Kennedy took Cameron’s hand and said, “I know you like Lacey.”
“Ken, I–”
“Just hold on, okay? I know you like her. I could see it all weekend, Cam. She… brings something out in you. I don’t know if I brought it out in you, too, at one point, but I don’t anymore, and I loved seeing you happy like that again. Did it hurt? Yes. I’m human. But I want you to be happy. That’s important to me, and if she… can do that…”
“Kennedy, nothing happened.”
“That’s not completely true, though, is it?Somethinghappened. Maybe not physically, but you see something in her, and I can tell that it’s there for Lacey, too.”
“What about River?” Cameron asked her.
Kennedy swallowed and replied, “I don’t know if they’ll stay together or–”
“Ken, that’s not what I’m talking about. Yes, we don’t know for sure what will happen, but it seems to me like they’re about to do what we’re doing right now, and probably soon. They’re not happy, either.”
“I know.”
“And you like River.”
“River’s great, yeah, but I don’t know.”
“What don’t you know?”
“What to do about any of this because I do like her, but, Cam, I’m breaking up with my best friend and the woman I thought I’d spend my life with. We’ve been together for half a decade. I don’t know how I feel about just calling River up and asking if she’s broken up with Lacey yet, because I want to go out with her, when I don’t know if I’m ready to go out withanyone.”
Cameron nodded and said, “I get it.”
“My whole life is in turmoil right now. We live together. We own this place together. We have assets, even though we never got married, that we’d have to decide what to do with. On top of that, I won’t be…” Kennedy felt her eyes well with tears. “I won’t be falling asleep next to you anymore. I know it hasn’t exactly been sexy with us for a while, but I had my best friend there next to me every night, and when this whole fight thing happened and caused us to at least temporarily be unemployable, you were right there next to me, trying to put on my favorite old TV show to take my mind off it and making me laugh with your ridiculous jokes.”
She chuckled as tears fell.
Cameron wiped them away and said, “We might not be in the same bed anymore, but I’m not going anywhere. And we will figure the house stuff out. We can be amicable about that, right?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Then, there’s nothing to worry about, Ken.” Cameron wiped more of Kennedy’s tears away. “It just didn’t work out. We were maybe right for each other for the time we had, but not meant to be forever. I know I might not be beside you in bed every night now, but I’ll always be by your side whenever you need me. I don’t know what else we can do right now. I think I could use some time to think and maybe to get a little space from this.” Cameron’s eyes welled with tears then, too. “But I don’t want to lose youever, okay? So, we’ll find a way to be friends, and we’ll always be friends. Nothing changes that. We’re best friends. We stay that way.”
“And when you start dating Lacey, she’s just going to be okay with you being besties with your ex?”
“I’m not dating Lacey, Kennedy.”
“But we both know you want to, Cam. I don’t want to stand in your way. I want you to know that, okay? I’m not in your way. If you want to ask her out and see where it can go, I want you to be able to do that, because you and I probably should’ve ended a year ago, and we didn’t. I’m not going to hold you back anymore. Ifyouneed time, that’s your decision, but I don’t want you to worry about hurting me whenever you do move on.”
Cameron wiped a tear before Kennedy could get to it, but she still managed to reach the second one that slid down Cameron’s cheek.
“I want that for you, too. Maybe you’re not ready now, and I get that, but if you are, or if you think you might be, I don’t want you to worry about me, okay?”
“Yeah, okay,” Kennedy replied. “So, um… I think I’m going to pack.”
“Pack? Why?”
“Cam, we just broke up. I can’t sleep in the same bed as you tonight.”
“We have guest rooms, Kennedy. Plural.”
Kennedy smiled at her and replied, “I know, but I can’t be here right now. I need some space.”
“From me?I’llgo.Ican pack.”
