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That night, I went to family dinner with Alex. It turned out I had no need to be nervous. The brothers I had met greeted me like we’d known each other for years, and the ones I hadn’t met were instantly welcoming. Ally and Danica, the partners of two of his brothers, were happy to have another girl in the fold and were ready to talk and laugh throughout the evening.
Seeing their children made my heart beat faster in my chest. I tried to tuck that aside and focus only on getting to know the family and having fun with Alex, but the thought of the little ones kept drifting back. It made me wonder what could be next for me.
CHAPTER 24
ALEX
Having Camilla at dinner last week really made the whole situation real in my head. As much as my initial instinct was to deny that it was serious, seeing her around all my brothers and Kane and Noah’s partners made it all too real. I was next in line in the whole finding-a-better-half thing. We were doing this, a real relationship, and it was going somewhere. The rest was up to us.
Then there was the matter of knowing what happened to her. Knowing what she had been through and how it affected her. It tore me up inside to know that she had been through so much at the hands of her ex, Doug. It was more than any person should have to handle from a person that they thought was their partner. That level of betrayal was almost unfathomable.
I wanted to tell my brothers about it. Hell, I really wanted to go up to the jail and find the asshole myself. Put a boot up his ass and smack him around for a while. Maybe lock him in a choke for a bit and see how he liked it. See if it dawned any new thoughts.
But none of that was helpful. Sure, the idea of kicking that guy’s ass was satisfying, but ultimately that energy got me nothing, and I wouldn’t be able to pull it off, so I needed to just let it go. Telling the brothers would elicit much the same response from them, though probably not to the level I felt it. But still, every one of us was protective, and every one of us would defend Camilla at the drop of a hat.
Instead, I just needed to keep the information to myself. I could figure out what I wanted to do with it later, but for now it just needed to stay inside my head. I swore to myself that I would dedicate myself to being the best boyfriend I could be and hope that it helped. Not that I was terribly well versed on being a boyfriend, since my previous relationships were never that serious. But I could try.
One thing I could definitely do was make sure she knew I was thinking about her as much as possible. That wouldn’t be all that hard since I was actually thinking about her most of the time. But keeping up with text messages and a few phone calls every day would help. So that’s what I did. The first thing I did in the morning and the last thing I did before I slept was message her. Simple good-morning wishes were met with heart emojis and the general feeling that she felt appreciated and cared for. That me doing that mattered.
As Thursday rolled around, I decided I would surprise her and drop by the school. Mr. Proctor was back and was guiding Camilla through some of the coursework, so I was excited to be able to see both of them at once. On the drive down there, I went ahead and texted her that I was coming, just so she didn’t go anywhere.
When I arrived, I was surprised at the door by Mr. Proctor. Behind him was Camilla, and they both followed me outside to where the benches were.
“Camilla told me you were coming by, so I went and ordered lunch,” Mr. Proctor said as we headed to the ancient picnic benches. They were covered in carvings and drawings from decades of students putting their mark on them that they were practically a work of art.
I always enjoyed sitting there with Mr. Proctor and letting my eyes roam around the table and benches, finding new things to discover about students from decades past. I often wondered what they were doing now. Did Jason still love Tina forever?
“Where did you order from?” Camilla asked. “I didn’t think the cafeteria did call-ahead orders.”
“No,” Mr. Proctor said with a laugh. “Mrs. Gothe would kill me if I tried.”
I too laughed at the image of the oversized cafeteria supervisor, who had been working at the school as long as Mr. Proctor himself, reacting to him treating the cafeteria like a restaurant. Considering I was fairly sure she could crush him under her six-foot-four frame without so much as a sweat, it was hilarious to think of her indignation at tiny Mr. Proctor.
