Page 11 of Single Glance

We moved in silence for a few moments, working together to clear the rest of the sink. It was weird. Cam’s presence always created tension, like I was waiting for him to say something annoying. But that same hum wasn’t in theair tonight, like we’d both laid down our armor inside these walls.

Despite all the dishes being clean and on the rack, I didn’t move, instead toying with the towel in my hands. I should have just left, gotten away from Cam as soon as possible—but I didn’t.

From the way he stood there, tapping his fingers on the counter, Cam didn’t seem in any hurry to leave either.

“How’s the team shaping up?” I asked.

“It’s, uh, different.” Cam smirked, and my insides turned to jelly. When he smiled like that, there was that small dimple on the left side of his face. It made him look almost charming. He shifted so his hip leaned on the counter. “We’re trying to feel each other out, but it’s going to take time. Hopefully, we can get it together so we can get into the playoffs.”

“And when’s that?”

Cam chuckled. “You really know nothing about baseball, do you, menace?”

“You swing the bat and then run around in a giant circle? That’s about the extent of my knowledge,” I said as I turned toward him, shocked to find Cam smiling back at me. It was probably the longest we’d been cordial in, well, ever.

“That’s the basics,” he said. “But that’s when we’re up at bat. Otherwise, we’re on the field, and we need to depend on each other. You’ve gotta be able to trust your teammate to complete the play correctly. And when you haven’t played together that long…”

“That trust is hard to come by,” I finished for him.

“Yeah,” he sighed. “But we’ve got to get there fast. Got a big series at the end of the week.”

“Damn, you don’t get any downtime,do you?”

“Not really,” he said. “The season is hectic and exhausting, but it’s also the best kind of high. We don’t really get a solid break until the season is over.”

I nodded, still toying with the towel in my hand. Cam took a step closer to me, and my breath hitched in my throat, suddenly overwhelmed by his presence. Cam wasn’t the most imposing guy, practically a human-sized teddy bear, but he still eclipsed me in size and height. He was easily a foot taller than me, especially when I was barefoot. As I looked up into his clear eyes, I tried to keep my breathing steady.He dated your best friend.The sharp reminder made me edge backward, stopping when my hip jammed into the edge of the countertop.

Cam’s face twisted into a grin, making that damn dimple pop again. “Why did you apologize to me, Hadley?”

“Because I was wrong.” I inhaled sharply. “And…I know what it's like to be judged because of your position in life. Even unintentionally, I did that to you. And I am sorry.”

“I know you are,” he said. “That’s the thing about you, Hadley. You tell the truth, even when it hurts. It’s admirable.”

“It is?”

“Yeah.” He smirked. “You’re an open book, and that’s a good thing. Always honest to a fault, even if you’re busting my balls.”

“I thought you hated when I did that.“ My voice turned meek, barely above a whisper, as if raising it would break this moment between us. As much as I tried to tell myself this was Cam—someone I’d spent the better part of seven years hating—I didn’t want this to end. I liked this little bubble when we weren’t a menace and a drill sergeant—just Cam and Hadley, two people who might have been friends if things had worked outdifferently.

He smiled, but it differed from his usual cocky grin. This one was slight, almost vulnerable. “Not as much as I should,” he whispered. The hushed confession clung to the air between us, and I stared up at Cam, studying the serene expression on his face. His admiration, his respect, it was all there. I’d just never taken the time to look before.

“I don’t hate you as much as I should either.” The words rushed out of my mouth before I could think better of it.

Cam’s eyes crinkled in delight as he reached out and carefully took the towel from my hands. He placed it on the counter and then traced my palm with his thumb. Lightning lingered on my skin where he touched, and my mouth went dry. My body erupted in butterflies, tumbling out from the places he traced. It was jarring, the sudden shift from disdain to desire, but the need for him to keep touching me was overwhelming.

“Hadley—”

Just as my name left his lips, Adam burst into the kitchen, breaking the quiet stalemate between us. “Which stuffy is Peanut Butter?” he huffed as he searched the dining room. “Emilia doesn’t want to go to sleep without it.”

“Yeah,” Cam said, jumping away from me to join Adam on the hunt. “She’s that purple elephant Calla and Theo got for her last month. I saw her in the living room earlier.”

With that, both men left the kitchen. But when he reached the doorway, Cam stopped, giving me one last, secret smile. “You good, menace?”

I rolled my eyes. “Better than you, sarge.”

TEN

As the last car pulled away from the curb, I let out a long breath. Another week over. It was almost bittersweet, watching the weeks tick by on the calendar. On the one hand, teaching could be exhausting, more than I ever realized. Rewarding for sure, but exhausting. I looked forward to the weekend but also dreaded striking the days from my calendar. Each day down meant another day closer to this assignment being finished. I should’ve been excited about that, especially considering I’d planned out the next few months already. I’d be traveling north, trying to get in as many as the colder states before the weather shifted.

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