Page 74 of Best Part of Me

The guy holds up his palms in surrender. “Sorry, I was simply stating a fact. I didn’t know you two were together.”

“We’re not.”

Cammie’s voice cuts through my irrational thoughts of beating the shit out of this guy. I whip my head in her direction, studying her facial expression that starts off stern before surrendering into downcast.

“Okay, clearly something’s going on here.” Hippie guy takes a few steps backward. “But if not, Camille, I’m staying at the Ponderosa campground, site fifty-one, if you wanna come by for a drink. Or just to talk. Orwhatever.”

My nostrils flare, and I squeeze my hands into fists at my sides. “She doesn’t. And if you so much as look at her again, I’ll rip your fucking face off.”

“Maverick,” she bites out, and I hate the way it sounds.

She glances over her shoulder, her cheeks pink. It kills me to think I’ve embarrassed her, but that guy had no right eye-fucking her. And right in front of me, nonetheless.

“It was nice meeting you, Cole,” Cammie says, defeat lacing her tone.

After he’s shuffled away, Camille glares at me. But shouldn’t I be the one who’s pissed off here? She just said we weren’t together. But the way I see it, we’re more together than I’ve ever been with anyone else. This is the longest relationship I’ve had in my adult life.

“What was that?” She rubs her nose.

“I didn’t like the way he was looking at you.”

“So what are you gonna do? Fight every guy who looks at me?”

“He wasn’t just looking at you. Cammie, he grabbed your ass.”

She opens her mouth and then clamps it shut. Guilt flitters across her eyes. “Fine. Maybe you’re right. But he was harmless.”

“You can’t be so sure. What was the last thing he said to you? You can come by forwhatever.” I alter my voice on the last word. “And why’d you tell him we weren’t together?”

“Because we’re not.”

“For the next day, we are.”

Cammie presses her lips in a flat line, her eyes dancing over mine as they begin to water. And my heart sinks. I exhale a long breath. Instinctively my hands go to her face, taking her cheeks in my palms.

“Don’t cry, Sunshine,” I plead.

Her hands go to mine, clasping them over her face.

“Who are we kidding?” her words rumble from her chest. “This isn’t real.”

“It’s real for me,” I confess.

A tear slips from her eye, and I swipe it away with the pad of my thumb. “But it can’t last. In one more day, we’ll be home. And we’ll have to pretend this never happened.”

I pull her face closer to mine and press a gentle kiss to her quivering lips. Her mouth doesn’t respond, and I can already feel her slipping away from me. Desperation blooms in my chest.

I can’t lose her.

“I was never very good at make believe,” I say. This grants me a hint of a smile. “We may have to pretend like this didn’t happen, but it’s not something I’m going to ever forget.”

“Promise?”

“Cross my heart.”

She answers my kiss this time. It’s eager, and I’m reminded of one of the million things I love about her.

“Can you take me back to the campsite now?” she whispers against my lips.

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