Bang (Blast Brothers #2) - Sabrina Stark Page 0,70

tight shrug, I replied, "Hey, I've been called worse."

"How's this for worse?" she said. "You're being a total lunk-blaster. And you know exactly what I mean by that."

"So you're calling me a mother-fucker."

"Well you're certainly acting like one." She made a scoffing sound. "And thanks so much for rubbing it in my face."

"Rubbing what?"

"You know what," she said. "Look, so we 'banged', okay? And yeah, I didn't think we had some big romantic connection or anything. But I did think we were at least friends. And just because you sign my check, that doesn't give you the right be a, well, whatever you are."

I was an asshole.

But I didn't say it, because from the tone of her voice, she already knew.

With another sigh, she said, "Now, do you want to hear the rest of it or not?"

"The rest of what?"

"The reason I called."

Shit. "There's more?"

"Of course there's more," she said. "That's why I’m still on the phone, because I'll tell you one thing, if I weren't calling about Willow, I would've hung up on you a long time ago."

"Thanks for the warning."

"Yeah, well you're not welcome," she said. "Anyway…I called because I thought you should know that Willow wants us to be boyfriend-and-girlfriend."

Son-of-bitch. "What?"

"Yeah. She didn't come right out and say it, but trust me, that is what she's hoping for."

"Shit."

"No kidding," Cami said. "And yes, I do realize that's not what you want, which is fine, because it's not what I want either." Her voice rose. "Especially now."

That made me pause. Especially now.

What did that mean?

But I didn't ask – because I was better off not knowing.

And Cami – she'd be better off, too, because I'd rather accept her hatred than risk breaking her heart – and Willow's, too, while I was at it.

So instead I kept my mouth shut and listened as Cami went on to tell me, "So, all I'm saying is that you might want to be extra-careful in front of Willow from now on."

I was still thinking about Cami. What was so different about her, anyway? Absently I murmured, "Careful how?"

"Just don't act too act friendly," she said. "And don't say or do anything to give her the wrong impression."

"Done."

"Excellent," she said. "And just in case it's not clear, you can act the same way when it's just the two of us alone – because one thing's for damn sure, we will not be getting 'friendly' again." Under her breath, she added, "Asshole."

And with that, she hung up without saying goodbye.

I stared at my cellphone for a long moment before tossing it onto the bed. This wasn't the first time I'd been hung up. And it wouldn't be the last.

But it was the first time I cared.

Chapter 42

Cami

Mason didn't even try to call me back.

That was fine by me. I wasn't the kind of person to hang up on someone just to make a point.

In fact, I wasn't the kind of person to hang up at all.

Now that I thought about it, he was probably the first person I'd ever hung up on in my whole life.

Good. Because he totally deserved it.

Even now, after a full day of replaying our phone conversation, I was so angry, I could hardly see straight.

But, like a total sap, I was hurt, too.

We weren't even friends?

What did that mean? He didn't even like me?

Fine. Because I didn't like him either. Not anymore.

It was nine-thirty at night, and I'd just put Willow to bed when my cellphone buzzed with an incoming text. With my heart in my throat, I yanked the phone from my pocket and glanced at the display.

It was Arden.

She wanted to know if I could talk.

My shoulders slumped in disappointment. It's not that I wasn't happy to hear from her, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit it that might've been at least a little nice if Mason had texted to apologize.

Or hey, a phone call might've been even nicer.

But Mason – he hadn't contacted me all day, not even to check on Willow.

Maybe it was a compliment of sorts, like he realized that I'd surely let him know if something was wrong. Still, it bothered me more than it should've – and not because of Willow herself.

At the realization, I literally groaned. Great. Now I was the nanny who spent too much time obsessing over Mason and not enough time on the kid I'd been hired to care for.

All day, I hadn't been myself. And even though I'd tried not to show it, I realized