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“Really?”
“I got along fine with some girlfriends’ parents, but it never felt like family,” he said. “Not really. Yours does.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “You can’t possibly know how much that means to me.”
“I think I do,” he said. “I think I’ve been searching for family my whole life.”
“Hey, you’ve got Red. You’ve got your mom. Who I really want to meet, by the way.”
“And they’re all I’ve got,” he said. “Your mom is amazing. She’s been texting me about I Love Lucy all week, by the way.”
“Yeah right. Mom doesn’t text.”
“She does,” he said. “She asked for my phone number at the end of the reunion.”
“What?”
He nodded, nonchalant. “She wanted advice on how to make her house more fire safe. But then we got onto a tangent about old TV shows. She’s hilarious.”
I blinked at him a few times. “This week, she’s been texting you?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Mom really likes you,” I said. It felt like a revelation, and yet, it made complete dumb sense. “You’re a miracle worker.”
“You think it’s a miracle that someone would like me, huh?” he said, teasing me.
“Oh, shush,” I said, unable to keep a smile off my face. “Let’s finish this cake. And then I’ll show you exactly how much I like you.”
17
Rock
It had been three weeks now since the end of the reunion. Almost every day, I’d been coming over to Perry’s place. It felt more real with each passing day. He still wanted this as much as I did.
When I pulled up outside of his house today, a car I didn’t recognize was parked out front. He hadn’t told me that someone else would be here.
When I knocked on the front door, Cameron was there smiling at me when it swung open.
“Rock! I was hoping I’d get to see you,” he said, pulling me into a quick hug. He looked good—happy, for the first time since I’d seen him, and perfectly dressed in a lavender long-sleeve and grey pants. Rock had told me that Cameron was usually a ray of sunshine, and now, I could finally see it.
“How are you, Cam?” I said.
“I’m doing better every day,” he said, shutting the door behind us and leading me to the kitchen, where Perry was cooking up lunch. “Can I get you anything? Water, beer?”
“I’m good for now, but thank you,” I said.
“Hey,” Perry said, coming over to kiss me.
It still gave me butterflies. Especially now that someone else was around. At the reunion, it had felt fine to pretend I was Perry’s boyfriend in front of everyone. But now that it was the start of something real, it was ten times as thrilling.
“You two up to no good?”
“Been talking Perry’s ear off about how nervous I am to get back in the dating world,” Cam said.
“It’s wild out there,” I said. “But I’m sure you’re going to have a lot of fun. You’re still young, and everyone wants a hot single dad.”
Cam blushed just a little, and I could see a glimpse of one way he was similar to his brother. Perry was right—Cam didn’t exactly look similar to him, mostly because of the lack of silver hair. But now that I’d spent time with both, it was plain to see that they were related.
“I told him to approach it like he approaches everything,” Perry said. “Research, organization, and attention.”
“And I told him he’s out of his mind,” Cam said, his blue eyes widening. “I approach all of my business life like that, but dating? No way.”
“You don’t want to make spreadsheets of your potential dates?”
“Hell no,” Cam said. “I’m just… dipping my toes back in the water. Taking everything slow. Things are different now than when I was a teenager.”
“God, you haven’t been single in a long time,” I said.
He shrugged one shoulder. “Married my high school sweetheart. And now the whole big scary world is open to me again. I can date women, men, anybody I want.”
I paused. “Don’t tell me you’re having a revelation about your sexuality at age thirty-six, too,” I said, in disbelief.
He laughed, and Perry smiled.
“Not so much,” Cam said. “I’ve always been interested in men and women, but it didn’t matter. I thought I’d found my life partner.”
He looked down at the kitchen counter, suddenly seeming far away again, sad like he had been at the reunion.
It broke my heart, even though I barely knew him yet.
“Well,” I said. “Glad there are two of you who can teach me about all of this stuff, then.”
Cam looked up again, his eyes brightening with mischievous joy. “According to Perry, you don’t need much help, because you’re doing just fine.”
I felt my cheeks getting hot. “Oh God, now I’m the one blushing,” I said. “This is Perry’s thing. I don’t blush.”
I was so glad to see Cam happy again, and no matter how embarrassed I was in the moment, it was worth it.
