Page 10 of Effortless

“Like you never used to go into clubs with Catherine Marcello when she wasn’t legal age?”

Her brother stiffened in the driver’s seat of his Porsche at the mention of his ex. Camilla half-smiled to herself, but hid it by taking another drink of coffee. The best way to get Cross off a topic of conversation was to put his ex into it.

“At least it was just August in your bed this morning.”

Camilla snorted. “I apologized for the guy, Cross.”

“He had nothing on, Camilla.”

“And the girl,” she added. “I apologized for her, too.”

That was the first time her brother found out Camilla didn’t have a preference when it came to hooking up with somebody. As long as the guy or girl was going to be a good time, she was all for it. They had to be gone by morning, or soon after—that was her deal.

Camilla didn’t do relationships. She was too young, and having too much fun being nineteen, in college, and out on her own to settle down with somebody. Any relationship she did dabble in was done almost as soon as it started.

She found boys to be like toys. Fun to look at, cool to play with, but then she quickly lost interest. Although, she had never gotten into a relationship beyond sex with a woman, she figured it would probably end up being the same.

Camilla’s interest just couldn’t be kept for longer than it took to have an orgasm … or five.

That didn’t stop people from trying, though.

“I mean,” Cross said, glancing over at his sister, “the girl definitely wasn’t too bad to look at other than the fact she tried to kill me with one of your crystals. You know, when she threw it at my fucking head.”

Camilla laughed.

So she had an active sex life. Her brother liked to pick on her about it sometimes, but he never made her feel like she was doing something wrong. He never shamed her for the choices she made, and instead, only asked if she was safe and okay.

She loved her brother for that, really.

“She thought you were breaking into my place or something,” Camilla said.

“Because we don’t look like siblings at all,” Cross replied wryly.

He was right. The two shared the dominate Donati features, but where Cross took a stronger, more masculine version, Camilla was the lighter, feminine side. He was sharp lines, and she was soft curves. She barely reached five-foot-six in heels, while he towered over six feet. Her brother smiled, and showed off cut-from-stone cheekbones, and she carried her mother’s delicate nose and petite figure.

A person couldn’t miss how much the two looked similar, though.

“Maybe she thought you were going to try to join in or something,” Camilla said. “Some people are freaky like that—the whole sibling get up, you know.”

Cross made a gagging noise in the back of his throat. “That’s enough of that. Jesus Christ.”

A dinging bell took Camilla’s attention away from her brother for the moment. A notification on her cell phone let her know that the paper she needed to have in on Monday was now pushed back until Friday. Apparently, the professor for the class had come down with some kind of wicked bug and would not be back in classes until Friday.

School was the one and only thing Camilla did not mess around with. Her social and personal life did not get in the way of her schooling. From Monday to Friday, she was ass-in-chair at every class, lecture, and whatever else she needed to do.

Her goal to become a NICU nurse—to take care of premature babies like she had been once—would not be screwed up by any-fucking-thing. Camilla would make sure of it. No matter what she had to do.

“Yes.”

She did a little happy dance in the passenger seat.

“What’s going on now?” Cross asked.

“The rest of my weekend just opened up, big brother.”

Cross smirked. “Oh, how so?”

“Nothing due for school. Nothing to do. August is going to be busy, busy. Free weekend.”