I don't realize I've lifted her in the air until Logan shouts at us to break it up.

I set her on the ground, my eyes never leaving hers.

She laughs quietly before wrapping her arms around my waist. Her head tilts all the way back to look up at me. "So are you coming over after practice?"

"Of course."

"Good, my dad wants to meet you."

My face falls.

She laughs.

"COME ON!" Logan yells.

"See you soon," she says, walking backwards and away from me. Then I grab my hat to cover my junk and sit on a bench. "I need a minute," I shout to Logan.

Stupid boner.

***

My palms are already sweating when I knock on her door.

She opens it with a smile already in place. It should calm me, but it doesn't.

"Are you okay?"

I nod.

She eyes me warily before taking my hand and leading me to the kitchen. Her Dad's already there—sitting at the counter. He gazes up when I walk into the room.

And then he grunts.

I swear it—even if I'd walked up to the house and seen him cleaning a shotgun on the porch—that single grunt is a shit ton more intimidating.

Lucy walks me to the other side of the counter and motions for me to sit.

I do.

He grunts again.

I flinch.

"Stop it, Daddy," she hisses from next to me.

And then he chuckles, his entire body shaking with the force of it.

I don't dare laugh. Or even smile. I'm too scared to do anything.

She holds my hand under the counter. "He's joking," she says, but it makes no difference.

He comes to a stand, his huge frame shadowing us. He opens his mouth, and for a split second I envision Godzilla eating all the people of Tokyo. This is bad. This is really, really bad.

"Breathe, son," he says. And I do. I'd do anything he asks—shotgun or not. "So..." He leans his elbows on the counter and looks between Lucy and I. He let's out a sigh and scratches his beard. "I'm out of my element here. I don't really know what I should be saying." He shakes his head slowly, and then looks right at me. But it's not the same look. This one isn't made for intimidation.

We stare at each other for so long that I wonder if he's ever going to speak. "She's my little girl, Cameron." His voice breaks. Lucy holds my hand tighter. "She's my little girl and I don't know what to say right now. Kathy—Lucy's mother, she would have been great at this. This whole meeting you... setting rules thing." He smiles, but it's sad. "I just..." his words die in the air. He looks at Lucy with a cloud of failure and disappointment on his face.

I clear my throat. He focuses his gaze on me. I take a deep breath, and let it out in a whoosh. "I've been seeing Lucy almost every day since your wife passed, sir. I enjoy spending time with her and the boys. The boys have become like brothers to me. So I intend—no—I hope to still be able to do that. I have a ten o'clock curfew on weekdays, and a one a.m. curfew on weekends. But I can change that to whatever Lucy wants, or whatever you set for her. I'm not sure if you know that I help coach the twins at the little league games on the weekend. I'd like to be able to take Lucy out afterwards. I don't really know what we'd be doing; she's my first girlfriend so I guess I'd need to think of some stuff. But I can be sure to run things by you first, sir, if that's what you want. We're only fifteen. My mode of transportation is a bike, so I don't think we'd be doing much of anything. I turn sixteen in a few months and plan to get my license. When that happens, I'll come to you and we can set new ground rules. If that suits you, sir."

Silence.

Then his sharp intake of breath fills my ears. He slowly comes to a stand and raises a hand. I flinch and shut my eyes tight, waiting for the impact of his fist on my face.

It never comes.

When I open my eyes, his smile is tight.

"Shake his hand," Lucy whispers.

My gaze moves to his outstretched, waiting, hand. I stand and shake it.

"I'm Tom," he says, and then turns to Lucy. "Could you give us a minute?"

"Dad!" Lucy whines.

"It's okay, Luce," I assure, releasing his hand.

He waits until she's out of the room before speaking. "Lucy describes you as fierce."

I grimace. "Because I punched you? I'm sorry about that."

"No," he says shaking his head. "She says you're fierce in the way you care about her. And the way you protect her."

"I guess." I shrug.

He lets out a heavy breath. "She's right. It's not hard to see that. It's also not hard to see that the boys like having you around. To be honest, Cameron, I'm not really happy that she has a boyfriend. And I'm not happy that said boyfriend has such a big presence in her life. But I'm not going to stop it. It's not to say that I don't like you, I just don't like it. But I'll tolerate it. That's all I can offer for now."

I jerk my head in a nod. "And that's all I can ask for, sir."

***

She walks ahead of me, through the woods behind her house, laughing the entire time. "You should have seen your face!"

"Dude, your dad's huge. A hurricane couldn't move him. I got scared. I'm allowed."

She stops in her tracks and faces me. "Did you have that speech prepared?"

"What speech?"

"Everything you just said back there."

I shrug. "It wasn't a speech, I was just talking."

Taking my hand, she walks us past the woods and to a clearing that opens up to a lake. My eyes soak in the scenery. "Holy shit, this is on your property?"

"Yup." She tugs on my hands to get my attention. "Thank you, Cam."

"What for?"

"For saying what you did. For knowing that he needed help and giving him that piece of mind. He has enough to worry about at the moment, and you, saying what you said, it gives him one less thing to worry about. He appreciates that... even if he never tells you."

I move in to kiss her but she steps back, then slowly starts to lift her dress.

My eyes go wide.

I'm about to have sex.

She's wearing a bikini.

Holy shit.

She shoves my chest. Hard. "Quit staring!"

But I can't. My mouth's dry. I try to swallow. I fail.

She laughs.

My breathing stops.

My dick—I have no idea what the hell it's doing.

She walks to the end of the dock and dives in. "Coming?"

Yeah. In my shorts. Right now.

I'm ruined.

Ruined.

CHAPTER NINE

-CAMERON-

It took me two weeks to convince Lucy to sit with us at lunch, and another week for her to be comfortable with it.

Her dad came up with a few more rules after he had some time to think about it. He asked for my phone number, which I was more than happy to supply. Schoolwork came first, which was fine, because she ended up helping me study anyway. And the main ones; doors to remain open if we were in a room together, and never, under any circumstance, ever, am I allowed to step foot on the stairs leading to the bedrooms. Ever. For that last one, he made a point of showing me his shotgun. It was meant to be a threat, but when I asked him if he could teach me how to use it, his eyes lit up.