by Nicole Dykes
I scoff, so sick of the bullshit denial. I turn and look back at the party, contemplating just walking away, but then I turn back to her, “Fuck it! Admit that you’re jealous, Van.”
She throws her hands up and turns on her heels walking down the sidewalk toward her house. “I’m not doing this Cam.”
I charge up to her and use her arm to turn her to face me. Not sure what is fueling me more, pure adrenaline or the alcohol I’ve consumed all day. “Not doing what, Vanessa?”
“Going into this with you, Cam.”
“You fucking started this! For once just do us all a favor and admit that you were jealous.”
She puts one hand on her hip, “What the hell will that accomplish?”
“Use that pretty mouth of yours and just fucking say it.”
If anyone walked past us, I’m sure the sheer intensity of our conversation would freak them out, but I don’t care. The world around us has disappeared.
“Fine!” Vanessa screams. “I was jealous, Cam! I hate watching her suck your face off with her disgusting lips. Okay? Feel better? It changes nothing! And I don’t care how cool she plays it. She wants you, Cam.”
I scoff in total disbelief. “Trust me, Van, she doesn’t. She wants my cock and that’s it.”
She shakes her head. “You’re so blind. Those little rules she has.” I told Luke so Hannah must have told Vanessa. I nod my head in recognition and she continues. “She wouldn’t need them if she wasn’t worried about falling for you. She wouldn’t enforce them if she hasn’t already fallen. She has feelings for you.” I don’t know how to process that.
She starts to walk furiously again, and I match every one of her steps with one of mine. “So, how does this go, Vanessa? You don’t want me, but no one else can have me either? What the fuck do you want me to do? Go into the priesthood?”
We reach her front porch, and she folds her arms over her chest and scoffs. “You wouldn’t last a day without sex, Cam. It’s like you’re an addict.”
“I’m not apologizing for liking sex. As I recall, you’re a fan yourself,” I bite back. “What do you want from me, Van? I’ve told you a million times I’d do anything to be back with you and only you. You don’t want me.”
She drops her hands to her sides, tears forming in her eyes that make my heart ache. “I don’t want to watch you with some other girl's tongue shoved down your throat. I want to have my best friend back without all the pain.”
A single tear falls down her now purple eye and cheek, where Dani’s fist left a hell of a shiner. I move closer to her and pull her into a hug, relishing in my body being this close to hers again. “I miss that too.”
She grips me tightly then pushes me back slightly to look up into my eyes. “How do we get that back?”
I brush the tear carefully from her cheek. God, I'd kill to feel her lips on mine again, but I’m not going there. “I don’t know.”
She pulls completely out of my embrace now. “I need to get some sleep.”
I nod my head, feeling the wall she just put back up between us go back into place. “Night, Van.”
She gives a small wave before walking cautiously up the stairs and inside of her house.
I wasn’t entirely truthful. I have a plan to fix at least the friendship part of our relationship, but it wasn’t the time to talk about it tonight.
Now I just pray I can convince Vanessa to go along with it.
Chapter 6
Vanessa
Oh my God, my head is going to explode!
I sit up in my bed and look down. I’m in the pink panties and bra set I had on last night, but nothing else and still above the covers. I guess that’s as far as I got before passing out.
My eye is throbbing and reach up, gingerly feeling the swollen skin where Dani pummeled me. I hate her even more now.
I don’t know what the hell got into me. Seeing her all over Cam was just too much for me in my drunken state, and the raging bull inside of me was unleashed.
There’s a light wrap on the door, and I say, “Come in,” assuming it’s Hannah.
Wrong. Cam strides in, two coffees in hand, freshly showered and shaved, looking refreshed and gorgeous as always.
He stops dead in his tracks, his eyes traveling along my body, stirring up so many emotions, but none that I want to examine. “Oh, sorry, Van. Didn’t realize you’d be naked. I would have dressed the part.”
He winks casually and sets a coffee on the table next to my bed.
` I look around for something to cover up with, and he pulls my robe off the hook on the door and hands it to me. I pull it on and tie it at the waist. “Thank you.” I pick up the coffee and take a sip. “And for this too, but who let you in?”
He sits on the corner of my bed, completely comfortable. “Luke. Apparently, Hannah’s still in bed.”
I groan at the feeling inside my head as it threatens to burst. “Oh.”
“Yeah,” he says, and then his tone turns almost as serious as his can without being enraged. “What was that about last night, Van? I’ve never seen you like that before.”
I’m humiliated by my behavior. I swear I’m a grown up, mature, confident woman, but when it comes to Dani, I turn into some sort of wild animal. “I don’t know, Cam. I’m so sorry. She’s just infuriating.”
He nods, taking a drink of coffee. He’s not nearly as fired up as he was last night. “All right. I guess emotions are high with everyone moving tomorrow and everything changing.”
I smile in his direction. “That’s pretty observant of you, Cam.”
He grins and then scoots along the bed, until he’s sitting in front of me. Lifting his hand, he lightly touches my cheek but pulls back when I flinch. “Shit. You okay?”
I nod and lift my chin defiantly. “She hits like a girl.”
“So, really fucking hard,” he jokes, grinning. “You totally held your own, considering how shitfaced you were.”
I nod my head. It does hurt like a bitch. “The pictures are going to be beautiful today.”
His large body is so close to me on my bed, my tired brain is going to short circuit. Does he have to smell so good, on top of having the perfect looks?
He brushes my hair to the side, off my face, and tucks it behind my ear. “Alex will fix you right up.” He pulls his hand away, a sparkle in his eye. “If not, you’ll still look gorgeous.”
I smile, our eyes locking for a minute before we both get uncomfortable. Cam clears his throat and stands up. “Okay. I just wanted to check on ya.” He walks toward my door then turns to me again. “You’ll be at the party, right?”
Dylan and Brooke rented out a cabin by the lake and invited everyone to a party after the ceremony. “Yeah, I’ll be there,” I say.
He grins, “Good because I need to talk to you, but not now while you're hungover and shit.”
“Well, now I’m going to be thinking about it all day,” I say honestly.
He laughs and says, “Good,” before walking out of my room.
I smile to myself. He’s going to be my undoing, but I do love flirting with him.
I sip my coffee and try to nurse my hangover when I hear the doorbell.
Damn, maybe Luke will get it.
The doorbell sounds again and I finally get out of bed, bumping into Hannah who is stumbling out of her room at the same time and looking even worse off than me.
“Where’s Luke?” I ask her.
“Cam took him with him,” she grumbles as we make our way to the door.
I look out the peephole of our front door and smile when I see it’s, Brooke, Alex, and Charlotte.
I unlock the door pull it open to let them in. They all walk in excited.
“Happy graduation day, ladies!” Brooke exclaims happily.
Alex has a bag slung over her shoulder, always prepared for every occasion and holds up a bottle of champagne, “We brought the booze . . .” She stops, looking at me, horrified, “What the fuck happened to your face?”
Brooke and Charlotte turn to examine me better as I close the door.
“We had a little too much to drink celebrating last night,” Hannah says, rubbing her temples and looking like she might throw up any second.
Alex walks closer to me, “Who hit you? They better not have a dick or they’re going to lose it.”
I smile at her humor, although I don’t doubt she would do it. “I don’t think so. I’m sure that’s something Cam would notice and I don’t think he’s into that.”
Brooke's face looks troubled when she says, “Dani.”
I nod and turn to Alex. She really likes Dani, and since Dani’s been Cassie’s best friend since high school, they’ve all spent a lot of time with her. She examines my eye further. “Well, I’ll do my best to cover it up. You wanna go first?” I nod my head, and she turns to Brooke, “Mimosas, bitch!”
Hannah looks even sicker, and Brooke wraps her arm around her shoulder. “We'll get you some water first.”
“None for you, preggers!” Alex shouts after Charlotte, who is following Brooke and Hannah into the kitchen.
Charlotte is dating Dylan’s business partner and best friend, Jax, and they just recently announced she’s having a baby. Jax is this huge guy, covered in tattoos, and seems menacing as hell when you meet him, but in reality, he’s a big teddy bear, and I’m sure he is giddy about becoming a dad.
Charlotte waves her off, and Alex turns to me. “Okay. Where are we doing this? Your room?”
“Sure, that would be great.”
“Lead the way,” she says sounding excited. Alex is happier than I’ve ever seen her, must be Shriller.
I smile at that and lead her into my bedroom. She pulls out my desk chair and says, “This’ll do perfectly. Sit,” she orders, and I comply.
She sits the bag on the table, pulling out all sorts of makeup items, but in the back of my mind I can’t help but wonder what she must think of me. There’s an elephant in the room, and it’s driving me insane.
She starts to open her foundation bottle when I say, a little louder and way more awkward than I intended, “I think it’s amazing that you and Shriller are together.”
She cocks her head, slightly and pauses. “Thanks.”
Wow. I managed to make this even more uncomfortable. Might as well go all in. “I hope you don’t hate me.”
Now she sets the glass bottle on my desk and asks, “Why would I hate you?”
I fiddle with the sleeve of my robe. “Um, well, for kissing Shriller at the New Year's Eve party. I was completely wasted, and it was a weird night. I’m so sorry.”
An amused look spreads across her face and she shakes her head. “First of all, Vanessa, never apologize for dumb shit you do in your twenties. Jesus, if I had to do that, I'd be apologizing for days, maybe even weeks. Second of all, Shriller and I weren’t even together. Sure, if you tried to do that today, I tear you apart.”
My eyes widen, and I stutter slightly when I say, “I would never!”
She laughs wholeheartedly at me, “I know, Van. It’s not my man you’re interested in.”
I shrink back, knowing she’s implying I like Cam. “Cam and I are just friends.”
She nods and shakes up the foundation bottle after picking it back up. “Uh-huh. So were Shriller and I.” She smiles. “I know I have a big mouth, but I’m pretty good at keeping secrets, especially the ones that aren’t that big of a secret anyway.” She winks and adds, “And I’m guessing that’s what this little skirmish with Dani was about.”
I nod as she applies the cold liquid to the area around my eye. I flinch slightly, but say, “I know you like her so I’m not going to bash her.”
“I do like her. It’s probably egotistical since she reminds me of a younger version of myself, but whatever. And since she does, I can tell you she’s going to get herself in a shitload of trouble and pain because she’s stubborn as fuck and probably blaming all the wrong people.” I take in her words, soaking up any bit of knowledge Alex is willing to lay on me. “And for the record, I like you both.”
I smile, taking comfort in that statement as she continues to try to cover up the nasty bruise on my face. “I really am happy for you and Shriller. He loves you so much.”
She’s beaming, but tries to hide it and act cool. “You think?”
My mind goes over the conversation I had with him, the night I kissed him. I asked him if he was in love with her and he said yes. Of course, that night I also admitted to still loving Cam. It was a sorrowful conversation, both of us feeling helpless, thinking the ones we loved had moved on and it would never be. I’m glad only one of us was right and Alex and Shriller found happiness. “I know. He told me so.”
She examines my face and asks, “When? New Year’s Eve?” I nod, and she grins brightly, unable to hide her joy. “That man just keeps surprising me.”
She finishes and holds up a mirror for me to inspect her work. She did a great job, the welt is still visible, but definitely toned down. “Thank you so much, Alex.”
“Not a problem. Now let’s tackle that hair.” Before she does though, her face turns deadly serious, “I like you and Dani, and Cam for that matter. So here’s a little advice: I know Dani well enough to know that she likes him way more than she’s letting on.”
I nod. “I have that same suspicion.”
“So, she’s going to eventually figure it out. And when she does, if she truly is anything like me, everything up to now is going to seem like a cakewalk, and it’s going to be an all-out war.” She leans in closer. “If you love him and you want to be with him, don’t waste time.”
Her words give me chills.
If only it were that simple.
Chapter 7
Cam
After graduation, I ride with Hunter and Cass out to the big-ass cabin Brooke and Dylan rented.
When I hop out of Hunt's truck, I can’t help the laugh that comes out of my mouth as I look at the cabin that has to have at least six bedrooms in it and the large party going on behind it. “Fuck, you Monroes can’t do anything small,” I say to Cassie.
She shakes her head. “Nope! We like to party.”
We walk to the back of the cabin, and I smile when I see Shriller, Jax, and Dylan manning the grill. We all say hello in our own way, mostly grunts and fist bumps. Dylan gives Cass a big hug before she bounces off to join Brooke and Alex.
I take a seat next to Shriller and let out a long whistle, staring at Alex. “Damn, Alex is fine as hell. I wonder what she sees in you,” I say, clearly giving him shit. I couldn’t be happier for them.
He smirks at me. “Keep staring asshole. I’ll fuck up that pretty face of yours,” he says.
I laugh. “We both know you’re the pretty one, Mr. Model,” I joke. Everyone loves to give him a hard time for modeling when he lived in L.A. Shriller is a dirt bike racer and, since he’s moved back here, that’s been his sole focus again. That and Alex.
“Now, now, you’re both pretty as fuck,” Jax says, and we all laugh. This summer interning with him is going to be fun.
I look around and see a stern man in a military uniform walking with a pretty, petite woman and an even prettier younger chick, walking this way. Hunter’s family is here. Damn, his younger sister, Shannon, is looking hot these days.
Don’t worry, not going there, but a guy can notice.
I see Hunt’s demeanor totally change as he stands a little straighter and goes off to greet them.
“Where’s your family, Cam?” Shriller asks.
“Already on a plane back to Boston,” I say and crack open the beer Dylan just handed me. I have no clue why my parents even bothered to come. I saw them briefly before the ceremony started, and they said they wouldn’t be able to stick around after, but that we’ll talk soon.
Bullshit.
They probably didn’t even stay until graduation was over.
“That sucks, man,” Jax says.
I let it slide right off my shoulders, “Nah. Trust me, you gu
ys aren’t missing out on anything.”
A stupid grin comes over my face when I see Van walk out of the sliding glass door of the cabin.
Fuck she’s gorgeous. The sun is starting to set behind her, and she’s wearing a hot pink dress with white heels, looking classy and put together as always. I can see the bruise on her face from here, but it’s less noticeable than this morning. Her long brown hair is pinned to one side, I think to try to cover the bruise even more.
My cock stirs slightly in my pair of dress slacks just thinking about walking in on her this morning. The last thing I expected was to see her lying on her bed wearing nothing but her bra and panties.
I try to subtly adjust myself, and Shriller whistles, being an asshole. “Damn! Van sure looks good. Maybe I should have taken a shot at that when I had the chance.”
He’s just fucking with me. The guy only has eyes for Alex. This is what we do, but it still pisses me off, and I get up walking toward Van as Shriller yells behind me, “What? Too soon?”
I flip him off behind my back and stop when I get to where Vanessa is standing, helping Hannah arrange the vegetable tray. “Hey, that ceremony was fucking long!” I say trying to start a conversation.
Van laughs. “I know. I almost fell asleep!”
Hannah finishes the tray. “I think I did.”
I chuckle then turn to Van. “You have a second?”
She and Hannah share a look, but then she nods and we walk over to a bench swing away from everyone else and take a seat.
I try to keep a respectable distance between us, but the swing isn’t big enough and my shoulder brushes hers. I look down at her wrist, it’s purple and swollen where Dani bit her. Christ.
She must notice what I’m looking at and folds her other hand over it, placing them in her lap. “Hope she doesn’t have rabies.” I laugh and then she asks, “Your parents aren’t coming to the party?”
I shrug. “Nah. Who needs ‘em.” I turn to look at her beautiful face. “You ever gonna let me in on the secret of your parents? Are you an orphan, because if you are, you’d fit in perfectly around here.”
