Page 60 of Bending Under Pressure

There’s no response. Keelan glances at me and I know he wants to leave him alone, but I can’t.

“I just saw Jess.”

A moment later, the door unlocks and swings open. Cameron looks like crap. His blond hair is all over the place, but his face, his eyes, God, he looks so sad.

“Good to know you both look terrible.”

He doesn’t say anything. He just blinks. Then, he returns to his bed, leaning against his headboard. He fiddles with a loose thread on the hem of his t-shirt. Now that I’m here, I don’t know what to say. Keelan leans against the doorframe while I step further into the room, sitting on the edge of his bed.

“What do you want, Haley?”

“I don’t know. I guess I just wanted to tell you that she feels bad for being mean to you. When I told her that it sounded like you were both holding something back, she asked me to leave for the second time. Give her time. She wants to call you, but she thinks she’ll make it worse because she’s all over the place. That’s all I wanted to say.” I don’t feel comfortable saying more than that because I feel like I would be betraying her trust and our friendship.

Cameron nods, not looking any better. I stand and leave his room, Keelan following me into his room. I plop down onto his bed and he falls down next to me.

“What else happened with Jess? Is she going to break up with him? Was she mean to you, too?”

“I don’t think she wants to break up with him, and she only got a little mean when

she didn’t like what I said. How did it go with Natalie and Keira?” I ask to change the subject.

Thankfully, Keelan lets me. “Okay. You and Keira would get along. She’s a book nerd, too.” He turns his grin toward me at that, and I roll my eyes. “Hey, I mean it in a good way.”

“You better.” Then it hits me that his parents are here. I could hear them talking in the kitchen on the way to the staircase. “Why are your parents here? Saturday is date night.”

“They’re too worried about Cam to leave.”

My eyes widen. “Do they know?”

“Dad does. I would guess he told Mom, but I’m not sure.”

How awkward would that be? To have your parents know you were planning to have sex for the first time with your girlfriend, but it went majorly wrong? I would die from embarrassment. “So, what’s the latest verdict on Natalie?”

Keelan sighs. “I feel like she’s trying to be my mom, and that’s not going to work. She keeps saying ‘we’ like she and my parents are the ones disciplining me or parenting me, and that’s not gonna happen. Honestly, I wish I only had to get to know Keira, even if she does talk a lot.”

“Did you tell your parents?”

“They were there when she said it, so no. I did tell Dad that she wanted me to visit my birth father. Thankfully, Dad said he wouldn’t be comfortable with it, but if I wanted to go, he and Mom would have to have a long discussion about it.” Keelan sits up, “And you know, it kind of ticks me off that Natalie called my mom this morning instead of waiting for me to wake up. How can she ask my mom if I’m okay with going shopping and them coming to my house for dinner? It was so freaking weird having them here.”

He’s starting to get riled up, so I grab one of his pillows and stand. “Okay. We’re officially due for some time in the hammock. Let’s go before I start telling you about my phone call with my dad.”

Keelan stands without arguing. He takes my hand, always having to lead me somewhere, even if it’s my idea. When we walk outside into the chilly air, I ask, “Why do you have to lead the way everywhere?”

His brows bunch in confusion as he takes the pillow and then lies down on the hammock. “What do you mean?” he asks as I lie down next to him.

“I said we should come out here, but you took my hand and I followed you. I feel like I’m always following you somewhere.”

Keelan grins. “What’s so bad about that?”

My mouth opens, but I don’t have a response. There isn’t anything wrong with it. I actually like it. “I just wanted to know why you always take the lead.”

“I don’t know, Hales,” he laughs. “I just do.”

I’ll have to be satisfied with that, I guess. “Are we racing tonight?”

Keelan’s eyes darken, probably remembering the incident from before. “No.” When I frown, he adds, “Because we need to get you behind the wheel again. You need to practice taking off if you want to race.”

I grin with excitement and quickly lean over to kiss him before I can lose my nerve. “What time are you picking me up?”

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