“Shit,” he muttered, knowing exactly how stubborn his dad could be, which was a big part of how his family had ended up broken in the first place. His parents’ divorce had been . . . tough, on everyone. But since Cam’s mom hadn’t been good at staying on her meds, he’d told the judge that he wanted to stay with her. Which was how he’d ended up on the East Coast with his bipolar mom, and his brother, Rowan, had ended up on the West Coast with their dad. There hadn’t been much interaction between the exes, at least not until Cam had been old enough to travel back and forth on his own.

And at the thought of Rowan, a sharp pain went straight through his chest and gripped his heart, making breathing all but impossible. A visceral reminder that he hadn’t managed to shut off his emotions at all.

“Hey,” Piper said softly, putting a hand on his arm. “You okay?”

Hell, no. His guard was lowered. Actually, it was completely down. And he couldn’t remember the last time that had happened outside of his unit. He met her gaze and decided he was just tired enough not to fight it. “If I say no, are we going to play doctor?”

She blinked. Paused. “You’re . . . messing with me again.”

“Am I?”

Still staring at him, she called back to the kitchen, “Emmitt? I’m leaving. Remember, I’ve got two generators and I’m right next door. Call or text me if you need anything.”

“How about me?” Cam asked, having no idea what he thought he was doing, other than being incredibly stupid. Didn’t stop him though. “What if I need anything?”

She bit her lower lip, like she was torn between panic and excitement at the thought of him needing something from her. “You’re a big boy,” she finally said. “You seem like you can handle yourself.”

“Yes, but don’t forget, I’m on your list of things to do now.”

That wrenched a laugh from her, and the air crackled with the storm—or maybe it was the tension between the two of them. Tension he hadn’t seen coming and now wanted to chase.

“I’m getting rid of that list,” she finally said.

He smiled. “That’s a big fib.”

“You don’t know me.”

“I know you break eye contact when you’re saying something that even you don’t buy. But if you don’t want to talk about your to-do list, then let’s talk about your secret secret bucket list. And that list of rules.” He leaned in a little. “It’s a naughty list, right? Tell me it’s naughty. Tell me slowly and in great detail.”