41. Talia
forty-one
Talia
“Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in.”
My cheeks burn as Mark Miller grins up at me.
How on earth did Nico get me a seat right next to Cam’s parents?
The nervous butterflies in my stomach flutter. I didn’t consider seeing Cam’s parents tonight, let alone wonder how they would feel about me showing up. They probably hate me for ruining Cam’s game.
“It’s about time you showed up.” Mark’s eyes sweep over my outfit, and he winks at me in approval. “Jersey looks good on you.”
“Knock it off, you old coot. You’re embarrassing her.” Mrs. Miller smacks him on the shoulder and turns to me. “Talia, we are just so happy to see you, dear. Cam is going to be thrilled.”
My unease dissipates at their warm welcome.
“Thank you.” I let out a deep breath, and my shoulders relax. I lean over and give each of them a hug. “It’s so good to see you both. I hope you and the rest of the Millers are well?”
“We are now.” Mark wiggles his eyebrows, giving me déjà vu.
I can’t help but chuckle. He and Cameron are so much alike it’s scary.
“Ignore him. Everyone is doing lovely. Mason and Emery are expecting.” Karen beams. You can feel the joyful energy radiating around her. It’s warm and fuzzy, and totally infectious .
“That’s amazing. Congratulations. Grandbaby number four. How exciting for you two. Cam mentioned that you might move north to be near them?”
Mark waves his hand. “Nonsense. As long as my boy plays for the Evaders, this is our home.”
Karen smiles. “Do you know how much it rains in Oregon? Too much. We need the sun. We were thinking half the time there and half the time here.”
That makes me think of Mason and Emery’s old house and how Cam thought about buying it for himself. I should bring up giving it to his parents instead.
Cool your jets. He still needs to accept your apology.
“That’s a really wonderful idea. Your grandkids will love that. And don’t tell him I told you, but Cam will appreciate it too.”
Mark throws his head back and cackles.
Karen sniggers. “He might be a grown man, but he’s still our baby.”
“Big baby,” I tease.
We all laugh at Cam’s expense. The three of us continue chatting until the Evaders take the field for warmups.
Nico walks out in his gear, his eyes on the stands. When he sees me, he smirks and gives me a small wave. He walks over to home plate and squats. I watch him throw the ball and field a couple of plays with the guys playing infield. Nico’s always had a rocket of an arm.
I look away, searching. My eyes only want one thing—the man who makes my heart skip a beat.
“There he is,” Karen whispers, pointing at Cam as he walks into the dugout.
“Is he pitching tonight?” I ask, worrying my lips.
“Yep,” Mark responds. “I think you should walk down to the netting. Make yourself seen.”
I bite my lip. “You think? I don’t want to mess up his game. ”
“Too late for that, kiddo. Now, get your ass up.” There is no prevaricating with Cam’s dad. They are cut from the same cloth.
“Mark,” Karen chides.
“Hush, woman.” He kisses her cheek, making her blush.
They are so sweet together. I hope to have a relationship like theirs. With Cam.
“Talia, Cam needs to see you before he gets up there. Seeing you will help him get his head in the game. Now, go on. Tell your brother to help you.”
Okay, I can do this.
“Okay.”
“Atta girl.” Mark smiles in approval again, and it warms my heart.
Karen squeezes my hand. “He’s going to love seeing you.”
Deep breath in, I stand and walk down the aisle towards home plate, where Nico squats. I notice a few women staring at me as I approach the protective netting separating the fans from the field. Palms sweaty, I grip the net. My heart is beating so fast it feels like it’s going to fly out of my chest.
“Nico,” I shout.
He holds up his hands to the third baseman—indicating he needs a timeout—before getting up. All swagger and cocky charm, my brother walks over to me. I’m pretty sure the women giving me daggers just swooned. Nico lifts the catcher’s mask off his face and looks at my shirt. Sticking his finger in his mouth, he pretends to gag.
I roll my eyes. The dummy knew I would wear it. He can’t help giving me a hard time.
“You’re horrible,” I admonish him.
“Yeah, yeah. Are you ready?” he asks.
“I’m ready. How do I look?” It’s California in the dead of summer, so I stuck with a pair of sneakers, cutoff jean shorts, a crop tank, and the jersey.
“Disgusting.”
“Thanks, jerk.”
“Don’t ask me shit like that. You’re my baby sister.”
“Fair. Now, can you hurry up and call him over here? Don’t let him see me until he’s at the net.”
It’s Nico’s turn to roll his eyes, but he turns around and shouts for Cam, waving him over. “Miller. I need you to autograph something for me.”
I peek over Nico’s shoulder to find Cam looking rather suspicious at my brother’s request.
“Hurry up, bro.”
Cam’s eyebrows lift to his hairline.
“Bro?” I ask.
“Shut up,” Nico whispers to me. “He won’t come over here if I act like a dick.”
I cover my mouth and chuckle. Cam totally wouldn’t.
In the end, Cam is too nice to say no, so he grabs something from a bag on the bench, then walks toward us.
“What’s up, Romero?” Cam asks.
“I just need you to sign this chick’s jersey.” Nico steps aside, revealing me on the other side of the net.
Cam’s protest dies on his lips when he sees me. His eyes flare in disbelief, his jaw hanging open. Solid ten seconds pass without either of us speaking.
I take the time to check him out.
Damn.
Cameron looks hot as hell in his white and blue uniform. His hair flips out from underneath his hat in that sexy way I like. A five-o’clock shadow covers his square jaw. Images of him wearing his jersey wide open and his tight baseball pants unzipped while I ride him have me squeezing my thighs together.
“Hey, big guy.” My voice is thick and raspy.
“Fucking gross. I’m out,” Nico groans, breaking the spell. He slaps Cam in the chest. “Take care of her.” Then he throws up a peace sign and walks away, mumbling .
“Baby, are you really here, or am I dreaming?” Cam asks, still in shock.
“I’m really here.”
He steps closer, bringing us chest to chest. He grips my hands with his fingers through the netting. “Please tell me this means what I think it means.”
As Cam’s warm hazel eyes stare into my steel-gray ones, I know without a doubt it was stupid to question his love for me.
“If you think this means that I came to get you because I love you, then yes, this is what you think.” I turn around and show him the other side of my jersey, where his name sits on my back. “You like it?”
“Fuck me,” Cam groans. The heat of his gaze is like a torch to my nerve endings, lighting me on fire. “You might just be the hottest woman alive wearing my name on your back, and the only one I will ever call mine.”
My tummy dips and swirls at his declaration. I turn around and place my hands over his fingers in the netting this time. “I like the sound of that. Does that mean you’re mine?”
A salacious grin spreads across his face. “More than you know. I can’t wait to show you how much later.”
My nerves settle, knowing me and Cam are going to be okay. I was freaking out for no reason. But I still want him to know I regret putting distance between us over the last few weeks. “I’m sorry it took me so long to get here. I—”
Cam cuts me off. “Baby, I don’t care how long it took; I’m just glad you’re here. I love you so fucking much. Now, stick those sexy-as-fuck lips in the net and kiss me.”
I’ll have to show him how sorry I am in private. For now, I do as he asks and place my mouth in the middle of the gap. Cam presses his mouth to mine. We can’t do anything more than touch lips, but I can feel it all the way to my toes.
That electric spark that shocked me the first time I kissed him fires through my system .
The roar of the crowd cheering and clapping has me pulling away. My face is on fire, and I’m afraid to look around to see everyone staring. “I should probably get used to the attention.”
“Don’t worry about them, itty bitty. I’ll protect you,” Cam croons. “It’s just you and me. Where are you sitting?”
“Next to your parents.”
His eyes widen in surprise. Gah, he’s so cute when he makes that face. “Perfect. I’ll be able to see you the entire night.”
“Will I distract you?” I didn’t realize I was going to be in his line of sight.
Cam drops his voice so only I can hear. “No. Seeing your face is going to make me want to strike out every motherfucker as fast as I can, so I can get you home and onto my dick wearing only that jersey as soon as possible.”
My thighs clench, and my clit tingles just thinking about being back in his big, strong arms as he takes charge of my body and takes it to new heights. “So crude.”
“And you love it.”
He’s right. It’s one of the many things that had me—and my panties—falling faster than his eighty-miles-per-hour change-up. “I really do. I missed you and your big—”
Cam presses a finger to his lips. “Hold that thought for later. I can’t pitch with a hard-on.”
“Miller. Quit kissing the fans and get your ass over here. We have a game to play,” Coach Anson shouts, forcing us apart. The old guy is smiling under his big, bushy mustache as he tips his hat at me.
“Coming, Coach,” Cam shouts over his shoulder before he smashes his face into the netting and kisses me again. “I gotta go, baby. Can you meet me by the locker room, or do I need to send someone to get you?”
I pull out the lanyard pass in my back pocket and dangle it in the air. “Nico took care of it for me. I’ll see you soon. ”
He backs away, rubs at the side of his hat where our picture sits, and shouts, “I love you, Talia Romero.”
The crowd cheers as Cam outs me as Nico’s sister.
A glove hits Cameron on the back of the head. “Knock it off, Romeo. Just because I said you can date her, it doesn’t mean you get to kiss her in front of me.”
“Get used to it,” I yell at my brother.
He rubs his nose with his middle finger. I erupt in a fit of giggles.
It’s going to take some time for Nico to get used to seeing me and Cam together, but he’ll come around. Well, he better, because I plan on kissing Cam all the time for the rest of my life. Nico has already taken steps in the right direction, coming to terms with his misplaced anger towards Cameron, and I couldn’t be happier.
My eyes find Cam’s as he watches me, a soft smile on his sexy lips. I don’t know how I got lucky enough to find a man who looks at me the way Cam is now, like I’m his entire world. I hope he can see the same thing when I look at him.
He’s my sexy baseball god. The popular boy who falls for the nerdy girl. My Romeo climbing my balcony in my time of need. My everything.
“Have a good game, big guy. I’m counting on you to win tonight.”
“If I win, will you move in with me?” he asks.
My heart stops. Did he really just ask me to move in with him?
Yes. Yes, he did.
Aside from the fact that my boyfriend just asked a very important question in front of thousands of people, there is only one answer.
I tap my lips like I have to think about it and shrug. “Guess you’ll find out after the game.”
“Oh, you’re moving in. Just you wait and see.” He taps the spot over his heart with his finger and points it at me before jogging to the mound for his warmup .
My cheeks hurt from smiling as I watch Cam throw a few pitches.
I think back to the first night we met. From the start, being with Cam has been like being home. He’d do anything to make me happy, even walk away. I don’t think my heart could have fallen in love with a better man.
A man who makes me feel strong and beautiful.
A man who listens to me and supports me in any way he can.
A man who makes my heart go pitter-patter and my panties erupt in flames.
A man I love more than life itself.