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She shot him a sharp smile. “Hello, Mr. Pot. I’m Black Kettle. Nice to meet you.”
“Hey, I ain’t judging—I’m aware that I’m no better at empathizing. If it wasn’t for Aspen, I’d probably do all kinds of cruel shit on a daily basis. She’s pretty much my conscience; brings out what little good I have in me.” He threw the ball in the container near the wall that held several others.
Bailey felt her nose wrinkle. “I don’t think me and Deke bring out the good in each other.”
“No, you bring out the good and the bad.”
“You say that like it’s a positive thing.”
“Because it is.”
“How?” It didn’t sound positive.
“It means you bring out who he really is—no masks, no frills. He does the same for you.”
Huh. “I never really thought of it like that.”
Camden turned to fully face her. “Look, you once did me a favor. You pestered me to stop hesitating in telling Aspen what I felt. You opened my eyes, made me confront a few things, and gave me the push I needed. So now I’m going to do the same for you. I repay my debts—Aspen harps on that it’s important.” He rolled his eyes.
Bailey shoved the bat into the box with the others and then set her hands on her hips. “Okay.”
“I know what it’s like to be abandoned by the people who are supposed to protect you. It makes you pull inward. Makes you see bonds as a threat. You and me lucked out, though. We found people early on in our lives who taught us that not everyone will leave us.”
She gave a slow nod. “Havana and Aspen saved us both.” They’d essentially made her and Camden see that they didn’t have to be perfect to make people stick around.
“For me, it was really just Aspen—I didn’t listen to anyone else; didn’t care what they thought. She stopped me from fully closing myself off to the world. But I still don’t bother with outsiders unless she asks it of me. I’ve got the only person I really need. Her.” He paused. “You’re more willing to take chances on people than I am, but you don’t really open up to them.”
“I’ve opened up to Deke.”
“Not all the way. You’re still keeping a part of yourself locked away because you’re not really expecting what’s between you two to pan out in the long-run. You think you’ll part ways at some point. Don’t deny it—I know you too well not to sense where your head’s at.”
Bailey shifted from foot to foot. “It’s not that I think we’ll definitely part ways. I just don’t fully trust that we won’t. He wants to find his true mate. I don’t believe that’s me. Neither does my mamba.”
“Honestly, I don’t think you’re his predestined mate either. But does that have to matter?”
Not to Bailey, however … “It will if he’s intent on seeking her out. And I don’t know if Deke, being as honorable as he is, would find it disloyal to imprint on someone instead of wait for his mate.”
Pursing his lips, Camden briefly inclined his head. “I can see why that would play on your mind. He is far too noble—it must be tiring.”
“I know, right?”
“But there’s a chance he’ll choose you instead. You want that. Want it badly enough that you’ll easily get spooked if you get it, because—with the exception of Havana, Aspen, and yeah me to an extent—no one ever chose to keep you around.”
She folded her arms, feeling vulnerable.
“What I’m trying to say is … If he does offer you what you want, don’t panic. Think. Don’t backtrack. Don’t pull away. Don’t immediately assume it won’t work. Or ignore my advice and fuck it up—your life, your choice. But then you’ll do what you said I’d do if I didn’t push past my own issues: you’ll spend the rest of your life wondering if you made the right decision.” He jabbed her forehead with his finger. “Be smart.”
“Does this mean you care if I’m happy?”
His brows pulled together. “Let’s not get crazy.”
She laughed. “You were just returning a favor.”
“Right.” He looked around the court, checking that no other equipment was lying around. “We’re done.”
Bailey nodded. “Let’s go back inside and check—” There was a whoosh a mere millisecond before scalding heat blazed across her cheek, making her flinch. Bullet.
She and Camden dived to the side and then took cover behind the corner of the building, barely escaping the other bullets that near-silently whizzed by.
It took her military-trained mind a split second to work out where the shooter must be hiding. So when the fucker stopped firing and her enhanced hearing picked up the thudding of feet fading away, she darted out from behind the building and ran for the fence with Camden at her side. They scaled it fast, and then he shifted.
