6. Lennox
Chapter 6
Lennox
I knew I shouldn’t poke the bear, but Dane made it way too easy. Always had. Mr. Serious was so uptight and high-strung that I couldn’t help myself. Seeing him again unleashed a boatload of memories from when we were growing up that I’d hoped we could revisit together. But after that little scene, I was pretty damn sure he wanted no part of it or anything to do with me.
And that hurt.
I was startled when Camile put her hand on my arm. I’d been focused on watching Dane pull out of the driveway.
“Are you ready to go?’
Her head was tilted to the side as she studied my expression. I wasn’t sure what she saw, so I put on my media smile.
“Yes. Absolutely. Where would you like to go?”
She smiled up at me with Daniel’s blue eyes. “Doesn’t matter to me. Whatever you like is fine. I’m sure your nutrition needs are more strenuous than mine.”
I snorted. “It’s the offseason. I eat whatever I want until two weeks before training camp, so anywhere is good with me.”
She tapped her finger on her pursed lips as she made a decision.
“How about The Cantina? A margarita sounds good right now.”
“Is that where they’ll go for dinner?”
She shook her head. “No. They’ll hit up a taco truck near Dane’s apartment.”
I smiled. “Okay. Let’s go.”
“Let me grab my purse,” she said, climbing the stairs. “I’ll be right back.”
As I stood in the middle of the sidewalk that led from her house to the driveway, I looked around at the neighboring houses. Endless unanswered questions about their lives filled my head.
Had they lived here together?
Is this where they lived when they brought Daniel home from the hospital?
Why had they split up?
The sound of the door lock engaging ended my train of thought. Camile came to a stop beside me and looked up expectantly. But whatever expression my face wore caused her to frown.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes,” I said, motioning toward my Hummer. “Would you like to ride with me, or would you feel more comfortable driving your car?”
She looked at my vehicle as if noticing it for the first time. “I’ve never ridden in the high-end version of a Humvee, so I’m happy to ride with you.”
I smiled and extended my arm. “Let’s go.”
We made our way to the car where I opened the passenger door like the gentleman I could be. I jogged around to the driver’s side and got in. Starting the car, I glanced over at her as she surveyed the interior.
“This is quite a car.”
Smiling, I nodded. “Yeah, I bought this because…”
I paused mid-sentence because I had no idea why I bought this vehicle.
“You loved it?” she asked.
Did I?
“Um.” I scratched my eyebrow. “I don’t know. But it’s the only thing Evan can sit in comfortably since he’s so fucking tall.”
“Does he play for the Storm?”
“Yeah, he’s a tight end. Six-foot-eight and built like a brick shithouse.”
Heat flooded my face at the crass remark.”Sorry. That was gross.”
Camile didn’t seem to mind. “It’s okay. I’ve heard worse.”
“Really? What do you do?”
She looked over at me. “I’m a commercial airline pilot.”
My mouth hung open. “Seriously?”
“Yes,” she laughed. “Why? Do you have some antiquated ideas that women can’t be pilots?”
“Fuck no,” I said, turning onto the road that led toward the beach. “I’m sure you’re a badass. Or Dane wouldn’t be with you.”
She didn’t take the bait I hung out there for her. I should have known.
“How do you like playing football?”
“I love it!”
We chatted on the way to the restaurant about the Storm before drifting off to topics of no importance. Camile was intelligent and very pretty. I could see why Dane would choose her, except that made no sense either. I needed to know everything because I knew he wouldn’t tell me. But maybe she would.
When we were tucked away at our outdoor table and our drinks had been delivered, I dove in with the subtlety of a blitzing linebacker.
“So tell me about you and Dane.”
Camile cut her eyes at me as she sipped her margarita. She raised one brow, letting me know in no uncertain terms that she had my number. So I took a chip and dipped it into the salsa as I waited for her to divulge her life secrets. But that didn’t happen.
“I have a better idea. How about you tell me how you know him. When you answer my question, I’ll answer yours.”
I smirked as I took a pull from my beer. She knew exactly what I wanted. More information about him.
“Fair enough.” I paused a moment. “We grew up together. Best friends ever since we were eight. At one point, we were closer than brothers.”
She studied me. “Huh. He never mentioned you.”
I put my hand over my heart and made an indignant gasp. “Ouch. Way to hurt a guy.”
“I’m sorry. I can tell how delicate you are,” she deadpanned.
I threw my head back and laughed.
“My turn. Are you guys divorced?”
“No,” she said, taking another sip. “We never married.”
My eyes widened. “But you have a kid together?”
“Apparently. But that doesn’t require a marriage license.”
Her quick wit and smartassery drew me to her immediately. She was so much like Dane it was almost scary.
“Come on,” I pleaded, “you gotta give me more than that.”
“It’s not your turn.”
Camile smiled and leaned back as the waitress approached and placed the fresh guacamole and queso dip on the table. Picking up a chip, she trailed it through the chunky avocado dip. She was stalling.
I crossed my arms over my chest and sat back, waiting for her next inquiry.
“When was the last time you saw Dane?”
That was easy. “About thirty minutes ago.”
She shook her head. “I can see why you drive him crazy. Guess we’re getting nowhere fast.”
I shrugged and held up my hands. “Okay. I’ll behave.”
I reached for a chip and dove into our story.
“The Super Bowl. I sent tickets to his parents. Mrs. C convinced him to go with his dad, but he made up some excuse and refused to come down to the field. Before that, it was the summer before we went to college. We’d planned to go to the same school and be roommates.”
“What happened?” she asked.
“No idea. Everything was good. Great even. We spent our summers hanging out and becoming pool sharks. It was the one game he thought he could beat me at. But after graduation, we got shitfaced with our friends and ended up passing out on the loungers by the pool. The next morning when I woke up, he wasn’t the same. By the end of the summer, he’d changed schools and we didn’t talk anymore.”
I picked up my bottle and took another long pull of my beer. “I was hoping you knew.”
“Why is that?”
“You’re his best friend. Don’t you tell each other everything?”
She smiled. “Almost everything.”
My pulse picked up. “But you know, don’t you? You’ve got to tell me.”
“Is this why you invited me to dinner?”
“No. I wanted to get to know you.” I grinned. “And maybe to poke the bear a little.”
Camile’s face broke into a smile. “But not to pump me for information?”
“A guy could try. But I get the feeling you’re not going to give me anything.”
Her hand landed on my shoulder. “You’re right. I’m not. You boys need to talk this out. Me telling you what I think is not going to fix it.”
I rolled my eyes. “Then I’m never going to know. The big baby refuses to talk to me.”
“Then make him.”
I laughed. “How am I supposed to do that? He hasn’t answered my calls, emails, or texts in twelve years. He wouldn’t even talk to me at the Super Bowl. No one can make Dane do anything. Except for his mother. And I’m pretty sure she uses guilt as her weapon.”
Camile laughed. “I’m sure. Daniel’s the only person he wouldn’t say no to.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “What are you saying?”
I thought I knew what she was suggesting, but I wouldn’t assume.
She laughed. “Lennox, if you want to talk to Dane, he plays pool at The Squid. It’s a bar in…”
“Coronado. I know. I’ve been there. A lot. But I’ve never seen him.”
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”
Our conversation was interrupted when the server brought our food. The sizzling pile of steak and chicken cooked with peppers and onions filled the air with a delicious aroma that made my stomach growl.
When the server walked away, I glanced over at Camile. “My turn.”
Smiling, she placed her napkin in her lap. “What do you want to know?”
I released a heavy breath. “Why didn’t you guys get married?”
“We didn’t want to,” she said, bringing her fork to her mouth.
“Why not? You have a kid together. And he’s pretty great, by the way. Now that I think about it, he’s a lot like Dane was.”
I tried to control myself by shoveling a fork full of meat into my mouth. Camile smiled.
“I’m proud of him. I think we’ve done a pretty good job raising him with our complicated schedules. But as for why we didn’t marry, it’s pretty simple. We don’t love each other like that. We knew early on that we were always better friends than anything else. We would make everyone miserable.”
Camile put her fork down and took a sip of her margarita. When she finished, she laced her fingers together and propped her chin on them. Her blue eyes dug into my green ones.
“Dane and I want different things.”
Her comment caused more questions to bloom. “I can imagine it’s difficult to manage with both of you flying all the time.”
“It has its challenges, especially when I’m on an overnight. But that’s rare. And we have a backup. My sister lives close by.”
“And when he’s deployed?”
“That’s more difficult. But it can’t be helped.”
“Is that why Daniel goes to the Youth Center?”
She took a bite of her food and nodded. “Yes. And my sister works there. Makes it easy.”
“She wasn’t sure about giving me your address until I charmed her into calling you.”
Camile raised a brow. “She likes you.”
I grinned. “Everybody likes me. Didn’t you know that?”
“Except for Dane,” she pointed out, making me bark out a laugh.
“Touche, my new friend.”
We enjoyed our dinner, chatting about how she became a commercial pilot and how she met Dane in college.
She was easy to talk to, and I enjoyed the connection to him. It felt like a lifeline I’d been missing for a long time. And no matter what we talked about, it always came full circle back to Dane.
“He loves his career, but I think something is missing in his life and has been for a while.”
My pulse picked up again. “Really? Like what?”
Camile sighed as she met my eyes, seemingly trying to decide whether to tell me what she was thinking.
Her expression was serious. “You. I think he misses you. Misses what you used to be to one another. Misses the friendship. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have bitched about you so much.”
My eyes widened in surprise. “He mentioned me?”
She grinned as her brows went up. “Sure, you could call it that.”
That was good, I guess. He’d been everything to me. Brother, best friend, competitor. He kept me on my toes and made me better.
“I’ve never had another friend like Dane. I miss him. But I don’t see us going back to that.”
One side of her mouth turned up as her eyes softened. “Maybe not. But you can start over if you’re willing to work for it.”
I smirked. “You know he hates me, right?”
“There’s a thin line between love and hate, Lennox. Depends on what you’re willing to do to get him back.”
Twirling the bottle between my fingers
I raised my bottle and tapped it against her drink.
“I think I just got myself another best friend.”
Camile laughed. “What’s one more.”