Page 43 of Effortless

“I’ll remember you like it, then.”

“And what’s what supposed to mean?”

Tommaso’s lips quirked up at the corner. “Means nothing, Cam. You ready to head to the airport?”

For a long while, she simply stared at him. He stared back, unmoved.

“Don’t make a big deal out of what I’m going to ask, okay?”

“Depends on what you ask,” Tommaso countered.

Camilla rolled her eyes. “Just … we can keep in touch, right? While you’re back in Chicago, I mean?”

“I was kind of hoping we would, yeah.”

“But we’ll still be—”

“Friends,” Tommaso interjected, and arching a brow. “You’re not very used to this, are you? The whole friends thing?”

“Not with benefits,” she admitted.

“Why?”

“Someone might catch feelings, or something. Isn’t that what always happens? Somebody catches feelings for the other person and ruins the whole thing.”

Tommaso chuckled. “Camilla, don’t be crazy.”

Something akin to hurt stabbed at her chest. “What, like somebody couldn’t feel anything for a girl like me?”

Instantly, Tommaso’s grin faded. “That’s not what I meant at all.”

“Then what did you mean?”

“I meant, it’s a little late for either of us to be worrying about that sort of nonsense, Cam. I walked out of your apartment the next morning thinking you were the girl of my fucking dreams.”

“You don’t even know me, Tom.”

“Nope, I thought that before I knew you liked cotton candy, or that you want to become a NICU nurse. I thought you were pretty fucking spectacular when you picked me up at a party, and barely even had to try. I like the way you run your life like it’s nobody else’s business, and I like where you come from. I still don’t know a whole hell of a lot about you, but I would like to on your terms. That’s it, and that’s all.”

A knot formed in her throat at his admission, and her chest tightened. She liked it—liked that he felt something for her, and was willing to say it out loud even if it meant she might bolt like a scared little deer.

Still, Tommaso stared at her, and kept her pinned in place with the intensity of his blue-gray gaze. “But it’s like this, Cam, you’re just not up for that with me, or anybody. That’s fine; it is, really. Besides, we can keep playing this little game you’ve got going on for as long as you need to, but it won’t make a difference in the end.”

“I don’t … understand.”

“I’m not the only one who caught some kind of feelings here, Cam. Otherwise, you wouldn’t give a shit if you ever talked to or saw me again after today.”

His statement made, Tommaso moved past Camilla to get back in the passenger side of the car. She stopped him by grabbing onto his wrist, and pulling hard enough to spin him back around to face her.

“You think that’s why I asked if we could keep in touch?” she asked, unable to hide the defensive tone coloring up her words.

Tommaso smirked, and came close enough to Camilla that he crowded every bit of her personal space. She was forced to look up at him, and every breath she took was saturated with the scent of his woodsy cologne.

“That’s exactly why, Camilla,” Tommaso said. “That’s why you agreed to be friends. Why you let me break your rules. It’s why you didn’t tell me to fuck off when I came to your school, and why I’m here right now. But we’ll play your game, babe, for as long as you need. You do you, and I’ll be over here doing me.”

“You’re … you are …”

Tommaso’s grin deepened. “Need an adjective?”