were all, ‘fuck the world,’ and didn’t care about what I had to say. You did what you do best in a tough situation. You ran. We tried telling you, Cam, but you didn’t want the truth.”
I swipe angrily at the tears on my face. “I can’t even look at you right now.”
I storm past my brother to his guest room he had made up for me. I fall onto the comfortable sheets, burying my face in the pillows and let the tears flow in torrents. Pain is rippling through my chest, sobs wracking my body.
I spent so many years hating Reeve. I spent so much time walking around feeling jaded, and they both let me. They let me believe the boy I’d loved most of my life had ruined us, when really, it wasn’t him at all. It was my brother…and me.
• • •
I tense at the knocking on the door the next morning. I spent the night huddled under the sheets in the fetal position crying. I was upset with my brother, upset with Reeve. But mostly, I was upset with myself. Why hadn’t I dug harder? There were things about that night that didn’t make any sense, but now…now they do. I wish I would’ve taken a step back then and taken a closer look. Instead, I jumped the gun, pushed Reeve out of my life, and I ran away from him.
“Go away,” I tell my brother.
He ignores me, pushing inside the guest room anyway. It’s on the tip of my tongue to cuss him out for not listening, but the words die in my throat when I see who it is. Heat crawls up my neck to my cheeks, and my heart skids to an abrupt halt in my chest.
Reeve limps into the room, shutting the door behind him. He leans against the wood for support; his gaze incarnating me from head to toe.
“How did you get here so quick?” My voice doesn’t even sound like my own. It’s too vulnerable and weak. I don’t know how to act around him anymore. For so long, he was the man I was in love with, then the man I hated. Now…he was an enigma. I couldn’t help but feel like an adolescent teen, unsure of how to act around her crush.
“I booked a flight when Crew told me you were coming out here.”
“Bastard,” I hiss under my breath.
Reeve chuckles, taking a seat next to me on the other side of the bed. His presence fills the room, making it hard to breathe. We sit there in a tense silence until I can’t take it anymore.
“Why didn’t you tell me? You let me go years thinking that you cheated.”
He sighs. “I tried to tell you, but everything about that night spiraled out of control. One second, you were mine, and the next, you were on the first plane to a new college. You didn’t answer my calls or texts. I had already lost you.”
“That’s just the thing, Reeve. It doesn’t feel like you fought for me at all. I mean, how could you possibly be okay with ruining our relationship in order to protect my brother?”
“That wasn’t my intention. It just happened. Everything about that night got out of hand, and I couldn’t go back and make it right, no matter how badly I wanted to.”
My heart caves, a searing ache slithers down the center of my chest. “You ruined us. I’ve hated you for the past four years.”
Pain ripples across his face, and he swallows. “I know.”
Hot tears roll down my cheeks as I admit the truth I’ve been fighting every day since I walked away from him. “But I’ve loved you more.”
“I know,” Reeve whispers, pulling me into his arms. I fall into his embrace, soaking in the feel of his body around mine. His thick arms wrap around me, drawing me into him. We stay like that until I’m fresh out of tears.
When we pull away, he swipes under my eyes with the pad of his thumb and searches my gaze. “I’m sorry, Camila, for being a complete idiot and ruining what we had. I meant what I said, there’s never been anyone but you.”
Our lips collide in a kiss that I feel all the way down to the depths of my soul. It touches some part of me deep down that I haven’t felt in years. We stay like that, our mouths fused together, making up for lost time. I’ve never felt more at