Page 21 of Single Glance

“She knows that.” The words came out like a whisper, but it was enough to remove some of the doubt in Cam’s eyes. “Look, I might not know anything about baseball., or the pressure you’re under, but I know this. You are an amazing dad, Cam. One of the best. And Victoria knows that too. She didn’t ask me to help. I offered because we all want you to achieve your dreams. Everyone needs a little help sometimes, sarge.”

He stared down at me, his dark eyes shimmering with something that looked a lot like appreciation. “Thank you, Hadley. I, uh…” He cleared his throat. “I needed to hear that.”

“Don’t get used to it,” I threw back at him.

But Cam’s face didn’t shift, didn’t contort into his usual annoyed scowl. Instead, he brought his fingers up to my face, stroking the underside of my jaw. “I don’t know how to do this, Hadley.”

“Do what?” My words were breathless, almost low enough for him to miss them.

“Be around you,” he quietly admitted. “I…I don’t know how to navigate it. You’re Vic’s best friend, and you’re the last person I should want…” His dark brown eyes lifted, and I saw what he’d been trying to hide. Desire. Longing. It was all there, reflected at me.

“It can never happen,” I finished for him. “It’s too complicated, and if we crossed that line, it wouldn’t end well for any of us.”

“Right,” Cam said. He cleared his throat and dropped my hand. My skin instantly ran cold, and it took everything to keep up the distance between us. He wasn’t the only one who felt the pull between us, it seemed. It felt like there was a rope around my chest, tying me to him. “I’m sorry for acting like an ass, Hadley. I’ve been stressed, and I took it out on you.” The corner of his mouth ticked up. “I won’t make that mistake again.”

“No, you won’t,” I said, keeping my eyes trained on him. We might be working through this delicate dance, trying to figure out how to move forward in each other’s lives, but I wouldn’t stand for being treated that way.

Cam nodded his head, and I saw the sincerity in his words. In all our time together, I couldn’t remember a time Cam had apologized to me. Between my apology last month and this one, it was feeling like hell really did freeze over.

As he walked back to the table, I finally saw what I missed before—the dark circles under his eyes, the sallower color of his skin. Even his shoulders seemed to droop further than they ever did before. I walked over and took a seat next to him. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“You don’t need to take on anymore of my worries, Hadley.”

He’d used my name so many times in this conversation, and as much as I enjoyed hearing it, I almost missed the menace name he’d gifted me. It was almost like our private joke now that we were working on mending fences. I placed my hand on top of his before realizing what I’d done andyanking it away. “Although things might be complicated between us, I want us to be friends. At least until Victoria gets back.”

“And after?” Cam asked.

“Then…” I slowly smirked up at him. “Prepare for the torture to resume. I promise to play nice for three entire weeks. I can’t promise anything more than that.”

“Oh, menace,” Cam said, his voice lowering several octaves. “I don’t think you’d know how to play nice if you tried.”

Cam leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. I swallowed, hating how the sight of his brawny forearms made my heart beat faster. Why was that so fucking hot? I might be a slut for some forearm porn, but we needed to establish some boundaries. It was the only way we’d make this work. His dark eyes cut right through my soul, and his full lips curled at the edges. “You think we can do it, menace?”

“I can,” I bit back. “But considering you’d rather act like a toddler than a grown adult most of the time, I have my doubts about you.”

He leaned back in his chair and, thank God, he lowered his arms into his lap. Cam glanced up, and I swore there was a rare hint of vulnerability in his eyes. “You’re right.” I bit my tongue, not wanting to interrupt. “Look, I’m under a ton of pressure this season. Playing for the Hawks…this is my fucking dream, Hadley. But Emilia is everything to me. I can’t—I won’t let her down.” He ran his hand over his face. “So if you’re willing to help me out…” His eyes leaped up and met mine. “Then I could really fucking use it.”

I smiled back at him. “See, was that so hard?”

“You have no idea,” he said. “We’ll work something out, a schedule or something that works for both of us and keepsus from getting annoyed. But we might need some kind of secret code for when we’re at our limit.”

My eyes widened. “Like a safe word?”

“Jesus, menace,” he chuckled. “No, not like a safe word. Just a word we use when we need a break.”

“So…a safe word.”

Cam cursed under his breath, then turned his head up to the ceiling. I couldn’t help my smirk at his forlorn expression, loving how easy it was to get under his skin. I held up my hands. “Just messing with you, Cam. I think it’s a good idea. You and I are going to butt heads, and I don’t want it to affect Emilia. So if we need a break, we’ll say something like…”

“Porcupine.”

My eyes widened as I looked across the table. “Seriously, sarge?”

He shrugged. “First word that popped into my head.”

“Fine.” I rolled my eyes. “If either of us says porcupine, we have to retreat and try again the next day. It’s our line in the sand.”

Cam nodded as he smiled back at me. “You’ve got a deal, menace.”

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