Page 79 of Camden

I stood, grabbing my phone off of the bedside table. “I’m calling Mason.”

“Oh, no you don’t.” She sat up, reaching for the phone.

Taking a couple of steps away, I pressed call and let the phone ring as I held it to my ear. Stephanie glared at me the entire time. “Hey, man,” Mason answered.

“Hey. So, Stephanie’s sick. I’m thinking we should postpone it.”

“I was thinking the same thing. I don’t really want to be a full state away from Rylie right now.”

“We should cancel.”

“Yeah. I think so. I’ll call Asher. Hang on.” I heard his muffled voice talking to someone in the background.

Holding the phone, I looked at Stephanie in bed. “See. Even Mason wants to cancel so he can be here to take care of Rylie.”

“Is that so?” Humor filled each word like she knew something I didn’t. I squinted when Mason came back on the phone.

“Ry is demanding that I go.”

I didn’t bother covering the mouthpiece when I spoke to Stephanie. “You texted her, didn’t you?”

“Yep.” She popped the P and laid back down in bed with her eyes closed.

“Well, shit,” I mumbled. “Now what?” I asked Mason, gripping the back of my head.

“How about we still do the weekend, but we don’t go to our normal place,” Mason suggested, hesitantly.

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” he sighed, and I could tell he was weary about whatever he was about to suggest. “You have a perfectly good place here that we can still fish and drink, but be within driving distance if they need us.” Mason was a good guy. He didn’t want to invite himself to use the land, even if I was going to be there. Although, I wouldn’t bat an eye if he did.

“Fuck, why didn’t we think of that before?”

“Probably because we let Asher book everything this year.” He chuckled.

“That’s the truth. Do you think Asher and Grayson will mind?”

If they do, they can go out of town on their own and we’ll stay here.” I envisioned him shrugging. “But I bet anything Asher wouldn’t mind being closer to Nix in case she needs him.”

“I’ll send them a text to let them know the change. See you tomorrow.”

“See ya.” He hung up the phone.

After firing off a group message to Asher and Grayson, I tossed my cell onto the foot of the bed and sat down next to Stephanie.“We’re going to stay out at the Cabin instead of leaving.”

Her head tilted in my direction. “So you’re still going to do the guys’ weekend?”

“Yes.”

“Good. If you canceled, I would’ve made you sleep on the couch.” She said seriously, but her lips twitched, giving her away. I didn’t point out that she said she would make me sleep on the couch. She could’ve threatened to go back to her apartment, which would have been a much worse punishment. I knew Stephanie living in my house was a trial run, but it truly felt like home with her here. As soon as this trip was over, my main goal would be to make the move permanent.

“Sounds like you’re trying to get rid of me.”

“I would never want to get rid of you. But I think it’s important we still continue to live our separate lives.”

Fuck that.“I don’t want separate lives. I want ours so tangled together you can’t unravel it.”

“I want that too, but keeping our friends and spending time with them is still important. This is something that you do every year. I don’t want that to change because you’re with me.” She placed her palm against my cheek. Her thumb rubbed back and forth against the stubble growing there.

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