Teasing Hands (12 page)

“I’m not surprised
.” Court shrugged apologetically. “He’s always been an ass. Sorry, Mandi.” I waved her off. It was the truth, and it took his leaving for me to see how one-sided our relationship had been. “Hunter’s an insecure and possessive jerk who left you for purely selfish reasons.”

“Let’s just say that my friend didn’t take it well. Words were exchanged
, and then Hunter was knocked on his ass for being rude to me.” Laughter bubbled out as I replayed the image in my head. “That part I enjoyed, and can you believe Hunter had the nerve to act offended when I told him to leave? In his head, he believes he still has a claim over me.”

“And he doesn’t?” Jennifer hedged softly.

“No.” I’d never been more sure of my feelings, than I was at that moment. There was nothing left in me for him. “But it didn’t end there…oh, no. Then, he proceeded to inform me that Mom had invited him for dinner and to not be late!”

“Jesus.” Courtney shook her head and squeezed my hand.

“It was one clusterfuck after another. From our encounter, to my lunch with Cam—”

“Cam?” Steph
interrupted.

Picking the label o
ff my bottle, I nodded. “Yeah, his name is Camden.” Courtney smiled at me. She knew who he was, and by the look on her face, she’d put the pieces together. She now knew why every Wednesday for the last couple of weeks I’d been at the spa. “He’s great, but it won’t work between us.”

“Why?” Jennifer jumped in
, not missing a beat. My eyes wandered back over to the water, and I sighed. The water reminded me of him, and his absence hurt. It shouldn’t feel like this.

I d
idn’t know why it felt like this with him.

“Because all he wants is a fuck buddy
, and that’s not me. Do I like him? Yes, but eventually emotions will get involved, and I don’t want to end up hurt.”

“Then don’t let them get involved. Walk away before they do.” It was easier said than done, but I didn’t say that to Steph.

“Over lunch yesterday, we argued, and I left him with an ultimatum of sorts. I told him he was on borrowed time.” Taking in a deep breath, I let the smell of the sea fill my lungs. Once upon a time, that smell calmed me, but now it wrecked my fragile nerves. He smelled of the sun and waters that crashed upon the shore before me. “Then, I get home and Hunter’s there, all smiles, sitting with Mom in the living room. There’s no other way to explain what happened, but I exploded.”

“You know I love your mom, Mandi, but she’s out of line.” Courtney pursed her lips in displeasure
. “She ambushed you, and what? Expected that because he was there, and smiling, you’d fall into his arms?”

“Something like that.”

“Fuck Hunter.” Steph’s voice held so much venom as she spat his name. “He walked away. Just left and didn’t care. He doesn’t deserve a single minute of your time. I say have fun with this Camden guy and let Hunter crawl back into the hole he came from.”

“Amen.” The other two agreed.

“What about Mom, though?”

“Susana loves you and worries
. It’s normal. Talk to her and explain how betrayed you felt and that she needs to respect your decisions enough to not interfere.” Jennifer was right. Mom loved me and wanted nothing but the best for me, but her idea of what I needed and mine were very different.

“Okay.” Court stood and dusted the sand of her ass. “Enough with the heavy shi
t—let’s get in the water and enjoy this beautiful day.”

Laughing, I pushed her back on her ass and ran toward the water. Enough was enough
, and they were right. Hunter walked away, and I no longer loved him. He didn’t matter.

Talking to them helped
. Made me rationalize things that last night seemed like a lost cause, that overwhelmed me. Not one of them involved my ex.

They all surrounded the man with beautiful eyes and strong hands that had turned my quiet life on its ass. A man that no matter how much I knew would hurt me, I couldn’t walk away from.

13

“Jesus.” I groaned in pain. We’d been at camp for the last few days and I wanted to die. The kids were brutal—a good kind of brutal—and my body was protesting. Laughter exploded next to me, and I rolled my eyes. “Shut it, Matt.”

Matt was a counselor here, only two years older than me and cute. He’d become good friends with the girls and me. Didn’t hurt that he was also very gay and completely at ease with all the bull crap we gossiped about.

He’d been a distraction. Fun. Matt doesn’t let me dwell on my problems at home or the many phone calls from Hunter and Camden I’d ignored.

“Get up, champ,” he snickered and pulled me up to my feet. I’d been l
aying on the grassy area next to the basketball court for the last ten minutes trying to rest up. The kids had been called in for lunch, and I was still trying to regulate my breathing. “How is it that the state champion is already sore? You should be used to this much physical activity.”

My first instinct was to flip him off, but I couldn’t. Not while at the camp site, at least. Instead, I maturely stuck my tongue out and walked over to my gym bag by the makeshift bleachers. Opening the bag, I pulled out a bottle of water and took a few sips.

The heat index was above a hundred today, and I was feeling every scorching degree.

“It’s not that I’m tired.” Matt rolled his eyes at my obvious lie. I’d done nothing but whine since they left to eat. “Fine. I’m exhausted. Not even our coach’s most rigorous drill could have prepared me for those tween overachievers. They
were amazing, but damn, they didn’t give me second to catch my breath.”

Matt nodded and took a seat beside me on the bench. “This group is hungry to learn. Excited. Can you blame them, though? You have to remember what it’s like to be that age and competitive.”

With a smile on my face, I bumped his shoulder. “I do. Probably was a lot worse too.”

“You’re horrible now,” he laughed. “The way you coach and work them through the drills…I would have hit you with a basketball already, right to the back of the head when you weren’t looking.”

“Ass,” I muttered low and raised my head to hit him when my phone rang, pulling my attention toward my gym bag.

“But you love me
,” Matt sang, and I laughed. The man could be such a dork at times.

The phone stopped ringing, only to begin again a few seconds later. There was only one way to explain why I picked up my phone, and it could only be described as instinctual. It was second nature to grab the small device and swipe my finger over its screen. I was an idiot.

“Hello,” the voice on the other end yelled, and I flinched. Camden sounded angry. “Amanda, where the hell are you…it’s already ten minutes pass three.”

“Answer, woman,” Matt urged, and it was a huge mistake. I knew the moment the innocent words passed through his lips that this would blow up into something unnecessary.

“Cam—”

“Who the fuck was that?” Camden interrupted, his anger barely contained. He had a lot of nerve. My mind told me to hang up, that he didn’t have the right to question me. We were nothing.

My heart, the idiotic muscle, pumped furiously at the mere sound of his voice. My skin flushed, and it wasn’t the sun’s punishing beams that caused the pink hue. It was him. The memory of what occurred just last week.

“Hello, Camden. How are you?” Even Matt gave me raised eyebrow at my nonchalant response. It was beyond me how I managed to speak with the sudden dryness in my mouth.

The images of us last week hit me all at once.

How commanding he was, the way he tugged furiously on his cock as he watched my fingers disappear between my soaked lips during our last session. 

“I asked a question,
gatita
.” He snarled. “Who the fuck was that?” A shiver ran through me, and Matt’s eyes widened as he realized what this man’s mere voice did to me.

If it weren’t for the fucked up situation I was now caught in, even I’d laughed at my bumbling behavior.

“I’m going to…” Matt pointed toward the campsite’s mess hall. “Yeah, I’ll catch you later, Mandi.”

Nodding, I turned to face the empty basketball court. “Watch the tone, Camden. I don’t owe you an explanation
. We’re nothing, remember? Just two people that hooked up. No strings.”

There was a sudden loud crash that made me gasp, like glass meeting a hard surface and shattering. My absence couldn’t have affected him that much. I didn’t matter to him.

“What do you want?” I asked, deflated, tired in every sense of the word.

“You,
here
with me.” The frustrated sigh that escaped him didn’t evade my notice. I could almost see him pacing the floor of his massage room, jaw set in a hard line.

“I’m getting tired of you pulling me in with one hand, only to push me away with the other.” My legs felt weak, unsteady as I sat down again on the bench. “You can’t have it both ways.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,
gatita
. I’m tired of wanting you so much—I can’t look at another woman without feeling guilt. Misplaced guilt, because last I checked, I belong to no fucking one.”

Fuck. Those words hurt.
“When have I asked you to belong to me?” There was a basketball on the floor next to the bench I was sitting on. Before I could stop myself, I kicked it with all my might. The ball flew across the court and into a small bush on the other side. It was either that, or punch the wooden bench, and I couldn’t afford to hurt my hand. “You’re the one calling, getting jealous and demanding answers to questions you have no right to ask.”

“Amanda…fuck.” His breathing was harsh and angry. “Look,
gatita
, I don’t want to fight. All I wanted to know is where you were. Why you aren’t here?’

“I…” Grabbing a small hand towel from my bag, I wiped my face down and took in a deep breath. “I’m at a summer camp for teenage athletes. It’s a county-wide program for these kids, and I participate every year, along with the girls from my team.”

“Team?” Camden asked.

“Yes, team.” How did he not know this? “I play for the University of Miami’s women’s basketball team.”

“Really? What position?”

Did he think I was bullshitting him? “Point guard,” I huffed while looking up toward the heavens. The clouds were coming out, and the sky had started to darken. “I’ve played since the age of ten
. It’s my dream to play in the WNBA.”

“But you’re so tiny.” There was a small tinge of awe in his voice.

“I’m five-six you ass, not tiny at all. I’m average height, but deadly on the court. There’s a reason why we’re state champions.”

“Holy shit
,” Camden breathed out. “You’re serious?”

“Like a heart attack.” The sky opened up then, the rain coming down on me in a light sprinkling. His breathing on the other end had calmed down some. Slowed. “Listen, Cam—”

“When can I see you?” It wasn’t a request. More like a command disguised as one.

“Don’t know,” I breathed out slow. I’d already begun walking toward the nearest cabin. “We’re scheduled to be here for the rest of the week. I’ll call you.”

“Are you in town?” Camden pushed. It felt good to know he missed me. At the least, he missed my body and the wetness that pooled between my thighs for him.

“I am, but I’ll be busy until next week.”  A small pang of hurt fluttered through my chest. It sucked. As much as I hated admitting this, I missed him. Missed the way he made me feel when I was within his arms. His touch. “Promise I’ll call you when I get back home.”

“Not good enough. I need to see you,
gatita
.” It was the first time I’d heard him be so open. Vulnerable. “Please.”

“Don’t put me on the spot like this.” The rain had picked up, as the heavens opened and poured down around me. “I miss you.”

His sharp intake of breath let me know he’d heard. “Miss you, too.” It was said low, almost too low for me to hear.

“Good.”
Really…good?

“Good,” he mimicked with a bit of mirth. “How about you have fun doing this camp
thing and call me the second you get home?”

“Maybe.” I threw my head back and laughed. The conversation had taken on a much lighter tone. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Or I can always come looking for you. See who was—”

“Camden,” I interrupted.

“Yeah?”

“I’ll see you next week, and by the way…
”

“What?”

“He’s gay.” Swiping my finger across the screen, I disconnected the call before he could utter another word. My phone rang two seconds after I’d hung up. His name flashed across the screen. I hit ignore and made a mad dash across the wet pavement toward the counselor’s lounge.

With this weather, it was obvious that the afternoon’s activities were canceled for the day. Maybe I’d be lucky and catch a nap—I doubted it, and the looks my girls
were giving me as I entered only confirmed this. As I took a seat next to Courtney, I knew one thing for certain.

There would be no sleeping in my near future.

“Spill,” Courtney said, confirming my suspicions.

“I’m home,” I yelled into the empty kitchen, dropping my bag next to the door. They were home; I’d seen both of their cars parked inside our spacious garage. “Where is everyone?”

“In the living room.” Dad’s deep baritone voice carried over from the other side of the house. The last time I’d come home and they were in the living room, things hadn’t ended well. That fight still hadn’t been discussed. Avoidance had been key by both parties involved.

“How was camp, sweetheart?” Mom looked up from her magazine long enough to ask. She seemed hesitant still.

“Mom,” I said with my eyes firmly set on hers. “I’m sorry.”

She was out of her seat and hugging me to her before I finished my sentence. “No, Mandi. I’m sorry…so sorry. I just thought you’d be happy,” she cried, her tears falling onto my thin tank top. “Thought you still loved him.”

Shaking my head, I pulled back enough for her to see my face. “Not anymore. The Hunter you know, and the one I dated— they are to very different people. He’s a jerk, and I never want to see him again.”

Mom swiped her fingers under my eyes, catching the stray tears that fell. “What did he do?”

“Did he ever say why he left?”

She shook her head
. “No.”

“Then sit down. I think it’s time you find out the
real reason why he threw me away.” Looking toward the chair Dad had occupied, I found it empty. It was better this way. There were just some things no father needed to hear.

Especially if they were as overprotective as mine tended to be.

Mom sat down on the love seat and pulled me down next to her. With my hand in hers, she spoke. “Please, tell me.”

“There isn’t a simple way for me to say this, so here goes.” I took in a deep breath then and told her everything. Why he left, and why I wasn’t enough—the fight outside last week and what he wanted from me.

“I’m sorry, baby,” Mom croaked beside me. “I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay.” Wrapping my arm around her shoulder, I pulled her close and gave her a squeeze before wiping away the few tears that had fallen. “Look, I know you meant well, but next time…talk to me. Don’t assume, okay?”