Page 79 of What Should Have Been Ours

I pull her in closer, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as we walk. “Cold?”

She hums, leaning into me. “Not anymore.”

I’ve spent over a decade wanting this.

What I would do to go back and talk to sixteen-year-old Cam—tell him his world isn’t actually ending, being taken away from her. That all the years between them will make him love her more than he ever thought possible.

We walk in this comfortable silence for a while, just letting the city continue to breathe around us, basking in the comfort of having her in my arms—for good, hopefully.

At some point, we pass a street musician playing his guitar, and Gabrielle slows down.

“You remember when we used to say we would learn an instrument together?” she asks, smiling.

I chuckle. “Yeah. You wanted to be a rock star, and I wanted to be…what? A sax player?”

She nods, laughing. “You thought it would make you ‘mysterious and broody.’”

“I was an idiot.”

“You still are,” she teases, and I tug her closer, my fingers pressing into her side just enough to make her gasp.

“You wanna say that again, Ms. Voss?” I whisper, leaning my head into the curve of her neck.

She grips my shirt, gasping a little. “Nope. I’m good.”

I chuckle and kiss her before guiding us forward again.

A few blocks later, she stops in front of a bakery that’s closed for the night, but the display case in the window is still lit up, showcasing rows and rows of pastries.

Gabrielle presses her palms against the glass, eyeing a croissant like it personally offended her by being out of reach.

“You’re gonna start drooling in a second,” I tease.

She sighs dramatically. “Why do I always crave sweets after everything is closed?”

I lean in slightly, my lips brushing the shell of her ear. “I could think of something to satisfy your sweet tooth. Well…it would definitely satisfy mine. I can taste—”

Smacking my chest, she inhales sharply, laughing. “Cameron Hayes, stop it!”

I grin, wrapping my arms around her.

We stand there for a little while, leaning against the brick wall, just talking to each other, and I can’t help myself from leaning down and catch her lips while she’s mid-sentence. She instantly melts into it, her fingers curling into my shirt, and I swear I could kiss her like this forever.

I pull back and just stare at her.

“You ready to head back?” I ask, brushing my thumb over her cheek.

She nods. “Yeah, I guess. I’d much rather stay right here, though.”

29

Gabrielle

“Okay, I swear, if I have to redo my eyeliner one more time, I’m going to end up blinding myself and calling it a night before said night even starts,” Kinsley huffs, glaring at herself in the mirror as she aggressively wipes at the wing liner she’s been attempting for the past ten minutes.

I laugh, running my hands down my dress, smoothing it out nervously and glancing at myself in the mirror one last time. “You do realize the point is to enhance your beauty, not stab your eye out, right?”

Kinsley glares at me through the mirror. “Listen, Gabrielle. Some of us aren’t naturally gifted in the fine arts of makeup application like you.”