in case Her Highness, Queen of Bed Hogging, got sick of me during the night. Then I flopped back on the bed, which was exactly as soft as it looked. I fell asleep to the memory of Cam’s little smile as he admitted he was glad I was back home.
Temporarily, I reminded myself as I drifted off. Kona migrated over to my side, and I curled my fingers in her fur. This is all only temporary.
Chapter 3
Cameron
It was going to be one of those days.
I knew that, even as I opened my eyes. Mostly because I’d made some questionable decisions regarding booze the night before. I didn’t drink often, and when I did, it hit me hard. I had the alcohol tolerance of a kid skimming a bottle from his parents’ liquor cabinet for the first time. My drink ad would look nothing like the suave Dos Equis commercial. I don’t always drink, but when I do, I wake up feeling like absolute shit.
But fuck, being around Journey always messed with my head. A drink to take the edge off had turned into two and quickly segued into three. Then I’d decided that whoever created shot glasses had never had big boy problems and I got a better vessel from the kitchen cupboard. Things went south from there.
It was hard to believe it had been three years since I’d laid eyes on him. We still talked, of course, because we were dedicated to maintaining our friendship. A quick text here. A birthday post with a smiley face. The occasional photo of an elephant, which he knew was my favorite animal.
Once upon a time, even a few hours apart seemed like too many. Those days were long gone. Our current record was five months of no contact. And now, he was here, in my house, in the room right next to mine. Yes, I was the one who’d invited him, but I’d seriously underestimated the mindfuck factor.
God, had it really been over a decade since we’d been engaged? After all that time, it was hard to believe I could still want someone so much. Especially after the way he left. It didn’t seem to matter that he saw me as an annoyance and perpetual interloper in his life. It didn’t matter that we’d been apart longer than we’d even been together. It didn’t seem to matter that we wanted different things out of life. I just looked at him and I wanted. The end.
It was probably perfectly natural. We were each other’s firsts. For better or worse, you always remembered your first. I’d met Journey in high school, our freshman year. I’d gravitated toward him almost immediately, probably because our homelives were far from idyllic. My father had turned marriage into a spectator sport, and Journey’s mother had passed the year before. We had more on our minds than what celebrity was wearing what and who had a crush on whom.
He was different from the others. More serious. Responsible. He always hurried home after school to take care of his brothers. He even worked at his father’s auto shop on the weekends. I knew he understood what it was like to be the kid who never got to be a kid.
He’d made his interest clear even before he tried to kiss me. It was a clumsy attempt and I’d shied away—not because I didn’t want to, but because I probably wasn’t sticking around. I knew my father. Getting attached to one place and the people there was not a good idea. His marriages never lasted, and then he was ready to “start fresh.”
But then there was Rosy, my stepmom. When I found out I was going to be able to stay in Coral Cove, I was ecstatic. That removed the final barrier between Journey and me. Even though it was late at night when I found out, I couldn’t wait to tell him. I came over and knocked on his window until he stumbled out on the porch in pajamas, his sandy blond hair a mess. He barely had a chance to say my name before I pushed him up against the wall and pressed my mouth to his. It was my first kiss, and I had no idea what the fuck I was doing. It was artless and raw and the most amazing moment. It was my first taste of forever.
Or, so I thought.
Rebecca made noise from her area near the wall, and I glanced over at her kennel. All