Today, and today only… that was a lie because I planned to carry on with this reward system for as long as I could… every time he aced a move, he got a kiss.
There was no one here who would see. The lone security guys, Jed, and Todd, didn’t bother with us at all. I wasn’t sure if that was something that Atlas had set up or if Finn had asked for total privacy, but it worked for me.
Finn was glowing with pride after socking a puck into the net, a high shot over my rather weak glove hand—Philippe, I was not—and skated into my crease wearing a comically large pucker. I gave him a playful shove away from the blue paint, then fished out the puck with the goalie paddle I’d borrowed from the storage room.
“Leave my crease before I am made to come unhinged on your face,” I snarled in my best Phillippe imitation.
Finn gaped, his face falling into a mournful expression that could win him an Oscar. “My heart… is broken,” he gasped, clutching at his chest, then falling into my arms.
I grabbed, then held him up, no small feat as he was a big man, and shook free from my catcher.
Finn fell back over my arm in true movie starlet faux faint form, his long lashes fluttering as his body went limp. Down to the ice we went, him on top, which I was learning, was a position the man really liked, and laid in the net facing each other.
“You’re a damn fool,” I chuckled while he pushed up to sit on my well-padded groin. He removed my borrowed mask from my head, all playfulness gone as his gaze burst into flame. He took off his helmet and flung it over his shoulder. I vaguely heard it hit the boards.
“I’m a fool for you, Cam,” he whispered, then spread himself over me and captured my mouth in a kiss that stole every rational thought I possessed. The temperature in the crease rose by about fifty degrees. How we weren’t lying in a puddle was beyond me. I threaded a hand into his hair, loving the dampness of his exertion in the thick gold mass of curls. We were both so padded up that any kind of sensation was minimal, but jeez, I was aroused when the kiss ended. Getting a boner while wearing a couple of cups was not comfortable in the least.
“I’m going to miss this,” I confessed, massaging his scalp just behind his ear. “I don’t get to make out with someone during most of my practices with the team. Coach frowns on frottage on the ice.” He smiled down at me, a lonely, soft smile that made me regret setting up this break. “I’m coming back. You know that right?”
“I know.” He wanted to say more it seemed, but he didn’t. Instead, he stole a fast kiss, pushed to his feet, and offered me his hand. Up I went as if I weighed nothing. We stood there in front of the net, both of us chewing on something, but neither daring to express whatever it was we were feeling. “Let’s get a little more work in before you have to catch your flight home.”
I nodded, picked up Phillippe’s old mask, and pulled it down over my head.
Time for that game face, Cameron.
It was good to be back home in Scottsdale enjoying the serenity of a post-dinner cocktail on my parents’ back deck.
I missed Finn, but I tried my hardest not to let it get in the way of my family time.
Kelly was beside me on a glider, Lyle and his lovely bride-to-be were sitting by the pool, swishing their naked toes in the water, and Mom and Dad were seated by the brick chimney sipping wine as Dad filled me in on life at the office. He was one of the top podiatrists in Scottsdale. Mom was a cosmetic dentist. To say they were well-off would be putting it mildly. But it hadn’t always been this way.
There had been lean times when they were just getting started in an affluent neighborhood that didn’t always take kindly to those of Mexican heritage. My mother’s family was from Guadalupe, and my father’s people from the United Kingdom. Mom liked to tease that at least two of her kids looked like the Escarra clan. Lyle, well, Lyle had the fair complexion that my father’s side of the family also had. He claimed it set him apart from his siblings, then asked for the SPF ten thousand sunscreen. Kelly, Mom, and I were dark-haired with skin that tanned with very little of the burning that Dad and Lyle suffered through.
They were now very comfortable in life, and all of their kids were successful in their own careers. Life was good for them, and I always felt a calm when I came home.
“… unwrapped the bindings to check on his ulcers when I discovered—”
“Morty, please, must we discuss foot issues over wine?” Mom asked, interrupting my father’s recounting of one Mr. Axel North, senator from the great state of Arizona, who at the age of ninety-two was having issues with his diabetic feet.
“You told Cameron about the porcelain veneers you did for the soda pop heiress,” Dad argued, without any real vinegar.
“Yes, and that was to remind all of our children and their soon-to-be wives that soda pop is terrible for your teeth. Acidic drinks can eat through your veneers.”
“Yes, Mama,” the three of us said by rote.
I did my best to not overdo on soda or coffee, not just for my pretty white teeth, but for my waistline. I did indulge more than I should, but so far, the coffee and sugar hadn’t gotten the better of me or my veneers. There were upsides to having a mom who fixed teeth for a living. So far, all of my veneers hadn’t been tested by a puck, stick, or too many cups of caffeine. It was only a matter of time though…
“Personally, I think coffee is repugnant,” Lyle called from the pool, his arms locked behind him, head tipped back to watch the stars blink to life overhead.
The backyard of my parents’ home was landscaped to match the surroundings. Lots of cactus and native flowers in low, rocky gardens, a pool with a splashing waterfall, and a covered patio with imported tiles and stonework walls that complimented the outside fireplace. The inside of the house was airy, open, and very much influenced by our Spanish culture. As were many of the mansions in this neighborhood.
“Did you know naturally brewed herbal tea is full of antioxidants? Carmine brews us a pot of purple tea daily. Perhaps you two should try brewing your own teas instead of wasting money buying those silly foamy coffees out all the time. Fiscally speaking, paring down eating out will save you at least a thousand dollars a year, which you could then invest in a solid IRA that will make your financial advisor proud.”
Kelly and I rolled our eyes. “Lyle, I don’t have a financial advisor, but if I did, I would tell him he had a better chance of seeing Jesus Christ than he did of prying my coconut milk iced macchiato out of my hands.”
Carmine laughed. Lyle sighed at his fiancée, as only a banker faced with a sister who liked frivolous coffee expenditures could.
“Since I can’t talk feet, I’m going to go sit with the girls. Cameron, it's beeeeen a while since you visited the hives,” Dad said, pleased at his bee pun.
I gave my little sister a peck on her smooth cheek, rose, and joined my father for a slow walk to the hives. Mom and Carmine started talking wedding, which brought Kelly into the conversation as she was the maid of honor. Carmine had claimed Kelly as her sister and me as her twin brother as we were the same age. She had no siblings, and her parents had died young, which was why my father was walking her down the aisle next year. We all adored Carmine. What she saw in Lyle was a mystery for the ages. Love is blind, as they say.