Page 29 of Man Advantage

Lunch, Cam. He’s asking about lunch.

I cleared my throat. “Yeah. Yeah, burgers sound great. Can I help with anything?”

“Nah, I got it.” He gestured at the boys, who were now busily whacking each other with the pool noodles again. “Just keep an eye on them.”

I gave him a playful salute, and he gave me a little wink that made me grateful for the water keeping me cool right then.

Pull yourself together, Cam. The fuck.

Though both boys loved swimming, Zach got out when Trev fired up the grill. He stayed glued to his dad’s side, and Trev patiently explained to him everything he was doing. He even let his son turn some of the burger patties while he watched him like a hawk.

I got back in the pool to keep Zane entertained, and also to cool myself off and, like, not sit there and ogle Trev. Someone needed to keep an eye on Zane, and I wasn’t doing that if I was perving on his dad.

So, I kept him busy and myself distracted, and I managed to not make an ass of myself while Trev and Zach finished making lunch.

We ate outside on the deck, and after lunch, we moved inside. While the boys went upstairs to play, Trev and I—still in our swim trunks—cleaned the handful of dishes.

As I put a couple of plates in the dishwasher, I said, “Zach seemed fascinated by you grilling.”

A fond smile crossed Trev’s lips. “Yeah. He really wants to learn to cook. He’s been watching cooking videos with me and Bryan since he was little, and he’s always interested in whatever we’re doing in the kitchen.” He paused, then added, “I can’t wait until he’s older so he can take on more. I know he’s itching to try some things, but he’s just not quite old enough yet, you know?”

“Like actually doing the grilling himself, and using a knife?” I asked. “And probably anything involving measuring?”

“Actually, they’re both pretty good with measuring. They haven’t learned much math in school, but they know how to match a fraction on a recipe to one on a measuring cup.”

“Oh. Damn. Fractions will be a breeze for them then, won’t they?”

“One can hope.” Trev made a face. “Because they were almost the death of me.”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure you do.”

I chuckled. “So they’re both learning it—does that mean Zane likes cooking too?”

“He prefers baking. I think he enjoys the precision of it. Zach is fine with the precise stuff, but he really likes the chaos of cooking, where you can just throw stuff together and experiment. Zane is a bit more methodical.” Trev paused. “He’s surprisingly good at things like cake decorating, too. He’s been asking us for months to sign him up for this one class in Sewickley, but it’s for eight and over.”

“Aww, bummer.”

“Yeah, but I talked to the instructor, and she said she could let him in when he’s seven as long as there’s an adult with him. So he’s signed up for one in December after their birthday.”

I straightened. “Is one of my nanny duties taking your kid to a cake-decorating class? Because I will a hundred percent do that for free.”

Trev laughed. “Really?”

“Are you kidding? I’m a personal trainer who was surrounded by rigid health fanatics for the past few years. Hell yeah, show me to the sugar class.”

He snorted. “You know you’re there to supervise, right? Not actually, like, eat the frosting and stuff?”

I shrugged. “And? Doesn’t mean we can’t lick the beaters when no one’s looking.”

“Oh my God.” Trev rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. “You’re a dork, you know that?”

“Are you only now just figuring this out?”

“No, no, I’ve known since third grade—thirdgrade, Cam, not fourth or fifth—that you’re a dork.”

“Oh, Jesus. You’re not going to let that go, are you?”

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