Bender

“Asshole,” Camden growled. “Keegan, this is my older brother Turner. Turner, this is mine,” he stated possessively.

Their dad chuckled. “Nice to meet you Turner.” I tipped my head at him, thinking better of shaking his hand like I had with the rest of the family.

He noticed and smiled. I gulped loudly. The resemblance was unca

I felt a presence sidle up to me on my other side, and I looked up to see Dodger. He flung his arm over my shoulder, and he tipped me over to kiss the top of my head. I loved that he felt so comfortable with me. “Lookin’ good beautiful. Where’s Sarah?”

Oh crap, in my moment of distraction, I’d forgotten where my sister was. “She’s in the kitchen with Mom. I think she’s having her help make sweet tea,” Camden answered for me. I let out a sigh of relief.

Macie had sat down on one of the couches and was thumbing through a magazine when she lifted her eyes and smirked at me. I bet she could sense how awkward I was feeling. I rolled my eyes at her and leaned my head onto Camden’s shoulder. If we weren’t in front of his family, I would kiss him so hard right now. I loved that Turner pushed him to stake his claim on me. And I love that he did it in front of the people that meant the most to him. Hello warm and fuzzies.

“Well.” Paul rubbed his hands together. “Hopefully your mom is almost done cooking ‘cause I’m starving! Cam, why don’t you take Keegan and show her around the house. We can catch up when we sit down to eat.”

“Wa

“Sure I’d love to.”

I gave a small wave to everyone in the room, because they were watching me intently. I briefly wondered if I was the first girl Camden had brought home before. They sure seemed to be intrigued by me. Camden had taken my hand and started leading me through the house. He showed me everything downstairs from the dining room that was set up for di

Only a few minutes went by and Camden came up the stairs taking two at a time. When he reached me he kissed my nose in typical Camden fashion, melting my heart and making me forget my worries. I was sure whoever she was it wasn’t a big deal. And if she was, well maybe he’d share at some point when he felt like it. We continued on through the rest of the tour. His parents still kept each of the boys’ rooms exactly the same since the day they left. Granted, Wrigley still lived at home, because he was still in high school. But he’d be graduating this year and going off to college. I loved seeing each of their individual styles. Turner was only a year older than Camden, so he was twenty-six, and his room was decorated in plaid bedding and collegiate posters. Camden had weights, trophies, and an overall sense of a typical guy’s space. Dodger’s room had a couple of guitars and some pictures of girls in bikinis. Wrigley’s space was trashed. He had clothes laying all over the place, it smelled like a high school boy’s room, and the walls were riddled with baseball things. Yep, pretty typical boy’s room. Out in the hallway I pushed Camden up against a wall. He looked down at me in amused surprise.

“Thinking about getting frisky, Blue?” he teased.

“Nah.” I playfully rubbed up against him.

Chuckling he said, “Okay, then what did I do to deserve the rough treatment.”

I brought one of my hands up and touched his lower lip. He parted them, and his pupils dilated. “I wanted to say thank you.”

He licked his lips and his tongue touched the pad of my thumb. “For what?”

“For saying what you did downstairs. You called me your friend to your mom, and it was a sucker punch, but I get it, we don’t have labels. Except, when Turner pushed, you staked your claim. Not only that, but you did it in front of your brother and dad. So thank you. It made me feel wanted.”

“You are wanted, Keegan. More than I think you know. And I’m sorry about my mom. I wasn’t sure what your comfort level was, so I didn’t want to push the issue. If you are wanting to define us, then we can do that.”

I shook my head. “No I don’t want to force you into something you might not want to do.”

He furrowed his brows. “What the hell are you talking about? Am I with you right now?”

“Yes.”

“Then what about that says you’re forcing me? Nobody forces me to do anything. You should know that more than anyone.”

Sighing I looked down. “You’re right, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to start a fight.”

“Are we fighting? Pretty sure if we were, you’d fucking know it.” He tipped my chin up with his finger. “But, if we are, I’m ready for the make-up sex. It’s my favorite kind.”

Now I was the amused one. “I thought gym sex was your favorite.”

“That too.”

“Mhmm…”

He brought his lips down to mine and kissed me so softly it felt like a feather’s touch. The delicate sensation of this kiss gave me butterflies; it made me feel like I was floating, it made me wonder how deep my feelings were for Camden. What began as a slow caressing of our mouths shifted into something more. I leaned into him, pressing my full weight into his chest and stomach. His tongue glided along the seam of my lips wanting access to more of me. I could feel his arousal against my front, and I let myself forget where I was and who was downstairs. Camden made me lose myself whenever he kissed me like this. He consumed me.

“Turkey’s ready!” Sarah yelled from the bottom of the steps.

My sweet brooding man tenderly pecked my mouth once more and smiled down at me. I pouted at the interruption. The look in his eyes seemed different. More loving and open. I knew every wall I had was crumbling down, and I felt my heart pick up its pace. I was falling for Camden Brooks, and the “L” word was trying to sneak itself into my vocabulary. He made me very happy, happier than I think I’ve ever been. I needed to slow myself down though. There was no way, despite how it seemed like he was seeing me right now, that he could be feeling anything but like. Camden didn’t do love, and least of all, not with me. I’d have to be more careful with my emotions around him so that I didn’t slip and say something that could make him walk away. The “L” word would ruin everything.

“Come on, let’s go eat. I swear I could hoover a whole cow right now,” he said, breaking up my thoughts.

“You mean turkey,” I corrected.