“I’m going to go down to the gym for a bit. Can we do something fun tonight?”
All I can do is nod because if I speak I’ll lose it. He slumps against me, laying his head on mine, then kisses me one more time on my temple. I watch him get up and I look at him . . . this beautiful boy, inside and out.
“That sound okay?” He looks at me, and I take a deep breath—through my nose and out of my mouth—then throw on the realest smile I can manage.
“That sounds amazing. Overdo.”
I want him to leave me be, but he just stands there, watching me. It’s starting to make me feel jittery. I’m slowly crumbling. I need space. Thankfully, with him at the gym I can have some.
“We’re okay, right?
“We’re okay, Camden Roberta Almeida.”
His grin is brilliant. “Good, Bowen Samantha Zhao.”
Chapter 11
Bo
Threemonthslater
“My nipples are about to fall off.”
“Yeah well, hold your nipples, we still have a few more blocks. And this was your idea.” I don’t know why I let him talk me into shit . . .
“Let’s go for a walk, get some groceries.”
In December.Dumb. I swear winters in Upstate New York alternate between“wow, it’s unseasonably warm”to“I’m pretty sure hell has frozen over.”
“Cam, I need my inhaler.”
We stop on the sidewalk. I swear it wasn’t this cold when we started walking. Sometime while we were inside the grocery store, the temperature dropped like twenty degrees. The sky above darkened and became thick with the promise of snow.
He reaches into his pocket to grab my inhaler, taking the bag of groceries I have and letting me take a hit. We stand for a moment, the frigid air squeezing my lungs.
“You alright? If you want I can run and grab my car.”
I focus on my breathing, looking up at the sky. It’s definitely going to snow tonight.
My medication settles my lungs a bit, but I just want to get home. “We’re almost home, it’s fine.”
“If you’re sure.” I try to grab the bag back from him but he holds it out of reach. “I got it.” It’s been a couple of months since both of our failed hookups. While that night was a bit embarrassing, and really sad, one great thing did come from it.
Noah and I have been hanging out pretty much nonstop. It’s been nice, and the space I’m giving Cam has been helping. Our friendship has gone back to the way it was before we kissed.
That night was weird, but I have a great friend now from it. Noah and Jamie got together, broke up briefly, and now they’ve been together for a couple of months. I visit them both, and Jamie doesn’t scare the shit out of me anymore. At first I found him intimidating, but he only looks scary, and he loves Noah so much.
Without the extra weight to carry, my body relaxes. “Thanks.”
“What do you want to do tonight?”
“Well, we aren’t playingMario Party. I’m still mad at you.” He laughs at me. “Stole my damn star!”
He chuckles warmly, knocking his hip into mine. “How about we playMinecraftorStardew Valley? Something easy.” That sounds nice.
“Fine.Minecraftworks. Going to leave you outside in the dark to get eaten by creepers.”
“You know I don’t go outside after dark.” I laugh. “So tiny. So evil.”
