Trust Me Always (Boys of Avix, #3)

by Meagan Brandy

fake dating one football player while his teammate tries to win me back is going to be one hell of a ride…

“Cameron will call you if she wants to talk, but I wouldn’t bet on it. If you haven’t figured it out yet, she’s a stubborn one.” “I’m well aware,” Alister bites back. “Then you’re aware she’s not in the business of second chances.” Alister crosses his arms. “Which will make it all the sweeter when she awards me one.” “Don’t hold your breath.” “Don’t fall for my girl.”

Everything I try to hold on to…I have to let go. Let’s hope this year it’s not something I can’t live without.

at the end of the day, I enjoyed his attention. I needed it, having been in a funk since the first guy who made me feel more than attraction left me for something bigger, as he should have. My heart aches a little at the thought of the boy—no, the man I met the summer before my first year of college. Little did I know he’d be in the same school come that fall. Had I known, I probably wouldn’t have gone full summer fling with him but rather taken things slow out of fear of what might happen once we had to see each other around campus. A small smile graces my lips as I think of Trey Donovan.

“Why are you waiting outside my dorm, Alister?” “This is our thing, isn’t it?” He gives a sad smile. “I follow you around until you pay attention to me.”

building entrance and he stays planted where he stands. “I told you before to just let it go. We were hooking up and now we’re not. We’re done. No hard feelings.” His eyes narrow at that. “I don’t want to be done, and yes hard feelings. Cameron, I hurt you, and I’m sorry.”

“I said I was over it. I’m good, so just…go back to whatever it is you did before playing my shadow became your favorite pastime.”

not what I want to hear. “I can’t do that, Cam.” “And why is that?” He gives a woeful smile. “Because I realized something in the last several months.” “That you’re a royal dickhead?” “That I’m pretty sure I’m falling in love with you.”

How dare he say he’s falling in love with me. No, that he’s “pretty sure” he’s falling in love with me. Like, boy, fuck off, ’cause guess what? I’m “pretty sure” I hate you. I groan, covering my face with my hands. Pretty sure that’s a lie.

I should have just walked away, gave her what she deserved—absolutely nothing. I didn’t, and then I met a girl who was more than I knew was out there. Soft and kind yet full of fire and sass, and she gave it all away freely.

Cameron is different. It’s too bad I realized this after the fact.

Win the game, then win the girl. That’s the plan. We won’t talk about how every plan I’ve ever made for my life has failed miserably. Damn it.

I shrug, trying not to think about what it could mean for me if I didn’t choose a career that allowed me time with little ones,

“And because you’re a fantastic fucking friend, you would then remind him that very frame of mind will lead to the best of sex.” I smile wide. Brady coughs and releases me, pushing up and swinging his legs off the bed. “What are friends for, right?” Why does that sound so evasive?

“Do you even have to try and get laid, or do girls just fall from the sky and land on your dick?”

“You’re like hot jock mixed with the naughty pool boy. Like Scott Eastwood, the Suicide Squad and The Longest Ride versions mashed together. But somehow even hotter.”

wondering who would appreciate a sweaty, sexy motherfucker like me being the first person they laid eyes on in the morning. For some reason, Cameron comes to mind first.

It’s true what she said the other night. Girls do tend to fall, sometimes quite literally, right on my dick.

Most call me the party boy, the good time guy, and let’s be real, I’m both those things. From what I hear, my roster is longer than Casanova’s. If they only fucking knew.

He fucked with my friends, and in my book, that means he fucked with me.

but she’s dreamed of opening a day care or running a kindergarten program for years, and while she hasn’t said what it was—at least not in front of us guys—something happened our senior year of high school that pushed her determination to reach her goals even further.

Thank fuck for that, ’cause as much as I’d enjoy doing it, I’d hate to have to kick his ass. A scoff leaves me, and I smile as I push out the double doors, stepping out into the early morning sun. That’s a fucking lie if I ever told one. I’d thoroughly enjoy getting to kick Alister Howl’s ass.

ignorance is bliss? I’m sure it is up until the day you’re blindsided by the truth you never saw coming, because once you know the truth, there’s no turning back. No forgetting or letting go. After that it’s just the truth…and the lies you’re forced to tell yourself.

“You don’t get to call me that. That nickname is reserved for friends only, and we’re not friends.” “I don’t want to be friends, Cameron. I want to be more.”

“I’m not your baby.” “I want you to be.” “Jesus!” I shake my head, my cheeks getting warm for some reason. “Are you even listening to me?!” Alister smiles, and I want to slap it off his face. “I am, but I don’t like what you’re saying, so I’m choosing to ignore it.”

She holds on to him a moment longer than she did us, and I know it’s because she senses he needs it.

What if I never get the chance to see what my child would look like?

“Look how bold he is.” Brady’s mom smirks. “Ben was like that. Drilled me with his eyes before he drilled me with his…well.”

“You horny old bags.”

Lmao

“Perks of having a child. I no longer have to get my own shit, and I haven’t had a chance to reap the benefits of all those years of hard work in a while.”

“Alister, this is Mason’s loving and devoted Martha Stewart of a mother, Vivian,” I say, jumping in. Alister’s face falls and he lowers his gaze, having enough sense to look slightly guilty. “And I guess I’m chopped liver, also known as Clair, Cameron’s mom.”

what I do know is that Cameron Cox is more than worth the time it will take to prove how much I want her, and it has nothing to do with sex. I want the girl with the bright smile and sharp comments, with the flirty mind and flirtier demeanor. I want her, and I’m going to get her.

“I’m pissed off, not a robot. The guy’s practically throwing me a touchdown every time he looks at me, and all I’ve got to do is take it to the end zone.” “And do you want to score?” “I want to slap him and kiss him at the same time.” “Kinky.” I whip around, cheeks growing pink as Alister steps up. I open my mouth to yell at him, but he simply holds out a flower. Hesitantly, I reach out and take the wilted, I don’t even know what kind of flower, trying to plan exactly what I’m going to say after he lets it go, but I don’t get that far. I no sooner accept his little gift than he dashes past. Ari and I both spin, watching as he jogs over to a small group of guys—baseball players, by the looks of it. He doesn’t look back once, but me? I watch him until he’s gone, and unfortunately for me…I think about him long after that.

“Sorry, little freak-a-leak. Some of us haven’t gotten to the role-playing stage in life, Miss I’ve been practicing the sexy sous chef and the lowly little dishwasher he falls madly in love with.”

“You know what the worst part is, Big Guy?” “What’s that, Cammie Cam?” I press on his chest, looking up at him in misery. “I didn’t even get to come before Chase burst in.” Brady freezes, then explodes in laughter, and I can’t help but join in. “You and me both, Cammie Baby. You and me both.”

Brady pushes closer, not that there was much more room to go. I’m literally sitting on the edge of the counter, his body still positioned between my legs from when he caught me. Still, he manages to get even closer, and when his knuckle presses against my throat, dragging up until he’s hooked me by the chin, my head falls, my long hair tickling my lower back. Suddenly his eyes fall, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say they landed on my mouth. “Brady?” We’re running out of time. He swallows, and a small frown builds across my brow. “Trust me?” he whispers. “Always.”

get no warning. No explanation. No period to process. The unthinkable, the utterly unexpected happens, and it happens fast. Heavy, demanding lips drop to mine, and they waste not a second, coaxing them open with a swift flick of the tongue.

Oh my god, those are Brady’s lips. Those are Brady’s lips because this is Brady before me, and they’re swollen from my kiss. Our kiss.

“What’s going on is you interrupted us.” Brady glares, his hands still sealed on my sides. “Now if you don’t mind”—good God almighty, I kissed Brady Lancaster—“I’d like to get back to kissing my girlfriend.” I can’t believe that just⁠— Wait. What?

Wait. What? What did I just say?

stepping close. “Did I not tell you?” I pause. “I just got here, my girl is here, and you’re interrupting our night.” He glares, standing taller. “She’s not yours.” “Kind of feels like she is.”

normally I don’t give a shit what people say—clearly, considering what everyone thinks of me when it comes to women.

“It wasn’t a complete hardship to kiss you, only a small one.”

“He deserves to stress a bit,” I tell her. “You’re a lot to lose, baby girl. He needs to feel that, and chasing after you all this time ain’t the same. He needs the threat of another to really feel it, you know.” That’s how it goes, right? We want what we can’t have?

“Hey, Brady,” she whispers, her head falling to my chest when the song ends. “Yeah?” “Thanks for rescuing me again tonight.” “Always, Cammie Baby. Always.”

“Can’t trust me with your grade, but you can trust me with your body?”

“I like you, Alister. I really, really do. You’re smart, talented, dedicated. You’re hardworking and funny. Being with you felt like having something special all my own, and that’s not something I’d ever had before. My family and friends, we’re all so intertwined that most of our lives are shared with the next person, but with you…” I lift a single shoulder. “I had my own little world, and when I was in it, nothing on the outside mattered. I didn’t need to label what we were. I was happy just quietly hanging out and hooking up, and toward the end, I realized I wouldn’t mind there being more to it.” I pause. “And then it all blew up in my face and you became the one thing I regret most about college so far.”

I’m already launching myself at his best friend, one of my best friends, and the man doesn’t let me down—not that I thought for a moment he would. Not that I had a second to think this through much at all if we’re being real.

“Am I gonna fuck up your bed game if I ask to stretch out your fake boyfriend idea for a while?” I

“Quit with this shit already!” Alister seethes, not cowering from the man who has a good sixty pounds on him, not to mention being nearly a head taller. “I get it. Leave her alone. Wait for her to come to me. Just…stop fucking kissing her.” “I’ll kiss her anytime I want…anywhere I want, if you feel me.” Brady smirks.