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“Doesn’t look bad today.” I gesture to his jaw, which looked pretty swollen after the battle with the McGills and now only appears faintly bruised.
His fingertips gently touch the lower part of his face. “Cam made me sit still with ice on it for an hour. Told my mom I just took an elbow to the chin in wrestling practice.” His hand falls away and his mouth sets in a grim line. “They would have hurt her. I couldn’t stop them. And if you hadn’t showed up…”
“But I did.” I say this but at the same time I have to swallow the surge of bile in my throat over the terrifying thought of the McGills getting to Camden. I don’t know what I would have done to them if they really had hurt her. That thought kind of scares me too.
Frankie is eyeing me. “Look, I’ll always be grateful that you put the McGills down. But Camden’s my family and I’ve got to ask you something.”
“What’s that?”
“You really do like her, right Ben?”
He’s just a kid but he’s looking me over and sizing me up the way a man would. I don’t blame him. If I had a sister I’d be doing the same thing to any guy who came around.
“I like her more than I’ve ever liked any girl.”
He’s pleased but then remembers something and his brow creases. “It’s just that I’ve heard stuff about you.”
“You know what they say. Don’t believe everything you hear. And if I ever treat your sister with anything less than complete respect then you can beat the shit out of me.”
He snorts with laughter. “Don’t think I won’t.”
Camden returns and she’s pulling on her coat while telling Frankie that their mother is watching television in her bedroom.
“Call me if you need anything,” she says.
Frankie waves a hand. “Go on. We’re fine here.”
I know how to be a complete gentleman when the occasion demands it. I open the front door for Camden and I wait until we can’t be seen from her house before I pull her to my chest and slip my hands under her jacket. She presses her body close and meets my mouth with eagerness. When my hand finds the hem of her sweater and snakes under it to touch bare skin I realize I’m in danger of getting too worked up.
I meant what I said to Frankie. I respect Camden to the moon and back. It’s just that I also want to strip her naked and make her come in fifteen different filthy ways.
But right now I have to set those ideas aside because I promised her breakfast.
She suggests Imogen’s but my mom is working today and I’d rather not have an audience. So instead we choose a little place called Famous Egg where you can usually find a line of bleary eyed truckers inhaling cups of coffee at the counter. We feel lucky to score one of the few tables.
“Order anything you want,” I urge. “I’m paying and don’t argue.”
She smiles at the menu. “I won’t argue. But you might be sorry. I have a big appetite.”
I can think of a few obscene comebacks to that last line but I don’t say them because for once I’m really trying to be boyfriend material. Instead I tell her about my solitary hike in the wilderness yesterday, omitting some key details about what was on my mind. Our food arrives while I’m telling her about dispatching Dirtbag and how I wish my mother would have enough confidence in herself to expect better from men.
“Are you close?” she asks. “You and your mom?”
“Not really. There’s too much we just don’t talk about.”
“I remember the day she came in to Dee’s to talk to you. Anyone could see in her face how much she loves you.”
“That’s because I’m all she’s got.”
Camden pauses in the middle of slicing through her pancakes. She’s waiting for me to elaborate and I can’t.
“And your dad’s dead, isn’t he?”
I try to remember if I told her that. I don’t think I did.
She sets her fork down. “I think those of us who have lost a parent recognize the same pain in other people.”
“Yes, my father is dead.” I don’t know if I’ve ever said those exact words out loud.
