consolation prize, I accepted Callie’s offer to join them for dinner. It was selfish since I had no interest in the younger sister. I wouldn’t say I was prepared to give up on Cammie, but I certainly refused to pursue something not worth wasting my time on.
It wasn’t what I wanted her to say. I guess in the back of my mind I felt like I finally had a chance. Puberty hadn’t been kind to me, but through the struggles of being a braced-faced human zit, I knew I wasn’t too bad to look at. A ton of effort had been put forth. I worked my ass off on my physique, paying a personal trainer a boatload of cash to get me into shape. I had to change my diet. The acne finally stopped a few years ago, leaving me with scars that I had to have lasered off. Like I said, I’d worked hard at becoming the man I was today.
Josh wasn’t awake when I discovered him still in bed. I kicked the mattress, shaking my head at how lazy he’d become. He wiped his face and took a sip of an old drink sitting on his nightstand for God only knows how long. “What’re you doing here so early?”
“It’s after ten. Get your sorry ass up.”
“Man, it’s Saturday. I get to sleep in.”
“I’m not here for long, Josh. I don’t feel like wasting my time playing video games.”
“You looking to get laid?”
I rolled my eyes. “What? No! I didn’t come here to get a piece of ass. If I wanted that I would have stayed at Duke.”
“Your loss, man.”
“Speaking of ass, what’s with your sister? She won’t give it a rest.”
“Callie? Just ignore her. She’s like a stain that you can’t get out. Give her a few days and she’ll move on to someone else.”
“You’re a dick.”
“It takes one to know one, dude.” He laughed at me, while sitting the old drink down again. “You’re still holding out hope that Cam will want you. She’s damaged goods. The last thing she’d want is to get involved with you. She doesn’t want to be here. I give her a week and she’ll be back at school where she belongs. I thought you were past this crush of yours, but obviously not.”
“I never mentioned her name.”
“You don’t have to. Callie can get just about any guy she wants, apart from you. It makes me wonder why that would be. Before Cam arrived you seemed to be considering it. The moment you saw her again everything changed. You’re pathetic. She doesn’t even know you exist. To Cam, you’re just her dimwit brother’s best friend. That’s all you will ever be.”
Maybe Josh was right; there wasn’t a fat chance in hell Cammie would want anything from me. I’d given her my number but she hadn’t called. I couldn’t keep up with this charade. “We’re adults now, Josh. I’m not here to cause more trouble for your sister, and I’m certainly not interested in replacing one with the other. Can’t you accept that I’m a nice guy?”
He cackled loudly. “You, nice? Give me a fucking break. This is the guy who once screwed a chick just so he could break up with another. Did you forget you told me about that one?”
I threw my hands up. “To be fair I only did it because I heard she cheated on me first.”
“Whatever, man. I’m just saying, you get on me for screwing your sister, but I can’t give you a hard time when you want one, but have to settle for the other.”
“They aren’t pieces of meat, Josh. Have you even spoken to Cammie since she’s been back? She’s going through a lot.”
“She fucked the wrong guy. It’s exactly how it sounds. She fucked up.”
As much as I loved this guy like my own family, I wanted to deck him, but it would only prove how hard up I was to get in good with Cammie. “Your mom invited me to dinner. If you’re not going to get your ass out of bed, then I’ll come back later to hang out with you.”
I’d no sooner made it out of his bedroom when I saw Cammie coming from the bathroom. She was still wearing a robe, but this time her hair was wet from a shower. I couldn’t move as she approached on her way back to her bedroom. “Good to see you again, Wes. What are you up to today?”
I scratched my head, trying