Page 35 of Camden

“How about you pull out your phone and take a look at those messages and then let me know?”

It was my turn to sigh. Texts could be sent after the fact. He could easily play me and I wouldn’t know the difference. That’s another reason I hadn’t looked at the messages. Because I knew he would have an excuse and I would fall for it. He would charm me and I would forget the facts. “Cam. Look, I get it. I wasn’t ready, and I didn’t expect you to wait. I’m not mad.”

“Well, I am.”

I flinched at his angry tone. I don’t think he’d ever used that tone with me. “Excuse me?”

Camden sighed, dropping his chin. “Stephanie. I told you I would be patient, and I have been. Iwillbe. But one thing I won’t stand for is you acting like you aren’t worth the wait.” My frost melted a little, because honestly? He hit the nail on the head with one statement, making me feel cracked wide open in front of him. His strong jaw flexed as he looked around. “Come with me.”

He gripped my elbow gently and led me toward a hallway. The grasp on my arm was feather-light, so I knew I could pull away if I wanted to.

I didn’t want to.

I wanted to go with him. I wanted to hear him out, even if part of me was still wary.

Boxes lined the hallway wall, and an emergency exit lit up the end. Cam led me to the far side, where we were partially hidden behind the boxes, but someone would still hear if I cried out. I leaned up against the wall as he caged me in with both hands on each side of my head.

Dark hair fell in his eyes as he hung his head. I resisted the itch to comb it back. To feel how soft it was.

“I want to explain. Will you let me?” His voice pleaded, and I suddenly felt bad for thinking the worst. Chewing on the inside of my lip, I nodded. His shoulders relaxed. Reaching up, he pushed a piece of hair behind my ear. My eyelids fluttered from the contact, but I didn’t stiffen.

It was an improvement.

“I was sitting at the bar when you texted me. Mason had just left. I was grabbing a drink and then I was going to play one game of darts with Porter. The asshole had his face molded to a girl by the time I turned around. So, instead of interrupting, I was people-watching. When I got your text about talking, I was five seconds away from walking out the door when a woman screamed from the dance floor.”

My eyes widened as he continued. “There was a drunk couple that had been stumbling around for a while. She fell on her beer bottle and cut the shit out of her arm. Her date tried to be a hero.” He grimaced, and I winced, knowing what happened.

“He pulled the glass out?”

Cam nodded. “He pulled the glass out. She was bleeding everywhere. I stopped it as best as I could. Everyone else was too drunk to do anything about it. Trust me, if anyone else had stepped up, I would’ve been out of there and calling you.”

“Cam.” I reached up and let the pads of my fingers slide along his stubble. He leaned into my touch before I dropped my hand.

My body tingled as he stepped closer, not quite touching me. “I held pressure until the EMTs and a couple of our guys showed up. Then I had to give them a rundown of what happened. Poor guy was on a first date and apparently had been after the girl for a while. Had to break his little heart, too.”

My brows creased. “Why did you have to break his heart?”

“Full disclosure?”

“Of course.”

“The girl, Olivia, asked me on a date.”

My stomach twisted with jealousy. Not that I had any right. I was too wishy-washy to lay claim to the man. “Oh,” I said tightly.

He smirked. “I told her I was taken. Didn’t stop her from pushing, but I put a nail in it quick.”

“Why would you do that?” I genuinely wanted to know. He could have any girl he wanted. She could’ve been a supermodel for all I knew.

“Because, as far as I’m concerned, you’re the only girl I want anything to do with. The only one I want to spend time with. After I let the poor guy know he probably wouldn’t be getting a second date, I called you and left you a voicemail. And quite a few messages.”

My heart beat rapidly, but just as quickly it dropped to my shoestrings because of my stupid insecurities. “Your messages said all of that, didn’t they?”

“You really haven’t looked at any of them?”

I shook my head, focusing on the ground, the dark concrete suddenly more interesting. I wiped my palms on my shorts. “I’m sorry. I should’ve. I just automatically go to the dark place and think the worst. I promise I’m working on it.”

He took a hand off the wall and used his finger to lift my chin. “I’ll do everything I can to help keep you in the light.”

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