Page 41 of Stray for You

What I just proposed would be something very different. I wouldn’t have the excuse of being there for work. I wouldn’t be distant and busy, available only in brief, self-contained moments. This would be uninterrupted contact, just the two of us together every moment of every day.

Heat pools inside me like wax gathering around a lit candle wick. The flame at the center is Cameron, always burning hot and bright inside me, a fire I’ve never managed to snuff out even when it looked like we might become brothers. Now that that danger has passed, would he ever give me a chance? Not a weekend in a hotel, but a real, honest chance?

I realize while pretending to read emails that that’s what I want from him. I want more than a week-long fling. I want that dinner date where he talked about his music and his life. I want silly, stupid outings like the Underground Tour. I want that morning in the tub, but even longer and lazier, nowhere to go and nothing to do but touch each other. I want things I’ve never really cared about finding with another person, not until Cameron and I crashed back into each other’s lives.

The truth is, it’s always been him.

From the second I met him in high school, he’s drawn me in in a way no one else does. The harder he pushed me away, the harder I was willing to try. Potentially becoming step-brothers probably wouldn’t have stopped me. Three thousand miles ofdistance and five years hasn’t stopped me. There is one person in this world who has captivated me from the moment we met, and it’s Cameron Ortiz.

I glance at my phone, but resist the urge to flip it over and check it for a response. Did it vibrate earlier? I can’t tell. Maybe that was in my head. No, it had to be in my head.

I turn back to my computer, but I don’t have that much to do today, and the hours crawl by agonizingly slowly. Maybe I went too far by asking him for a visit. Maybe he’s going to block my number at last. There’s still Henry. I can ask Henry. Wait, is that kind of stalkery?

My head is so twisted up that I don’t realize it at first when my phone actuallydoesvibrate. The sound of the device rattling on my desk takes an extra beat or two to register, then I nearly dive out of my seat to scoop it up. There’s one message waiting for me.

Sure.

That’s it. A single word. But a single word that means everything to me.

My heart punches at my chest in a bid for freedom. I’m instantly sweaty despite the air conditioning. Yes. He said yes. He saidyes!

I abandon any pretense of working today, instantly searching for flights to Seattle instead. I should care about the cost, but this place pays me well. I can afford it. Besides, I don’t think I can wait.

There are a few promising flights that head out next week. That would give me time to put in a vacation request with Garret. If I can crash with Cameron rather than getting a hotel room I wouldn’t need to do much more than book a ticket…

I start texting like mad, suggesting some flights and dates, all of them occurring as soon as possible. To my utter shock, Cameron continues saying yes, playing along with my plans.

I guess I’ll see you next week then, I text when we’ve hammered out the details.

Yeah, Cameron says.See you then.

I wish I could see his face, hear his voice. I don’t know if it’s excitement or resignation behind those words, but I won’t let him regret this.

It’s going to be the greatest week of his life.

Chapter Twenty-One

Cameron

WHAT HAVE I DONE?

Even days later, I don’t know what possessed me to say yes to Julian coming back to Seattle for a visit. He was here a couple weeks ago. It doesn’t even make sense for him to fly all the way back so soon. Yet according to his texts, he’s booked his ticket and gotten his time off approved. The trip is happening — and this time he won’t have work to distract him.

I will, but I plan to take off about as many days as I can. Even now, I stand outside the office my boss Chloe uses occasionally. It’s more like a closet than a real office, but it has enough space for a desk so she can do some manager … boss … stuff when she’s here.

She rarely ever closes the door, so I knock on the frame to get her attention. She smiles when she sees me and beckons me inside.

I slink into her office, hands clenching and unclenching as I prepare to make my request. Seriously, what the hell am I doing? I don’t have some fancy job like Julian. I need this cash. Yet I’m going to miss out on it to … to spend time with him.

Oh God. I need to do this before I lose my nerve.

“So, I was wondering if I could have some time off next week,” I say. “I have a friend coming to town, and he doesn’t really have anywhere else to stay, so I was going to show him around and stuff, but if you need me to be here I can totally make it work, Ijust might need to do fewer hours or something or…”

My rambling trails off into silence as I run through the excuses and explanations I planned out in my head.

“That’s no problem,” Chloe says simply, completely unperturbed by the request.

“Are you sure?” I say. “Will Henry and Sebastian be okay?”

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