Page 38 of Already At Risk
“It was…” She heaved a sigh and then looked at me out of the corner of her eye. That lookmeantsomething, but I didn’t understand what. Not until she kept talking. “It was a one-night stand. That, well, obviously became more than one night.”
Her words seeped into my brain, slotting into place.
“That was what you meant yesterday. When you said it happened too fast.”
Natalie nodded. “Our relationship started in a whirlwind that I’dthoughtwas romantic and hot and fun. But it was really just Korey sinking hooks into me and dragging me down as fast as he could, making it impossible to climb my way back to the surface again for a long time.” She glanced at me again, a little uncertain, a little shy. “When things started to feel…good the night I met you, it scared me. The last time something felt that good that fast, it had all been a lie. It snowballed into something out of control. And right now, I just want things to beincontrol.”
I tried hard not to focus on the part of her admission where she talked about how good things felt between us and more on the part where she said it wasn’t the time for it. Especially because Iunderstoodwhy she felt that way, given what she’d just told me.
“I get it, Natalie.”
She dropped her head against the couch cushion with a groan and then muttered, “It’s too bad, though.”
She said it so softly, I wondered if I wasn’t supposed to hear. But I couldn’t help but ask. Ineededto know.
“What is?”
Natalie didn’t move her head, but her eyes flicked up to mine. She examined me from beneath her lashes, her gaze roaming my face, a lazy appreciation, awantthat was barely concealed. Her breathing seemed to quicken, or maybe I was suddenly just that much more attuned to it, and then her lips parted. I tried not to look at them, but it was too hard. So I watched her mouth form the words “Nothing, Cameron.”
Fuck,did I likeher saying my name. I liked itsomuch that I wanted to get her tokeepsaying my name. And I wanted the wordnothingto not have a single thing to do with it.
She knew it wasn’t nothing. And I knew it wasn’t nothing.
It was something, definitely something.
But we were both going to pretend it didn’t exist.
“How long did you say this whole process would take?” Natalie asked after a long beat of silence.
She didn’t need to clarify what she meant.
“I didn’t.”
Didn’t really want to think about it, if I were honest.
“How long, Cameron?”
“It depends. Months, likely. Sometimes custody battles can stretch for a year, but I don’t think that’ll be the case here.”
“Months,” she mouthed, repeating it to herself.
Months, I reminded myself.
I had months yet to survive.
And it wasn’t going to be easy.
CHAPTER TEN
natalie
“HOW’S IT GOING WITH Cameron?”
“Cameron?” I repeated, staring at the skating rink in an attempt to avoid Noah’s probing gaze. The problem was that the corner of the rink I was so focused on no longer had any students in it, and Chloe had long since skated off to another part of the ice.
“Cameron Bryant,” Noah repeated slowly, giving me a funny look, which I caught out of the corner of my eye. “Your lawyer?”
“Right,” I said, a breathless laugh coinciding with the word. “It’s going fine.”
