Page 92 of The Forever Vault

“I-” Cam’s face was bright pink, his eyes wide. In his place, I would’ve been pissed instead of speechless.

Orion finally came to his rescue. “Cam and Luke are two of my best friends, and whether or not they choose to get married is their own business. In the meantime, we’ve got a gold medal to win.”

I didn’t pay close enough attention to what was said after that. I just wanted to see Cam. What was Hoda thinking?

“Wow, Ty. I didn’t realize your wedding was that big a deal,” Colton said, slapping him on the back.

“If you knew Declan’s mom, you wouldn’t be surprised,” he replied, then said to me, “I’m sure he’s fine. Just a little shook up.

I pulled my phone out to call Cam, but a text came through.

Woodward: Hey Luke, if you can meet us at the village, please do so.

Woodward: I’m sure Cam will want to see you. We’ll be by Main Security.

“Gotta go, boys. My man needs me.” I slipped some flip-flops on and made for the door.

“You want some company, or you good?” Ty asked.

“Should be fine, but I’ll let you know.”

18

Camden

I had finally calmed down.

Noah helped, but Coach made the biggest difference when he said we were waiting for Luke to arrive. He was speaking to security now. It seemed Luke may have already been pushed out of the system, but he was checking.

“Anything I can do, Cam?”

I shook my head. “Just want this day to be over.”

“I get that, but you should at least spend a little time in the gym. Stay loose.”

“I know, and I will.”

“We have another team meeting later. I’d imagine it’ll be a little peppier than this morning.”

I scoffed. “Not hard to beat that one.”

Coach turned to leave the station. I just heard him say, ‘Luke’s all set’ when I saw a car pull up outside the entrance. I didn’t think when I saw him get out, I just ran into his arms, careful to avoid his sling. I couldn’t help it, but I started crying.

“I’m here now. I’m here now.”

I wrapped both arms around his torso and he held me tight with his one arm, whispering into my ear that everything was going to be alright. I felt so silly for crying, but the stress just popped and I was letting it all out.

After a minute or two, my tears stopped, but I continued to hold onto him, and he continued to stroke the back of my head.

“Just breathe, handsome.”

I did as he said and in a few more minutes, I felt a lot better. Good enough to make words.

“I missed you.”

“I missed you too. Ready to see what Woodward wants with us?”

“Well, gentlemen, this isn’t really an official meeting, per se - hence the meeting place.” Woodward gestured to our surroundings. We were in a picnic area in one of the gardens in the village. “But I do have an exciting proposition for you.”