Hayley
“ M om, come see what Brooks did,” Camden calls out from the living room as I walk through the front door of Brooks’ apartment.
I had driven by my townhome on the way back from the arena and as expected, the reporters are still camped out like a couple of concert goers. Just waiting to catch a glimpse of Boyce Cameron’s love child and the bitch who kept him away for so long.
I know exactly how the media is making me out to be. A scorned high school sweetheart. Sure, back then, I would say that was true, but now it couldn’t be further from the truth. Back then, I thought I knew what Boyce exactly wanted. I thought he wanted me, child or not. I was so wrong.
I drop my purse on the table next to the front door and slip off my shoes before stepping further into the condo. Woah. Am I in the right place? Yup, Camden’s dancing from foot to foot with excitement, while Brooks leans against the kitchen counter, smirking.
I step cautiously into the living room, which isn’t as it was before.
Photographs of Brooks and I line the mantel as well as photos of the three of us and his sister and niece.
Decorative vases with fake bamboo plants sit on the once bare coffee table, and a large throw blanket drapes the back of the couch with coordinating pillows.
The once bare walls have some of Brooks’ sports memorabilia mixed with some tasteful art to brighten up the space.
“Uh. What happened in here?” I say with wide eyes.
“There’s more,” Camden says, grabbing my hand and pulling me down the hall toward the guest room he has been staying in. Flinging the door open to his room, my jaw drops. It’s decorated how Camden has been begging me to redo his room for months. But how? Why?
I turn to look at Brooks, who has followed us. “You did this?”
He nods as Camden continues to speak a mile per minute about all the details he put into the room. “Oh, and he made me a game room.”
“Game room?”
“Yeah, I may have gone a little overboard today.”
We step into the room across the hall from Camden’s room and in a daze, I take it all in.
A flat-screen TV lines the back wall, while a large L-shape couch sits in front of it.
Next to the TV is every gaming system you can think of.
An air hockey table and basketball hoop line another wall, while on the opposite end houses some old-school arcade games.
“Why did you do all this? How did you do all this?” I say, throwing my hands in the air.
Brooks pushes off the door frame and makes his way over to me. His hands snake around my waist as he pulls me close to his body. My breasts push up against his hard chest. “I didn’t know how long you both would be staying. And I figured I’d try to make it more homie for you.”
Swoon .
Literally, my knees go weak, and my chest tightens as I think about Brooks and all he has done for Camden and me since we got together.
He’s amazing. He immediately wanted to be there for me to help when the Boyce drama started.
Sure, it took me awhile to tell him the truth about Camden’s dad, but when I did, he stood by me.
Tell him. Tell him the whole truth.
The guilt eats at me as the realization that I’m still hiding a part of me from Brooks slams into me like a brick wall.
He’s been so understanding with the Boyce drama.
I thought it would have affected his game like my father claimed, yet he proved me wrong.
I told myself I’d tell him after the season ended, before he moved into my home.
Sheesh, I have to tell him before then. My father pops in all the time.
How would I explain that Mr. Richards visits his employees houses all the time and helps himself to coffee?
Tell him , my inner voice scolds me as my hands come to the side of his neck, my thumbs brushing against his jaw line as he smiles down at me. The words are on the tip of my tongue, begging, screaming to come out. But what do I do? I blurt out the next thing that comes to my mind.
“What happened to taking a nap? You have a game tonight, and this certainly doesn’t look like napping.”
He smirks at me before placing a chaste kiss on my lips. “This felt more important.”
I kiss his lips again before pulling back to look in his eyes. “I thought you were moving in with us though at the end of the season.”
“I am,” he says a little nervously. “I just figured if we were staying here awhile, that you guys would want this place to be more of a home, than a shell of one.”
“Okay,” I say under my breath as I pull away to take in Camden’s excitement.
Camden turns on the Xbox and plays some sort of sports game. Will Camden’s happiness last when he finds out the truth about Boyce? That thought has been constantly running through my mind since yesterday.
Boyce’s lawyers called Jess again today, demanding that Camden take the paternity test immediately.
Apparently, Boyce’s fiancée and team aren’t taking the scandal too kindly.
He could have continued to be hush hush about it all, but I knew as soon as he told her about Camden, it would all blow up.
She doesn’t want a stepkid, just like Boyce didn’t want his kid to begin with.
It will ruin the perfect image they have.
“Well, let’s go get some rest. We have like an hour before we have to head to the arena. I believe that’s enough time for a little R&R,” I say, walking back to Brooks.
“Or we could…” Brooks’ brows raise suggestively as he pulls me close to his chest again.
A small chuckle escapes me as I glance back at Cam. “Nap now. And if you’re a good hockey player tonight and win the game, we can celebrate later,” I say, whispering in his ear. “But I will leave you with a little gift like always.”
◆◆◆
The game tonight is a brutal one. In fact, every game from here on out for the rest of the season are expected to be that way. It’s crunch time to earn a slot in the playoffs.
When Brooks and I arrive at the arena hand in hand, cameras flash.
Thank goodness I’ve had Cassidy take Camden in an alternate entrance.
Reporters shout obscenities at me and try to question Brooks on the matter.
But as always, my man stays strong. Not flinching once as the press tears me a new one.
Security has been on press control the entire night.
Players are assigned interviews and have been brought to designated areas away from staff offices and the locker room.
A precaution my father has put in place in case one of them gets a wild hair up their ass and tries to harass me.
Or worse, find Camden. Camden and I stand side by side outside the team locker room, waiting for Brooks when a commotion erupts to the right of us.
Flashing lights blind me, and I try to block Camden from the stampeding press.
Hayley, why did you never tell Boyce Cameron about his son?
Camden, are you excited to get to spend time with your dad?
What is your relationship with Brooks Miller?
How are you feeling about the lawsuit against you for custody?
I pull Camden tight to my body, shielding him from the crowd that has now swarmed us.
I attempt to push toward the locker room but the crowd’s too thick.
Strong arms wrap around my waist, pulling me close to their body.
I attempt to push out of their grasp when I smell him, the scent of Irish Spring soap and sandalwood.
Brooks.
He’s here. Wrapping Camden and me in a protective cocoon before ushering us toward a door that Halloway is holding open for us.
He throws open the door to his SUV, helping Camden and me inside before running around the front and taking his spot in the driver seat.
His foot hits the gas hard as he peals wheels out of the parking garage and heads for his condominium.
I look back at Camden in the backseat, who has a scowl on his face and his arms folded across his chest. How did they get past security? My phone buzzes in my hand, Dad flashing upon the screen, but I hit ignore.
It rings again, Dad. Ignore.
A third time, Cassidy. Ignore.
I don’t know what to say to anyone, what to feel right now. We were ambushed. And from what it appears, Camden heard the reporter grill me about Boyce.
Perfect. This is the exact situation that I’ve been trying to avoid.
Brooks parks in his spot in his underground parking garage, throwing the car in park and killing the engine. The car is silent as I continue my focus on Camden who hasn’t looked at me once since we got in the car.
“I’m going to make a call to my security personnel at the front desk,” he says, smoothing my hair on the back of my head. “I’ll give you two some time to talk.”
He pulls his phone out of his pocket before getting out of the car. I stare at Camden as I search for the words to say. Your dad is Boyce Cameron.
He didn’t want you or me when he found out about you.
He abandoned us.
I take a deep breath, clearing my throat, and open my mouth, then close it again. A lump forms in the back of my throat as I choke down the burning sensation.
“Cam.”
“Why didn’t you tell me who my dad was?” he says, cutting me off in a fit of anger.
“Camden, it wasn’t that simple.”
“You knew all this time that Boyce Cameron, one of my favorite hockey players, was my dad, and you didn’t think you should tell me,” he says, throwing his arms in the air.
I close my eyes as I fight back the tears burning to spill. “That isn’t the reason I never told you.”
He flings open the back door before slamming it shut. I make quick to follow him as he stomps away from me. “Camden, we don’t slam car doors… Hey, where do you think you’re going, mister… I’m talking to you.”
“Oh, now you wanna talk to me and spill all your secrets about my dad and how you kept him from me.”
“I did it to protect you.”
“Fuck that,” he screams at me.