Page 3 of Just Friends
Camille wenthmphand mulled it over.
“My worry,” she said at last, “is that you’ll miss out on meeting a really great guy.”
“… Because I live with Jax?” I asked, squinting, not seeing her logic.
“Webothknow you’ve had guys in the past get scared off by how close you are with Jax.”
“Yeah—insecure, controlling, jealous weirdos who would’ve had a problem with me having friends. I wouldn’t exactly call those guys quality. If anything, Jax helps filter those creeps out.”
“Okay, but what happens ifhemeets a girl and falls head-over-heels for her? She’ll wantyouout of the picture. You know that, right? What if you end up alone, because some part of you was so invested in Jax and you didn’t even realize it?”
Before I could answer, Beau barged into the living room to weigh in. “Piper won’t end up alone. She’s gonna end up with Big Rig once they finally realize they’ve been madly in love with each other for, what, four or five years now?Duh.I’ve been saying it ever since the day they met. Am Iseriouslythe only person who can see the obvious?”
That’s just Beau Braford being Beau Bradford: one of the hockey’s best agitators. Camille and I rolled our eyes and ignored him.
“Anyway,” I said, “to answer your question, Cammy: I’d behappyif Jax found somebody. I’ve set him up onsomany dates and been his ‘wingman’ too many times to count. Do you really think I’d do all that,” I asked, lowering my voice to a conspiratorial note, “if I secretly wanted him all to myself?”
“Maybe you would,” Beau chimed in with a devious smirk, “if you were twisted like me.”
I laughed. “Well, I’mnottwisted. Big Rig is just my best friend. Really. Truly. That’s it.”
Camille relented with a sigh. “Well, I guess I won’t stop you.Not that Icould—once your mind is made up, there’s no stopping you.”
She knew me so well.
“Darn right,” I said, wiggling my eyebrows.
“I just wouldn’t be a good friend if I didn’t share my concerns.”
“I know. And really, Camille, that’s what I love about you.”
We shared a hug.
“Anyway,” I said after a quick glance at the time, “I promised Jax I’d drive him to the airport, so I should head out. I just wanted to break the news to you guys in person.”
They walked with me to the front door.
“Before you leave, can I just remind you of something?” Camille asked. “Something that I find deeply ironic right now?”
“Sure.”
“Back in New York, when Beau walked into Velvet Bakery for the very first time,” she began, “you wereconvincedthat we wanted each other. Despite the fact that Beau and I still had a lingering grudge from high school.”
“Uh. Babe.” Beau wrapped an arm around his wife. “We didwant each other.”
“Maybeyouwanted me,” Camille said, playfully shrugging his arm off her shoulder. “But I didn’t want you at first.”
I laughed out loud. “Oh my God, Cammy. You married the man and you’restillin denial about how bad you wanted him!”
“My point is,” Camille said, fighting off a guilty smile, “if it weremewanting to move hundreds of miles away to live with my platonic male best friend, and insisting there was no attraction between us, you’d never believe me. And you’d never let me hear the end of how delusional I was, too.”
I giggled. “True, true.”
“So you see my point, then.”
“Yes,but,” I said, holding up a finger, “this is a different situation entirely.Jax and I, we’re both farm kids. We were raised a certain way. He gets me, you know? And I get him. We have a mutual understanding that we just can’t find with most people.”
“Okay, okay. Yeah, I know.” Finally satisfied—or at least pretending to be—Camille let go of her concerns with a breathy exhale. “So …Dallas,huh?” she asked again, only this time with a sliver of excitement coloring her voice. “We’re gonna have to visit you guys. And you’ll have to take me shopping.”
