Chapter 25 Cameron
twenty-five
Cameron
“How many times have you seen this movie?” Zhuri asks me curiously, glancing at the TV where The Mighty Ducks is playing.
“Pretty sure I lost count by the time I was eight,” I laugh, leaning back against my sofa while she sits on the opposite end.
“Honestly? Same,” she chuckles. “I had a stupidly big crush on Conway.”
“Connie was mine,” I smile.
She decides to tease me. “Got a thing for female hockey players, Cammy?”
I give her a pointed look. “Maybe.”
She looks at me in surprise, and as she does, I get a good look at her long, toned legs.
Legs that I should not be staring at.
Legs that I should not be imagining wrapped around me in various ways that all involve zero clothing.
So what am I doing?
Staring and imagining anyway.
She teasingly asked if I missed her when we were texting, but I had to play it off.
Yeah, I fucking missed her, even though she had only left my place not even two hours before.
Not hard to figure out exactly what that means.
Zhuri is one of my favorite people, and I think it’s time I admit that I don’t feel completely friendly with her.
Which is why I had her come over.
Sure, I didn’t want to be alone tonight, but the only spiraling my mind would have done would have been thoughts about her.
I’m sure having her over while I have those thoughts is a better idea.
I must still be staring because she looks up at me, confused. “You okay, Cam?”
“Yeah,” I reply quickly. “Totally okay.”
“You’re staring at me…”
I shrug it off without denying it.
If there is anything between us, it can’t go anywhere. We’re on the same goddamn team, and the NHL thought it would be a brilliant idea to put men and women together and expect them to keep their hands off each other.
It’s testing all of my willpower to not be more open about what I’m thinking, but Zhuri has already talked about how she has to keep her image clean. The last thing she’d ever do is risk that for me.
I’m… not worth that.
I let out a deep breath.
“Cameron?”
“Hm?” I say, snapping back to reality.
“Are you really okay? You seem like you’re in your head right now.”
Oh, because I am, baby, but you don’t want to hear about those thoughts.
“I’m alright, ljepota. Promise.”
“Okay…” She doesn’t seem convinced, but she lets it go. “Wanna tell me how to spell that yet?”
I let out a deep laugh. “Haven’t learned yet, Zhuri baby?”
“I know nothing about spelling in Croatian, Cameron.”
“Then it shall remain a mystery,” I smirk.
Zhuri groans. “It’s driving me fucking insane.”
And your mysterious hip tattoo drives me insane. Consider us square.
“Maybe you’ll learn one day.”
“What am I going to think when I learn what it means?” She turns her body toward me. “You’ve been calling me ljepota for over a month now.”
I shrug. “I don’t know what you’ll think truthfully.”
“Is it an insult? You started it when we still hated each other.”
“Sure.”
“Cameron!”
I can’t help but laugh. “Yes, Zhuri baby?”
Zhuri throws her head back and groans. “You aren’t giving me anything to go on here.”
“I know,” I smile, glancing at her eyes, the deep pools of brown pulling me right in.
She’s way too fucking pretty.
Long lashes. Perfectly smooth skin. Pouty, full lips.
The more time I spend with her, the more fucked I am.
Yet I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon… or ever.
There’s nothing better than homemade pancakes in the morning, though I do seem to have a bit more pep in my step today.
Could that have anything to do with the fact that Zhuri fell asleep on my couch last night before the movie ended, so I moved her to the guest bedroom, where she’s still sleeping now?
Yeah, almost certainly.
I’m not ashamed to admit that, at least in my own head.
I know it’s only been a little over a month since we officially became teammates, but as soon as we started talking, Zhuri pulled me right in.
No one has ever tried to get close to me because of my reputation, but she is, and I’m feeling things I don’t think I’ve felt for anyone… ever.
Zhuri walks into the kitchen just as I pull the last few pancakes off the griddle.
“Please tell me you have coffee.” Her voice is still raspy from sleep, and god, it’s even sexier than usual.
I point to a clean mug on the counter beside my coffee pot. “Right there, Z. Help yourself.”
She pours a full mug of coffee and takes a sip.
Huh, she likes her coffee black.
Noted.
“Fuck, that’s good,” she moans, and there could not be a worse sound for her to have made.
Goddammit.
I’m not a fuckboy; that’s clear when I want to do so much more than just fuck her, but my dick has made it clear that I want that, too.
I will myself to move past it.
“You sleep alright?” I ask, taking a sip from my own mug.
“Yeah,” Zhuri replies, rubbing the back of her neck. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep here last night, though. I was just exhausted after a long day.”
“That much is obvious,” I smirk. “No one can fall asleep during The Mighty Ducks otherwise.”
“Fair,” she laughs, and I’m so fucking obsessed with the sound.
It’s melodic and comforting, a sound I’d play on repeat if I could.
Yeah, this totally isn’t friendly.
Fuck.
I’d probably be spiraling over that if Zhuri hadn’t seemingly just noticed what I’m wearing… or not wearing, for that matter.
“You’re not wearing a shirt,” she points out.
“I am not,” I smirk. “Is my body distracting you, ljepota?”
“You wish, Cammy.”
Yeah, I do wish.
“So you were just looking at my tattoos?” I raise my eyebrow. “Just like you did with my arms at Willow?”
“Yes…” Zhuri replies, but refuses to meet my eyes.
Hell yes.
She isn’t going to admit it, but we both know this means she wasn’t just looking at my tattoos.
I enjoy that far more than I should, but I like to know she’s looking at me like I’m looking at her.
Nothing can happen, but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy the what-ifs.
“Help yourself to some pancakes, Z,” I say, gesturing to the stack on the counter.
“Oh. You didn’t need to make breakfast. I’m sure you’d rather me get out of your hair.”
“Zhuri baby, you can get in my hair anytime you want.”
Zhuri can’t hold back her laugh. “Why does that sound dirty?”
I smirk at her. “Here I thought I was the one with the dirty mind.”
She smiles and shakes her head. “I know I’ve told you I’m not so innocent.”
Without thinking, I step closer to her, tongue darting out and wetting my bottom lip as I do. “Believe me, I didn’t forget that.”
“Cameron…” she says breathily, and I know exactly what that means.
This is too much, and I need to back off.
“Sorry,” I mutter quickly, taking several steps backward. “I just, uh…”
“You didn’t do anything,” Zhuri shrugs nonchalantly. “We were just… talking.”
“Right.”
She smiles at me softly. “I think I will take some of those pancakes now.”
I grab plates for both of us, and we load them up with pancakes and syrup while Del Water Gap plays through my Bluetooth speaker.
One of my favorite songs starts playing, and I take a hard swallow, trying to shove my fantasies from my mind.
But it doesn’t work because just like the words in the song, I’m picturing Zhuri right now in nothing but her perfume.
I’m so fucked.