Page 134 of Effortless

Camilla’s brow furrowed. “What, why?”

“Because someone is coming over.”

“Who?”

“Someone.”

What was August playing at?

Camilla didn’t invite people to her place a lot of the time. It was her space—she liked to keep everybody else’s energies out of it.

August knew that.

“So hey, now that it’s summer, and I finally finished that one-year internship for Bared Brands, what are we doing?” August asked.

Camilla dropped down on the couch, and her friend came with her. The two stared at each other for a long while. “It has been a big year, huh?”

“Busy,” August said.

“That, too.”

“I just feel like …”

“What, Aug?”

“We should do something together this summer. You and me. Maybe go to Europe like we wanted, and then make a trip to the Keys.”

“That sounds fucking perfect.”

Understatement.

It sounded like a whole bunch of relaxation time that Camilla could really use. Her whole year had been one damn thing after another. August had the best ideas.

“I just want to spend some time with you—one on one,” August murmured.

Camilla glanced over at her friend, and her brow furrowed. “I know we’ve been busy a lot.”

“It’s not that, Cam.”

“Then what is it? I don’t understand.”

“Chicago,” August said quietly. “Tommaso. You’re not going to be here forever, and whether you want to admit it or not, you’ll leave soon. Except … you won’t be coming back. At least not in a couple of weeks, you know?”

A tightening in Camilla’s chest ached like nothing else.

She didn’t know what to say.

August shrugged, and looked down. “Don’t get me wrong, Cam. It’s great. He’s great, and I know he is. I can still be happy and sad at the same time about it.”

“Yeah,” Camilla said. “I know.”

Then, August reached over and squeezed Camilla’s hand to make the two look at each other. August was smiling. Camilla was sad.

“I can come visit, right?”

Camilla barked out a laugh. “I’m not even moving down there right now. It’s not even a thought in my head for at least a year. I have school and—”

“It’ll happen. I can come visit whenever, right?”