Page 36 of Revved up & Ready

Before he can respond, my friends knock at the door and let themselves in.

“What are you doing here?” Allie’s voice carries into the kitchen when Cam goes over to greet her.

“Heliveshere!” I call out.

“Yes, but it’s girls’ movie night. Cam doesn’t qualify,” Allie says, rounding the corner from the entryway into our little kitchen. Devon, Bea, and what feels like every dog in Palm Springs follow her in.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be out of here in a few minutes,” Cam says, leaning against the wall by the dining table and scratching Betty behind her ear.

“I maintain that you shouldn’t have to leave,” I say, although admittedly, it’s mostly that I want him here as a buffer.

“It’s all good. I get to lift weights with Luke,” he says, crossing the short distance between us to pull me in for a hug. “Although it’s hardly as much fun aseating your cookiesand watching a movie.” His hands linger on my hips, just an inch shy of inappropriate, as he gives me a soft kiss right on top of my head.

He’s just putting on a show for my friends. Goodness,when he flirts with me like that, it’s hard to think straight.

“That was an awfully chaste kiss to follow up your cookie-eating comment,” Bea observes, her voice rich with amusement.

“Bea!” I exclaim, because what else can I say?What else am I supposed to do?

Cam looks down at me.No, down at my lips. Oh, my word. Is he going to kiss me? In front of—

He snakes his arm around my waist again, lifting me against him with a strength I often forget he has. He leans in but passes my lips, leaving a burning kiss on my cheek instead. I practically melt on the spot when his lips touch my skin for the first time. “It’s hard enough to leave her tonight,” he says. “If I gave her a proper kiss, you’d never get rid of me.”

My cheeks flame redder than his hair as I watch him walk away.

The second he shuts the front door, Allie says, “We’ve waited long enough. You have to share every single detail about that right now.”

My eyes go wide.We’re dating. He’s my boyfriend. That’s the story. So why can’t I get the words out?

“How about we go out back first?” Bea suggests, pulling a joint from her denim jacket pocket, saving me from having to respond.

“You can talk and smoke,” Allie says, sliding open the back door. Spaghetti—Allie’s giant, curly-furred puppy—runs outside, chasing Dandy—Bea’s fluffy little white dog. Boo, my black cat friend who was sleeping on top of the breezeblock wall that surrounds our backyard, dashes away immediately.

Once we settle at the table, Betty—Luke’s stocky gray pit bull—shuffles underneath and rests her head on Devon’s feet.

“I love that you’re her favorite,” I say.

“I am not,” Devon says, but she cracks a smile. “I probably just have the biggest feet.”

“Details,” Allie insists, her green-eyed stare laser-focused on me.

My phone buzzes with a text, and I read it instead of giving in to Allie.

Jared: A year ago, you were begging me to marry you, and now you’re too good to return my texts?

Fucker. I never begged. I just wanted to know where my life was going. Is that how he actually remembers me—as someone who begged him to marry me? I keep trying to remember him as the kind, loving man he used to be, but the way he talks to me now—was any of it ever true?

“You alright?” Bea asks.

I tilt my phone toward her.

Her eyes scan the screen briefly, then she declares, “He’s clearly obsessed with you.”

“Wait, is Cam texting you?” Allie asks, leaning forward and propping her chin on her hands.

“Not Cam,” Bea says, handing my phone to Allie before lighting the joint.

“Eww, I fucking hate him,” Allie mutters after reading it.

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