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“Did—did he say something to Greg?”
“Not that I know of. But then the comparing notes kind of stopped once you guys started looking less like an itch needing a scratch and more like the start of something that might go the distance.” After a weighted beat, she asks, “Do you want me to ask?”
“No, no. Don’t. I just need to stop freaking out and talk to him.”
“Soon, Cammy.”
“Soon.”
“Good. Do you need water or a snack?” she asks, almost like she’s right beside me. Like she’s been looking out for me since we were kids. “There’s only a minute left before third period starts.”
“Let me pee real quick and I’ll be right back.”
The guys end up with a win and I talk to Rux for a few minutes on the plane before they take off, but it’s a quick call and, honestly, I can’t tell if that thin layer of underlying tension is coming from him or me. I toss and turn through most of the night, hating that I haven’t seen him since Friday night as much as I hate the questions running through my mind on repeat since talking to Julia.
Not whether I was falling for Rux. The second she said it, I knew it was true.
But what it means for us if nothing has changed for Rux. What kind of strain it would put on our friendship if he realizes how I feel. Whether letting my heart get away from me has cost me a friendship so critical I can’t even imagine my life without it. What it means for Matty.
My office is in Julia’s old bedroom, and I’ve been logged in to the hospital, working through charts, correcting and filling in coding since five. I took a break to get Matty off to school and then worked through lunch. But my mind keeps slipping back to the what-ifs I don’t want to think about but can’t ignore just the same. I’m going crazy.
“Hey, Sunshine.”
I drop my headset and jerk to my feet, half of me wanting to fling myself into his arms, the other half convinced I need to hold back. “I didn’t hear you come in.”
He’s got his shoulder propped at the doorway and from the still damp, combed-back hair, worn jeans and muscle-hugging thermal, I’m guessing he came straight over after waking up. He looks so good my heart actually aches seeing him.
The corner of his mouth slants and he looks at me with eyes that tell me he knows something’s up.
Would it even be possible to go back to being just friends from this? Is there still a chance?
“Cammy,” he says, like some part of him is aching too and suddenly my feet are moving and all those what-ifs I’ve been clinging to don’t exist.
My arms close around his neck, and the tension and anxiety lifts from my shoulders as he groans into my hair and then lifts me from the floor. “Christ, I missed you.”
Toes dangling above the hardwood, I tip my head back. “I missed you too.”
That half smile pulls into the real thing and he kisses me, walking us into the living room and around to the couch. When he tucks me into his lap, I snuggle in.
His arms tighten around me in the most heavenly way, and for a minute we just breathe, my head on his shoulder, his big hand smoothing down my spine.
“About the other night,” Rux starts, a hesitancy in his voice I don’t normally associate with this man.
“Yeah, about that.” I swallow. “Not exactly the way you imagined our evening going, I’m guessing.”
“No, it wasn’t. But there’s no other place I’d want him to be when he’s sick than with you. Sure, it would’ve been nice to be wearing pants when the poor kid came in, but… hell, Cammy, I just wish you’d have let me stay and help you.”
He doesn’t mention Jeremy, but I know it bothered him.
“I’m sorry. I freaked out. For seven years, I’ve never dropped my son off without it being front and center in my mind that I might be needed to pick him back up. That whatever event I’m attending, no matter how much it might mean to me, or how much fun I’m having, I amavailableif that boy needs me. He’s first in my mind every single time. No exceptions.”
“Only this time you didn’t check your phone,” he says, gruffly. “Because you were with me.”
Emotion tightens my chest, makes me blink back tears.
“He was sick and he needed me. And he was so sure that I would be there for him, he convinced his dad to bring him back here without talking to me. And then what does he walk in on, but—”
“His mom having some fun.” At my look he winces. “It wasn’t ideal. But it could have been a lot worse.”
