Page 32 of Pomegranate Kiss

The hours had flown by in a haze of loud music, laughter, and sweat. Her feet ached, even in the flats she wore, but she’d needed to be out there distracting herself on the dance floor. Otherwise the talk looming between her and Cam would’ve driven her insane.

However, as the music slowed in tempo, leaving the couples with their slow dances and the older family members began to clear out, time ticked closer and closer to their conversation.

She probably shouldn’t have had so many dark and stormies, because they were corroding her stomach. Lex scanned over the dance floor, but she didn’t see the striking canary yellow dress or the curves she’d memorized with her mouth and with her hands. Lex sucked in a deep breath. Time to do this.

Lex strode off the dance floor, running a hand through her pompadour, which held up by will of extensive product alone. She headed for the corners of the room, but she didn’t spot Cam or Danny either for that matter. The outside didn’t offer up the duo, just Matty leaning against the siding to catch a smoke with their cousin Jeremy. Lex raised her middle finger in greeting, and Matty saluted back with the same.

Where could they have gone? She hadn’t checked the corridor leading to the bathrooms yet. Lex’s feet carried her forward by some miracle, even as the nerves threatened to stage a coup. Few people waited around here at this point, where before there had been lines all the way to the corridor from the ladies’ room. She’d almost reached the turn into the posh mirrors-and-throw-pillows entryway in front of the bathroom when she heard familiar voices.

“I can’t believe this is your last week,” Danny complained louder than normal, because the woman had drunk enough to drain the Atlantic at this point.

“Just because I’m relocating to Savannah doesn’t mean you won’t see me. I’ll only be two hours away.”

Lex stopped in her tracks. That was Cam’s voice.

“Why can’t your school be online, or near me?” Danny whined. “If I have to face the Horntrees alone, I’ll die.”

“Okay, drama queen,” Cam responded in the wry tone that normally caused warmth to pool in Lex’s chest. Except right now she was falling, falling, falling.

Going back to school? Moving to Savannah?

She’d faced some epic rejections in the past but never someone relocating to a different state. Her hope shattered like glass plates in an alcoholic’s house, and the shakes began trembling through her body.

Cam hadn’t said a word. She planned on going back to school, quitting her job, and leaving. Yet she hadn’t bothered to tell her.

The news didn’t just hurt—it cracked something inside of her, like the snap of a femur.

Lex had been sure, so sure Cam felt the same way. That she wasn’t alone in falling deeper in love than she ever had before. Yet the woman kept this a secret from her. The memories approached, hungry things determined to swallow her whole. The disgust on Maddy’s face after she’d confessed her feelings, the pitying wince from Lila as she told Lex about her now-serious boyfriend. The taste of shame on her tongue. Time and time again, she remained the casual fling, never anyone’s reality.

Her feet carried her forward even though her mind reeled. Her fingertips numbed. The hurt she’d experienced before, too many times in the past, but this grief that arose was new, this loss that had her barely able to breathe. It clawed at her chest without mercy, even as she steeled her features.

Lex turned the corner to walk in on Danny and Cam sitting on the couch along the side wall.

When their eyes met, Cam’s widened, and she leaned in to whisper to Danny. Lex’s lips thinned, the anger brushing across her skin like third-degree burns. Danny’s brows pulled together,and her head tilted when she glanced over to Lex, but her sister-in-law didn’t ask any questions. She stood and waved at Lex as she strode away. Cam rose from the seat, and Lex could see the way her legs trembled even from here.

“You’re leaving.” Her words fired like a bullet from a gun.

Cam swallowed hard, and she wrung her hands as Lex crossed the distance between them. “Look,” she said, “I was planning on telling you. I wanted to, so many times.”

“You had six months,” Lex responded, her voice as dead as her hopes. “And you’re leaving next week? Convenient that it’s right after we’re wrapped up.”

Her heart thumped hard in her chest, enough that it boomed in her ears. From the moment she heard the news, she’d plummeted into a void she might never emerge from. Stupid, she’d been so stupid to hope. Cam was no better than the others. Lex was good for a fling, but no one could fall for someone as damaged as she was. No one would ever take the risk to brave her shit moods, her acerbic words, or whatever-the-fuck seemed to repel anyone she fell for.

“I’m sorry,” Cam said, “I wanted to talk about it with you tonight. There’s so much we need to discuss.”

Lex shook her head. The time for talk was well past. All the speeches she’d rehearsed in her head throughout the day in preparation made her feel stupider than ever. God, she’d fallen for this shit again, like the sucker she was. Her skin crawled like she wanted to climb out of it.

In the faint light, Cam’s features were as sharp and stunning as ever, the sight slicing her heart to shreds. Her tumble of curls Lex had threaded her fingers through, the full lips that had twisted into an affectionate smile at the goofy things Lex said, and the eyes that had once looked at her with enough tenderness to make her forget why she didn’t do commitments. Why no onecould be trusted. Now Cam’s eyes throbbed with a seriousness she didn’t want to face.

Her actions proved enough, but she couldn’t take hearing those words fall from her lips: that this had been a bit of fun, nothing more.

Lex slipped her hand around Cam’s nape and leaned in to brush her lips against hers. God, she still tasted so good, and her body sparked to life even as her heart splintered. The scent of roses surrounded her, one she’d have to avoid now.

She pulled back, knowing this was goodbye. She wouldn’t see her off to Savannah, and they’d reached the end of Danny and Adrian’s wedding.

“The six months are up,” she murmured, trying to keep her voice from breaking. “You’re free.”

With that, she turned on her heel and strode for the bathroom. Her entire body trembled, and the heat stung her eyes, but she’d be damned if Cam got a shred of emotion from her. The woman had already stolen enough. Crashed cars couldn’t always be salvaged.

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