Chapter 43
Chapter forty-three
Cam
The walk back to the truck has a different feeling than the walk in. She's calm in a way that I rarely see in her. Kate’s fingers catch mine somewhere between the grass and the gravel. At first it’s light, but then she tightens her grip like she decided she doesn’t want to let go.
I knew when I told her I love her that she wasn’t going to say it back. I just couldn’t go on pretending I wasn’t. And I know she’s on her way there, and I’ll patiently wait to hear her tell me those words.
When we reach the truck, I open her door. She steps onto the running board and pauses, looking back at me over her shoulder. No walls—just this open, warm look that hits straight in the damn chest.
And that does something to me.
“Thank you for tonight,” she says.
“We can make nights like this happen any time you want,” I assure her.
She slips inside, and I shut the door gently, trying to get a hold of myself as I circle around. The blanket and bag go in the back seat, but all I can think about is the water beading on her skin, the taste of strawberry on her lips, the feel of her body wrapped around mine.
By the time I slide into the driver’s seat, she’s already watching me. Not shy. Just…waiting to see what I’ll do next.
I reach for the ignition, but halfway there my hand stops. A thick, electric stillness fills the cab, settling heavy on my skin. I can’t think past it. Don’t want to.
I turn toward her fully. She doesn’t move, but her lips part in the smallest, quickest inhale, like she already knows I’m not starting this engine.
I reach out, sliding my hand along her jaw, my thumb brushing the warm skin under her cheekbone. Her breath breaks like she’s been holding it in since we left the water.
My mouth claims hers in one decisive pull, heat meeting heat, her lips opening beneath mine. She gasps softly into the kiss, fingers fisting in the collar of my shirt like she needs something to hold onto.
I pull her closer. She meets me halfway.
This isn’t the soft, exploring kiss from the water. This one is messier, hungrier. Her mouth moves against mine. Our breaths tangle, ragged and uneven.
She shifts. One knee over the console, then the other, as she slips into my lap. Her thighs settle firmly around my hips, and the car suddenly feels too small for the amount of want packed into it.
A moan involuntarily breaks loose from my chest when she fully sits. I drag her closer at the waist, her pussy aligning against my cock in a way that deletes half the words in my brain. She kisses me again and something inside me gives.
“Kate…” My voice scrapes out, rough around the edges. “You drive me insane.”
Her forehead rests against mine for a beat, her breath is warm, pupils blown. For a moment we just stay there, suspended, breathing into each other like neither of us wants to move first.
It starts with a slow roll of her hips and heat slams through me like a tidal wave, my grip tightening at her waist.
“Fuck—careful.”
She does it again as her mouth brushes along my jaw.
The sound that leaves me is half warning, half need.
My hands travel lower, guiding her into place without thought, anchoring her exactly where she can take what she wants.
When her lips start to travel down my neck, my hips lift, searching for more.
“Katie,” I rasp, voice scraping like it’s been wrung out of me. “You don’t know what you do to me.”
She lifts her head, eyes steady and sure, confidence rolling off her in a way that makes her seem taller, brighter—a woman who knows what she wants.
“Oh,” she murmurs, mouth grazing mine, “I think I’m starting to.”
My hands frame her face before I even think to move. Her skin is warm beneath my palms, her lashes low, waiting. “I didn’t want tonight to turn into something sexual,” I admit, thumb sweeping her cheekbone. “I wanted you to relax. I just wanted to be with you, no expectations.”
Her lips curve, soft but knowing. “Cam…do you hear yourself?” She kisses me slow enough to scatter every intention I had of stopping her left. “You make me feel seen. You put this whole night together. And you’re shocked I’m turned on?”
I breathe out a laugh. “So free time and a decent man are all it takes?”
A wicked grin forms on her lips. “No. You’re what it takes.”
Then her voice dips, fingers curling into the back of my neck.
“Let me feel you,” she whispers. “I want to come, Cam.”
Something hot unfurls in my gut, sharp and thick and impossible to ignore. My voice is barely audible when I answer.
“Then use me,” I tell her. “Ride me right here. I want you shaking in my lap, Katie.”
Her response isn’t verbal, instead she presses her forehead to mine again and starts to move. Longer strokes this time, deeper pressure, her hands sliding up my shoulders for balance as her body finds rhythm.
The truck shifts with us. My fingers dig into her hips. Her breath stutters against my mouth. Every movement builds—heat and pressure and want that shortens every breath and blurs the edges of everything else.
Her forehead drops to my shoulder, her hands gripping me like she needs to hold as much as I do. Her body trembles, finding a pace that hits exactly right, over and over, pulling soft, helpless sounds from her throat that drive me fucking crazy.
“Cam, I’m close—” she whispers, breaking on my name like she’s barely holding on.
“I know,” I breathe, my own control unraveling fast, my cock reacting to every roll of her hips, every tremor, every ragged breath she spills into my neck. “I know, baby. I’ve got you.”
Heat snaps through my spine in one clean rush, without warning.
She trembles once, just enough to drag me over the edge with her.
I tuck my face into her shoulder as I come, arms locked around her body while we ride it out together, breath tangled, hearts hammering like we crossed a finish line we didn’t plan for.
She melts against me, chest pressed to mine, her fingers curling loosely in my hair. I hold her there, steadying both of us as everything slowly slips back into focus.
“Did you come?” she whispers through her breathing,
I nod, my head leaning back against the headrest. “Fuck yeah, I did.”
She giggles as she lifts and reaches into the back seat behind us over the console. Bending over like that puts her ass inches from my face, and I give it a light smack just because I can. “Don’t laugh, it’s your fault.”
She comes back to my lap with the towel. “You’ll need this, Wells.”
I take it and she kisses my cheek before climbing back into her seat.
We walk up to Knox and Brynn’s door and hear something that sounds suspiciously like Moana echoing from inside. Kate’s still flushed from earlier, hair a little mussed, and I have to take a steadying breath before opening my door.
Thank God my trunks are dry.
One knock and the door swings open. “Mommy! Coach Wells! I had ice cream! And pizza! And ice cream again!”
There’s a smear of chocolate along her cheekbone and what looks like glitter in her hair. Then I see Priscilla follow behind her with lopsided bows by her ears, tail wagging when I reach down to pet her.
Kate blinks. “Ice cream twice?”
Brynn appears behind Evie with the world’s guiltiest smile. “In my defense, she asked very politely.”
Knox comes out of the kitchen holding a paper towel, absolutely no remorse on his face. “Kid’s persuasive. Couldn’t let her down. She said it was ‘for her bones.’”
Evie nods vigorously. “Chocolate makes bones strong!”
“That’s…not science,” Kate mutters.
Knox shrugs, completely unbothered. “Eh, sounded legit at the time.”
Brynn elbows him. “You’re supposed to keep her calm, not hyped up like a feral squirrel. She’s been narrating the movie out loud for the last thirty minutes.”
Evie gasps dramatically. “Because Uncle Knox doesn’t know the GOOD parts.”
Knox lifts a brow. “You told me every part was the good part.”
“Exactly!” Evie declares, nodding like she just won a debate on national television.
I bite back a laugh. Kate loses the battle and smothers a smile in Evie’s hair as she lifts her up.
“Did you at least have fun?” she asks.
Evie’s eyes go wide. “This is the BEST house. Mommy, when I grow up, can I live here?”
Knox leans in. “We don’t do roommates.”
Brynn snorts. “You barely tolerate me.”
“Exactly.”
Evie pats his cheek sweetly. “It’s okay, Uncle Knox. I’ll bring snacks.”
He nods, solemn. “Alright. That changes things.”
Kate shakes her head as she melts at the sight of Evie happy, smudged with chocolate and buzzing from attention.
“Thank you,” she says to Brynn.
Brynn waves her off. “Anytime. Seriously. If you ever need a break, drop her off with us. We had so much fun.” She lowers her voice. “Knox loves animated movies.”
Knox holds up a hand. “Who told you that?”
Evie lifts her good arm in the air like she’s exacerbated. “I DID.”
Knox sighs dramatically, like he’s been exposed. “Can’t argue with the kid.”
Kate adjusts Evie on her hip and grabs her backpack from the couch. I move to open the door for them, and Evie reaches out to hand me something sticky.
“Coach Wells, I saved you a gummy bear. I kept it in my pocket for you.”
I take it between two fingers. “Uh…thanks?”
Kate groans. “Evie! We talked about pocket snacks!”
I turn to Knox and Brynn. “Thanks guys, I owe you one.”
They say goodbye and we walk to the truck.
Evie fills the ride home with stories, bouncing from glitter to dinosaurs to ice cream like her brain is on fast-forward.
By the time we reach the house, she’s fading, and the cab goes quiet in a peaceful way that makes me wish the drive were a little longer.