Page 111 of Puppy Love

I know she wants me to pretend the smile tugging at her lips doesn’t exist. But it would be criminal to not acknowledge the sanctity of it. That sweet, angelic smile invented divinity. I feel a smirk pulling on the sides of my mouth and lean against the door frame.

“Are you saying you’re gonna miss me, Sparky?” I tease, my arms crossing over my chest. Cam, in her truest form, rolls her pretty brown eyes.

“No,” she says, but her cheeks flush and she looks away. “I’m just tired of the wait.”

Both of her eyebrows lift for a moment, proving exactly what she means by “wait.”

“You know fair and well I’d fuck you right here if you hadn’t got your head smashed in a week ago,” I say back. Cam’s cheeks redden even more, but her eyes simply challenge me.

“I told you,” she says, walking toward me. “I’m fine.”

This has been a theme for the past week. Cam, trying to convince me she’s in any type of shape to be fucked, and me, against my biological wishes, turning her down out of pure concern. I shake my head.

“That black eye might be healing, but I want to fuck you so hard your brain rattles. So, no.”

Cam lets out a scoff but says nothing else, so I know, in its rarity, that I won. A small shimmer catches my eye, drawing my gaze down to Cam’s chest. Sitting in the center, on a thin, tiny chain, is a small silver hammerhead shark. I glance down at my own hammerhead, the ink sunk into my skin as a permanent reminder of her. I take the charm into my palm, admiring it.

“Secret Santa?” I ask. Cam nods, smiling.

“Yeah, Avery got a discount on it.” She glances up at me, her eyes narrowing curiously. “You?”

My cheeks get hot as I shake my head. I don’t know why they do. I really don’t care that I didn’t get a gift.

“I think mine forgot,” I say, shrugging. “But it’s okay.”

Cam’s brows furrow, her head tilting slightly.

“What do mean they forgot?”

A wrinkle forms between her brows as she presses them together, her lips turned downward. I chuckle.

“Really,” I say. “It’s okay. I don’t care about that stuff.”

But Cam shakes her head.

“Nope,” she says. “Not okay. That’s like, one of the only rules of the game. Bring a gift.” Her eyes meet mine, something unrecognizable flickering in their depths. “Are you sure they forgot?”

It’s cute Cam cares so much, but I don’t dare point it out.

“Well, everyone’s gone, and it’s—” I look at the time on my phone. “7:18.”

Cam’s lip twitches, but she just nods.

“Well, that’s shitty.”

A laugh slips out of me, but my stomach twists for just a second.

“Yeah,” I say.

I stare at her for a moment, soaking in every inch of her in order to tide me over for the next week. I don’t know how I’m supposed to get through seven whole days without seeing her. Without feeling her skin against mine or listening to her ridiculous comebacks that tip me over the edge. I’m regretting agreeing to go to Clarkston at all now, but I know I need to do it for Ruthie. For Willow and Tyler too.

“I should get going. I’ve got a long drive tomorrow.”

Cam nods.

“Right,” she says, her gaze falling to the floor. Her thick brown lashes flutter against the apples of her cheeks, reminding me of that night at Monsey’s. The first time I saw her.

I should have known, from that moment, that the word “platonic” was never an option for me. From the second I saw her, looking at anyone else felt pointless because nobody could ever be quite as beautiful as her.

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