Page 101 of Why Cheese?
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Wrecking Ricotta
“I THOUGHT HE’D be here.” Roq claws at his hair while walking around the fountain. We’d already searched here before, then the open grass, the little lake, and the bridge, before returning to the fountain. If they came here at all there’s no sign.
“What do we do now?” I ask and turn over my phone. Three forty-five. We don’t have long to scour the city before dawn, and they could be anywhere.
Roq clenches his fists and thuds them against his sides. His lip wobbles and he keeps shaking his head. “I…I don’t know.” Panic’s setting in. If we don’t find Cam, Brie, and Cheddy in time who knows what the city will do to them. I guide my hand closer, nearly brushing against his arm. Roq flinches a second before he leans into me, then his whole body tumbles forward. If he wanted to, he could crush me, but he catches himself and plants his cheek on my shoulder.
“I’m a fool.”
“At last you see the light.”
Roq wrenches back to his feet. Leaning against a bench with his hip, Cam calmly brushes down his shirt. “Looking for someone?”
“Ber…” Row whispers. He takes a step toward him, then freezes. “Where are the others?”
“Elsewhere.” He lifts his head. I gasp at the redness burning his eyes. “You really stepped in it this time, For.”
“I know. I should have told them everything.”
Cam gives him a no-shit look, then he glances at me. “What does she know?”
“The truth.”
“All of it? Before Chedward and Brie do?”
Roq bristles. “They…ran off. I’d have told them if they stayed.”
“Would you though?” Cam draws the tips of his fingers up Roq’s forearm. I shiver at the intimate touch gliding up Roq’s skin. Stopping at his shoulder, Cam leans over to say, “It’s one thing to have a pretty lap to cry into, but revealing your mistakes to them… Do you have the courage to try?”
“Yes,” Roq insists. Fiery sparks jolt between them, both looking about to either bite each other or kiss. I curl my toes, uncertain which to root for, but prepared to pop up for a better look. With a sigh, Roq breaks first. “I’d like to, anyway. Where are they?”
“In due time.” Cam slips away, but he pats Roq on the back before crossing over to me.
“We don’t have time,” Roq shouts back. “The sun will be up soon. They need to get back to the cellar or else—”
“Roquefort, always deluding yourself that you’re our only salvation. We’ve all survived on our own.” Cam’s eyes narrow before he glides to my side. “Did he tell you how we met?”
“No.” I shake my head. “We mostly talked about him.”
“A dull story perfect for putting one to sleep. Now my tale is one of excitement and sword fights on horseback.” Cam takes to pacing just before me. He’s got one hand curled to his chest while the other keeps emphasizing the important parts of his tale.
“I’d been saddled with this dairy curse for some time. At first, I found it useful. Imagine an entire company of guards pursuing a dashing and handsome man of dark demeanor and fantastic hair.” Cam shakes his head and flutters his finger through the black curls. “Only for him to disappear before their very eyes. It was quite lucrative.”
“Aside from bums nicking all your stolen goods the second you became cheese,” Roq says.
“There was that issue, yes.”
“Didn’t you have a merry band of thieves?” I ask.
Cam snorts. “I wouldn’t call them merry, per se. They were more buffoonish…on a good day. You don’t need much by way of smarts to figure out that knife plus carriage equals easy pickings.”
“They were going to eat you,” Roq interrupts.
“I’m sorry, are you telling my life story? No. Then hush up.” Cam takes my hands, his dark eyes wide with sorrow. “They were going to eat me. Me! Their wise and noble leader. I had no choice but to flee.”
He lets go of my hands to start pacing again. “At first, I believed my path to be random. A village here, a fief there, never staying long and enjoying as much of the night as I could.” The bouncing eyebrows aren’t necessary, but Cam gives it his all anyway. “No matter where I went, the lords pursued me all the way to the south of France—”
