Page 167 of Story of My Life
“People who wanna kayak without drowning in Jet Ski wakes,” Levi added.
“Exactly,” Hazel said. She darted a nervous look at me as I squashed the last of the meatloaf mix into the third glass pan.
“It’s not a bad idea,” I said. High praise coming from me. Laura bounced a floret of broccoli off my head. “Mom! Larry hit me with broccoli.”
“Don’t waste good vegetables on your brother’s thick skull, Laura,” Mom said automatically.
“It’s better than not bad,” Gage told Hazel. “We’ve all gotten used to Dominion coming out on top. It would be nice to take something back for a change.”
“The question is how?” Zoey said.
We weighed and discarded options until the meatloaf was in the oven and the potatoes were mashed. Hazel looked overwhelmed but entertained.
“We’ve got about half an hour before dinner’s ready. Cam, why don’t you give Hazel a quick tour of the farm?” Mom suggested, shooting me a pointed look.
I frowned, trying to figure out her game. But the idea of some alone time with the woman I was trying to convince to return to my bed was worth whatever tricks my mother had up her sleeve.
“I can do it,” Levi volunteered, shooting me a smug look.
“No, you can’t. You’ll be too busy trimming Melvin’s toenails since you’re the only one he lets do it,” I said, thinking on my feet.
“Ohmygod! You’ll save me a trip to the groomer and the up-charge for him being a gigantic baby about it,” Laura said, clapping her hands together. “Best brother ever.”
Levi glared at me. “If you ever need a kidney, I’m not sharing.”
I smirked at him before grabbing Hazel’s hand. “Come on.”
“Zoey, you should come with us,” Hazel said pointedly. “You love…farms.”
Zoey looked like she was two seconds away from running for her car and hightailing it back to civilization.
“She can’t. Because she has to make that important call,” I said.
Hazel frowned. “What important call?”
“The one she’s been talking about nonstop since she got here,” I lied.
“Oh,thatimportant call,” Zoey said. She made a show of checking her watch. “Yes, I do have to get on a call at exactly five nineteen p.m. Thanks, Cam.”
“I don’t remember you mentioning anything about?—”
Hazel didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence because I was already towing her out the door.
“What. The. Hell, Cam?” she demanded, trying to tug her hand free when we exited down the ramp off the kitchen. “I thought you didn’t want your family to know we were having sex.”
I’d gotten a lot less concerned about that in the past day or so but didn’t feel like now was a good time to bring that up.
“Are we still having sex?” I asked, pulling her along toward the barn.
“I haven’t decided.”
“Then I have half an hour to convince you to let me see you naked again.” I led her around to the open garage door on the back of the barn. The scents of feed, bedding, and animals reminded me of home just as much as the meatloaf in the oven. “Quad or side-by-side?”
“Are those sex positions, and if so, can you describe them in detail?”
“Quad or side-by-side?” I repeated, pointing at the four-wheeler and the UTV parked next to each other.
“Disappointing. And since I don’t trust you at all, let’s go with the one with seat belts,” she decided.
