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Down in the gym, where he’s planned to work out with Matteo this morning, he steps onto the treadmill in the corner. Without Jules by his side, the familiar nerves start jangling up his arms. He speeds through a warm up then sets the pace high, hoping to burn away some of that distracting energy.
He runs through his presentation as he jogs, muttering the words to himself beneath his breath. It’s less fun than Jules’s technique. Dancing around with abandon in his room.
He bumps the pace up again, smiling. Jules’s careless freedom had been infectious. He hadn’t let loose like that in ages—unless you count in bed with Jules this week—and letting go of worries about what he looked like was like taking off a ten-kilogram jacket he wasn’t aware he’d been wearing.
In fact, this whole week, any time he’s with Jules, it’s been … He doesn’t even have the words. It’s been so long since this feeling—the lightness in his limbs and the easy smiles that come any time he thinks of or sees Jules—has happened to him. Not even that homecoming feeling of returning to Sydney compares. He kissed her forehead this morning, for crying out loud. He doesn’t think he even pulled that totally boyfriendly move out when he was with Braden. But he can’t resist Jules.
He shakes his head and wipes sweat from his forehead with the bottom of his shirt. His thoughts are getting away from him. Presentation. He needs to run through it again.
A few minutes later, Matteo joins Cameron on the machine next to his.
‘Ciao.’
‘Hey.’
Matteo drops a water bottle into the holder and hits the start button. ‘Big pressie today. You ready?’
‘Hope so. Just ran it through now. Practised with Jules last night, too.’
‘Is that what we’re calling it these days?’
‘Very funny,’ Cameron replies dryly, while Matteo laughs. ‘Might see if I can fit another run-through after my shower.’
‘I never understood why you rehearsed these things so much.’ Matteo increases the speed of his machine and starts a light jog. ‘You used to make me sit through dozens of practices before you pitched marketing strategies to the CEO. You’re naturally charismatic. You could waltz into a meeting wearing board shorts and thongs and get a CEO to sign over their company.’
‘Maybe that’s because I practice the delivery so much.’
He doesn’t feel charismatic these days. He can count on one hand the number of friends he has at Infinity, hell, in Canberra. He’s made it so no one’s eager to spend time in his presence. Except Jules. And even that’s about to end.
They run in companionable silence, Cameron feeling the pull of muscles in his thighs and calves. He should look into starting a running club at Infinity, make some better connections with people. Or work harder on picking up the slack of the connections he left behind in Sydney.
He wonders if Jules would be into a running club? Clearly not at six in the morning. He already knew she wasn’t a morning person from their early start on Monday, but hearing the groaning complaint was cute.
‘Dude,’ Matteo drawls out, pulling Cameron from the memory.
‘What?’
‘I know that look. You’ve got feelings.’
‘No I don’t.’ The warm whirlwind in his chest begs to differ.
‘I dropped it the other day because you asked, but I don’t think I can ignore it any longer.’
‘My debilitating crush on you? Yes. Caught me.’
Matteo laughs. ‘Thanks. Nice dodge. But obviously, I’m talking about Jules. You’ve fallen for her.’
‘No I haven’t.’ The reply is automatic and sets off a lurch in his gut. Because it’s a lie.
Fuck.
He should’ve realised yesterday at dinner when he decided to let the warm weather phenomena in his chest rage on, assuming it would blow itself out. Yeah. That didn’t happen. He asked her to spend the night. He didn’t even get a complete run-through of his presentation in. He made love to her.
Shit. Does that mean he loves her?
No. Ridiculous. But you don’t make love without some depth of emotional connection. Which means he’s got feelings for Jules beyond friendship. Beyond a fling.
Cameron jumps off the treadmill while it’s still going. Anything to get away from Matteo’s line of questioning and his own revelation. Thank fuck no-one else is in the gym with them.
