Page 56 of Against the Clock

“If I can’t call you Cammy-boo you can’t say hot goss.”

“Deal,” she says instantly. “Now give me that steaming goss.”

I laugh, filling her in between bites, glad I wore my flats today.

By the time I finish telling her about how Daniel came over last night, about how we’re going to slow things down, she’s looking at me starry-eyed.

“What?”

“It’s really cute, that’s all.”

“What is? How I freaked out when he got hit? Or the fact we decided not to have sex for a little while?”

“All of it. But mostly, the way you talk about him. You seem happy. Are you happy?”

“I’m…” I pause, because I don’t know how I feel yet. “When I’m with him, I feel good. He feels good. We fit together nicely. I don’t know. It’s so new.” I shrug, crumpling up the white paper wrapper. Watery fall sun washes over my face, the temperature warmer today.

I don’t tell her that I’m worried. I don’t tell her that I threw myself into work today so I wouldn’t replay him getting tackled in the end zone over and over again in my head. I don’t want to tell Cameron that his job freaks me out.

Daniel’s more than his job, more than the quarterback for Wilmington. He’s a man, and I want to know the man, not the quarterback.

“You have a weird look on your face.”

“The football stuff freaks me out. I don’t love it.”

“Then just take it one day at a time. You said you’re going to slow down,” she pauses long enough to do a shimmy, “sexually, so just slow down. Have fun. Don’t worry so much.”

“What about you?” I ask, squinting at her. We’ve made our lap around the block, the building entrance looming in front of us.

“What do you mean, what about me?”

“For someone that’s so into my personal life, you don’t seem to have a lot to add to the conversation.”

“Nailed it.” She mimes hammering, but I don’t laugh.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I raise an eyebrow and wait.

“Ugh. Okay, well. If I had details to share, I would share them. Until then, I will scrounge for the scraps of your romantic life.”

“Hmm,” I say, not sure I believe her. Cameron’s gorgeous, she gets asked out all the time, but aside from a few dates that went nowhere, she doesn’t talk about her own love life. Ever.

“Hmmm,” she echoes, then grins. “Hey, did you know that our boss wants us to go to the Beaver Ball?”

“The Beaver Ball? Seriously?”

“Yeah. God. I just think the whole thing is so hilarious.” She grins, biting her cheeks. “To go from having a live beaver mascot, to then enduring animal rights protests, to dumping the mascot and starting a foundation to preserve native beaver habitats… I mean, the whole thing is a joke.”

“It’s for a good cause.”

“Anyway, the Wilmington Beavers sent over tickets, and he thought it would be a good idea to send the two of us to cover it. Nice and fluffy.”

“Are you asking me out, Cameron?”

“Yes. As my work date to the Beaver Ball. It’s not an invitation to use your magic beav on me.” She bats her eyelashes and I snort.

She laughs once, but it dies quickly. “To be honest, Kels, I need you as back-up.”

“Back-up?”

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