Reclaim - Aly Martinez Page 0,42
on the edge of my bed.
He scarfed down the sandwich in four bites, and I handed him what was left of the Coke he’d brought me. That was drained within a few seconds too.
I wiggled my way farther onto my mattress, crossed my legs, and searched the room for something—anything—to talk about to avoid the black-and-blue elephant in the room.
“I was offered a job babysitting this summer,” I blurted.
“You were?”
Picking at the frayed hem of my sweatshirt sleeve, I shrugged, feeling a few of the splinters snag on the inside of my shirt. “It didn’t pan out though. So I’ll still be dealing worms, but maybe next year. I couldn’t get my certificate.”
His blue eyes were intently on me, paying close attention as I spoke.
“I didn’t have the money or a way to get to Thomaston to take the Red Cross test.”
I almost laughed at the confusion on his face.
“The mom and the dad are both nurses. I guess that’s why they’re so big on their babysitter being certified.”
“I didn’t even know that was a thing.” He looked down at his feet and then scratched the back of his neck. “I hate that you didn’t get a better job this summer, but truthfully, the creek wouldn’t be the same without you.”
Boy, did I know all about that. Nothing had been the same without Camden over the school year.
“Oh, well. I probably wouldn’t be any good at it anyway.”
“Watch how you talk about my friend. I bet kids would love hanging out with you. You’re patient. I’m no fool—you couldn’t care less about the books I read, but you listen. You’re reliable. I never had to worry about you not showing up. You’re funny when you want to be.” He wadded up the plastic wrap I’d had the sandwich in and tossed it at my wastepaper basket and missed. “You make a killer ham and cheese too.”
It wasn’t often people said nice things to me, let alone about me. So I was kind of speechless.
“Heck, when you grow up, you’d probably make a pretty great teacher.”
Wasn’t that a fairytale? Kids like me didn’t make it to college, but I didn’t want to say anything negative back since he was being so nice.
Kindness was in short supply in Clovert.
“Yeah, maybe I will.”
His face split into a winning smile, and after that, we just talked. For a few hours, everything was almost easy. Well, until the sleeve on my hoodie rode up, revealing yet another bruise.
His jaw got hard. “So, when’s your dad supposed to be home again?”
I closed my eyes and sighed. “It wasn’t my dad, Cam. At least not this time.”
He inched to the edge of his chair. “Then who was it?”
I couldn’t tell him. He wasn’t from Clovert, but it was a small town. I couldn’t risk that word would get out and Josh would share those pictures or, God, the video. But if Camden was still sitting there, wearing his hero cape, thinking he could fix even one of my problems, he had to know that it was an impossible pursuit.
And the sooner he realized it, the better off he’d be.
“My, um, date didn’t go so well.” Staring at the floor, I grabbed the bottom of my hoodie and pulled it over my head, revealing a black tank top that almost blended in among the watercolor of my bruises.
“Nora,” he breathed, walking over to me, stopping only inches away. “What the hell happened?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“No. No. No. You can’t show me these and leave it at that. You look like you were in a car wreck.” He prowled around me in a circle, not touching me. But his gaze became tangible, raking over me like the softest feather.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Oh, God,” he whispered, cupping both hands over his mouth. “Is that a splinter in your shoulder?”
I fought back a gag, and I didn’t even realize tears had started to drip down my cheeks. After everything Josh had done to me, I still felt more exposed standing in front of Camden, looking like I did.
“Yeah,” I croaked, my voice feeling like it had traveled over a mile of gravel before escaping my throat. “They’re all over my back.”
Then I waited, bracing for the explosion.
Camden was a good kid, so I was fairly confident he wouldn’t just leave because he’d seen them. I had an overprotective brother, which meant I was familiar with how some male brains worked. Camden would get mad first. He’d lecture me on