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“I made a mistake when I was sixteen. I was stupid, which is par for the course. I’ll take my share of the blame for anything you want to call ‘our history.’ But know this, Vivian. I never stopped loving you. I was stupid to think it wasn’t love then, but I’m not too stupid to know what it is now.”
2
Cam
As soon asthe words left his mouth, he regretted them.
He’d held them in for over a year since she’d moved back and he couldn’t believe he let them just rush out of his mouth in an angry tirade like that.
Not his smoothest move.
Of course, he’d been holding them longer than a year if he was being honest—and apparently, he suddenly was.
Being honest, that was.
He’d known as soon as he’d broken up with her that he was an idiot. But he figured, what the hell? It wasn’t like they wouldn’t get back together after they both dated a few people. They were young. It would make them more solid for the long run if they went out a couple times here and there with other people.
And small towns were famous for the whole matchmaking-at-birth crap. His teen self had been tired of hearing about weddings and babies.
He’d been sixteen for heaven’s sake.
Then—
“I’m not blaming you.” Vi broke into his thoughts, completely redirecting the conversation back to “their past” but away from “I love you.” He watched her lock down the walls of denial between them. “Even if I did, I got Tyler from that time. But I need to draw a line. And you being the dad he wants, doesn’t mean you’re the dad he gets.”
Cam hated that she was right. Hated things were always going to be so layered between them.
He hated that this hurt her—and because he knew her better than any other human, he could see the hurt behind her tough exterior.
An exterior he was partly to blame for, not that she hadn’t always had a bit of a tough-girl attitude. It was one thing he’d loved about her even when he didn’t understand it.
Besides, Cam wasn’t a man who needed to have layers in his life. He had a family he loved and who loved him. He had a career in a field he was gifted in which allowed him to make beautiful things and sell them while feeding himself. He had good friends, a good life, a nice home.
He just didn’t have Vivian.
He took a deep breath before going on knowing she’d see him in the wrong no matter what.
“I’m not trying to butt in. Vi, I asked him straight out.” He was repeating himself but he wasn’t sure what else to do.
He felt like he’d been repeating himself for almost a decade.
Of course, that whole shouting-he-loved-her thing was new.
Definitely not how he wanted to add layers.
“I just—” She took a step back and he knew she was already out the door. They weren’t even going to talk about this. “I just need you to realize there are boundaries that have to stay in place and you need to respect them.”
Cam shoved his frustration back because she was right.
This wasn’t just about letting Tyler over to his workshop for lessons. HewantedTyler there. He wanted Vivian there too.
“I get that. But, Vivian, Tyler is curious and talented. I enjoy his company. I hope you don’t think I’m overstepping, but I think he enjoys being around a guy who isn’t trying to push him. I’m not a coach or a teacher—or a dad. I’m just the guy who lives on the other side of the bailey.”
He glanced out the window at their rooms overlooking the same space, a flash of pain shooting through his gut.
He’d wondered, of course he’d wondered.
First when she disappeared before they could even start senior year, then over the years as he couldn’t help but wonder about her and her baby. Every day for half a decade, he expected to turn a corner and see her there, all long-legged beauty and auburn-haired sass.
