Chapter 5
Camden
Ilead Ellie over to the far end of the long dining table and pull out a chair for her to sit. Gus settles by her feet, and I sit down next to her.
I nod at the dress she’s wearing. It’s bright and flowy with a pretty floral pattern. “You match the flowers.”
She chuckles and gazes around. “This is a gorgeous wedding. You roll with some fancy people.”
“All weddings look the same to me. White dress. Tuxedo. Cake. Flowers. Lots of flowers.”
She nods at the vase of flowers next to us. “Remember how you stole the peonies from my mom’s garden and gave them to your mom for Mother’s Day?”
I chuckle at the memory. “Shit, I forgot about that. God, when was that? Second grade, right?”
Ellie nods while laughing. “I think so.”
“Wow. I was kind of a little shit.”
“It was hilarious.”
“My mom didn’t think it was hilarious when your mom came over and told her,” I say. “I got grounded for the weekend. And then she made me plant new flowers in your mom’s garden.”
“My mom laughed about it. It was all good,” Ellie says. She digs into her berries and coconut ice cream. “So how was the wedding ceremony?”
“It was nice and short.”
She chuckles. “Was that your favorite part? That it wasn’t long?”
I nod.
“Such a romantic,” she teases.
I shrug off my suit coat and loosen my tie. “Afraid I’m not much of a wedding guy.”
Ellie’s blue eyes dazzle as she smiles at me. “Not surprising at all.”
I playfully nudge her arm. “What about you? You like weddings?”
That cute smile plays across her plush lips. She nods. “Yeah. I think they’re romantic. Especially when the couple writes their own vows.”
“I like it when the couple recites the vows that the officiant tells them. It’s way shorter.”
Ellie playfully shoves my arm, and I laugh.
I look up at the full moon. “I wish upon the full moon that all of my teammates’ upcoming wedding ceremonies are short and sweet.”
Ellie hunches over as she laughs. “Oh my gosh, you’re terrible.”
When she stops laughing, she takes a sip of her drink.
“I feel sorry for your future wife, Camden Connors. I have a feeling you’re going to end up in a drive-through chapel in Las Vegas on your wedding day.
An uneasy feeling gnaws in my gut, even though I know Ellie is joking.
“I’m never getting married. Not after what happened to my parents.”
Ellie’s smile fades. Her brow furrows gently in concern. “Oh, right. I remember how they fought all the time.”
I glance down at my shoes and nod, trying to play it off like it’s no big deal.
But even now, I still remember how bad it was. How I don’t have a single memory of them happy together. How my only memories of them were constant fighting or cold silence.
How I hated being in the house with them, so I tried to spend as much time away as possible.
That’s why I was involved in so many activities as a kid—hockey, figure skating, piano lessons, swimming, soccer.
I just wanted to get away. I wanted to do something that made me happy because whenever I was home and around my parents, I was anxious and sad.
“Thanks for letting me come over so much.” I look at Ellie and hope that the smile I’m giving her isn’t as forced as it feels. “Your parents were really nice for letting me do that all the time.”
“Of course. You were my best friend, Camden. I always wanted you around.”
“Things really sucked when you moved away,” I say softly. “I missed you a lot.”
Her smile turns sad. “Things got kind of crazy when we moved in with my grandpa.”
I think about how we hugged in her driveway the day she moved away. Her grandpa, who lived in Arizona, had a stroke and needed care around the clock, so Ellie’s parents sold their house and moved from Denver to be with him.
“What happened?” I asked.
“He never fully recovered from his stroke. My mom took care of him for two years before he died.”
“Shit, Ellie. I’m sorry.”
“It was really hard on my mom, losing him. And looking after him twenty-four seven for that long. People don’t really talk about just how draining it is to be the caretaker for your loved one.”
She glances off to the side, a faraway look in her eyes. A moment later, she turns back to me.
“I wish eleven-year-old me had done a better job of staying in touch with you,” she says.
“We were kids. We did the best we could.”
For a while, we’d stay in touch online and through texting, but the gaps between our messages got longer and longer, until we stopped talking altogether. Then I got busy with hockey, and most of my friendships outside of the sport fell to the wayside.
“Not like you missed much. I was a pretty boring kid. And teenager,” Ellie says. “All I did was work and go to school. That’s actually all I do as an adult, minus the school part.” She lets out a flustered chuckle, like she’s embarrassed. “Still so boring.”
“No way you’re boring,” I say. “You do cool stuff like dress up like a princess and hang out with cute dogs.”
I lean down to pet Gus again, who’s snoring softly.
She smiles at me. “If you say so.”
“If anyone’s boring, it’s me,” I say.
Ellie tilts her head at me. “I don’t believe you.”
“Believe it. I don’t do much other than practice and play and train.”
“And have wild hookups in your kitchen. That sounds like the opposite of boring.” Ellie quirks an eyebrow.
I chuckle. “Oh, come on. Everyone gets a little wild sometimes.”
She shakes her head, fighting a smile.
“Don’t tell me you’ve never fooled around in the kitchen.”
Her pretty face turns bright red. I raise an eyebrow as I look at her. Interesting.
She fiddles with the hem of her dress and tucks her hair behind her ear. “I don’t kiss and tell.”
“Your cheeks are fire engine red, Ellie. You don’t have to say anything. I can tell you’ve had some fun in the kitchen.”
Her blue eyes are big as she grabs a glass of water and downs it.
My head falls back as I laugh. Fuck, she’s cute when she’s flustered.
I hold up a hand. “Hey, no shame. I have too. Obviously.”
She flashes a shy smile. “I can only imagine the places you’ve fooled around, Camden.”
“You don’t have to imagine. I’m an open book.”
Her brow raises. “Really?”
I nod.
She squints her big blue eyes like she’s curious. “What’s the wildest place you’ve done it?”
“Probably under the bleachers at my high school.”
Her jaw drops. I chuckle.
“Wow,” she murmurs. “Where else?”
“The janitor’s closet at the Basher’s hockey arena. A porta-potty at the Denver Marathon. It was clean though.”
She blinks at me.
“Your turn now. You’ve gotten freaky in the kitchen. Where else?” I ask.
She clears her throat, then downs more water. She shakes her head. “Oh, you know. Just…normal places.”
I chuckle. “Like where?”
She shrugs. “Um, like…outside.”
My brow lifts. Oh, damn. Cute and sweet Ellie is an exhibitionist. I would have never guessed. She was always so shy and reserved as a kid. She still is.
“Outside, like in someone’s backyard? On the beach? In the wilderness?”
She nods quickly. “Um, yeah. All that. Er, I mean, all of those places.” She looks at her phone screen. “It’s getting late. I should take Gus back home. He still needs his dinner and one more walk before bed.”
“Oh, sure. Here, I can walk you to your car.”
I start to stand up with her, but she shakes her head. “No, it’s okay. I’m not far. I got lucky and found a parking spot in front of the building.”
She starts to walk off and waves at me, pulling Gus behind her. “See you later, Camden.”
I watch as Ellie disappears through the door to the stairwell, confused about why she wanted to leave all of a sudden.