Aftermath (24 page)

"Wish me luck," Austin drawled.

Cam snickered, grabbed a tray, and loaded it up with the pitcher of iced tea from the fridge, a couple beers, and a glass, then headed to the patio where Bourbon was jumping in and out of the pool. He could swim just fine, but he didn’t like it. He did, however, love to cool off. So, he'd jump in a couple times, then go lie down in the shade with his bowl of water and whatever dog bone Cam had given him.

"You nervous?" Landon asked, nodding in thanks for the beer.

Cam shrugged and focused on the iced tea, never wanting to admit weaknesses.

"She'll adore you," Jules said confidently. "Austin's parents will, too."

"You've never even met them," Cam pointed out and slid a glass of iced tea toward her. He knew, with his luck, he'd end up killing Nacho.

Not wanting to hear more reassurances, Cam popped the cap on his beer and went back inside. He could hear Austin on the phone.

"No, Jade, I'm not trying to be funny," he was saying, and Cam caught his eye-roll just as he reentered the kitchen. "I wanted to call and tell you before Riley had the chance." There was a pause while Jade did the talking, and Cam raised an eyebrow, silently asking how it was going. Austin threw him a look of frustration in return, but there was a pinch of amusement there, too. "She thinks I'm kidding," he said, holding the phone away. "Now she's berating me for my poor sense of humor."

Cam snorted and hopped up to sit on the kitchen counter. "Tell her I'm willing to send evidence." That was a joke. He tugged Austin to him and dropped a sensual kiss on his neck. Now that Austin was working again, he was always clean-shaven, and he smelled of an aftershave that made Cam's mouth water.

"Yes, I'm listening to you." Austin was speaking to Jade, but his focus was on Cam's mouth. And then Cam's hand on Austin's cock. "Uh-huh. Yeah, keep going—what?" Cam stifled a laugh. "No, no—I just…fuck. Listen, I told you what I wanted to tell you. Cam and I aren't just friends, and he's meeting Riley today. My parents are coming over, too." Jade said something, to which Austin grinned. "Believe what you want, Jade—"

Frustrated, Cam grabbed the phone out of instinct and blurted out the first words that came to mind. "The sooner you believe him, the sooner I can get him off the phone and suck his—"

"Cam!" Austin snatched the phone away, looking stunned, furious,
and
like he was ready to laugh his ass off—all at once. "Jesus Christ." He blew out a breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Jade?" He placed the phone by his ear, then sighed. "She hung up."

Cam tried to hide the fact he felt bad—hell, worse than that. He felt like shit.

"That was so fucking juvenile," Austin said, though not angrily or anything. That confused Cam, and when he chanced a glance at Austin's face, he saw mirth in his eyes.
Oh, thank fuck
. "Next time we're alone together…" He grabbed Cam's jaw. "You will make it up to me. Understand?"

Hell yeah, Cam understood. "Yes, sir." He saluted Austin.

Austin smirked like the sexy motherfucker he was, but the spell was broken when the doorbell rang.

Cam paled as he could hear Riley outside. Fuckin' kitchen window was open.

"Hey, none of that." Austin's eyes softened, and he kissed the spot between Cam's brows. "It'll be fine. Come on."

Griffin and Maggie Huntley were definitely Austin's parents. Griffin was basically an older version, but with much lighter features and more gray in his hair. Tall, solid, and with a polite smile on his face. Maggie was short, looked kind, had darker hair, and the same hazel eyes that Austin had.

When Cam saw the logo on the chest pocket of Griffin's short-sleeved shirt, he exchanged a quick look of wry amusement with Austin, who could read his mind at that point. If it weren’t for the sweats with Griffin's construction business's logo on them that Austin had worn the day he was kidnapped, their lives would probably look a lot different now.

"Hi, Dad!" Riley bounced forward with Nacho in her arms and hugged Austin's middle.

"Hey, baby girl." Austin kissed the top of her head while Cam just watched.

Riley was…she was fucking cute. The brief time he'd seen her at the hospital right after they'd been saved, he hadn't really thought about it. And she looked more like Austin than Cam had originally thought. Her eyes were a little greener than brown, and her long hair was wavier, but it was Austin's coloring. There was a lot of Jade in her, too, and even some Maggie.

She dressed like a tomboy in denim shorts, All Stars sneakers, and a well-worn T-shirt that looked too big for her lanky frame, but Cam had seen plenty of photos of her, so he knew she liked all things girl, too.

"I want you to meet Cam." Austin smiled at his girl and ushered her forward.

They'd agreed that Austin would take Riley aside later today and tell her everything, so for now, it was just Cam. No explanation. No title. Which he had to admit he preferred for the official meeting. Cam already felt nervous as it was. No need to add more pressure.

"Hello. I'm Riley Huntley," Riley said shyly, keeping close to Austin. "Daddy's shown me pictures of Bourbon. And this is Nacho." She pointed to the rat-sized dog in her arms.

Cam smiled nervously and barely resisted fidgeting. "It's good to meet you, Riley." He cleared his throat and looked toward the patio. "Bourbon's probably in the backyard if you wanna meet him. Uh, there's a pool, too—you know, if you wanna swim or whatever."

"Oh,
yes
. Dad told me." Riley nodded furiously. "Can I go change now?" She looked up at Austin, who chuckled.

"I'll take her," Maggie offered, stepping forward. She extended her hand to Cam. "It's so good to see you again, Cam."

"You too, Mrs. Huntley." Cam nodded. "The bathroom is just down the hall. Or here, I guess." He pointed to the half-bath next to him. "It's not very big, though."

"Thank you. And it's Maggie." She winked. "Come on, sweetie." She began to usher Riley down the hall. "Best we get Nacho ready, too."

"They insisted on giving that little rodent a life jacket," Griffin said wryly, and he was the last to greet Cam. "My boy's told me a lot about you. I hear you're good with cars."

"Yeah." Cam shook his hand. "I mean, uh, yes. Yes, sir. Fuck." He let out a frustrated breath.

Griffin barked out a laugh and slapped Austin on the back. "I approve, son." He smirked, much like Austin. "Now, I was told there was beer. Mags is driving."

Austin shook his head, amused. "Go out on the patio; I'll bring some."

When it was just the two of them left in the hall, Cam sagged against the wall and tugged at his hair. "That was fucking brutal."

"No." Austin disagreed. "We know what brutal is, and this wasn’t it." He had a point. "I want you to relax and just be yourself now. My parents aren't fancy people, so stop acting like it."

Cam nodded grudgingly and allowed Austin to drag him away from the hall.

Now they were just waiting for Jonathan and Lily, Cam's folks.

*

This was what Austin wanted.

Now, an hour or so later, the Nashes and the Huntleys had meshed together perfectly. Griffin and Jonathan were manning the grill, talking about the economy. Maggie, Lily, and Jules were at the table, and the unborn twins were the popular subject there.

As suspected, Jonathan and Lily had already had an idea about Austin and Cam, and they were very accepting.

Meanwhile, Cam, Austin, and Landon were in the pool with Riley and two dogs. The kidney-shaped pool was only about twelve feet wide and twenty feet long, but it was plenty for a family of three, and deep enough in the middle for the water to reach Riley's chest, and she was on her toes then.

"See?" Riley shouted. "Nacho can swim!"

"With a life jacket, yeah," Austin laughed, swimming over to her. "Get ready, baby girl." Picking her up, he threw her over to where Cam was helping Bourbon out of the pool.

"Incoming!" Riley squealed.

Bourbon barked and wagged his tail, jumping in again, to which Cam chuckled and groaned. The only thing that scratched up your skin more than a dog was a wet dog.

"Jules, we gotta get one of these!" Landon had evidently fallen for Nacho.

"You're paying for that shit, Austin," Cam chuckled darkly. "Come here, sweetheart." It was his turn to pick up Riley, and she was thoroughly enjoying being thrown around. "Splash as much as you can."

She giggled as he raised her in the air. "I will."

Not holding back, Cam threw a laughing and flailing Riley toward Austin, who ducked underwater right as she hit the surface.

Austin resurfaced laughing and coughing with Riley clinging to him and trying to push him under again. "Cheater, Dad!"

"I think the steaks are done now," Jonathan said casually.

*

"It's good seeing you more relaxed," Austin murmured, coming up behind Cam in the kitchen. Everyone else was outside enjoying the last of the sun and just talking. "It's going well, isn't it?" He kissed Cam's neck.

Dinner was over, and now it was coffee, more beer, sodas, ice cream, and desserts coming up.

"I haven't killed Nacho yet, so I suppose it's all good. For now." Cam turned around and placed his hands on Austin's hips. "Your mom's a fucking riot, by the way."

Austin hummed and claimed Cam's mouth with his. He had no interest in talking about his mother. Now that they were officially a couple with their families aware and accepting, it was difficult to stick to innocent touches. Austin couldn’t honestly call himself big on public displays on affection, but there was a difference between hand-holding and chaste kisses, and ass-groping and teenage-like make-outs. He definitely wanted the aforementioned.

"Um." That wasn’t Cam or Austin.

Breaking away, Austin looked over his shoulder and cursed internally at the sight of Riley in the doorway.

She looked like she'd been caught with her hand in the cookie jar, and she was blushing profusely.

"Fuck," Cam whispered, scrubbing his hands over his face. "Talk to her."

Austin cleared his throat, his heart suddenly pounding, and turned to his daughter. "Uh, let's go find a quiet place." Guiding Riley past the living room and down the hall, he opened the door to Cam's second bedroom, which was pretty empty aside from some gym equipment.

Maybe this was why Austin hadn't been nervous about meeting Cam's family. He'd been waiting for this instead—telling his daughter that he was in a relationship so quickly after separating from Riley's mother.

Austin sat down on a chair next to a rack of dumbbells. "I have something to tell you."

Riley nodded, still avoiding his gaze, and let out a breath. "Do I need a stiff drink for this?" Austin was fairly certain he dropped his jaw at that, but Riley just waved him off. "I heard Landon say that to Jules when they talked about saving money for the twins' college. And Pops 'splained it to me."

"I, uh…I see." Austin wasn’t sure he liked how adult she sounded. She was supposed to be his baby girl forever. "Well, what you saw in the kitchen—"

"You were kissing Cam," she stated.

"Right." He nodded and phrased his words carefully. "I care about him very much—"

Riley gave him a funny look and cut him off—
again
, to Austin's frustration. This was already difficult enough as it was. "I'm ten, Dad. I know that friends don’t kiss like you kissed." She scowled and put her hands on her hips. "Are you peoples like Uncle Derek now?"

"People," he corrected automatically as his mind spun.

The question had thrown him off, and he tried to understand where Riley's thoughts were. Though, at the mention of his cousin who was gay, it didn’t take too long to catch up, and he was suddenly thankful for Derek. Not to mention his parents' strict acceptance of everyone. Since Derek lived on the East Coast, Riley didn’t see him very often, but she had met him. And his partner.

"Peoples makes more sense. It's plural of people," Riley retorted indignantly. "One people, many peoples. One person, many persons." Austin didn’t have the heart to correct her; she was being too cute. "But are you? Are you and Cam peoples like Uncle Derek?"

He took a breath and released it. "I suppose you could say that," he answered slowly and carefully. "We're together, if that’s what you mean."

"That’s what I mean." She chewed on her lip. "Is that why you divorced Mom?"

"No," Austin said quickly. "Remember how Mom and I told you that grown-ups sometimes drift apart?"

"Yeah, I remember," she said, having heard it too many times. "Mom said you started having problems years ago." Well, that was one way of putting it. No need to go into semantics. "But, I mean…did you have problems 'cause you like boys?"

Austin let out a shaky laugh. "No, baby girl. That’s not why we had problems."

He didn’t feel like adding a long rant about the fact that he wasn’t strictly attracted to one gender, but attraction was one thing. Cam was still the first man Austin felt drawn toward to the point of complete surrender. He had admired men in the past and thought nothing of it, but with Cam it was so different.

"So…what do you think about all this?" He tilted his head, trying to read Riley's face. "Cam's nice, isn't he?" He
needed
his daughter to approve of Cam.

"He's cool." She shrugged, then scrunched her nose. "He cusses a
lot
," she giggled, and Austin grinned.

"Yeah, it takes some getting used to, doesn’t it?" he chuckled. "But today he was nervous. He curses more then."

"Why was he nervous?"

"Because he wants you to like him," he replied softly. "He knows how important you are to me—that you're number one—so that means your opinion of him matters." He'd added the number-one part because he wanted Riley to understand that she wasn’t being replaced. He'd read online that many children feared neglect when their divorced parents met new partners.

"Do you love him?" Riley asked. "Is he gonna move in with us? Did he ask you to be his boyfriend? Or did you ask him?" She was on a roll now. "Are you gonna have a baby—" She stopped short at that one. "How would that even
work
?"