Page 53 of Best Part of Me

Her words crash down around me like a bomb, and fill my chest with anxiety in an instant. Her unexpected confession is a blow I wasn’t prepared for tonight.

It takes everything in me to drag my hand out from underneath her skirt. Confusion swims across her expression, and I give her a lingering kiss before lifting her off my lap.

“C’mon, let’s go to bed. We’ll think better in the morning.” I hold my hand out for her, and she takes it, allowing me to guide her to the ladder.

After she’s climbed inside the tent, I help her out of her shoes and cover her with a blanket. Sweeping her hair from her face, her blinks lengthen until her eyes close altogether.

I leave her sleeping with the intention of tending to the fire and cleaning up the s’mores but sink into the chair and finish off my beer. While I zone out, watching the flickers of the flame, my brain is on overload with everything that happened tonight. My only hope is that Cammie forgets about her confession come morning.

If she doesn’t, I don’t know how we’re going to keep up this arrangement.

* * *

After another nightin Death Valley, we make our way to Joshua Tree. It’s only about an hour’s drive today. Camille has the old map she found in the glove compartment of my Jeep laid out on her lap. I forgot it was in there because I’ve only used it once. On one of my first road trips for my company, I had no cell service and was out in the middle of nowhere. I had to buy a map at a gas station, and I was grateful my dad had taught me how to actually read and follow a map.

It was one of the few useful things he taught me during his short-term presence in my life. The guy skipped town right before my sixteenth birthday, and I haven’t seen him since. He’s just another reminder of why I don’t get close to people.

People leave.

Cammie has her feet propped on the dash and is drawing our route with a Sharpie. She’s adding little doodles by all the national parks we’re stopping at. Her amused eyes remain focused, and every once in a while, her tongue darts out to the side of her mouth. It’s probably the most adorable thing I’ve seen.

My phone buzzes from the console, and I reach for it to take a glance.

Jones

Hey butt fuck. I have a few days off work. Want some company?

Shit.

How am I going to come up with an excuse to keep Jones from joining me? He’s met up with me two times before while I’ve been on the road. Both times he hopped on a plane and flew to the closest airport to where I was, and I swung by and picked him up. It was on the tail end of my trips, so he was only with me for a few days. Not only is Camille with me this time, but I’m only a few days into my trip. He never asks to come this early.

What if he’s suspicious of Cammie’s whereabouts? So far, she still hasn’t told her family where she’s at. Just the idea of him thinking she’s with me has me feeling sick to my stomach. If he finds out the truth, it will kill him. And most definitely end our friendship.

“I’m starting to get tired,” I say.

The Sharpie stills in her hand, and she glances at me. “We’ve only been on the road for like a half hour?”

“Fine, you caught me. Maybe I just wanted an excuse to grab a good cup of coffee.”

She smiles. “You know I never turn down coffee.”

I pay attention to the next few highway signs while she returns to her map, doodling. “There’s a Starbucks coming up,” I say after spotting the familiar green siren.

“That works for me.”

While I flip my signal and take the next exit, my mind scrolls the invisible list of excuses of why Jones can’t meet up with me. The last thing I want to do is tell Camille and worry her. If Jones has been harassing her with texts, she hasn’t mentioned it. So it’s probably safe to assume he has no idea we’re together. But the last thing I want is Jones interrupting our road trip.

I fill the Jeep with gas before driving across the shared parking lot to the Starbucks. Camille and I climb out and stretch. But no amount of stretching will ease the tension all this lying to my best friend has caused in my shoulders.

I tug a twenty-dollar bill from my wallet and hand it to Cammie. “You mind grabbing me the strongest coffee they got while I hit the restroom?”

“Sure. How ’bout a nitro cold brew?” she asks, stepping into the short line.

“Sounds perfect.” I force a smile and hustle to the back where I see the Restroom sign. I turn the corner and lean against the wall, out of sight from Camille. Filling air in my cheeks, I hold it for a moment before blowing it out, and I compose a text to Jones.

Me

Pulled off for gas and coffee.

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