Page 29 of Under My Skin

“Easy, tiger.” I feel Reid’s hand on my arm, and I breathe. “You’re gonna crack a tooth with how much you’re grinding those molars.”

He’s not wrong.

“Thanks, man. I?—”

“You should do something about it. Allow yourself to try to be happy. Doctor’s orders.” With that, he walks inside with me, and his nephew Max runs straight at him. “See you soon, man.”

My girls are still washing their hands in the back of the studio, so I take that as a sign that I have a minute to intervene.

As I’m walking toward them, I hear Lizzie telling Brian that she’s really busy and doesn’t have time to go out on a date anytime soon.That’s my girl. Stay the fuck away from Brian. I may not know him personally, but I know his older brother, Beau, and he gives off the same douchebag vibes.

“Hey, Lizzie,” I finally say as I reach her and then turn to Brian and give him a curt nod.

“Hey, Cam. Heard you were back in town.” Brian smiles, and I can see the conniving little asshole about to make his debut. “Even those on top find their way back to little ole Brantley Falls, huh? Tough break about the injury, but it probably worked out better than being cut from the team because you weren’t performing up to par. Less embarrassing that way, right?” He says the last part with a shoulder shrug and laughs like it’s some inside joke and he got one up on me.

“Nah, what’s embarrassing is you not getting the hint that Lizzie clearly doesn’t want to go out with you. She’s trying to be nice and let you down easy, but you just won’t take no for an answer, will you?” I move closer to Lizzie and hear her suck in a breath. “Also, what are you doing here? Do you even have a kid, or are you just being creepy and ambushing Lizzie wherever you can find her?”

Brian turns to Lizzie. “Is that true, Lizzie? You don’t want to go out with me?”

“Yeah, man, it’s true, so back off,” I say, not able to keep the annoyance out of my voice.

“What are you, her boyfriend? Let her talk.”

“I’m not her boyfriend,” I answer quickly. “But I’m like a big brother stepping up to protect her from guys likeyou.” I wrap my arm around Lizzie’s shoulders to make it clear that I’m not backing down.

Unfortunately, that was the wrong thing to say. I immediately feel Lizzie tense up, and I know I’ve made a colossal mistake with that comment. The wordboyfriendfreaked me out, and I just blurted out the rest of it before I had a chance to think about it. Probably from all the years I’ve been overprotective of my sisters.

Lizzie moves out from under my arm and makes a point of taking a big step to the side before speaking. “Right, well, when mybig brotherand potential suitor are done having a pissing contest, maybe I can speak for myself.” Her face is turning red, but I know it’s mostly due to anger this time. She turns to Brian and pastes on a huge smile that I know is fake. “I’d love to go out with you, Brian. Name the time and place and I’ll be there.” Then she turns to me and levels me with the meanest glare she can conjure up. “I think Addy and Mackenzie are ready to go, Cam.”

I notice she calls me Cam and not Cameron, but I can’t dive into that because, sure enough, I look down to find Mackenzie and Addy standing next to me.

“Hey, girls. Say thank you to Lizzie.”

“Thank you, Miss Lizzie,” the girls say and give her hugs.

“You’re welcome. You girls are naturals. I hope to see you again next week.” Lizzie returns the hugs and then stands up and turns to Brian.

I guess I’m getting the cold shoulder.

As we’re walking away, I hear Brian suggest dinner at Crest Steakhouse tomorrow night at seven o’clock. There’s absolutely no way I’m letting Lizzie go on that date alone. Especially since I’m pretty sure she only agreed to go out with him because she was pissed at me.

An idea starts to form in my head. I quickly open the door to my truck and have the girls climb in. “Start buckling yourselves in, girls. I have to call Uncle Reid real fast.”

“Hey. Are you off tomorrow night?” I blurt out as soon as he answers.

“You’re asking the wrong person out on a date, Cam.”

“I need to intercept a date that Lizzie is going on and I need your help. So, are you free tomorrow night or what?”

“Do I even want to know what you did?”

“I may have referred to myself as Lizzie’s big brother,” I grit out. “In front of Brian Kincaid. While telling him she didn’t want to go out with him.”

I can hear him sighing, and I know he’s rolling his eyes.

“Just tell me where and when, Cam.”

“Crest Steakhouse. Seven o’clock,” I tell him.

---