Chapter 4
FOUR
Camden
It takes me half the day to figure out who Milo is in town and where he lives. I tried to call my brother, but of course Kye had no idea. He’s too much of a loner to hang out with that many people in town, and since he barely comes into town, he’s not up to date on the gossip or people in town.
I had to resort to going to the coffee shop in town and asking around to see if anyone knew a Milo. I got a few odd looks, but I finally found out that he was a firefighter here in town and that he lives not too far from me.
I pull into the driveway and smile when I see the same car from before parked in front of the house. As I park, the front door opens, and out comes my girl. I smile as I climb out, and her mouth drops open in surprise when she sees me.
“How did you find me?” She asks as she walks down the front porch steps.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” I ask, throwing her words from this morning back at her.
She rolls her eyes, and I grin down at her.
“Why are you here?”
“I’m here to pick you up for dinner.”
“I have plans,” she says.
“Okay, I’ll come along.”
“You can’t just invite yourself!” She says in exasperation.
“Why not?”
“You just can’t. I’m going out with my friend.”
“I’d love to meet your friends.”
She sighs and eyes me warily.
“You’re not going to give up, are you,” she grumbles, and I shake my head.
“Nope.”
“What do you want from me?” She asks me seriously and I shift as I study her.
“I just want you,” I say finally.
“Why?”
“Why wouldn’t I? You’re gorgeous and smart. You’re strong, and we’re meant to be.”
“Why are you so sure of that? How can you be when we just met this morning?”
“I just am. I learned to trust my gut when I was in the Marines, and it hasn’t steered me wrong. My gut is telling me that you and I are meant to be.”
“What if your gut is wrong?”
“It’s not. It never has been before.”
“There’s a first time for everything.”
“Not this.”
“Love at first sight isn’t real,” she tells me.
“I thought that too, but now I know that it is.”
We study each other for a beat, and I wonder what she’s going to say next, but before she can, her phone rings.
“It’s Lilou. I’m running late,” she says.
“I guess we better go then.”
She groans but doesn’t argue as I lead her over to my car and open the passenger door for her.
“Where are we going?” I ask her as I climb behind the wheel.
“Just in town. It’s a place called Toasty Bun Burgers.”
“Sounds good,” I remark as I put it into my phone for directions.
We start to drive, and I reach over and intertwine our fingers. She looks at me out of the corner of her eye, and I just smirk as I drive us towards town.
“What do you do for a living?” I ask.
“I’m a location scout for a production company.”
“For real?” I ask in surprise, and she nods.
“Yeah.”
“That’s so cool! How did you get into that?”
She tells me about starting out as an intern and working her way up. She’s obviously smart and a hard worker.
We pull into the burger joint parking lot, and I park and hop out to open Lymric’s door for her.
“Thanks.”
“My pleasure.”
I take her hand, and we head up to the front door.
“There’s Lilou!” She says, waving excitedly at a pretty blonde over in the corner.
A dark-haired man comes over and joins her as Lymric slides into the booth across from them.
“Hey!” Lilou greets us, eyeing me curiously.
“Hi, I’m Camden,” I introduce myself.
“Lilou, and this is Milo,” her friend says.
I eye Lymric at that and she bites back a smirk.
“Nice to meet you,” I tell them both.
“You too. How do you and Lymric know each other?” Lilou asks, looking between us with interest.
“We met yesterday,” Lymric says at the same time I say, “We’re dating.”
“Oh my god,” Lymric groans.
“Really?” Lilou asks excitedly.
“Yep.”
“No,” Lymric says, glaring at me.
“Yes. It’s recent. She’s still getting used to it.”
Milo is smiling as he looks between the two of us, his fingers playing with Lilou’s hair idly, and I decide that I like him right then and there. It’s obvious that he’s obsessed with his own girl, so I don’t have to worry about him going after mine.
“How long have you lived in Wolf Valley?” Lilou asks me.
“I was actually born here. I moved away when I joined the Marines and I just moved back about two months ago now.”
“That’s nice. You must like this place then. I’ve been trying to convince Lymric to move up here.”
“You should,” I tell my girl and she sighs.
A waitress comes over to take our orders, and I memorize what Lymric gets. I want to know everything about her. I want to know what makes her happy so that I can give it to her.
“What about you guys?” I ask them once we’ve placed our orders.
“We’ve both been here a little over a year,” Milo answers.
“What do you guys do for a living?”
“Firefighter,” Lilou says, pointing at Milo. “And I kind of bounce around. I work part-time at the coffee shop, part-time at the bookstore, and part-time at Wet and Wild.”
“What’s that?”
“The sex shop,” Milo says, and I blink.
“Cool.”
“I like it,” Lilou says with a blush and a smile.
“What are you doing now that you’re out of the Marines?” Milo asks.
“I’m still getting settled here. I started working at Semper Fly. Mostly doing maintenance right now.”
“That’s cool! Are you liking it?” Lilou asks.
We make small talk until our food is dropped off, and I file away everything that Lymric says. I learn that she was born in southern California and lived with her parents until they passed when she was nineteen. Her and Lilou have been best friends since grade school and are more like sisters. I know that she hates onions, loves Hawaiian pizza, and traveling.
I also learn that she’s supposed to leave in two weeks, so I’ll have to work fast if I want to convince her that we’re meant to be.
“My treat. A welcome to town present,” Milo says as he grabs the bill, and I nod.
“Thanks, man.”
“Sure. I have a feeling that we’ll be hanging out a bit,” he says as the girls talk excitedly.
He’s right. Lilou and Lymric are close and if I want to be with her, that means I’ll be seeing both Lilou and Milo around a lot.
We all stand, and I take Lymric’s hand as we head for the door.
“See you tomorrow!” Lilou calls to her, and I wave at both of them as they head to their own car.
“What’s tomorrow?” I ask as I open the passenger door for my girl.
“It’s girls’ day. You’re not invited.”
“Hmm. What about dinner?” I ask, and she looks up at me.
“What about it?”
“Have dinner with me tomorrow night. Let me take you out on a date.”
She brushes past me and climbs into the passenger seat, and I hold my breath as I wait to hear if she’s about to go out with me willingly or if I’ll be kidnapping her.
“Alright,” she says finally, and I grin.
“Good.”
I close the door and grin as I climb behind the wheel and drive her home.