Page 22 of A Shot of Pretty Poison

Lovedme.

“That doesn’t sound good,” he says, cringing. “Didn’t go well?”

I sigh heavily. “Do you remember that time Dad was in a bad mood, and I didn’t want to tell him they gave me the wrong size skates?”

“Yeah. They were like three sizes too small, and you tried using them anyway. Cracked your goddamn head open on the ice.”

I nod. “It went kind of like that, only last night a lot hurt worse.”

“Fuck.”

“Mm-hm.” Taking a seat at the small table he has in the corner, I put my mug down in front of me. “I don’t care what you and Mali say. He hates me.”

He leans back in his chair and stretches his arms above his head. “I don’t know, Lai. That’s a little extreme.”

“Cam, he told me I made him jealous of his mother’s terminal illness.”

He looks surprised but only for a second. “Well, that’s twisted. Doesn’t mean he hates you, though.”

I roll my eyes. “Right, because I tell everyone I care about that they make me want to die.”

“Did you try apologizing?” he asks.

“Yes, but he wouldn’t hear it. He basically kicked me out and called mema’am.”

That makes him chuckle. “I’m sorry to laugh, I’ve just never heard him call anyone ma’am.”

“Yeah, I know.” That’s why it hurt so much, and I know that was his intention.

He looks like he’s thinking for a moment before he finally gives in. “Okay, fine. Maybe I was wrong.”

“You think?” I sass, but that admission shouldn’t be as painful to hear as it is.

It’s not like I didn’t already know Hayes doesn’t want me anywhere near him. I could see it in his eyes when I saw him in the hospital. If he could have physically thrown me out of there, he would’ve. But Cam knows him better than anyone, and a part of me hoped what he told me was true.

“I’m sorry,” he tells me. “I didn’t mean to be an ass and make things worse for you. I’m just worried about him.”

“Me too,” I say honestly. “But while I may have been the one who could save him at one point, I’m not anymore. He made that pretty clear.”

He groans, and I can see how stressed out he is over it. “Fair enough. You can leave—go back to wherever it is you’re living now—if that’s what you want to do. But I think you should see Mom and Dad before you go. If they find out you were here and didn’t at least make an attempt to see them, they’ll be really hurt.”

Ugh. I know he has a point. It’s one thing if they never know I came back in the first place, but if someone has seen me and mentions it to them, they’ll be heartbroken. Any chance I have at repairing my relationship with either of them would die right then and there. And besides, it’s not like I’m trying to hurt anyone.

I never have been.

“Will you go with me?” I plead.

He snickers. “Going to use me as a shield?”

“If I need one, maybe,” I joke. “Come on. I used to play mediator for you. Not that you ever really needed it, but when you thought you were going to, I was there.”

His head tilts to the side. “Didn’t you actually get me inmoretrouble once?”

“Cam!”

I kick him under the table and he laughs. “Okay, okay! I’m going over there for dinner tonight. Six o’clock. Come then.”

Dinner. Okay. I think I can handle dinner—as long as Cam is there. It’s not like they’ll censor themselves in front of him or anything, but he’s never been afraid to take my side or call them out when they’re being too irrational.

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