Page 31 of My First Time Fling

He smiled brightly at us. I looked at Jesse, wondering if he had any idea what Cam was talking about. It was all gibberish to me. Too many pronouns, not nearly enough specifics. But Jesse looked just as confused as I was.

“I’m sorry,” Jesse said slowly. “I think my brain might be taking a vacation as well. Are you saying…”

“I’m saying I want to sell the Sea Glass to you,” Cam said.

“But I—” Jesse shook his head. “Cam, you don’t know how much that means to me, but I can’t offer you any more now than I could the last time we talked.”

“But that’s just it,” Cam said. “I realized I didn’t care about that. I mean, what’s the use of money, really? It just gets in the way, muddies the waters. I thought maybe I could use the profits to finance my next project, but I’ll be fine without it. It’s not good for you, having too much money. It narrows the way you think.”

Spoken like someone who’d never had toolittlemoney, if you asked me, but I didn’t think it would help anything for me to point that out right now.

“And Lyles & Blackstone wasn’t even going to pay that much, in the end,” Cam continued. “So why would I sell to them, instead of you?”

“Lyles & Blackstone?” Jesse said.

“The developers,” Cam said, like Jesse was being deliberately slow. “The people who wanted to buy the Sea Glass. They’ve been buying up properties all over the island, but they’re forcing people to sell for way less than places are worth. They use these contracts and lock you in. Plus, they’re apparently implicated in some kind of environmental scandal. Bribing elected officials or something. It’s complicated, and I’ll be honest, I don’t understand all the details, but lots of people have gotten screwed over, and I don’t want to be a part of that.”

His smile was so earnest, I couldn’t help but return it. I could see that Jesse felt the same way. Cam might have been built like a linebacker, but there was something about him that was so unworldly, so innocent, that I wondered how he functioned without getting constantly taken advantage of. I still wasn’t exactly clear on what had happened with the developers who’d wanted to buy the Sea Glass—how could I be, when Cam wasn’t clear himself? But I supposed it was a good thing he had friends looking out for him.

“Cam, that’s—that’s amazing,” Jesse said. “I promise, if you sell to me, I will give this place so much love and care. I’ll restore it to its former glory. I’ll make it—”

“Oh God no, I don’t care about that.” Cam shook his head. “Do what you want with it. It’s just a building.”

Jesse looked torn between being outraged by that sentiment and thanking Cam again for his kindness. His jaw dropped, and his eyes bulged slightly.

“But when you said you didn’t want to sell to the developers, I thought you meant—”

“I don’t want to sell to them because I don’t want to encourage that kind of behavior. Not because I’m attached to this place. Rip it all down for all I care.” Cam ran a hand through his hair. “I’ll be happy just to finally stop thinking about it. You’re doing me a favor, honestly, buying it. It’s taken far too much time away from my research as it is.”

“Well, I still want to give you the best offer I can,” Jesse said. “Fair is fair.”

“I trust you,” Cam said, giving him a startlingly direct look. “You put your offer together, and I’ll sign it.”

“I feel like I should be telling you to drive a harder bargain,” Jesse said, “but I guess I’m not going to look a gift bed and breakfast in the mouth.”

“Don’t be so sure it’s a gift,” Cam said. “We had a big storm last week, and there’s a lot of water damage up on the second and third floors. There’s actually only one bedroom that escaped it, down here on the main floor. Obviously, you two will be sleeping there this weekend, but you might want to check out the extent of the damage before you put your offer together.”

“I, uh, actually—” Jesse began, at the same time as I said, “Oh, we’re not—” before we both cut off, looking at each other awkwardly.

Shit. Cam had assumed we were together. And come to think of it, why shouldn’t he? How many people brought a casual, platonic friend with them to check out real estate they might purchase? It made sense that we would be a couple. We just…weren’t.

“Should I not have said that?” Cam asked. “Sorry, I just thought I should be honest about the condition of the building. But hey, at least the bedroom down here has a full-sized bed, and not just a twin. That would be asking a lot, even for the closest of couples.”

“No, it’s not that,” Jesse said, clearing his throat. “It’s just, well…”

Cam’s earnest smile faltered as Jesse spoke, and I felt, absurdly, like we would be letting him down if we admitted that we weren’t together.

“It’s just that we’re so surprised, is all,” I said, jumping in. “By your offer. But really, thank you so much.” I took Jesse’s hand and squeezed it. “And we’ll be fine with that bedroom. As long as this guy doesn’t try to steal all the covers like he sometimes does. Right, babe?”

A thrill shot through me. I couldn’t believe what I’d just said. It was crazy and reckless and honestly pretty stupid, given that everything I’d been worried about earlier today was still a potential problem. And yet, I was glad I’d said it.

Jesse looked at me in shock, and I held my breath, waiting for him to respond. I heaved a sigh of relief when he finally turned back to Cam and smiled.

“I only steal the covers because he snores like a jet engine, and I need something to bury my head in. I don’t suppose you have any earplugs, do you?”

Cam laughed. “I’ll see if I can rustle any up. They might be from the 1980s though, fair warning. But if I can’t find any, you could always ask down at the general store. They’ll be open late tonight for the festival.”

“The festival?” I asked. I usually avoided crowds, but for some reason, the thought of a festival with Jesse sent a flutter through my stomach—the good kind of flutter.

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