the message, my body already in flight mode, but her words brought me to a halt. “I think I took one too many painkillers, I dunno. That was… very stupid. I didn’t ice my ankle, either. Like Grandpa Moe and you said. But I remembered I don’t have a freezer. Or ice. I… don’t have many things here. I didn’t complain about the cabin because I don’t think I should, y’know? I was trying to be strong and independent. I… I don’t think I have many friends.” A brief pause. “I don’t even know if I have friends back home in Miami. Does my assistant count? We went out for dinner once, but I don’t think she had fun.” A strange sound came through the line. “Maybe I’m not all that friendly. Or nice. I think you liked me today, but you don’t like me all that much so, yeah. Anyways, Willow’s with me. Do you think that’s okay? I’m sure you have a great lap, but she looks comfy in mine.”
I blinked at the screen, standing frozen at the side of my bed, the only thing moving was my heart, pounding furiously.
A new voice memo popped up, kicking me back into gear.
“I wanted to clarify,” her voice explained when I hit play. “That I’m not thinking about your lap. Not too much. But if it’s as hard as your chest, it’d explain why Willow likes it here. Because I’m soft. And you’re hard.”
A new message appeared.
“Your lap is hard.”
Then another one.
“Not you.” A pause. “Although you’re hard, too. I guess? A hard-ass. Not your ass, but you. It’s your personality that I don’t like.”
I shook my head, and looked up, finding myself at the foot of the bed now, with my sweats and a hoodie in my hand. I dressed quickly.
When I looked back at the screen, a new memo was in.
Jesus, she was sending them as I played them. Why wasn’t she calling me instead?
I ran out the door.
And in record time, I was on her porch, the door, of course, irresponsibly unlocked. A trail of curses fell from my lips as I crossed the tiny cabin in three long strides.
The moment my eyes stumbled upon the sight of Adalyn, curled up with Willow, a strangled sound climbed up my throat. I rushed to the bed and I kneeled down. It slapped me in the face then. How impossible it was for me not to acknowledge the emotion stirring furiously against my rib cage. Christ, I wanted to shake her. To shake myself, too. To howl, for some fathomless reason that I knew had to do more with me than her. But I made myself push it all down, because she was passed out. Right where I’d left her. Vulnerable and alone.
Clamping my jaw down, I curled my arms around her, securing one at her back and one under her thighs. Jesus, she was so soft against me. And she felt so warm. Too warm. Stifling a grunt, I pulled her against my chest as tightly as I could and picked her up.
It was then, when I the blanket fell off, that I saw what she was wearing.
The charcoal black, the starred sleeves and shoulder pads, the team’s emblem at the right side of her chest. It was my L.A. Stars jersey. Mine. I didn’t need to see the back, because no one else on the team had worn black—only me at the goal.
I closed my eyes. All I needed was a moment. Just a few seconds before I did something reckless I’d regret.
Her head bobbed against my chest, and I reopened my eyes to hers as they looked up. “Cameron?” she asked, blinking with confusion. Surprise. “You’re here. Why are you here?”
“I shouldn’t have left you here, alone.” I swallowed hard. “I’m so sorry I did.”
Adalyn blinked again, and then again, and Jesus fucking Christ, then she went and gave a smile. Big and sweet and beautiful. So much that the gorgeous brown in her eyes lit up.
Willow jumped off the mattress with a whimper, getting my attention. Walking lazily toward the door, as if marking a path. Encouraging me to take her home.
I returned my eyes to the woman in my arms and I followed behind.
I’d thought Adalyn would ask where I was taking her, or perhaps complain or put up a fight. But instead, she murmured, “But I didn’t ask you to come for me.”
My throat went tight with the words. “You never need to ask, love.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Adalyn
I woke up with a jolt.
The first thing I became aware of was how comfortable and warm I was. How good the linen around my body smelled and how plush the comforter was.
I rolled onto my side, eyelids blinking and trying to make sense of where I was. My legs bumped against something solid and warm.
“What…” I murmured, looking down and finding a ball of bicolored fur. “Willow? Why—”
Everything came back. Glimpse after glimpse of the last twenty-four hours, toppling right into my mind.
The guy with the hoodie. My panic. The pain emanating from my ankle and traveling up my calf. The irresponsible intake of painkillers. Willow curling up on my lap. Cameron’s arms. The feeling of his chest underneath my cheek. His palm against my hair. The soothing hum of his voice.
Cameron’s arms.
He’d brought me to his cabin. With him. I couldn’t exactly remember why. But if what I’d just recalled was right, he’d gone as far as… soothing me back to sleep. The image was too clear, too sharp, for me to think I’d imagined it. He’d sat by my side and stroked my hair until I’d fallen asleep.
A wave of heat climbed all the way up to my face. God, I must have been in really bad shape.
With more effort than I should have needed, I sat back on the bed, obtaining a skeptical glance from the cat as she stretched her paws by my side. “Sorry, friend,” I told her, and she yawned at me. “Is that okay? That I called you friend?” She jumped over my legs and settled herself against my hip. I took her staying as a yes. “Thanks. I also think we are friends after last night.”
Her head fell back on the comforter again, and I wasn’t going to lie, the cat liking me back felt like a win I’d take. Especially considering the likely awkward conversation I had ahead of me today.
With a sigh, I rolled out of the bed, feeling the sharp bite of pain when I rested my right foot on the floor. I pushed through it. I had more pressing concerns to deal with. I limped my way out of the room and into a hallway, carefully stopping every few feet to make sure where I was going. The last thing I needed right now was to find Cameron in some inappropriate situation like, I don’t know, changing or slipping out of the shower or getting undressed…
Or maybe you should simply stop thinking of Cameron naked, a voice screamed in my head.
I discarded all thoughts involving Cameron and continued my hopping. There was music coming from the far end of the hallway, so I veered that way and encountered the kitchen and living area.
Catching my breath, I braced myself on the white marble island and took a break to let my gaze roam. A cream-colored chaise longue laid right in the middle of the space, rustic and minimalistic décor scattered on shelves, timber beams crossed the ceiling, gorgeous windowpanes let the sunlight in, a half-naked man did a handstand, the table—
My eyes retraced their trajectory a step, snapping into focus.