Bender (The Core Four #1)(67)
I bit my lip trying not to smile at his playfulness. “Quiet, you. Just take me home.”
“You got it.” He walked me the rest of the way to my car, officially closing the chapter that was Luke.
Thanksgiving break was coming up in two days. Macie and Dodger were just at the apartment talking about our plans for the short break. Naturally I’d be spending it with Sarah at home, but I wasn’t looking forward to seeing my mom. I’d considered bringing her here so that I could just not deal with the added stress of being around my mom, but I knew she’d be upset if I didn’t come to the house. Macie and Dodger were going to his family’s house for Thanksgiving dinner since her parents were going to be vacationing in Cabo like they do every year. Mace usually tags along but after her and I talked, she was trying to give the relationship with Dodger a chance. Camden and I hadn’t talked about the holidays but, I figured we’d do our own thing and maybe I could talk him into doing some Black Friday shopping with me bright and early in the morning.
Speaking of Camden, he just walked through the door and set his gym bag down. Coming straight toward me I felt like a deer caught in the headlights. How did I get so lucky again? His gym clothes were sweaty and clinging to his muscled body, his brown hair was spiked as if he’d ran his fingers through it a few times. But his eyes, those russet eyes that I loved so much, were looking at me like I was the piece of chocolate cake that he’d been craving all day and could finally eat. Oh yes, I enjoyed being his reward after a long day apart from each other. I had been standing in the kitchen washing some dishes from earlier when he plowed through the kitchen and lifted me up into his arms. Camden’s soft lips came crashing down onto mine, effectively stealing my breath away. Sighing I parted my lips and felt his tongue slip into my mouth. I let him lick and nip at me before I pulled away. He gave me the cutest pout.
“Sorry, Sarah is over there in case you missed that.”
He turned both of us since he was still holding onto me. He saw my little sister watching TV and doing her homework on the coffee table. “Shit, I didn’t see her,” he whispered to me.
“It’s okay. You didn’t get too carried away.” I gave him smile. He set me on my feet, and I leaned against the counter. “You just missed your brother and Macie.”
Camden unloaded some of his shaker bottles and rinsed them out in the sink. “Oh yeah, what were they up too?”
“They wanted to know what everyone’s plans were for Thanksgiving. Macie is going to your parents’ place instead of her usual vacationing in some exotic location.” I fanned myself dramatically.
He smirked at me. “And what are our plans?”
“I figured I’d go to my mom’s and cook dinner, that way it keeps things semi-normal for Sarah, and you would spend time with your family.”
He set his cups down and turned toward me. “You don’t want to spend the holiday together?”
“Of course I’d love to, but I just assumed that you wanted to be with your family, and I can’t be away from my sister right now. My mom’s been in and out so much lately that I can’t trust that she won’t leave her alone to fend for herself.”
“Would she really do that?”
I tilted my head to the side and gave him an ‘are you kidding me’ look. “My mom has shown me time and time again that her social life is more important than spending it with her kids.”
“Okay, then why don’t you two come to my parents’ house for Thanksgiving? They’d love to meet you, and my mom always makes more than enough food.”
I giggled. “I’m sure she does. There are four of you boys aren’t there?”
“Including my dad, there’s five.”
I shook my head. “Your mom’s gotta be a saint.”
He gave a heartfelt smile. “She’s amazing. You’ll love her.”
Sighing I said, “Camden I can’t leave my mom alone. She’s already dealing with me moving out, and with all of these changes, I think our relationship is really feeling the strain.”
My little sister came bounding into the kitchen, and she hugged Camden’s hip.
“Hey kid, what’s shakin’?”
“Stupid homework…stupid boys,” she said nonchalantly as she reached for a cookie on the counter.
“Boys are stupid,” he said, teasing one of her curls.
“Dodger’s not stupid though.” There was a pink tinge to her cheeks, and she looked down at her feet.
My eyes shot up to Camden’s and his shoulders were shaking from trying to contain his laughter. How did I miss that my sister had a crush on Dodger? Well, couldn’t say I didn’t blame her, he was pretty cute. “No Dodger’s not stupid.”
“Psh….”
“Camden!” I stomped my foot at him and shook my head. Let’s not burst her bubble. He winked at me.
“Alright back to what we were talking about. I think you and Sarah should just plan on coming to the house. We eat around noon, and you don’t have to make anything. After we eat and play ball I can drop you both off at your mom’s, and you can bring her food from my house.”
“Play ball?”
“Yeah, we sort of have a tradition that after every family dinner we go out to the field and play baseball. Since you two and Macie will be there, we’ll have a good little team going,” Camden answered simply.