“You told him no?” Hadley leaned forward.
“I can’t bear dealing with him through an entire house renovation. And I don’t want him paying out of pocket for anything. Plus, I don’t need his help. Ollie and I are doing just fine.” She held up a different finger for each excuse, one-two-three.
She’d certainly given this some thought.
“Do you think he still wears black all the time?” Darla mused as she grabbed a blue-cheese-crusted wing. “He’s so dark and broody and sexy. There’s a story there, Kit. Waiting to be unlocked.”
Hadley would’ve teased, too, but she could tell Kit was growing even more uncomfortable.
“I’m changing the subject,” Kit said. “I’ve already said no. It was just a little bit of a shock hearing from him after all this time.” She folded the letter back into the envelope and flicked her gaze to Hadley. “How’s everything going after the roof disaster?”
“The roof’s getting fixed,” she said. She did not want to discuss the roof. Or the kiss.
“It hasn’t discouraged Cam from pursuing the building?” Darla asked. “I was sort of hoping that would happen.”
“Of course not,” Hadley said. “Cam is like a missile locked on a target. Nothing stops him from getting what he wants.” It had been like that with football and everything else he’d set his sights on. Once, it had been that way with her too.
Kit took a sip of her chocolate martini. “But surely this competition, or whatever it is, is giving you two opportunities to work together and reconnect?”
“The only thing we’ve done together is mop up water from the floor. And that ended in disaster.”
Oh no. It had taken less than thirty seconds to spill to her friends.
“Disaster?” Kit asked.
“It’s nothing,” Hadley rushed to say. “Just that the gross drop-down ceiling was caving in from all the water and he pushed me out of the way. I literally fell into his arms and…”
“Oh no.” Darla tried to disguise her smile with her hand. “Not on the floor of Pooch Palace.”
“Nothing happened,” Hadley said hurriedly. “It was just a kiss.” She shrugged. “Okay, quite a kiss. Like, a ten out of ten. Old hormones just took over.”
Both of her friends stopped eating and stared at her. “It was an accident.” Hadley wished she hadn’t brought it up. “We both regret it. He told me so today. It was just the weird situation and the fact that I landed on top of him…”
“Of course,” Darla said. “I mean, when I accidentally fall on top of men, I always kiss them. That would be a natural reaction.”
Kit giggled. “Darla’s right. That kind of thing doesn’t happen by accident. Especially with you two.”
“He’s not happy it happened. And…and I’m not either. It’s just that I’ve had moments where I’ve seen this other side of him and those are…confusing me.” There. She’d said it and felt an immediate sense of relief at telling her friends. Who wouldn’t judge her. Too much.
Darla raised an elegant brow. “Moments?”
“He brought my grandmother a bouquet of flowers when she was in the hospital that he took the time to pick from her garden. And he gave this cute—well, it was a little boring, but still—inspirational spiel to the boys on the football team. And he talks this silly nonsense to Jagger, sort of treats him like he’s an AKC breed instead of a gangly one-eyed mutt. And part of the reason he wants to do a restaurant is to help his sister out. Not that any of that excuses him but—”
“Whatever happened to ‘Cam’s a jerk’?” Darla asked.
“Well, he did sort of apologize for that,” Hadley said.
Of course, Darla jumped right on that. “Sort of?”
“He said he ended things before I could break up with him. He felt certain I would once I left for New York. He said he was sorry.”
“For breaking up with you?” Darla said.
“Uh-oh.” Kit shared a look with Darla.
“What?” Hadley said. “What’s the uh-oh for?”
Kit licked the wing sauce off her fingers, then wiped them on her napkin. “He’s sorry. He’s single. You two kissed.” She threw up her hands. “Do I have to spell out the possibilities?”
Hadley watched her friends chuckle. She shouldn’t have gone so easy on Kit for sure.
“There’s something else,” Hadley said. “He let something slip at the football field. He said he felt like an imposter talking to the boys. Someone who can’t practice what he preaches. Weird, huh? When he’s one of the most famous football players in the world.”
“Wait a minute,” Kit said. “He told you he feels like an imposter?”
“I don’t think he meant to say it. It just kind of came out.”
“That’s…that’s really telling, Hadley,” Kit said.
Darla nodded in agreement. “Cam has always had a big personality—confident, fun. To say something like that…well, that sounds serious. Especially after what happened to him.”
“Maybe he’s struggling,” Kit said. “For a man who’s had such a huge amount of success, it’s probably terrifying to be sort of free-falling like he is.”
“But he’s a bajillionaire,” Hadley said. “He can do anything he wants. Or nothing.”
Darla shook her head. “I can’t imagine Cam ever doing nothing.”
“And yet his main goal seems to be going after a crumbly old building in the middle of his hometown. That happens to belong to your grandma.” Kit leaned forward. “Why do you think that is?”
Hadley lifted her shoulders and hands in a demonstrative shrug. “Because he lives to torture me?”
Kit tapped her lips, something she always did when she was in deep thought. “Maybe he’s latching on to this so tightly because he’s…afraid.”
Hadley snorted. “He’s six four and built like a tank. Cam’s not afraid of anything.”
“I mean, like, of failure,” Kit said. “If he fails at this, what has he got? He’s not one to rely on his past achievements like some people would do, especially if he’s thinking he’s an imposter. Maybe he’s looking for something else to replace his football career—in a desperate sort of way.”
Darla put down her glass. “A career-ending injury might be like cancer. I’m sure it changes your life in ways you can’t even imagine.”
Kit nodded solemnly. “Maybe he’s sort of subconsciously reaching out to you—the kiss, the little confession—at a time when he feels a little…confused. I mean, that’s probably a foreign feeling for him.”
“I don’t know if you’re right,” Hadley said, “but that’s a lot to think about.” Cam at a crossroads and confused—yes, it did make sense. And it might also explain why he was reaching out but then pushing her away.
“Sorry if I’m a little too enthusiastic,” Kit said. “I’ve already made it through the entire online general psych curriculum from Princeton.”