Page 8 of What Should Have Been Ours

I narrow my eyes at him, arms now crossed. “And what exactly would you be monitoring?”

He grins, leaning in slightly. “Your stress levels, your overall well-being, the possibility that you still have a weakness for me?”

I scoff, rolling my eyes. “Oh, please. I survived cancer. I think I can survive you. I did for almost ten years, remember?”

But the way he’s looking at me right now? I’m not so sure that’s true. I don’t think it ever has been. Especially remembering how broken I was when he left me.

“If I remember correctly,” he says, his voice even lower now. “You had a pretty big weakness for me back then. I definitely had one for you, Gabrielle.”

The shiver that runs down my back is so intense that I think I visibly tremble.

“I plead the fifth,” I say, repeating his earlier answer. “You can’t prove anything.”

He smirks at my reaction. That same damn smirk that used to drive me crazy.

I roll my eyes, shaking my head at him.

It feels too easy, falling back into this. The banter, the effortless way we slip into old habits, the way his presence still makes everything feel just a little bit lighter, even when my mind is anything but lately.

But then, his expression softens, his gaze dipping just slightly before locking onto mine again.

“I really am happy for you, Gab,” he says, his voice more serious now. “Thirteen years cancer-free is actually incredible.”

There’s something in the way he says it. Not just like he’s proud, but like it means something deeper to him. Maybe it’s because we always knew one of us might not make it.

I feel my throat tighten, but I push past it, forcing a small smile. “Yeah. It still doesn’t feel real sometimes.”

“It is. You’re here. You’re still here. You won the fight, and I’m proud of you.”

I haven’t felt this level of warmth inside of me in a very long time. It scares me because the last time I did, I tried desperately to hold onto it, and it was still ripped away from me.

After a moment of us just soaking in the reality that we’re both still here, Cam speaks again.

“So what big dream did you end up accomplishing, Ms. Voss? The one where you started that all-girl rock band you swore would be bigger than the Spice Girls? The one where you became a secret spy? Although you probably would have failed at that dream because you could never whisper to save your life.” He laughs at himself and then continues. “Or the one where you became an FBI agent who exclusively solved pet-related crimes?”

“Well, I never had enough friends to start the girl band, sadly. I would have most definitely been a terrible spy. And the police force seemed like it would require too much physical activity for my liking. So I did the next best thing. I became a veterinarian.”

There’s pride in my voice when I tell him that.

It really was a dream I never thought I would make it long enough to see myself accomplish. I couldn’t be happier with the career I chose.

Cam’s smile stretches wider, something warm and proud flickering behind his eyes. “Yeah, that makes sense. You were always so obsessed with the therapy animals that came into the hospital. I swear, you told the doctors at least once a week that you wished the dogs were your real doctors instead of them.”

I let out a laugh. “That’s because they had much better bedside manners.”

He tips his head, nodding. “Fair point, but let’s not forget your most heroic medical moment. The time you tried to perform CPR on the fish from the lobby’s tank.”

I groan, covering my face. “Oh my gosh, we’re not bringing that up.”

“Oh, we absolutely are,” he says, grinning like he just hit the jackpot. “It was a valiant effort. I mean, who else would think to give a goldfish mouth-to-mouth?”

“I was eight!” I defend, arms crossed. “I had just learned about CPR and thought it could work on anything.”

He chuckles, shaking his head. “I don’t think the nurses ever got over it. One minute, they’re trying to console you over a dead fish, the next, you’re yelling at them to get the defibrillator.”

I let out an exaggerated sigh. “Okay, in my defense, no one told me that fish hearts aren’t compatible with the tiny electric paddles.”

Cam throws his head back laughing, and something in my chest tightens at the sound. I’ve missed this. I’ve been craving this feeling for twelve long years, and no one else has ever been able to give it to me.