Beyond the Game (Out of Reach 2)

“Last I checked, they were your team too,” I remind him.

He nods. “Blaze is in our blood,” he says with a grin. “So, that was Cameron?”

I want to crawl under the bleachers. It’s bad enough our kiss was all over the world, but for Dad to catch us, when the kiss was for us, and not for the world, it feels intimate, and I don’t know how to handle that. I’ve always been a daddy’s little girl, and I hate these awkward conversations. My little sisters owe me big time for breaking him in before they get to the dating-and-kissing-boys stage.

“That was Cameron.”

“He’s good.”

“He is,” I agree.

“You two together now?”

“We’re—complicated,” I tell him honestly.

“Is he good to you?”

I think back to last night. He held me all night long, and not once did he try anything. Not that I would have been opposed to it, but he gave me his word, and he kept it. Then this morning, he insisted on making me breakfast, and he just wanted to hang out with me. “He’s good to me,” I assure my father.

“No one will ever be good enough for you and your sisters. You know that, right?” He chuckles.

“Don’t worry, Daddy, you set the bar high,” I remind him, wrapping my arms around him again in a hug. “We know what true love looks like after watching you and Mom. We’re not going to settle for anything less.”

“Is that what this Cameron guy is to you? True love?” His brows furrow.

“We’re talking? Dating? I guess you could say. It’s still new and way too soon for declarations of love.”

“He seems pretty intense. I watched him watching you throughout the game.”

I blush, hearing that Dad witnessed Cameron and his intensity. “He’s not pushing you, is he?”

“No.” I’m quick to defend. “He’s not. I promise you. I wouldn’t put up with that. He’s just… very sure of this. Of us. He wants to see where this goes.”

“What do you want, P?”

“I want it all. I want my job with the team, I want Cameron to get a permanent spot on the Blaze, and I want him,” I admit out loud for the first time ever. And to my dad, no less.

Dad nods. He looks a little sad, but I always knew this would be hard for him. I was his first little girl. As I said, my sisters owe me big time.

“I should get this cleaned up and get in there in case they need me.”

“All right.” He hugs me tight again. “Love you, princess.”

“Love you too, Dad.”

“I want to meet him. Officially.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” I tell him—already making up excuses of why I could put the meeting off. Then I remember I’m meeting Cameron’s mom tonight. This is moving really fast, but to my surprise, it feels right. My mom used to tell me how she fought my dad when they first started dating. She said he was so sure, so confident that she and I were what he wanted, but she resisted. Here they are, years of marriage and three kids later, and they’re still madly in love. I know it’s possible. I guess I never considered it would happen to me. I’m not saying that I’m in love with Cameron, but I’m definitely in like. A whole lot of like.

Chapter 10

Cameron

It takes extreme effort not to glare at Miller when I enter the locker room. He didn’t do anything wrong except put his hands on her. It was respectful, and that’s the only reason I’m not throwing hands with my new teammate.

Many of the guys already know I’ve got my sights set on Paisley. It wasn’t hard to put two and two together when I asked them where she was and which bus she was on during our away game this week.

That’s the effect that she has on me. She’s all I think about. Hell, even when I’m on the field, she’s on my mind, and that never happens to me. Usually, when I’m on the field, it’s just me and the game, but from the day I met her, she’s been there, always on my mind.