Chapter 22 #2
Cameron had to bite down a curse. Even in his absence the bastard managed to take up space in his life. It was as if the ship was haunted with him. Everyone's face had polite smiles plastered on but underneath they were all thinking about him.
Cameron stood up abruptly, unwilling to feel the growing weight of anger and rejection in his chest any longer. Holding out a hand he smiled at Ebony.
"Would you hate me if we undo all your hard work and jump in the ocean?"
As if needing the same distraction, Ebony took his hand with a grin. "Not at all."
And for a few hours they lost themselves to the luxury of the yacht.
They dove off the side into the beautiful lapping waters below, swimming away from their heavy thoughts.
This was it, Cameron had the Ebony he always dreamed of, purely focused on him.
Her anger at Gavin was forgotten about. The scars on his face weren't constant reminders to rekindle her rage.
There was nothing standing between them, it was how it was supposed to be.
Dinner was a formal affair, something he’d realized on day one, thanks to the new clothes Mrs. Rosebank had left in his room.
Wearing a freshly pressed button-down dress shirt and slacks that probably cost more than half a year's worth of his car payments, Cameron sat stiffly at the long table.
Like the rest of the yacht the dining room was jaw dropping.
The room screamed wealth with its subdued ivories and splashes of glittering gold and soft leathers.
The captain had proudly told him as Cameron stood waiting for the others to join that the furniture was designed by Roberto Cavalli while the custom fifteen-foot agate table was hand crafted somewhere in Turkey.
It wasn’t the high-end formality of the evening that kept him from relaxing, it was the nagging feeling he couldn’t shake: that he simply didn’t belong. The worst part was that it was nothing Cameron could name directly. No single moment he could point to and say, “Ah ha, that’s it.”
From the moment he joined their trip, Mrs. Rosebank had gone out of her way to make him feel welcome.
He was certain she’d spoken more to him this week than in all their previous interactions combined.
Even Mr. Rosebank and her uncles had been friendly enough when they weren't watching him like a newly released prisoner around their virginal daughter.
There was just something missing in their dynamic that made Cameron feel like an outsider amongst them.
The only thing that made it bearable was Ebony. Sitting across from him, Ebony glowed under the soft light of the chandelier. With her curls fanned out around her shoulders he caught the occasional sparkle from the diamond studs on her ears. She looked breathtaking.
"Here she is, the birthday girl," Leon announced as he walked into the room. Coming to where she sat, he waited for her to stand, her emerald dress shimmering with the movement as he hugged her.
Behind him the silent brother, Elias, the one that freaked Cameron out the most with his watchful gaze, hugged her, saying something in her ear. Ebony smiled at him and kissed him on the cheek before sitting back down.
Cameron tried to listen as her father raised a toast, but his mind kept drifting until it lodged onto something that stilled him all over.
Today was her birthday and he had no gift to show for it.
He cursed himself for not remembering. Like images flickering on a screen his mind brought up memories from the years before.
The matching birthday cakes. Their smiles on their joint posts.
Guilt laced with anger bloomed in his gut.
He had forgotten his too. Their birthdays were only days apart from one another.
This trip had always been their birthday trip, not just a winter getaway.
That was the reason he felt out of place. That was the reason for her heavy smile. He shouldn’t be here. He was taking another's place. His place.
Cameron felt a little sick. Angry and helpless didn’t quite suffice.
His phone buzzed in his pocket. Taking a moment while everyone was focused on the food being served Cameron glanced down at it and froze.
Unknown number: Still pretending this is real? I told you back then, she was never meant for you.
It was from the same number that had texted him four years ago. Above it, he could still see the reddit link and ominous welcome message.
The perfection he had felt earlier with her had popped like a bubble. It took all he had not to excuse himself and go scream into the ocean wind.
As Ebony leaned over the cake, the candles cast soft shadows across her face. Everyone waited and his stomach churned. Leon told her to make a wish.
She paused for a second too long. And then she blew.
The flames blew out in one gust of air and a polite ripple of applause from family and the staff followed. Cameron forced himself to clap with everyone else, forcing a smile to his lips even as something cracked open in his chest. Because whatever she'd wished for, he already knew it wasn’t him.