The Long Game (Long Game, #1)(68)

I looked up at her, expecting to see a complaint in her face. But there wasn’t any frown. Her nose was red, her eyes glassy, and her lips shaped in a pout that told me she was relieved by the way my hands were rubbing hers, warming them up.

“Maybe that’s the one thing I don’t know how to do,” I admitted. I brought our hands to my chest. And when she gave me one of those tiny smiles, I had to stop myself from pulling her into me. “I can’t believe I told them to toughen up.”

“No wonder they cried,” she said in a serious voice. “For a second, I thought even you were going to cry. It was terrible, really.”

I stared at her. At her lips, now twitching. Bending upward. I couldn’t believe she was teasing me. With a goddamn smile.

I pulled at her arms, gently but firmly enough to make her stumble toward me. Our hands were sandwiched by our chests.

“It was worth it.”

Her breath caught. “What was?”

“The tears,” I answered, my eyes fixated on her mouth. “Me making a fool of myself and bringing a team of kids to tears. It was worth it. Because it made you smile.”

Her expression remained frozen for a second, and then it crumbled down. Her lips parted, her eyes glazed over, and her cheeks turned pink in a way that had nothing to do with the cold. “Cameron,” she said. Just that. My name.

“I warned you,” I told her, because I’d been serious. “I’m a selfish man.”

A loud burst of giggles erupted behind her, making whatever bubble we’d just been in burst. Adalyn snagged her hands from my grasp. We both turned around.

Tony, who had returned with a tray filled with sno-cones, was passing along colorful cups, and the mood of the group was clearly lifting as they went around.

When the teenage boy reached Adalyn and me, I patted his shoulder. “Good man, Tony. That was fast, just like I asked.” His eyes went wide, his whole face flushing a new wave of radioactive red. I lowered my voice. “Thanks for not making a fuss about who I am, as well. I appreciate it more than you know.”

Tony’s lips bobbed but his expression turned solemn. “I understand, sir. Hmm, Cam—Coach Cam? I understand how valuable privacy is. When my mom passed away—” He cut himself off. “Sometimes, people are nosy as hell.” He shot a wide-eyed glance at Adalyn. “As heck. Sometimes people can be nosy as heck, ma’am.”

Adalyn set her palm on his other shoulder, giving him a quick and gentle pat. The kid almost collapsed.

I took the tray with the leftover sno-cones from Tony. “You get something for yourself with the change?”

“I’d rather save it for something else, Coach. I’m supposed to go to college soon and I’ve been saving all I can to help my dad.”

Adalyn’s gaze bounced from me to the kid, and I could tell the gears in her head were working something out. “Tony,” she ventured. “How would you feel about helping out with the team?”

The boy’s face brightened. “I would love that. But the farm—” He frowned. “I don’t know if I have the time. Personnel at the farm is tight and I’d hate to leave my dad hanging.”

Adalyn’s face fell.

“Let us talk to your dad,” I said. “Now go sit down. We’ll leave when the girls are done with the sno-cones.”

The boy left with a nod.

“Are you okay with my idea to hire Tony?” Adalyn asked. “I probably should have run it by you first.”

I snagged the takeaway cup of tea from the box and handed it to her. “No. I think it’s a great idea, boss.”

“He’s a big fan of the game. So I thought…” She looked down at the container as it rested in my hand. “What’s that?”

“Tea. It’s for you. Take it,” I told her, and her jaw clenched. It took her a moment but her hand wrapped around the cup. This time, it wasn’t the touch of her fingers against my skin that caused something to tug against my gut. It was the way she was looking at me, as if I’d done this great thing for her by getting her a tea.

“Don’t look at me like that, darling.”

“It’s just that you…” Remembered she doesn’t drink coffee after noon. “You can be very nice, Cameron.”

After how I treated her, it shouldn’t surprise me that she’d think that way. I wasn’t a complete asshole, but I didn’t go around extending smiles and hugs. I hadn’t lied when I said I was a little mean. I had been.

I threw an arm around her shoulders and ushered her toward her bench. We sat down. “Just keeping the manager warm, is all,” I said, snagging a cone from the tray for myself. I moved closer to her, sheltering her from the wind that had picked up. “I’d hate to look for a new one. I’d probably end up saddled with Josie.”

Adalyn gave me another of those small, beautiful smiles in response, and I could do nothing but watch her as she took a long pull of tea.

“Is the sno-cone good?” Adalyn asked, glancing sideways at me. “I don’t think I’ve had one in ages.”

I was ready to tell her that maybe sticking to the tea was a better idea, but her eyes dipped down at the thing with obvious curiosity. And who I was to tell her whether or not she could have a lick? Like I said, I was a selfish man.