Chapter 32 Cameron
thirty-two
Cameron
Cameron
Hey, Z
Zhuri
Hi, Cam
Cameron
I’m guessing you made it home safely last night
Zhuri
I did
Sorry for just running away like that
Cameron
I get it
Last night was… a lot
Zhuri
To put it mildly
Cameron
Are we still good?
Zhuri
I would really like that
Cameron
We can just pretend last night didn’t happen
Zhuri
Great
Cameron
Do you have any plans tonight?
Zhuri
Not really
Cameron
Come over
Zhuri
Is that a good idea?
Cameron
We’re friends
We’re still allowed to spend time together
Zhuri
Right
Yeah, I’ll come over
Cameron
See you tonight then, Zhuri baby
Zhuri
See you tonight, Cammy
This was a terrible idea.
All I’ve wanted to do since Zhuri got here is pin her against the wall and kiss the hell out of her.
But it’s not my fault she showed up looking like she walked straight out of my fucking dreams.
Blue and white striped linen dress that screams summer with a low enough cut to show off those tempting tits of hers.
This is fine. Everything’s fine.
Like fuck it is, my brain says, and I know it’s right.
I’m beyond fucked right now.
“So,” I say, desperate to stop myself from doing something stupid. “Want a drink?”
“Yeah, what do you have, Cam?”
“Beer,” I chuckle, “but if you want a mixed drink, I make a mean mojito.”
Zhuri licks her lips, and the sight already has me half-hard. “I love mojitos.”
“Mojito it is.”
She follows me over to the bar and watches as I make our drinks—I settle on a mojito as well—focusing on everything but my face.
Zhuri is just as fucked as I am right now.
Once I finish, she takes a sip and fucking moans.
Jesus fucking Christ, she’s going to kill me.
“This is so good, Cam.”
I rub the back of my neck. “It’s one of the only mixed drinks I can make,” I chuckle before finally looking at her. “Oh, you have a little bit on your lip.”
Instead of giving her time to get it herself, I reach out and swipe my thumb over her bottom lip, gathering the droplet. I take it a step further, though. I hold my thumb up for her to lick the drop off.
She sucks my thumb into her mouth instead.
Well, that’s it. I’m officially deceased. It was nice knowing everyone.
Zhuri releases my thumb with a lewd pop, and the air thickens around us. So thick it’s almost suffocating with all this tension.
Our chests rise and fall with the same heavy breaths, the same fight of temptation between us.
Her tongue wets her bottom lip again, and my final thread snaps, but before I can do anything, my phone rings.
Just like that, the moment has passed.
I take a deep breath and look down at my phone to see a FaceTime call coming through from my cousin.
“Do you, um, need to take that?” Zhuri asks.
“It’s just my cousin,” I shrug.
“Is he in Croatia?” I nod. “You should answer it then.”
I mentally curse him out for having such abysmal timing.
“Hey, Petar,” I say, finally answering the call and seeing my cousin come into view. We could probably be siblings with how alike we look. The Kova?i? genes are strong.
“Cameron,” he smiles. “Haven’t talked to you in a while.”
“Why are you calling now, though?” I ask. “Isn’t it like two in the morning for you?”
He laughs. “I work overnights at the hospital. Two is lunchtime for me.”
Zhuri slides herself up onto the bartop, and I walk over to stand beside her. “I have a friend over right now, actually.”
Petar smirks. “Friend?”
“Yes,” she laughs. “I’m Zhuri.”
“I know who you are,” he chimes. “Cameron always used to talk about how great this one woman on the Denver team was, and I know you’re on the same team now.
Fuck you very much, Petar.
Zhuri looks at me teasingly. “You used to talk about me, huh?”
I roll my eyes. “I told you I followed the Dragons, and I meant it when I said you’re the best left winger I’ve seen.”
“I thought he had a thing for you for the longest time,” Petar laughs.
She looks at him in surprise. “Cam hated me.”
Petar shrugs. “Could’ve fooled me.”
“I respected her as a player,” I assert. “But we weren’t friends until recently.”
Zhuri teasingly cocks her head to the side. “Are we friends?”
I step a little closer to her. “I recall you asking me that question after our first photoshoot.”
“I hate you,” she chuckles.
I smile in satisfaction. “Not anymore, you don’t.”
“So how often do you flirt with Zhuri, Cam?” Petar asks with a smug grin, reminding me that we’re still on the phone with him.
“Fuck off,” I huff.
We’re interrupted by a loud boom of thunder that rattles the walls of my penthouse.
“I didn’t realize it was supposed to storm tonight,” Zhuri says, looking out the window at the darkening sky. It’s not raining yet, but it’s definitely coming.
“Shit,” I mutter, heading toward the balcony. “I need to put the tables on the pool deck away. They’re glass, and I don’t want them to shatter if they fall over.”
“Go on.” Zhuri waves me off. “I’ll be right here where it’s dry.”
I get onto the balcony and then take the stairs up to my pool deck. I certainly don’t love being surrounded by the metal that’s out in the open up here, but as long as I hurry, I should be able to avoid getting electrocuted.
I make quick work of storing my glass-top tables, stacking them in my storage shed so I can be sure they’re still intact tomorrow.
I take one last look around to make sure everything is secure, but I’m interrupted by a voice before I can turn back around.
“Beauty.”
I turn around, finding Zhuri standing ten feet away from me, hair whipping in the wind and looking even better than she did five minutes ago.
I step closer to her. “I thought you were going to stay inside, Z.”
She ignores that and closes the remaining distance between us. We’re practically chest to chest now.
Zhuri takes a deep breath. “Ljepota means beauty.”
I rub the back of my neck uncomfortably. “You asked Petar, didn’t you?”
She nods. “You’ve been calling me beauty, Cameron.”
I swallow thickly. “I have.”
“Why?” Her voice is soft and full of longing, desperate to hear that it’s for the reason she thinks.
I tuck her hair behind her ear and then rest my palm against her cheek. Her skin is so smooth beneath my callused hands. “It started as a way to annoy you,” I admit. “I knew you’d be irritated when you didn’t know what it meant.”
Zhuri’s deep brown eyes meet mine, and right now, I’d give her anything she asks for. “But why ljepota?”
“Because…” I start before taking a deep breath and forcing myself to admit the truth. “Because you are so fucking beautiful that it drives me crazy, Zhuri. At eighteen, you were the most beautiful woman I’d seen. Today, I still haven’t found anyone else to compare.”
“Cameron…” She’s breathless by my admission, but she isn’t pulling away like I was afraid she’d do.
“I mean it, Z.” I close my eyes and rest my forehead against hers, wind whipping all around us with the approaching storm. “I’m tired of denying this, how I feel.”
“What does that mean?”
I capture her eyes and smile. “I like you, Zhuri. You have me feeling things I’ve never felt around anyone else.”
“We’re teammates,” she says nervously. “That complicates things.”
“I know it does, but maybe it’s worth the risk.”
“Cam…”
“Zhuri...” I gaze into her eyes, never looking away. I want her to see all of my intentions. “Would you rather go home now…” Her lips part open in anticipation of my next words. “...or kiss me?”
I see her looking through all of her options, trying to decide what she really wants to do. If she’ll take the risk with me, or if she won’t try because of our contracts.
After a moment, she smiles, and it lights up her eyes in a way I’ve never seen.
“I’m not going anywhere, Cameron.”
Once the words hit, I take my chance, leaning forward and finally kissing Zhuri Hart as rain starts to pour around us.