CHAPTER TWENTY
Cameron
The girls left the middle of the Rockstone field and made their way toward the guest bench with red cheeks and ponies, pigtails, bunnies, and whatnot sticking in all directions.
I assessed them in silence, one by one, not surprised by the way they were dragging their feet or how they plopped on the ground around me and Adalyn.
“This sucks,” Juniper muttered, taking her frustration out on the grass under her outstretched legs. “We suck. We suck monkey butt. We suck so bad, we probably suck worse than monkey butt.”
Nodding heads created a wave of agreement, and I had to clap my hands to capture their attention before the conversation veered too deep into muddy terrain. “You don’t suck,” I assured the team in a firm tone. “You played a good game. You battled, hard. And left all you had on the grass.”
“But we lost,” Chelsea countered, tugging furiously at the remainder of her braid. Her tutu—which I now considered a lost battle—hung sideways. “We didn’t even score. We’ve only scored once in two games. And it didn’t even count.”
I decided not to comment on the own goal. “You didn’t lose. Nil-nil is not a loss.”
Chelsea threw her hand up, resting it against her forehead as she sighed. “It’s just as tragic as a loss, Coach Cam.”
“We’re losers,” Juniper muttered.
“And we worked so hard this week,” Chelsea added, encouraged by the other kid. “I haven’t missed soccer practice, not even once. Not even for ballet class. I feel like I haven’t danced in aaaages. I told my mom I could do both things, but I’m not so sure anymore. Maybe Dad was right. Maybe I should pick just the one thing and focus on it.”
“I haven’t been spending time with Brandy, either,” María grumbled from her spot on the grass. “Or Tilly. Or Carmen. And Sebastian is still missing.”
A somber mutter started picking up speed and volume. Every kid relating their own overdramatic version of their sacrifices for the game.
I brought my fingers to my mouth and whistled.
All mouths snapped closed.
“So you feel like you lost,” I said stepping forward. “So you worked hard for a whole week, got here today, tried your hardest, and got beat.” All heads were looking at me now, eyes wide and sparkly with a sentiment that, had I been smarter, I would have interpreted as my cue to shut up. But it bothered me seeing them like this. “Well, news flash, girlies. Life is not a walk in the park. Life is hard. Sometimes you win and oftentimes you lose. But this is only the outcome of one game. You fall and then you stand up and chase after the… little league cup.”
I sensed Adalyn shuffle closer. “There’s no cup,” she whispered loudly. “The prize is a trip to the Jungle Rapids Family Fun Park.”
“I love the Jungle Rapids,” Juniper grumbled.
“So you fall and then stand up and chase after the… trip to the Jungle Rapids,” I continued. “Tripping only toughens you. It’s moments like these that harden you. And believe me, you have a minimum of three more games ahead of you, so toughen up.”
María sniffed loudly. “But—” Another sniff. “I… I don’t want to be hard. Or tough. I want to be soft.” Her head turned toward Adalyn. “Miss Adalyn, tell Coach Carwash that girls can be both.”
My gaze jumped from the girl to the woman by my side, who was now glaring at me.
“It’s a figure of speech,” I explained. But it didn’t seem to make a difference with either of them, because María sniffed again, and Adalyn went from pissed to… sad. I shook my head. “Girls can be soft and hard, yes, all at the same time. I also wanted to win today, all right? I wanted you to beat those kids and wipe the floor with them. But you didn’t.” I heard a sob, and my eyes widened. “That’s another figure of speech. Listen—”
“Coach.” Adalyn’s hand fell on my arm, and I could feel how cold it was through the fabric of my jacket. “I don’t think this is helping.”
“Adalyn.” I stepped toward her, as if my body had a mind of its own. She was freezing. “Darling—”
“I’m fine,” she said, but she had to be lying. She was shivering in that stupid trench coat she had insisted was enough. “But the girls are not. They’re sad, and I know you mean well, but you’re not making it better.”
In confirmation, a few more sobs broke out in the group.
“I’m not good with motivational stuff,” I muttered.
“I see that,” Adalyn answered. She lowered her voice. “They are crying, though. And I don’t know what to do with crying children, Cameron.”
A throat was cleared behind us.
I turned to find Tony planted on my other side. He’d been hanging out in the stands after being asked by Adalyn to drive the girls to Rockstone in a minibus she’d arranged for.
“Can I…” He hesitated, scratching that mass of brown shaggy hair atop his head. “Can I suggest something? Hmm, sir?” His cheeks reddened. “Ma’am?”
“Please,” we said at the same time.
“Sno-cones.”
“Sno-cones?” I repeated.
“Yeah.” He nodded. “It’s like ice cream but… without the cream? Sorry, I’m sure you know what they are. I saw a coffee stand outside when I was parking the van. It’s a little cold, but I know for a fact they will go crazy over them. The stand had a sign—”
“Yes,” I rushed out. “Ice-lollies, of course. Ice cream.” Some of the kids looked in our direction, still weeping but definitely interested. “How fast can you fetch them?”
“Huh, fast?”
I pulled out my wallet and slapped more than enough cash in his hand. “Grab me something hot, too, all right?” I checked the time. It was past noon. “Not coffee. Tea, cocoa, or whatever else they have. The largest size. And keep the change.”
“Yes, sir,” Tony said, looking down. His eyes widened. “Whoa. This is… thank you, sir.”
“Just Cam,” I told him. “Now go.”
Tony shot off running, disappearing through the crowd of Rockstone parents and locals gathered around the field.
My wrist was squeezed.
With the commotion, I’d missed how Adalyn’s hand had shifted to my sleeve and was holding on to it. “I hope the sno-cones work.”
“I hope so, too,” she said with a little tug at my jacket. Without thought or reason, I brought her hand between mine. Then, quickly snatched her other one and trapped both between my palms. Her words were wobbly when she spoke next, “You really suck at speeches.”
I looked up at her, expecting to see a complaint in her face. But there wasn’t any frown. Her nose was red, her eyes glassy, and her lips shaped in a pout that told me she was relieved by the way my hands were rubbing hers, warming them up.
“Maybe that’s the one thing I don’t know how to do,” I admitted. I brought our hands to my chest. And when she gave me one of those tiny smiles, I had to stop myself from pulling her into me. “I can’t believe I told them to toughen up.”
“No wonder they cried,” she said in a serious voice. “For a second, I thought even you were going to cry. It was terrible, really.”
I stared at her. At her lips, now twitching. Bending upward. I couldn’t believe she was teasing me. With a goddamn smile.
I pulled at her arms, gently but firmly enough to make her stumble toward me. Our hands were sandwiched by our chests.
“It was worth it.”
Her breath caught. “What was?”
“The tears,” I answered, my eyes fixated on her mouth. “Me making a fool of myself and bringing a team of kids to tears. It was worth it. Because it made you smile.”
Her expression remained frozen for a second, and then it crumbled down. Her lips parted, her eyes glazed over, and her cheeks turned pink in a way that had nothing to do with the cold. “Cameron,” she said. Just that. My name.
“I warned you,” I told her, because I’d been serious. “I’m a selfish man.”
A loud burst of giggles erupted behind her, making whatever bubble we’d just been in burst. Adalyn snagged her hands from my grasp. We both turned around.
Tony, who had returned with a tray filled with sno-cones, was passing along colorful cups, and the mood of the group was clearly lifting as they went around.
When the teenage boy reached Adalyn and me, I patted his shoulder. “Good man, Tony. That was fast, just like I asked.” His eyes went wide, his whole face flushing a new wave of radioactive red. I lowered my voice. “Thanks for not making a fuss about who I am, as well. I appreciate it more than you know.”
Tony’s lips bobbed but his expression turned solemn. “I understand, sir. Hmm, Cam—Coach Cam? I understand how valuable privacy is. When my mom passed away—” He cut himself off. “Sometimes, people are nosy as hell.” He shot a wide-eyed glance at Adalyn. “As heck. Sometimes people can be nosy as heck, ma’am.”
Adalyn set her palm on his other shoulder, giving him a quick and gentle pat. The kid almost collapsed.
I took the tray with the leftover sno-cones from Tony. “You get something for yourself with the change?”
“I’d rather save it for something else, Coach. I’m supposed to go to college soon and I’ve been saving all I can to help my dad.”
Adalyn’s gaze bounced from me to the kid, and I could tell the gears in her head were working something out. “Tony,” she ventured. “How would you feel about helping out with the team?”
The boy’s face brightened. “I would love that. But the farm—” He frowned. “I don’t know if I have the time. Personnel at the farm is tight and I’d hate to leave my dad hanging.”
Adalyn’s face fell.
“Let us talk to your dad,” I said. “Now go sit down. We’ll leave when the girls are done with the sno-cones.”
The boy left with a nod.
“Are you okay with my idea to hire Tony?” Adalyn asked. “I probably should have run it by you first.”
I snagged the takeaway cup of tea from the box and handed it to her. “No. I think it’s a great idea, boss.”
“He’s a big fan of the game. So I thought…” She looked down at the container as it rested in my hand. “What’s that?”
“Tea. It’s for you. Take it,” I told her, and her jaw clenched. It took her a moment but her hand wrapped around the cup. This time, it wasn’t the touch of her fingers against my skin that caused something to tug against my gut. It was the way she was looking at me, as if I’d done this great thing for her by getting her a tea.
“Don’t look at me like that, darling.”
“It’s just that you…” Remembered she doesn’t drink coffee after noon. “You can be very nice, Cameron.”
After how I treated her, it shouldn’t surprise me that she’d think that way. I wasn’t a complete asshole, but I didn’t go around extending smiles and hugs. I hadn’t lied when I said I was a little mean. I had been.
I threw an arm around her shoulders and ushered her toward her bench. We sat down. “Just keeping the manager warm, is all,” I said, snagging a cone from the tray for myself. I moved closer to her, sheltering her from the wind that had picked up. “I’d hate to look for a new one. I’d probably end up saddled with Josie.”
Adalyn gave me another of those small, beautiful smiles in response, and I could do nothing but watch her as she took a long pull of tea.
“Is the sno-cone good?” Adalyn asked, glancing sideways at me. “I don’t think I’ve had one in ages.”
I was ready to tell her that maybe sticking to the tea was a better idea, but her eyes dipped down at the thing with obvious curiosity. And who I was to tell her whether or not she could have a lick? Like I said, I was a selfish man.
“Have a go at it, darling.”
I lifted the thing in obvious offering and watched her mouth near the small mound of ice, tongue out, gently grazing the top before really digging in.
My pulse sped up. And a voice inside my head said, You horny bastard. But yeah. There was no denying it. I was turned on. By Adalyn, not the ice.
“So, Coach Cornfield,” María’s voice cut through the haze. “How are the curmudgeons on your butt?”
My eyes, which had been on Adalyn’s mouth, widened. And Adalyn, who had a mouthful of ice, snorted.
It was a shockingly loud sound, and it propelled some of the pink and blue mix out of her nose. Adalyn’s hand flew to her face, covering the colorful mess dripping down her nose and chin.
A second of charged silence ensued.
Then, one of the kids said in what was, without mistake, awe, “WHOA. That is the coolest thing I’ve seen in my whole life.”
Adalyn, who still had all my attention, seemed shocked by the kid’s words.
But when Chelsea added, “Yeah, Miss Adalyn. That was supercool. Do you think you can teach us?” The rest of the team agreed, and something else filled the face of this woman who seemed able to continuously catch me off guard like nobody else ever had.
Pride. It was pride.
And as my curmudgeons were quickly and luckily forgotten, the team’s mood picked up, and the cones disappeared, my eyes remained on the woman sitting by my side. This usually exasperating and outwardly prim woman, who had just snorted ice out her nose and looked thoroughly pleased after getting the kids’ approval. The tug in my gut intensified, pulling so tight that I had to catch my breath for a second. Something in my chest shifted. Warmed. Making me…
I froze.
“Fuck.”
Her head turned, and she looked at me with that somewhat sheepish, somewhat happy look on her face. Jesus, she’d never looked more beautiful than right now. “What’s wrong?”
“Huh.” I cleared my throat. “What?”
“You said the f-word,” she answered simply. Had I? “Did the ice get to your head?”
Definitely not the ice. “What do you mean?”
“The ice,” she explained, taking a quick sip of tea from the cup. “It happens to me when I order iced lattes. It gets to my head if I drink too fast. But never mind. I guess manly men’s brains don’t freeze with sno-cones.”
“That’s what you think of me?” came out of my mouth. “That I’m some impressive manly man?”
“I didn’t say impressive.” She rolled her eyes, but fuck, the corners of her lips turned up again.
“What else do you think of me?” I asked, nudging her shoulder with mine. Something came over me. Something caused by the turmoil inside. I lowered my voice. “Anything that keeps you awake at night?”
Adalyn’s mouth parted. Her tongue snuck out. And I thought, Go on, love. Throw me a bone. Because I wanted her to tease me. And I knew she wanted to, too. I could already taste the words coming out of her mouth, I could already feel them on my tongue.
But then, her gaze moved behind me. Her expression changed.
And just like that, all hell broke loose.