Page 46 of Promise To Marry You
But we haven’t seen my family.
“Do your brothers know we’re fucking?”
Her bluntness makes me wince a little. It’s a reminder that for her, that’s what this is. Just fucking.
Turning into the parking lot for the new Westport Arena, home of Jude’s team, the Ravens, I find an open spot and park the car. Now that I can give her my attention, I twist to lean against my door. “Jude knows. No one else.”
Her eyes widen slightly. “Not even Sawyer?”
I snort out a short laugh. “Are you kidding? He’s the last one I’d tell.”
Her answering chuckle cuts some of her stress down. “True.”
Picking up one of her hands, I lace our fingers together. “You call the shots right now, Cam. If you want to hold my hand in front of them, then do it. If you want to keep your distance, okay.”
Cam leans back against the headrest, turning so she’s facing me. “I don’t want to keep my distance. But I also don’t want to confuse anyone.”
By anyone, I’m guessing she really means herself, but I keep that thought to myself.
“There’s no confusion, babe. My brothers know I used to have a thing for you. If they see us holding hands, they’ll just assume you finally came to your senses.” I wink at her to hopefully make her feel that I’m teasing, even though every word I said is the truth.
“A thing for me? That’s what we’re calling it?” Her eyes are dancing. “Call it a crush, Beck. You had a crush.”
“Maybe I still do,” I murmur, lifting my free hand to stroke down her jaw line. “You’re hot, funny, you have good taste in movies and beer, and you don’t hog the blankets in bed. Totally crush-worthy.”
Her answering blush has me mentally pumping my fist in victory.
“Okay, okay, flattery will get you everywhere.” When she leans forward, I don’t hesitate to meet her halfway for a slow kiss. It starts out chaste, our mouths closed, but like oftentimes seems to happen, we can’t get enough of each other, and pretty soon Cam’s halfway across the center console, her hands running up my back under my Ravens hoodie, while mine are tangled in her hair, making a mess of things.
A sharp rap on the car window has us breaking apart.
“Oh shit,” Cam breathes, but there’s laughter laced in her voice. I turn around, and sure enough, there’s Sawyer, Max, Heidi, Hunter, Kat, and Lily, all standing outside the car. Jude’s the only one missing, which makes sense, as he’s inside getting his team ready for the hockey game we’re all here to watch.
“I guess that decides it for us?” I say, stating the obvious.
Cam opens her mouth to respond, but as usual, my loudmouth twin interrupts.
“Can you two get your asses out of the car and explain to me why I’m now the ninth wheel in this group? Or is it the tenth? Fuck if I know. But when the hell did this happen and why did I not know about it?”
He might be trying to make a joke of being the last single Donnelly sibling, but there’s something in his voice, something only a twin could pick up on, that has me wondering if Sawyer is okay.
We get out of the car, and when Cam walks around to my side and wraps her arms around me, I bite my cheek to hold back the grin.
My siblings are smiling, except for Sawyer, who has his arms folded in front of him, his head bouncing back and forth between Cam and me.
Before I can say anything, Max reaches over and cuffs the back of Sawyer’s head. “Stop whining, jackass. Ever wonder if the reason they didn’t tell you was so they didn’t have to put up with you?”
The glare Sawyer shoots Max is deadly. “Shut up, old man.”
Max just rolls his eyes. “Not too old to beat your ass.”
Before the two of them can take it further, Kat steps between them. “Seriously? It’s like herding cats having four brothers. Can we just go inside, find Mom and Dad, watch the game, and have fun? No grilling Beckett and Cam about this very exciting development, no matter how much we all want to.”
Gesturing to her with my free hand, I say, “That’s why Kat’s my favourite sibling.”
“Dude!” Sawyer whines. “Way to have my back, twinbro.”
“And that’s why you’re not,” I fire back. “Cam and I are exploring things. That’s all you get to know. No questions, no harassing, nothing. Got it?”
