Unstoppable Love: The Kelley Family Series

17. Cameron

It was time to go. I was already cutting it close, considering traffic once I hit Denver could be a pain in the ass. As much as I needed to leave, I couldn’t. I’d teased Ava last night. Pushed her. I knew she was still uncertain about me, about what I’d done to her, and about what I wanted from her now.

This could work, though. I had no doubt it would if we both wanted it badly enough.

There were still things to say, things she needed to hear, and I hadn’t at all forgotten about the fact she said she’d come to me that night all those years ago, seeking to give me her virginity because she’d been scared.

We’d talk about Jimmy another time.

Now, I really needed to hit the road.

Except I couldn’t pull my gaze off Ava, sitting at her kitchen table in skintight leggings and a loose tank top, straps from her bra peeking out at the shoulders. She was finishing her breakfast, sipping on her coffee, and with her hair pulled back and up in some pink clip thing, all I wanted to do was shove myself into the crook of her shoulder and run my lips and tongue up and down the column of her throat. Maybe bite that soft flesh somewhere and leave my mark.

I cleared my throat, and Ava’s eyes slid to me with a question in them.

“You have to leave,” she said, and it was quiet. I hoped that was sadness I detected in her tone.

“Yeah. We have a preseason game this weekend.” I wouldn’t play much. It was only the second game, and they’d save me to play more in the fourth game, but even then, I needed to be ready. We lost the first game, which didn’t mean a whole lot considering the starters only played in the first quarter and in that quarter we’d scored twice. Once the backups went in—guys the coaching staff were still trying to figure out if they’d make the fifty-three-man roster—that was when things went downhill.

“Home?” Ava asked.

“Yeah. The final two are away. Caleb is bringing Landon to this game, though.”

That soft smile on her face returned. “That’ll be fun for all of you.”

“Game’s at two. I’ll be back that night. Make sure you keep Saturday night open for me.”

Her brows rose. “You’re coming here?”

“Unless you want to spend the weekend in Denver with me, then yeah.” I doubted that’d happen. She’d just moved back.

“Oh. Um.” Her brows pinched together. “Can I think about it?”

She could think about it all she wanted, but I’d be back here, on her doorstep, begging for more of her time if that was what it took.

“Absolutely you can.” But either way, here or there, we’d be spending the night together, and next time, I wasn’t sleeping on a damn couch.

“Thanks for breakfast.”

“Thanks for letting me in the door last night.”

She smirked. “I wasn’t aware I had a choice.”

“Sunshine.” I stood up from the chair and braced my arms, one on her kitchen table and one on the back of her chair, caging her in. Her pupils dilated, and her lips parted. “You always have a choice, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to keep working to get you to see things my way.”

I leaned in, enthralled by the scent of her and the pulse at the hinge of her jaw. Damn, how I wanted to kiss that spot. Bite it. Put my hands around her throat while I was pumping deep inside of her so I could feel that pulse of hers racing beneath my palm.

“Cameron—”

“Not kissing you or touching you,” I whispered, right at her ear. I was a hair’s width away from her, but I wasn’t breaking my rules.

I would, though, if I kept going. I shoved off the chair and took a step back.

Her gaze slid up my body, eyes widening when she caught the bulge in my pants. I didn’t bother hiding it, adjusting it, or pretending I wasn’t hard as a rock from being so close to her.

Finally, her eyes met mine, and she swallowed.

“I had a good time last night.”

“You give me a chance to make everything right between us, and I’ll make sure all the other nights we spend together are even better.”

“I’m scared.” Her jaw worked back and forth. I couldn’t blame her for that. I hadn’t done a lot to make her feel safe with me, but that was over with.

“I know. Which is why I’m going to walk out that door, give you time to think. And then I’ll see you Saturday.”

I did exactly that, snatching up my keys and wallet and phone from the counter.

Her footsteps followed me, and she called out, “I said I needed to think about it.”

“I heard you,” I said and glanced back over my shoulder and grinned. “Aren’t you going to wish me luck on my game? Tell me to drive safe?”

She had her lips pressed together like she was fighting throwing a tantrum. Slowly, her shoulders fell, and she sighed. “Drive safe and good luck this weekend.”

“Sunshine.” I winked playfully. “I’m the best. I don’t need luck.”

“You’re impossible,” she muttered, but she was smiling, and there was a pleased little twinkle in her eyes.

Which was exactly how I left her—standing in her living room, watching me leave. I hurried out to my truck before I changed my mind, skipped the practice, and spent the rest of the day breaking my deal with her and taking her to her bed before she could stop me.

“Why in the hell do you have to keep waking me up so damn early?” Isaiah groaned as his voice came through the cab of my truck.

“I’m heading back to Denver and need to get there early, but I’ve got to talk to you about a couple things.”

“Can’t it wait until a more decent hour?”

Jesus. It wasn’t like it was five in the morning. Isaiah had always been a night owl, though. Part of why being a cop was so good for him.

“It’s important, Zaiah.”

“Shit. Hold on. Give me a minute, then.”

He must have put me on mute because the call went silent. Probably for the best. Last thing I needed to hear was him taking a piss.

“All right,” Isaiah said. “Do I need coffee for this conversation or whiskey?”

“It’s seven thirty.”

“You said it was important. I don’t do important. Not this early, and especially not when I’m not working.”

“Fine.” I sighed. “Grab some coffee, let me know when you’re sitting.”

“I’m going to hate this.”

I waited a beat, and once he’d taken his first sip of coffee, something he moaned like an idiot while doing, I started with the most important.

“Two things you need to know, and the first is I’m dating your sister.”

“Okay…”

Not the uncaring reaction I was expecting. “It’s new. She’s scared, and I don’t want her to get any shit from you about it. And I didn’t want to start this behind your back, even if you’d find out soon enough.”

“Huh,” he said, and that gave me nothing else.

“You all right with this?” Not that I gave a shit, but outside my blood family, Isaiah was my brother.

“I’m thinking it explains why you got fucking slaughtered the night I told you Ava and Kip moved in together. I’m also not a complete idiot. I heard your truck was parked outside her new house last night. So I did a quick drive-by on my way home and figured you wouldn’t be there if something wasn’t happening.”

“God. Forgot how fast shit traveled.”

In a town like ours, the phrase everyoneknows everyone, wasn’t an exaggeration.

“So you’re not pissed,” I surmised. Maybe he was still tired and would be ready to kick my ass come three o’clock when he was fully awake.

He had the gall to snort into the phone like I was being stupid. “Yeah, in high school I might have been. But that’s because you were as big of a dawg as I was. And you were leaving, and everyone knew Ava wanted to be right here. But we’re not kids, and you wouldn’t start something with her if you weren’t serious. I don’t want to hear how serious you are, because she’s my sister. But I wouldn’t be friends with you if I thought you’d dick her over, either.”

Good. That was good. Besides, I’d dicked her over already. Now I was busting my ass to make amends and move us forward.

“Besides,” he continued, “just so you know how I found out. Faye and Max Parker got divorced a year ago, and he lives down the street from Ava. Faye had to run something over there last night for the kids since it’s his week with them. She saw your truck, asked Max whose house it was, and then she called Dolly, and both of them were up at Tom’s, trying to figure out if it was because you two were together or something else. I got an earful when I was called in for a drunk and disorderly.”

“Regina called the cops last night? Even risking you’d come?”

She hated him. I was the only one who knew why, and my lips were fucking sealed. But ever since Regina took over, she’d never called the cops to handle an issue. Not that there were many.

“Brant Miller didn’t like the way Jimmy Morton was looking at his girl, and that’s all I can say. Except when I left, Jimmy was drying out in the drunk tank.”

“Should have run him over with your cruiser before taking him in.”

Isaiah chuckled. I didn’t. Knowing Jimmy was bothering another woman made that rage from a month ago rise up. “Speaking of Jimmy, Ava ever tell you the shit he did to her?”

“What the fuck? What do you mean?”

Ah, there was the “Zaiah Rage” I was so familiar with. He was laid-back and a goofball and a party animal and a male slut, but when he got pissed, he didn’t hold it back.

“What the fuck do you mean?” he asked again.

“Not sure. But you know that night Ava was here and then she and Lydia took off to Denver?”

“Yeah, I figured it was because she was pissed at you.”

“Yeah, but before she got pissed at me, I caught Jimmy cornering her in the hall of the bar. And she was freaked.”

“And you didn’t fucking say anything that night because…?”

“Because you’d just gotten off shift, weren’t even there yet, and I handled it. He took off to Whiskey Mixer, and well, Ava took off.”

“I gotta know this shit. He’s getting worse. Fucking hell. I think every woman in town right now is afraid to be anywhere near him. And I swear, he hurts any woman in this town—and we all know he’s a piece of shit—but if no one comes forward and reports it and brushes it off because he’s always been a sleazeball, then we can’t do anything.”

I hadn’t thought of that. The incident between them was minor and made Ava uncomfortable. It’d also been a month. I didn’t figure there was much to do.

“I’ll call her. At least get her to make a statement. If we can start piling these up, maybe we’ll figure out if something else has happened.”

“I’ll talk to Ava,” I said.

“The fuck you will.”

“Listen, you gotta keep your shit. Because this goes way back. And I’m not getting into specifics with you, but I’m thinking it’s not the first time Jimmy’s scared her. I think it happened back in school, and I’m not sure that’s all he did back then, but she won’t talk to me about it, so I don’t know much. But I’ll be back on Saturday. I’ll talk to her then.”

“You want me to sit on this all week? You fucking high?”

“What I wanted was for you to know what happened more recently so you can keep an eye on her since I’m not around much now to do it.”

“How in the fuck is this going to work anyway? You and her. You’ve got your season…”

“We’ll figure it out.”

“She won’t leave, Cam. Not now that she’s back here. You gotta think about it.”

“Trust me, Zaiah. It’s all I’ve been thinking about for longer than you want to know.”

“Shit,” he muttered. “Anything else I need to know before I take my morning shit, or can I get to that?”

I chuckled. “Take your shit. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Next time, make sure it’s after noon.”

He hung up. I scrubbed a hand down my face.

I’d considered people in town would see my truck at Ava’s last night, but I hadn’t expected everyone to already know it was her house or for word to get out so quickly.

I hit the voice-to-text app on my phone’s CarPlay and pulled up Ava’s number. She’d blocked me back when she was in Florida, but I hoped she’d taken it off.

Me

Talked to Isaiah. He knows I was out at your place last night. Thought you should know in case word gets to your parents. Have a good day, Sunshine.

By the time I reached Denver, I hadn’t gotten a response.

I pulled into the team’s practice facility and sent a text to Isaiah.

Tell your sister to unblock me.

Hours later, after practice, when I was dripping in sweat and needing a shower, I checked my phone.

Ava

Unblocked now, your highness.

I smirked. Smart-ass. I re-texted her what I told her earlier, and before she could reply to that, I sent another text.

Be a good girl this week.

“We’re headed out for dinner. Wanna join us?”

I glanced at Marlin, a running back and one of my best friends on the team. Behind him were Joe Hamm and Curt Biles, another running back and tight end.

“Where you headed?” Although anywhere would be better than going back to my empty house. I missed living with Caleb. Hated the other guys I tried to live with for a hot minute, but damn, my house felt too empty now that Ava was back in New Haven.

I should have worked harder to keep her ass in Denver when I had the chance. Everything would have been so much better then.

Now I was stuck having dinner with a handful of guys. Could be worse.

Could be a hell of a lot better.

“Ballpark View. Baseball team is home tonight, and Hamm rented the roof.”

So watching a baseball game from a rooftop bar wasn’t such a bad way to spend the night. “I’m in. Meet you there.”

“See ya.”

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out. The good girl text was pushing Ava. It was what we did. What I did anyway. I pushed, she fired off a smart-ass retort. Now, it wasn’t filled with hate and anger, but it could have gone too far.

A grin broke out across my face as I read her text.

Ava

Aye-aye, captain.

Me

Smart ass.

You like it.

I like you. I’m also headed to dinner with the guys in a bit. Any plans for tonight?

Nah. Working on some side things. Have fun.

Call you later.

You don’t have to.

I want to, and I will.

Okay.

“Yo, Kelley!”

I tore my gaze off my phone to see Jamison Potter, last year’s backup rookie QB, jogging in my direction. “What is it?”

“Gimme a lift to the rooftop? My car won’t start.”

The first thing he bought with his rookie contract was a half-million-dollar home, not anything extravagant given the market and the location. The dude still drove the car his parents had given him when he was sixteen, and even then, it was probably an ancient, rusted-out clunker. His car broke down more often than not.

For Christmas, I was buying him a car.

“Sure. Hop in.”

“Cool, man. Thanks.”

I slipped my phone into a cup holder, put the truck in reverse, and tried to get my mind off Ava.

If only I could stop trying to imagine the look on Sunshine’s face when I told her to be a good girl. That would have told me all I needed to know about the kind of girl she’d be for me. That could come later.

Now was team time. And Potter and I, both QBs, had bonded when I crashed with him. He might not have made a good roommate, but he was a hell of a quarterback—aggressive, willing to learn, and waiting for his time to shine. Thank fuck, too, because I was hopefully not going anywhere anytime soon.

“Coach mad I was late today?” I asked him. It’d only been ten minutes, but there’d been a backup on I-70 once I hit Aurora.

Coach hadn’t looked pleased to see me, of all people, be the last one to arrive on the field.

Normally, I was the first.

“He was good. Asked what was going on with you, if anyone knew, but that was it.”

“Good. You threw well today.”

We shifted into game talk. He was taking most of the snaps during the preseason. The goal was to keep me injury-free so I didn’t risk blowing something before regular season started, but Jamison had been nervous last weekend, and it’d shown.

He’d get used to it, it was only his second year in the league, and he didn’t have a ton of experience. But if something did happen, he’d have to step up without the nerves.

We talked football, ate burgers, and cheered on the baseball team, which had a slim chance of making it to the playoffs come October.

By the time I got home, I was pulling my phone out of my pocket before I’d reached my kitchen.

I’d been gone less than a day, and I was missing Ava like crazy.

This long-distance shit was going to suck.