Chairs squeaked against the hardwood as figures rose, and I caught a glimpse of Tim Hall barreling toward us, no doubt looking for the first excuse to arrest Cam.
I stood, but Xander got there first.
“Hey, he didn’t even throw the punch.” Xander blocked Tim’s path.
“Oh yeah?” Oscar asked, and I moved to see what was happening. He swung at Cam again, but even as the crowd gasped, Cam grabbed Oscar’s fist, stopping the punch before it connected.
Holy moly, Cam was fast.
While Oscar still gawked, I grabbed Cam’s free hand. “Come with me.”
He looked down at me with an amused smirk.
“Now.” I let my glare speak volumes.
His smirk faded, and he followed as I dragged him past the bar and into the back room of Mother Lode, noting Charity’s nod toward the floor above us and giving her one of my own. At this moment, Cam needed to be out of sight and out of Tim Hall’s mind.
I waved to Marie, the cook, but didn’t stop, pulling Cam through the kitchen and storage rooms until we reached the stairs to Charity’s place. After climbing them, I unlocked her door with my four-digit code and led Cam into the apartment, shutting the door behind us.
“Rose is asleep upstairs, so don’t make a ruckus,” I warned him.
“Who the hell still says ruckus?”
I shot him another glare and yanked him through her living room, dining room, and into the kitchen, turning on lights as I went. “Sit,” I ordered, pointing to the kitchen table.
He sat.
Okay, that was enough to stun me for a good second or two. I couldn’t remember the last time Camden had done anything I’d asked…probably because it had never happened.
“Now what?” he questioned, mocking me with those dark eyes.
I spun, then opened Charity’s freezer and pulled out Rose’s ice pack. It was a slim unicorn with thin fabric and a glittery mane, sporting an ice pack in the belly. Shutting the freezer door, I turned back to Cam, wincing at the angry red mark blooming on his cheek.
To his credit, Cam didn’t complain as I placed the unicorn on the side of his face. “Hold that there.”
He complied. “It’s not that bad. I turned, so most of the force glanced right off. His ring didn’t even cut me.”
“How would you know?” I asked, lifting a corner of the unicorn to make sure Oscar hadn’t broken Cam’s skin with his class ring. “It’s not like you paused to look in the mirror.”
“I’ve been in hand-to-hand enough to know when my skin splits,” he answered in utter boredom.
“Well, that’s comforting,” I mumbled, noting that he was right. The skin was intact. “Why didn’t you hit him back? No one could have faulted you for it.” Okay, that was a lie. If there was fault to be found, Hall would have found it with Cam. Didn’t matter that Oscar hit first.
“I’m not giving Tim Hall a reason to run me out of town. It’s going to take a hell of a lot more than Oscar throwing a punch to provoke me into a physical fight, especially because I’m not feeling up to manslaughter charges.”
I searched his face for any hint that he was kidding and came up empty. “You think you could kill a man with your bare hands?”
His eyebrows rose slightly. “Don’t think. I know. I’m not the same kid I was when I left here a decade ago, Willow.” There was a wealth of experience in his eyes that I both longed to understand and desperately wanted to ignore. While I’d been away at art school learning about beauty, Cam had been at war.
“That’s obvious. The Cam I knew would have thrown the first punch and never looked back.” Leaving the rest of us to pick up the inevitable mess.
He brushed his hand over where mine lingered at the unicorn. “I’m still the Cam you knew, just not the one everyone else did. Same Cam, with better decision-making.”
The touch had happened so fast, I wondered if I’d imagined it.
Cam cocked his head to the side. “Rose is up.”
“What? How do you—” Sure enough, before I could finish my question about his freaky ninja skills, my nine-year-old niece popped her head into the kitchen, sporting a Taylor Swift pajama set.
“Aunt Willow?” she asked, her big brown eyes way too alert for just waking up. Her chestnut curls were still braided in perfect, smooth piggies, too.
“Hey, Rosie. Sorry we were so loud.” I glanced at the clock and read eight thirty. Charity must have just put her to bed before checking on the bar.
Rosie’s eyes swung to Cam, a little note of shock widening them. “Oh! Hi! Who are you?” she asked.
“Camden Daniels. Nice to meet you, Rosie.” His voice softened, which softened me.
“You too,” she replied, looking to me for reassurance.
“Cam has been a friend since we were kids. He grew up next door to your mom and me.”
“Like Mayor Daniels?” She snuck another peek at Cam.
“Yep, he’s my older brother,” Cam replied.
“Oh. I like him!”
“Everyone does.”
“We just needed to borrow your unicorn really quick,” I told Rose, opening my arms. She walked straight into them, hugging me tight. “Need anything?” I asked before dropping a kiss on the top of her head.
“Nope. Just heard the door beep and thought it was Mom.”
“She’s still downstairs, but I think she’s just checking up on things. She’s not working tonight. Want me to get her?”
She shook her head against my chest. “Nope, I’m okay. Love you, Aunt Willow.” She gave me an extra-hard squeeze.
“Love you, Rose.”
“Thanks for letting me borrow your unicorn,” Cam told her, pulling the ice pack from his face.
Rose’s nose scrunched. “You’re welcome…and you should probably put it back on.” She nodded in encouragement. “That’s gonna leave a mark,” she finished in a tone so like Charity’s that I couldn’t help but laugh.
“I’ll do just that.” Cam immediately put the unicorn on his face.
I let her go, and she gave Cam a shy nod before heading back up to her room.
“Charity doesn’t bring men here, so you probably gave Rose the shock of her life,” I told him, leaning back against the counter. “Even when Gabe comes to get her for visitation, Charity makes him wait downstairs. Not that I blame her. He didn’t show back up until Rose was two.”