Page 10 of The Stranger's Code

Cameron stepped through the door, wearing a straw hat and jean overalls, with seemingly nothing underneath.

Fuck.

Had Cameron always looked like that? His skin practically glowing, his athletic build shining through in his shirtless ensemble. He looked effortlessly handsome, like he never had to try that hard, ever. It didn’t help that he had a huge grin on his face, his eyes locked right on mine?—

No.

I didn’t need a distraction right now. Besides, Cameron needed to focus, too. If he was going to gain some real-world experience, he didn’t need anything throwing him off course.

I broke off our eye contact as I forced myself to cough a few times, trying to dislodge thoughts about Cameron from my brain. “Did you need something, Cam?”

“First question. Does this look okay? Or is this offensive? As in, no one has ever actually worn an outfit like this?” he asked. “I was going for down to earth but also sexy farm guy?—”

“Yes.”

“Yes? Yes what?”

“Yes, of course, people have worn that outfit before.” I desperately tried to recover, even as heat rushed to my face. “Was there something else you needed?”

“Second question.” He smirked as he held up a hand. “Will you come somewhere with me?”

“Somewhere?”

“I… want to go line dancing at a bar in town,” he admitted. “But I didn’t want to tell you straight out because I had a feeling you’d say no.”

“Are you asking for a ride there? Because I have no problem dropping you off, Cam.”

“What about staying with me? Just for the first dance.” Cameron moved closer to my desk. “Please? I won’t know anyone there and I’ve never done anything like it before?—”

“Why me?” I casually cut him off. “If you want to have a night out on the town, Teddy’s probably going to be way more fun?—”

“Yeah, but Teddy’s not you—” Cameron started and stopped. “I just thought—you know what? It’s fine. I can catch a ride with someone else.”

“Cam, wait?—”

“I get it. You’re busy.” Cameron smiled. “I guess I’ll just have to be extra social and find a dance partner the old-fashioned way.”

“Cam—”

“We can catch up later, yeah?” It was the last thing Cameron said to me before he disappeared into the hallway.

* * *

“Can I get a beer please?Whatever you’ve got.”

I took a deep breath as I looked around the bar. It wasn’t hard to find out which place was having line dancing night, especially since Swanky Jack’s had been plastering ads for it all over. The room was filled with twangy country music, the sound of guitars so loud I could barely hear myself think. I gratefully took my beer from the bartender, the cold of it pressed against my hand, centering me in the moment.

As I sipped my beer, I peered through the crowd. I was looking for Cameron and his overalls, a part of me imagining him already on his third dance partner, well on his way to becoming a line dancing pro. I couldn’t imagine that it would’ve taken very long for Cameron to find people to dance with, everything about him seeming so fun and inviting?—

“Levi!” Cameron suddenly called out for me. He walked up to me, a huge grin on his face. “You came!”

“You asked me to, remember?” I smirked. “Sorry about being late. I had some things to finish up at the office?—”

“I’m just happy you could make it.” He beamed. He then reached for my drink, casually taking it into his grip. “But consider this a tax on being late.”

I watched, as Cameron downed the rest of my beer. When he was finished, he handed me the empty bottle.

Shocked, I stared over at him. “What am I supposed to do with an empty bottle, Cam?”

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