there was nothing romantic between us now. We’d both been in our twenties when we broke up, and we’d dated a lot of people since then. I didn’t need to keep tabs on him because every time I came into town, nosy people made it their business to mention who Cameron was dating and for how long.
My last visit to Coral Cove had been three years ago, and Cameron had just gotten engaged to a lovely woman named Charlotte. She worked at a wildlife sanctuary for birds, which was where they’d met. I hadn’t heard anything about a wedding yet, so I assumed they were still engaged.
Hopefully, I would be somewhere far, far away when they finally decided to tie the knot. After they got married, they would probably proceed to have perfect babies with Cam’s beautiful brown hair and Charlotte’s gorgeous blue eyes. Cameron’s sweet stepmother, Rosy, would enjoy her retirement bouncing so-said perfect babies on her knee. Then everyone would live together in a castle in an enchanted forest. And so went the book of Fuck You, Happily Ever After Is Not Supposed To Be A Real Thing.
Even though I knew we had to be getting close to my father’s house, I felt myself starting to nod. It didn’t help that years of travel had made me capable of sleeping pretty much anywhere. Or, that Cameron was such a safe, conscientious driver. I knew I was in capable hands.
I finally gave up and leaned my head against the door. To be more accurate, my neck gave up on holding up my head and it lolled against the window with a thunk. Cameron, that bastard, chuckled lowly. As I fell asleep, I imagined the brief touch of a finger on the back of my hand.
*
I woke in what felt like minutes, but as I blinked, taking in my surroundings, I knew it had to have been longer than that. Cameron’s Jeep was parked in a darkened room of some kind and it was off, but probably hadn’t been for long; I could hear the engine still ticking as it cooled. I was still buckled in and covered by a jacket that wasn’t mine. The fabric smelled like Cameron and had a few strands of dog hair on it. I blew one away from my nose, a little amused. Everything he owned had a bit of pet hair on it. He should be the spokesperson for Bissell vacuums.
I rubbed my eyes blearily. Well, at least I’d woken up just in time for the good part of the carjacking. I checked my lap and found my camera bag. I sighed in relief. I might be about to die, but at least I had my Cannon.
The automatic lights suddenly winked on and Cameron came out of the side door of the house. He looked surprised to see me awake and sent me a rueful look as he came around to my side and opened the door. “I was hoping to let you get a little more sleep.”
I knuckled my eyes some more, so hard that it left little sparklies in my vision. “I appreciate it. Really. Thanks.”
“No problem.” Without a word of warning, he reached in and unbuckled my seat belt. I sat there like a toddler and let him, so maybe I was a little more tired than I thought.
I got out, shouldering my camera bag, and proceeded to stretch the longest stretch in history. It was a shirt-rising, spine-cracking ordeal to cap off what was now a seventeen-hour day of fucking travel. When I finished, Cameron was looking away, his face a little pink. I remembered then that he’d probably had a long day himself, which had been exacerbated by driving to the airport to pick me up. The trip was an hour each way.
I winced. “God, I’m sorry. I’m just taking my time here.”
“That’s all right. I don’t have any place else to be.”
“No, I’ve taken up enough of your time. Thank you for—”
“Will you stop thanking me?” For the first time since we’d left the airport, he sounded a touch irritated. “This is what you do for friends. We are friends, aren’t we?”
“Of course we are.” I wasn’t sure why I felt flustered. “Let me get my bag and I can get out of your hair.”
“I already took in your bag. And getting out of my hair is going to be a challenge.” His mouth kicked up. “We’re at my house.”