Chapter 14
Fourteen
Leif
“Hi, Cami!” Mom pulls open the front door to my home.
“Hi, Stella.” Cami hugs Mom hello.
“How was your second week of work?” Mom asks, leading Cami into the kitchen where I’m concocting drinks before we head to Brawler’s house for dinner.
“Busy,” Cami says, sliding onto a barstool at my kitchen island. She glances around the space, and I realize it’s the first time she’s been here. Over the past week, I dropped by her apartment, or we met out, in the city. “I like your place.”
“He did an okay job, but I really elevated it since I’ve been in town,” Mom chimes in.
Cami grins as I roll my eyes. “Thanks, Cami.” I place a mojito in front of her before adding a fresh mint sprig.
She picks up the glass and bites the corner of her mouth. “I didn’t realize I married a mixologist.”
Mom straight up cackles before sliding onto the barstool next to Cami’s. She picks up her drink. “Cheers, Cami. I want to hear all about work.”
“Thanks, Stella. And thank you for the banana bread. It was delicious and I really appreciated the walnuts,” Cami replies, clinking her glass against Mom’s before taking a sip. “Mm, this is good, Leif.”
“Thanks. I hope you ate something other than banana bread for dinner this week.” I lean against the countertop across from Mom and Cami and cross my ankles at my feet.
Cami grins. “I only had it for dinner twice.”
“Leif! Cook for your wife.” Mom scowls at me.
“This week flew by, Stella. Between work, which is boring but bearable, and getting to know my new coworkers, who are so much more fun than I thought accountants would be, the days have been hectic.”
“I’m glad you have good colleagues,” Mom replies thoughtfully.
“I really like this one woman, Maria. And two of the men on my team, Sam and Tarek. Tarek’s become my de facto mentor. We made plans to go to happy hour next Friday.” Cami looks at me. I really hope this isn’t her asking my permission or something equally as weird. “Do you want to come?”
Oh. I grin. She’s inviting me. To meet her friends—colleagues, whatever. “Yeah, I’d love to.” I want to learn all the pieces of her life. While we’ve certainly started to find our footing over the past week and spent most of the weekend exploring Knoxville together—our conversations during the workweek have consisted of hanging out and watching television, or texts and nightly phone calls.
The more I learn about my wife, the more I can’t believe we ended up together. She truly is perfect for me. I’ll have to ask Jensen what the odds are of ending up with your soul mate. And then, to refine the odds when the woman is plucked out from a random night in Vegas.
Mom’s eyes dart between us and she smiles.
“Cool,” Cami says, taking another sip of her drink. “How was your week?” she asks Mom.
“Oh, it was wonderful. As you can see, I got Leif’s house in order.” Mom gestures around the space, which looks exactly like it did when she arrived.
Cami catches my sigh and fights a giggle.
“I’ve cooked a bunch. There are meals in the freezer.” She looks pointedly at me. “Maybe invite your wife over for dinner.”
“For sure,” I mutter. “It will be real romantic with you sitting in between us.”
Mom laughs, hardly deterred. “And I got to meet some of Leif’s teammates, which is always nice. A few of them—like River Patton and his Coach, Jeremiah Merrick—I’ve known for years. River played in the same circuits as Leif and my other son, Jensen. And Jeremiah and my husband, Lars, go way back, so it was nice to see him again and catch up with his wife, Leanne. We had lunch yesterday. She has the two most adorable grandchildren, Emmaline and Fox.”
“You do too. Ryder and Rowan,” I remind Mom before she gets any ideas and tries to suggest children since Cami and I are technically married.
Mom flicks her wrist at me dismissively. “A little girl would be nice.”
Cami chokes on her mojito. Naturally, Mom slaps her on the back.
“Mom,” I mutter, passing Cami a napkin.
“Thanks,” Cami says, dabbing at the tears under her eyes.
“Sorry, Camille. I wasn’t insinuating anything.” My mother is a terrible liar.
“Really?” I give her a look.
She shrugs and gives me a sheepish look back. “Are you okay, love?”
“I’m fine, Stella.” Cami manages a chuckle.
“All right, I better finish dressing before we leave.” Mom slides off her barstool and retreats to my guest room.
“I’m relieved we’re already married or I’m sure you’d bolt,” I tell Cami.
She grins at me. “I really like your mom. From the mother-in-law horror stories I’ve heard, I think I hit the lottery with Stella.” She wrinkles her nose. “Too bad you can’t say the same for Cheryl.”
“Ah! You speak too soon.” I pull my phone from my back pocket and pull up a text exchange I now have going with my mother-in-law. I slide it across the island so Cami can read it.
“Oh, God,” she groans. “She got your number?”
I laugh easily. “It’s fine.”
“She’s messaging you constantly. Are these…cake flavors?”
“She offered to do our cake tasting for us. We’re getting married August 21 in Crosslake.”
Cami’s mouth drops open. “Leif, you have to put a stop to this.”
“Me?” I shake my head, grinning. “She’s your mom, Cami.”
Cami groans again and drops her face into her hand.
I round the island to stand closer to her. Take her hand and hold it against my chest. “Look at me, babe.”
She does. Instantly, I’m captured by her big, blue eyes. “I want what you want. Whatever that is, I’m good with it.”
She makes a sound in the back of her throat I can’t decipher. It’s a little laughter, a little frustration, a little confusion. “I do like Crosslake. We used to go there every summer for a week when I was a kid. Rhett would make bets with Jenna and me over who would catch the biggest fish.”
“Let me guess—you won.”
Cami gives me a look. “Obviously. Rhett was too technical, and Jenna got bored after an hour. But I was committed.” She pauses when she says the word and her eyes scan mine sharply. She smirks. “I guess sometimes, when I commit, I do follow through.”
I laugh and bend down to press a kiss to her mouth. “I’m glad to hear that, Knox.”
“You should be,” she tosses back, lacing my fingers with hers. “But if Mom becomes too much…”
“She’s fine. It’s all fine. We’ll…figure it out.”
“And tonight, I’ll meet your teammates.”
“And next week, I’ll meet your coworkers.”
Cami nods. “You know, this is the most functional relationship I’ve ever been in. Not that I have a lot of experience to draw from but…we’re doing a bang-up job.”
“Definitely bang-up,” I agree.
She groans. “I’m so not taking your last name when we do this again.” She gestures between us, her purple ring flashing.
I gasp. “No? But think of all the jokes and puns you’ll miss out on hearing.”
“I’ll hear them by association.” She pinches my side.
I laugh. “Fair enough, babe. I like you as Cami Coleman, anyway.”
“Not to change the subject. Or rush things…”
“But?” I frown, wondering where she’s going with this.
Cami twirls on her barstool, framing one of my thighs in between her knees. She lowers her voice. “Any chance I can convince you to stay at my place tonight?”
I suck in an inhale. Yes, I realize how silly it sounds since, you know, we’re married. But Cami and I haven’t had sex again since that first night and it’s been hard as fuck to take things slowly with her. Especially when my blood sings and my body reacts every time she’s near.
The scent of her shampoo, the shape of her neck, the sound of her voice—everything about her turns me on.
I bite my bottom lip, trying to hold back my smirk. “Mama Bang will think we’re?—”
“Don’t say it!” She giggles.
I lean down to kiss her again. “I’d love to stay at your place tonight. I’m happy you asked.”
“Good.” She tilts up her face to kiss me back.
The second her tongue peeks through and drags along the seam of my lips, I part them. Our kiss morphs from PG to PG-13 and I can’t help but drop a palm to her ass and push her closer into my frame.
Cami drops my hand to hold my hips and I slant her head, kissing her deeper. Her chest rises, pushing up into mine and I wish we didn’t have dinner plans, and my mother wasn’t here, so I could lay her out on the kitchen island and do all the things I’ve been dreaming up since the first time I had her.
I’d take it slow. Then fast. Then all over again until we’re both too drained to move.
“Good God, you two! Get a room!” Mom hollers, announcing her arrival back into the communal space.
It’s literally the fucking worst when your own mother cockblocks you. I groan and pull away from Cami.
Meanwhile, she drops her face and covers her mouth with her hand, trying to conceal her laughter.
Mom hears the peals of Cami’s giggles and joins in.
“You ready to go?” Mom asks.
Cami nods and slips off the barstool. “I’ll just use the bathroom first.”
“First door on your right.” I point down the hallway.
Cami excuses herself and Mom gives me a pointed look.
“What?” I ask, taking a sip of my drink.
“That escalated,” Mom comments.
I snort and shake my head. “How long are you staying for?”
Mom laughs at that but doesn’t answer. Instead, she relocates to the foyer and slips into her sandals.
Five minutes later, we’re on our way to Brawler’s house and I can’t tamp down the anticipation that fills my limbs about the possibilities of tonight. I’m not nervous; I’m proud. I want my teammates to know my wife. I can’t wait to introduce her to Dad and my brothers and sister. I want everyone I care about to know the woman I’m going to spend my life with.