“Cameron is going to be team captain of the blue team,” I announced. “And if I were you, I’d want to be on his team. Because he can throw almost as good as me.” I winked at Cameron. “Almost. So who wants to play on Team Blue?”
A flock of hands launched into the air immediately. I smiled. I looked at Cameron. “Pick your team, kid. The rest play with me.”
Cameron stood straight, shoulders square. His voice was sure and confident as he chose his team. I patted him on the shoulder and smiled down at him proudly as the rest of the kids fell in line.
Maybe tomorrow I could find some way to convince Cal and Joe into coming down here and playing a little with the kids. Hell, I might even be able to get Aaron too, if I got him away from that bitch he was dating long enough. It would help Cameron to know that he had all the DC Sharks backing him up. Maybe all these other little fuckers would start to be nicer.
Not that I really cared. But he kind of sort of reminded me of myself when I was his age. I sure as shit wished someone had stepped in and offered me a hand up a time or two.
“All right. Let’s play some football,” I announced.
She was standing in the doorway. The same place she was every night when the field was more dark than light.
“How was it, kiddo?” she asked Cameron.
He grinned. “Awesome.”
“Ok, get your stuff and I’ll drive you back.”
I noticed she never called it home. Cameron ducked past her and ran through the halls.
“He’s really good.” I crossed my arms, leaning on the door opposite of her. My eyes followed her legs up to her hips. Those tight skirts she wore drove me crazy.
“I’m glad he’s found something he likes. I didn’t know if it would happen.” I heard sadness there.
Shit. I was going to ask. I knew it.
“So, what’s the kids’ deal? You always wait for him at the end of the day. Does he stay with you or something?”
She closed her eyes. “He’s in between foster care homes right now.”
“Shit,” I muttered.
“He’s in a home for children waiting to be placed with another family. It’s worse than an adoption center. He has no normal. No security. No one. And when he does get placed, who knows how long he’ll stay there. He’s already been with three different families.” Her eyes misted and I felt something rip through my chest.
I took a step forward, brushing my hand against her arm.
“He’s a good kid.”
She nodded, wiping the tear from her cheek. “He is. I love him. I’m not supposed to do that, but I do. I can’t help it. There’s something about him, you know?”
She looked up at me with those big blue eyes.
“I do know.” What the fuck was happening? “Why not you?” I asked. “Why don’t you take him?”
“Me? Because the court won’t let a single woman on teacher’s salary adopt a child who needs a home.” Her voice was filled with resentment. “I’ve tried. I’ve tried everything and I can’t get past the red tape.”
“That’s shit,” I muttered. It didn’t seem right. What kind of system was that?
“I’m ready.” Cameron bumped in between us and I took a quick step back.
“Hey, buddy.” I ruffled the top of his head and I heard him giggle. It had taken all week for him to let me get that close. It was my own kind of victory.
“We have to get going,” Mia said, but I didn’t know if she wanted to let me know or Cameron.
“Right.” I had late practice. The playoffs weren’t going to fucking win themselves.
“Good night, Hawk.”
Mia guided Cameron out the door toward the parking lot.
My first response was to follow her ass as she sashayed on those high heels. But as they walked farther away, and I saw Mia lean down to say something to Cameron, I knew I was in way over my head.
12
Mia
I could barely concentrate on the road. Cameron was buckled in the backseat and I needed to get him to the home before I had to explain why we were late. And why was that? Because I was falling for a notorious playboy? There was no explanation for that error in my judgement. I put the full blame on my raging hormones.
I sighed, turning onto the dark street where I had to drop off Cameron. It was always the hardest part of my day. The worst. The saddest. The mots heart-wrenching.
I put the car in park and walked around to Cameron’s side, lugging his bag out for him.
“Ready?” I asked with a smile on my face.
He nodded. “I guess.” The happiness he had earlier was gone. He hated this part of the day too.
I wished things were different. I wished I had a way to adopt him. But I had been down that road. I couldn’t make it happen. I had tried every way possible. I wasn’t even able to foster him. It was one let down after another.
“I’ll pick you up for school in the morning, ok?”
I watched him walk up the stairs. His shoulders slouched forward.
He didn’t answer and I felt the pain in my ribs. I wanted to drag him back to the car and take him home. Tuck him into a soft warm bed. Read him stories. Try to build Lego towers with him. Argue over what was going to happen in the next Star Wars movie. But I couldn’t do any of those things. Instead, I was a single twenty-six year old woman who could barely pay her bills.
I had been so desperate I took a job at Catch. I didn’t even have that anymore. I quit after the bar fight. It had been my first and last night moonlighting.
“Good night,” I called after Cameron.
He looked at me over his shoulder and my heart broke a little more.
“Night.” He walked inside.
The door closed and I moved to the driver side of the car. The end of the day shouldn’t be like this for either of us. But there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.
I pulled away from the curb feeling as helpless and lost as he did. My stomach rumbled and I knew I needed to at least pick up some dinner. My fridge was empty. I hadn’t been grocery shopping all week.
I stopped at one of my favorite delis and picked up a sandwich and a salad. The lady behind the counter smiled at me as she handed me the order.
I wondered if she thought I was lonely. That on a Friday night I shouldn’t be picking up dinner for one. I sighed and trotted off to my car.
I had pulled into the parking garage of my apartment complex when I looked down and saw the number for the children’s home flash on my screen. I scrambled to answer it.
“Hello?”
“Hey, it’s Jenni. Mia, are you still out with Cameron?”
It was stupid, but I looked at the empty backseat of my car. “No, I dropped him off twenty minutes ago. I watched him walk inside.”
I heard the alarm in Jenni’s voice. She was the night time coordinator. Over the past year I’d gotten to know her well enough that she trusted the arrangement I had with Cameron.
“He’s not here.”
“What?” I gripped the steering wheel with my free hand. “Where did you look?”
“Everywhere. We’ve asked all the children. Checked the lounges, the dining hall, bathrooms. Nothing. We can’t find him. I’m going to have to call in an Amber Alert immediately.”
“Oh my God.” My stomach plunged to my feet. I thought I was going to be sick.
“Do you have any suggestions? Anything I could tell the police? Did he mention something today?”
I shook my head. “No. He had a great day at school and an even better day at clubs after school. He actually played with the other kids today. He’s making real progress with Crawford Hawkins.”
And that was when it hit me.
“Jenni, I’m going to make some calls. I’m going to start looking for him. Promise me you’ll call me when you find him.”
“I will. Thanks, Mia.”
My ignition was still running. I dug through my leather bag and held up the card I had received a week ago. It had all
of Hawk’s information on it.
My fingers hesitated for only a second. I had to do this for Cameron.
13
Crawford
My cell rang on the counter, vibrating against the granite. It was the third time in less than ten minutes it had rung. I was positive it was Joe calling again. I had already told him I didn’t feel like going out and partying tonight. I didn’t care that the Warriors were on tonight. Something about them always pissed him off. I wanted to focus on our game. Not what they had going on in Texas.
I pushed myself off the couch. I didn’t recognize the number. I almost didn’t answer, but part of me was fucking relieved I didn’t have to hear Joe’s voice again.
“Hello.”
“Hawk?”
“Mia?”
“Yeah, I’m sorry to call you at home and I know it’s late, but—”
There was panic in her voice. Something was definitely wrong.
“Don’t apologize. What’s going on?”
“It’s Cameron. I dropped him off at the group home and now he’s missing. They’re going to have to call in an Amber Alert. And I’m completely freaked out. Do you have any idea what he’ll go through if the police start looking for him? I don’t think he could handle it.”
“Slow down. Hey, it’s going to be ok. We’ll find him.”
I already had my keys in my hand and locked the door behind me.
“We?”
“Yeah, I’m coming to where you are. You shouldn’t drive. We’ll find him together.”
“You sure?”
I’d never been so fucking sure of anything in my life. If that kid was out on the streets by himself, I wasn’t going to sit around like an asshole waiting for a phone call. I was going to find him.
“Where are you, Mia?”
“Sitting in my parking garage. I didn’t know where to go.”
“Text me the address. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
I hung up and raced down the stairs. I heard the text pop up on my phone. I plugged the address into the map and knew I could be there in less than ten minutes.
I pulled into the garage. Mia was still sitting behind the wheel. As soon as she saw me she ran from the car.
I jumped out, and wrapped my arms around her for a second. “We’ll find him.”
She looked up at me. “You promise?”
I brushed a curl away from her temple. God, I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to hold her. I wanted to make this nightmare go away for her.
I nodded. “I promise. Now hop in and tell me all of Cameron’s favorite spots. We’re turning DC upside down until we find him.”
I peeled out of the parking lot, my tires squealing with the speed.
We drove around for several hours, searching every alleyway in a three-mile radius and checking every bus station along the way. Once midnight hit, I could see the exhaustion setting in Mia’s shoulders. I reached over and rubbed my thumb along her spine, up to her neck and back down her shoulder. She moaned deep in her throat and tilted her head to the side.
“Guess you don’t want to climb in the backseat and get some sleep?” I suggested.
She cut her eyes at me. “No. I can’t sleep until I know Cameron is ok.”
“I get it. I just see how tired you are. We’ve been doing this for hours.”
“If you want to take me back to my car, you can.” Her voice was clipped. “I’m not giving up.”
I moved my hand to her knee. “I’m not either.” I let it rest there, lingering against her skin.
I turned onto the side street that ran along the school. It was a long shot, but I pulled up to the building.
Mia screamed and I slammed on the brakes. Before the car was in park, she flung the door open and ran toward the school. Shit, she could have fallen flat on her face.
Cameron was lying bundled with his arms tucked tight inside his T-shirt on the front steps. I left the car running and sprinted after her. I didn’t know what kind of state he would be in.
“Cameron? Are you all right? Why did you leave? Are you hurt?” She bombarded him with questions. I reached out and grabbed her shoulder, pulling her back.
“I’ve got him,” I told her while I bent down to pick Cameron up.
He barely weighed more than a sack of potatoes. I carried him to the car and climbed in the back seat with him still in my arms. I could feel him moving against me so I knew he was ok, but he didn’t want to talk.
Mia looked down at us. “Thank you,” she whispered.
14
Mia
Hawk had swapped seats with me. I held Cameron close. I inhaled the scent of his hair. He smelled like a boy. That outside earthy smell mixed with traces of soap and maybe a hint of pencil.
I looked outside the car. Hawk was on the phone. He said he would call the home so I could sit with Cameron. The minutes felt fleeting, as if I had to absorb all the pain and fear running through this child’s body.
I smoothed his hair. “It’s going to be ok. You know that, right?”
He shook his head.
“Look at me, Cameron,” I urged.
His tear-stained face was enough to break anyone’s heart.
“I want to help. So does Crawford. And everyone at the home was worried sick about you. Everyone cares.”
He shook his head, keeping his lips pressed together.
“You don’t have to say anything, but know that I care about you more than anything else. You’re safe now. We’ll make sure you get home.”
“It’s not home,” he squeaked.
Hawk had finished the phone call and stooped his head to check on us in the car. “Everything ok in here?” he asked.
Cameron shook his head.
“Slide,” he directed me, and I scooted to the center of the backseat with Cameron’s arms wrapped around my neck. It was close and warm in the backseat, all three of us wedged in together.
“I told them we would drive Cameron home and they could expect us in about twenty minutes.”
“Thanks,” I whispered.
“No problem.” He turned to Cameron. “What made you wander over here, big guy?”
Cameron shrugged.
“Can I tell you a story about when I was a kid?”
I wanted to interrupt and tell him this wasn’t the time for one of his sports tales, but I bit my tongue and let him talk. Cameron seemed to respond to him and he had been more outgoing and excited in the past week than I’d ever seen him before.
Hawk continued. “Something really bad happened to me. Something I never talk about.”
I couldn’t look away. It was something in his voice. Something raw and real. A genuineness I didn’t know he possessed.
“I was eight when my dad left. Eight years old. Can you believe that?” He looked right at Cameron. “I don’t know why. I don’t know where he went. I don’t know if he ever meant to come back, but he left my mom and me completely alone. It was the hardest damn thing a kid could go through.”
Cameron pushed off of my chest and wiggled free. He wiped a tear from his cheek. “My mom left me.”
“Oh.” Hawk didn’t pity him.
“Yeah, she died. And I had to go live with a family. But they couldn’t keep me. And I went to stay with the Phillips and I loved it there, but they had to move and I had to go somewhere else.” He sighed. “And then I stayed with the Jacksons but that was the worst and they didn’t want me either.”
I had to keep my jaw from dropping. I knew all of this about Cameron’s past because of his case file. It was the most I’d ever heard him talk about it.
“That sucks,” Hawk grumbled.
“I’m tired of not having anywhere to live,” Cameron sniffed. “And I had to change rooms last night. I hate my new room. It smells.”
The need to pull him back to my arms overwhelmed me. All I wanted was to give this child a home and I couldn’t do it.
“So what was the deal tonight?” Hawk asked. “Why did you leave the home?”
“Football.”
“Football?” He cocked one eyebrow higher than the other.
I broke my silence. “Honey, you know you don’t have club again until tomorrow afternoon.”
“I know, but I love being on the field. It just makes me happy.”
I closed my eyes. Holy shit. He’d rather be here on a cold dark field than at the home where people could watch after him.
“No one loves football more than I do. I swear. But you can’t wander off like that anymore. You scared Miss Bristow. You scared me. And I want to keep playing ball with you.”
“You do?”
“Hell yeah.”
I jabbed Hawk in the side.
“Sorry. Yes, I do. But you have to follow the rules. No skipping check-in or you might not get to stay for clubs. You have to earn privileges like that.”
Cameron nodded. “I understand.”
“Good. Then let’s get you back. It’s late and we all need to sleep.”
Hawk moved for the door, but I grabbed his wrist. I wanted to seal this moment for only another second. His eyes locked on mine and he swallowed. Even in the darkness of the backseat I could feel the heat radiating from his body.
He leaned across me and for a second I thought he was going to kiss me in front of Cameron, but instead he wrapped his hand to the boy’s shoulder, pulling the three of us into a group hug.
“All right. You two stay put and I’ll drive.” He grinned.
I let my shoulders relax for the first time all night and let Crawford take the wheel.
15
Crawford
After we dropped Cameron off at the home and Mia was convinced there was no way he could escape his room, she buckled into the front seat next to me. I knew it was hard for her to leave him a second time tonight. She didn’t have to say it. I could see it on her face.
I pulled away from the curb.
She closed her eyes and sighed. I felt her hand tangle through mine and looked down at her delicate fingers. “Thank you.”
My Playboy Fiance Page 52
