Chapter 35
Camden
Ipush that feeling aside.
I can’t think about that now. I just have to focus on why I’m doing this—to help Ellie.
And helping her is worth whatever fallout is going to happen at the end of this.
I finish cleaning up right as Ellie walks in the door.
Mom hugs us goodbye as she gets ready to leave.
She points at me. “You be sure to spoil your wife, understand?”
I roll my eyes good-naturedly. Ellie’s face breaks into a shy smile.
“Oh, don’t worry. Camden spoils me plenty,” she says. “He won’t let me pay for anything.”
Mom pats my shoulder. “I knew I raised you right.”
I just laugh. She pats my arm, then turns to Ellie.
“I’m just teasing. I know how generous my son is.
Did you know he paid off my mortgage after he signed his first big contract in the NHL?
And he makes me take a girls’ trip with my friends every year in the summer. Doesn’t let us pay for a penny of it.”
“You deserve it. I know raising me as a single mom was no walk in the park,” I say.
Her expression is warm as she looks at me. “It was worth it, honey. And not because of all the lovely gifts you’ve gotten me. I have the best son in the world.”
She hugs me one more time and leaves. I close the door behind her. When I turn and see Ellie grabbing our suitcases, I take them from her and head to our bedroom to drop them off.
When I set her luggage in her bedroom, I notice her looking at me.
“You’ve done a lot for your parents.”
I shrug. “It’s the least I could do. They did a lot for me as a kid.”
Ellie shakes her head. “You’re so generous with everyone. You’ve always been like that. I remember when we were little and we’d walk to school together, sometimes we’d pass a homeless person, and you always stopped to give them the snacks out of your backpack.”
“I forgot about that,” I say.
Warmth flashes in Ellie’s eyes. “Because that’s how good a person you are. You do stuff like that because it comes naturally to you. You don’t even think twice about it. It’s who you are. And that’s incredible. You are incredible, Camden.”
Emotion surges through me. I’m not used to hearing people complimenting my character.
They compliment my skills on the ice. I hear how funny and charming and hot I am all the time.
But this compliment from Ellie means a million times more.
It means she sees through everything else and thinks that deep down, I’m a good person. And that means the world.
“Thank you,” I say softly.
She studies me for a moment. “You’d make a great alternate captain of your team.”
“You don’t have to butter me up, Ellie.”
“I’m not. I’m being honest,” she says. “Look, I know I don’t know much about hockey.
I know that your coaches want someone who’s responsible and mature to be alternate captain, and that’s part of the reason why we got married.
But I think you’re already suited to be alternate captain because of your character.
You’re good to core, Camden. Truly good.
And if your team can’t see that, then that’s their loss. ”
Emotion surges through me at the conviction in Ellie’s tone—at just how much she believes in me.
She blinks, and her expression turns shy. “I know that probably doesn’t mean much, coming from me. I don’t know anything about hockey or coaching…”
“It means everything, Ellie.”
She looks at me, surprised. “Really?”
“Yeah. You believe in me despite all the things that people hold against me. You don’t care that I’ve partied a lot or that I was a manwhore.”
She tilts her head at me. “That’s slut shaming. Not cool.”
I let out a small chuckle. A warm feeling settles at the center of my chest. “Not many people think I have what it takes to be alternate captain. But you do. And I can’t tell you how good that makes me feel. Thank you for believing in me.”
She smiles at me. “Always.”
We’re both quiet for a moment. Ellie plays with the hem of her shirt. “So, um, you had a crush on me when we were kids?”
I nod, hoping she doesn’t think I’m a creep. “Yeah.”
She looks at me. “I had a crush on you too.”
I look at her, shocked. “You did?”
She bites her lip and smiles. “You seem surprised.”
“I didn’t think you liked me like that.”
“Of course I liked you. You were cute and funny and sweet. And the most popular guy in our grade. Every girl in our class liked you.”
I step closer to her and rest my hand on her hip. “The only girl I was interested in was you.”
She beams. “I can’t believe it. I figured you only thought of me as a friend.”
I swipe a lock of hair out of her face. “I almost tried to kiss you one time when we were hanging out in my tree house.”
Her eyes sparkle with amusement. “Really?”
“We were comparing our Pokemon card collections, and I just remember staring at you the whole time while I worked up the nerve to kiss you. But then you looked at me, and I lost my nerve.”
“That’s really cute,” she says.
I chuckle. “I talked myself out of it. I convinced myself that you’d freak out if I tried to kiss you.”
She flashes a teasing smile. “I would have liked it if you kissed me.”
I grin. “You sure about that? I was ten and had no idea what I was doing.”
“I hadn’t kissed anyone yet, so I wouldn’t have known any different.”
“Good point.”
She chuckles, then reaches up and cups my face in her hand, “We can make up for it now.”
I pull her against me and press my mouth against hers, savoring the softness of her lips. When I lap my tongue against hers, she makes a needy sound. I groan. I fucking love hearing her do that.
She claws at my shirt. I tilt her head back, deepening our kiss.
Soon we end up lying down on her bed, making out. She’s on top of me, grinding on my dick as our kiss gets filthier and filthier.
She presses herself harder against me. I grip her hips, guiding her along the hard ridge of my cock.
“I’ve never done this before,” she rasps.
“You’re doing perfect,” I say against her mouth. “Just keep grinding that sweet pussy on me until you come.”
She grinds harder and faster. A minute later, she comes with a shout, then falls on my chest.
I wrap my arms around her, hugging her tight as she catches her breath.
“Wow,” she murmurs.
I kiss the top of her head. “Did you like that?”
She nods against my chest. “Oh, yeah.” She leans up to look at me. “But I want more.”
She sits up and slides down the front of my body, then unzips my jeans. When she takes me into her mouth, my eyes roll back.
I groan as she works me with her tongue and mouth. “Oh fuck, baby. That’s so good.”
Every muscle in my body tenses as the pleasure and pressure inside of me takes over. When she starts to jerk my shaft in her hand, my breathing kicks up. A minute later, I explode. I come with a shout, shooting my release down her throat.
She looks up at me with those beautiful doe eyes, a teasing smile playing on her lush lips. Like she’s half angel, half temptress.
Fuck. She’s so goddamn sexy and sweet and playful.
I swallow hard, my head spinning and my heart pounding in my chest.
It’s never been like this with anyone, ever. Yeah, I’ve had good sex with plenty of women. But it’s never felt like this.
Ellie and I haven’t even had full-on sex yet, but I’ve never felt this happy, this comfortable, this turned-on by anyone else.
Maybe it’s because we’re such good friends. I’ve never been friends with any woman I’ve hooked up with before. It’s a whole other level of amazing. Our connection feels deeper, more meaningful.
I don’t want it to end.
An uneasy feeling swoops through me.
It’s going to end in less than a year. And then she’ll move on with someone else, and you’ll go back to being the hockey playboy who hooks up with a different woman every night.
That uneasy feeling burrows deeper in my gut. I don’t want that, not anymore.
Ellie rests her head on my chest and closes her eyes. “I’m so tired,” she murmurs.
I kiss the top of her head. “Go to sleep.”
She peers up at me with those adorable sleepy eyes. “I know we don’t normally sleep together after we, um, fool around, but…” She bites her lip. “It’s okay if you want to leave.”
My heart beats faster. “I don’t want to leave, Ellie. I want to stay in your bed and sleep with you. And the next time we’re together in my bed, I want you to stay there and sleep with me.”
That gorgeous smile appears on her face. “I’d like that.”
She cuddles back into my chest and closes her eyes. I run my fingers gently up and down her back as she falls asleep.
An unfamiliar tightness works its way through my chest. I’ve never felt this kind of uneasiness—this kind of dread when I’ve ended things with women in the past. But the thought of ending this with Ellie makes my stomach fall to my feet. I don’t like it.
As I close my eyes and drift to sleep, I try not to think about how I’m falling for my wife…and how destroyed I’m going to be when I lose her.