CHAPTER TEN
Cameron
I shouldn’t be here.
I should have left around the time the word coach had left Adalyn’s lips for the first time. Way before Josie and these two other people showed up and started babbling about rules and parent associations and the well-being of the kids and a dozen other things I didn’t care about.
They’d been going at it for at least twenty minutes and I still didn’t understand what they were really discussing. Something about Adalyn that I didn’t understand and didn’t concern me, clearly. That’s why I’d used the time to keep an eye on the girls while half of them played around and the other half… recorded shit on their phones. Dances. I didn’t even know what for. I hated smartphones, social media, and anything that was remotely related.
I looked down at my empty cup.
Bloody Josephino.
That’s what had started all of this. All I’d wanted was to pop into the café for a quick cup after my hike. I should have refused to deliver the extra beverage Josephine had prepared—without thinking of telling me, naturally—for Adalyn. But Josephine had a way of… sneaking up on people. She threw you a couple of questions and next thing you knew, you were coaching a kiddie team or delivering drinks.
She would have made a great sports agent.
“… And that is why my good friend Cam”—the mayor of the town patted my arm—“is right here.”
“Unfortunately,” I muttered. I’d tuned out a while ago but being stuck here was definitely unfortunate.
Josie cackled, startling me and making me notice that every eye in the small group was on me. The two parents—a woman with quite the bright hair and a tall man in red rimmed glasses—were giving me a once-over. Adalyn was, too, and not for the first time. I needed a shower. I was sweaty, my clothes and boots covered in dust, and I was done with whatever this was.
“Well,” the woman said, that head covered in a blinding shade of yellow still moving up and down my body. “He is tall.” I blinked at the observation. “And athletic. Also European.”
“He’s the whole package, really!” Josephine clapped. Clapped. Christ. “And he was—and is—doing such a great job with the girls. You know that.”
“Were you training the team dressed like that today?” Diane asked. “I can’t recall seeing you in anything like this when I’ve dropped off Chelsea in the past.”
I didn’t even look down at myself. “I—”
Josie cut me off with a pitchy laugh. “Oh no. He just got here! Cam had to take today off to take care of…”
“His chicken,” Adalyn offered quietly.
My what?
“Cam loves his animals,” Josephine agreed. “The animals love him in return. And you know who else adores Cam? The girls.”
I arched an eyebrow. “What in the world are you—”
Josephine cackled again, silencing me. “Ah! Kids. We love ’em. Anyway, you trust Cam, and that’s why he will be the perfect complement to Adalyn.” My brow climbed even higher. “He will take care of the technical side of things, like practice, games, all that stuff. While Adalyn focuses on the more practical things. Did I tell you Adalyn is a real-life boss-lady? She’s an exec for a team in in the big leagues!” She set one hand on my shoulder and one on Adalyn’s. “They already are the perfect team. Look at them!”
I wasn’t exactly comfortable with them studying me up close after that statement, but if no one had recognized me in weeks, I wanted to believe I was safe. So I shook my head and shot Josie a bland look, catching Adalyn’s face as she stood beside her. Her gaze was downcast. I frowned.
The woman in front of us huffed. “I don’t know. I trust him but I still have reservations about her. I’m very concerned for Chelsea, and the rest of the girls, for that matter. They are third and fourth graders, and very impressionable at this age. Trust me, I’m the president of the PTA for a reason. I would know these things.”
So she’d said. About a hundred times.
I didn’t even know what they were so worked up about. Something about not really knowing Adalyn, something they had seen online and not trusting someone like her with the kids, whatever that meant. They were constantly talking around whatever the real issue was. Not that I wanted to know. My only concern now was Josephine’s statement about Adalyn and I being a team. The woman had fired me. Several times in the span of a few minutes. Me, as if I wasn’t a pro footballer who was doing the team a favor. Which she apparently knew. She’d dismissed me as if she had a problem with exactly that.
I had no interest in finding out what the specifics of that problem were.
“And as the vice president of the PTA,” the man added, adjusting the glasses on the bridge of his nose. “I share that concern. My husband and I had a long talk with our Juniper after we found out about the whole… ordeal and while we support the free expression of, you know, emotions, we still think it’s not setting a good example for the girls.”
“My husband—” The woman stopped herself, her cheeks turning red. “Ex-husband, heard Chelsea saying something about wanting to switch from ballet to… kung fu or something outrageous like that. Do you know how unsettling that is? My daughter is a peaceful, delicate soul and now she wants to fight. Fight!”
I eyed Chelsea in the distance, with a black tutu over her clothes, furiously pirouetting while María clapped. That kid had no intention of dropping ballet.
“Diane. Gabriel.” Josie’s smile turned wider, tenser. “I understand everything you’re saying, I do. But can we please make the effort to put ourselves in Adalyn’s shoes? I think she’s been chastened enough for today. Don’t you think?”
I looked in the direction of the woman in question. The bags under her eyes seemed more noticeable than earlier today. My eyes flickered down her body, noticing how she was tapping her fingers around the cup. I didn’t think she’d touched her Josephino.
“Give me a chance,” Adalyn appealed to the group. “I understand where you’re coming from, but I promise you, I will be fully dedicated to the girls.” She hesitated. “I will take the team to new heights—”
“With Cam,” Josephine added.
Adalyn’s cheeks flushed. “With Cam,” she agreed quietly. Too quietly. “There’s also an MLS team backing me up. That means new kits, training supplies, sponsored gear… Anything you can think of. There is a budget allocated to spend—”
“Do you think you can buy us?” Diane sputtered. My eyes flashed to the woman, zooming in on her face.
Adalyn’s voice didn’t waver. “No. Of course not.”
Diane bristled anyway. “I know your kind. You saunter into small places like ours, in your fancy clothes and cars, wanting to make big changes.” She took a step in Adalyn’s direction. “This has happened before. To the Vasquezes’ farm. So, no. I don’t trust you and your money, missy!”
“Diane!” Josephine exclaimed. She set a hand on Adalyn’s arm. “Diane doesn’t mean that. I promise you she’s just passionate about the kids and the community. She unfortunately gets a little heated sometimes.”
Gabriel murmured something that sounded a lot like, “Here we go again.”
And as if on cue, the woman waved a hand in the air. “I am not heated.” She walked around Josephine and pointed a finger at Adalyn. “And if anyone knows about getting heated it is this woman right here. Next thing we know, someone’s hurt or… decapitated.”
A strange sound left Adalyn in response.
Before the woman could say another word, I found myself between her and Adalyn, holding a crumpled empty coffee container in my fist. I willed my fingers to relax, then pushed it inside a pocket on my pants.
“I’m about done listening to this,” I announced to the group. Diane’s head tilted back, lips bobbing wordlessly at me. I sent a quick sideways glance at Josephine. “So, if we’re finally through with this nonsense, I’d like to wrap things up and go home.”
Josephine’s eyes were slightly wide, but her lips were parted with a big grin that made her look deranged. She looked straight at me as I remained in the exact same spot.
“Christ. What now?” I asked.
She shrugged, that smile frozen in place. “Nothing. And yes, we’re done here.” She made a little pause I didn’t miss before adding, “Coach Cam.” Then, she was on the move, grabbing both Diane’s and Gabriel’s arms. “Okay, you two. How about I treat you to a delicious slice of raspberry tart? On the house, of course.”
And before I could blink, I was watching them walk along the sidelines in the direction of the other parents that had gathered to pick up their kids and were all looking this way.
I sighed, forcing my shoulders to relax and bracing myself for whatever show of hostility was waiting for me.
But when I faced Adalyn, her gaze was cast down again. As if the toes that I’d already noticed peeking out the hem of her pants held all the answers in the universe.
“You didn’t like the Josephino?” I heard myself ask.
Her fingers tapped on the container. “I don’t drink coffee after noon.”
“Well,” I breathed out. “I thought it tasted like shite, if it makes you feel any better. You’re not missing anything.”
She huffed out a sound that I would have interpreted as a laugh if it hadn’t been so bitter.
Oddly enough, Adalyn remained quiet. Inexplicably, I felt the need to test her, so I took the drink from her and had a sip despite my last words.
No smart remark came. Instead, she tugged at one of the sleeves of her blouse, lost in thought. I’d expected her to call me on my bullshit. There was something off with her. There had been since Diane and Gabriel had showed up.
“Have you googled me?” she blurted out. “You have my full name from the confirmation email I showed you, so you could have.” A pause. “Have you, then?”
My brows knotted. “Why would I google you?”
“Right.” Something wavered on her face but she soldiered on. “You didn’t need to intervene back there, by the way. I could handle Diane on my own.”
I bet she could. Any other day, maybe. Right now, Adalyn was a shadow of the woman who had been busting my balls since her arrival in town. “Odd way to say thanks,” I told her, earning a slightly harsher look from her. “Not that I should explain myself, but it wasn’t about you.”
I had a low tolerance for bullies, which had gotten me in more than a few scuffles that had made the press rounds throughout my career, and that mother had been a step away from turning into one. I didn’t care that she was just a concerned parent and not some cocky winger or forward running in my direction and spitting ugly words about my nonna.
Adalyn gave me a curt nod, leaving it at that. “I guess we should address the elephant in the room then.”
“Those impractical shoes you’re wearing?”
“I can pay you,” she said, ignoring my jab and looking at her feet again. “For your time. The budget is smaller than what I’d like and I’m not exactly on good terms with the… CEO of my club back home, but I have resources. I could—”
I watched my hand land on her forearm. The warmth of the skin beneath the fabric of the blouse seeped into my palm. Her head snapped up. “What in the world are you talking about now, Adalyn? You don’t even want me here.”
“What I want doesn’t matter,” she countered, and I retrieved my hand with a huff. “Apparently, there’s no me without you. The parents won’t trust me without you here to interact with the girls. That is, if Josie convinces Diane not to start a crusade against me or something.”
My jaw clenched.
She continued, a new emotion fleeing in and out in record time, “The girls are terrified of me, Cameron. But they like you. They listen to you. Can you please forget I said that thing about firing you?” Her voice did an off thing. “You’ll be doing them a favor, not me.”
My teeth were pressed so tight, I could feel them gritting against each other. I let my gaze roam all over her, trying to get a goddamn read on this woman.
“This whole thing the parents were so worked up about,” I finally said, piecing some of what I’d heard together. “Does it have anything to do with your banishment?”
She gave me a nod. And I was surprised, almost impressed by the fact it wasn’t a shy one. There was nothing but determination in that nod.
What the fuck had she done to land herself here?
“I breached the conduct clause of my contract,” Adalyn said, providing me with the answer. “I… got physical. With someone. I messed up.”
I considered her words for an instant. “Were you provoked?”
Her brows knotted.
“Was there a good reason for you to do it?”
That determination wavered, but when she said yes, it was a firm, curt word. “There was.”
“All right.” I turned around, spotting a mostly empty field, and the few girls behind already with an adult. “Let’s go, I have something in the boot of my car for you.”
We started toward my parking spot.
“So does that mean you’re in?” Adalyn pressed, catching up with my pace. “Also, you really need to work on your social skills, the line about the boot of your car was a little creepy.”
I ignored the pang of relief I felt at seeing her snark was back. “Sure thing, darling.”
“Still not your darling,” she quipped.
“Still don’t care.”
I was speed-walking at this point, and she was almost breaking into a jog, but even in those silly shoes, she was still keeping my pace. I was impressed.
“So?” she insisted, as we crossed the lot outside the Warriors’ facilities. “Cameron?”
I headed for my 4×4, throwing open the boot and extracting the box. “Where’s your car?” I turned toward a wide-eyed, and a little out of breath, Adalyn. Her lips bobbed. “I would love to finish here and finally jump in the shower, so if you don’t mind.”
Adalyn blinked at me and when I started moving, deciding I didn’t need her to find her car, she stopped me with a hand. Just like I’d done earlier, her palm settled on my forearm. Only this time I couldn’t really feel the warmth of her skin through the fabric of the fleece I had on.
“Cameron,” she said slowly, making me realize I’d been looking at her hand. I met her gaze. “What’s this?”
“A box.”
“What’s in the box?”
“Not my patience, that’s for sure.” She shot me a glance. “I said I had something you could use.”
“Can you please stop answering all my questions with cryptic messages I need to decipher?”
“Camping supplies,” I explained, already regretting this. “Inflatable mattress, pump, sleeping bag. I think it’ll be obvious when you take it home and open it. Now, where’s your car?”
Adalyn’s brown eyes widened. “Oh no.” Here we go. “I’m not—I am—”
“You’re not what? Sleeping on an inflatable mattress?” Her lips pursed in a tight pout. “Is the idea of sleeping on the floor not good enough for the princess? You know where the exit to the highway is, then.”
“I’m perfectly okay with that,” she remarked, voice turning to ice. “And don’t call me a princess, you don’t even know me.” Her head shook. “One thing is admitting out loud that I”—she struggled with the word—“need you to make this work. And that I’m sorry for dismissing you so hastily, okay? Because I am. That’s why I will go as far as unearthing funds for—”
“Christ. I don’t want money.”
That made her pause. “What do you want then?”
“For you to stop being so absolutely exasperating.” She frowned, like she didn’t understand. Jesus bloody Christ, she was going to drive me up the closest hill. “Take the goddamn box. The mattress in your cabin is infested, Adalyn.”
Her chin lifted. “I’m not accepting charity from you. I can handle myself. Unlike everyone thinks, I’m not some pampered brat who can’t survive in this place. I just need you to coach the team.”
“Charity?” I couldn’t help but hiss. Her expression wavered, but there was something in her face. Something that had to be motivating her to act so… proud. Distrustful of me. Thing was, I didn’t care. “This is not goddamn charity, Adalyn. It’s human decency.”
Her face hardened, turning to smooth-looking marble if not for the pink flushing her skin.
Frustration, heavy and thick, solidified inside my chest. “I’m not giving you this out of the goodness of my heart, believe me. I would love nothing more than to see you pack your things, leave town, and never look back.”
“That’s honest,” she deadpanned. “And a little repetitive.”
I heard the sound that snuck up my throat. “You want more honesty?” My eyes roamed all over her face, finding nothing but more of that hardness. “You’ve brought me nothing but trouble since you arrived in this town. You’ve broken every one of my attempts at the peace and normalcy I came looking for. And you haven’t even been here for a goddamn week.” Her lips twisted, urging my next words. “I don’t know you, you’re right. But guess what? You don’t know me either, darling.”
I dropped the box at her feet and something in that façade broke.
I stepped back. “But you’ll soon learn I’m not a very charitable man. I am selfish. Proud. And a little mean when I have to be.” My voice dropped. “So do as you please with the fucking box, but don’t think I’m helping you with shit.”
Turning around, I headed for the driver’s door. I was so done with that woman. I was—
“I’ll tell everyone,” she said from her spot at the rear of my truck. “If you don’t coach the girls. I’ll tell the whole town who you are.”