20. Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty
Cameron
What is wrong with this guy?
I can’t even remember his name, but as I step toward him, the guy takes my advance as a threat.
And he swings.
Rage rolls through my body like a tidal wave, and while I said I wouldn’t start any fights, I never agreed not to finish them.
I rear back and throw a punch, my knuckles cracking the cartilage of his nose. Blood spews. Nila screams.
“Holy...” The guy I just punched groans, babying his nose.
I might’ve broken it, I don’t know. But I don’t really care right now. He shouldn’t have snapped at Nila … or swung at me .
The sun beats down on the back of my neck, and the crowd that surrounds us thins.
“Everyone, head back to your rooms for now,” Tina calls out, her voice ringing with annoyance more so than anything as she stalks up to us.
I offer Nila my hand, but her green eyes are filled with ... anger?
What the heck?
Nila doesn’t take my extended offer, instead opting to push herself up off the ground. She groans as she stands on her feet, her eyes avoiding me entirely.
“What happened?” Tina demands, her eyes darting between me and the guy still cradling his bloody nose.
However, I can’t even pay attention to them. My gaze is glued to Nila. She shakes her head.
“He decked me in the face,” the guy growls.
“I saw you swing first, Samuel,” Tina says with a sigh. “I don’t think Laura is going to be thrilled to hear about this. Come with me back to the lodge, and Cameron—” She looks back at me. “Meet us at Dr. Shadid’s office in ten minutes. I’m going to get Samuel some medical attention and then we have to talk about this.”
I nod my head, my shoulders deflating as they head toward the lodge .
The entire field cleared in a matter of minutes, leaving me alone with Nila. I wipe the blood from my knuckles onto my white T-shirt, and her lip curls up at the sight.
“That guy was a jer—”
“Are you kidding me?” Nila cuts me off, her eyes growing wide as they finally meet mine. “What were you thinking? Why didn’t you just let the staff handle him?”
Whoa ... what?
“I was defending you...”
“You punched someone in the face! You probably broke his nose.”
“He started it.” I fold my arms across my chest. “Nila, what was I supposed to do? Just stand there and take it? I don’t think so. He went off on you because you tripped . That’s messed up.”
Nila shakes her head, pushing the hair falling from her ponytail out of her face. “I don’t even know what to say to you right now.”
She spins on her heel and starts limping toward the lodge.
“Are you okay?” I rush to her, gently grabbing her arm.
She rips it away from me. “ Yes . And I was fine from the beginning. I don’t need you playing savior for me—”
“What?” I jerk back, suddenly offended. “What are you trying to say? That I was putting on some kinda show for you? I would never do something like that. ”
She rolls her eyes. “Save it. I’m not into the drama, and this is going to be really freaking fun to explain to your team when it gets out.”
I flinch at the sharpness of her tone. “Nila...”
“Please, just give me some space, Cameron. I don’t want to talk right now. Maybe you do have a problem.” She drifts away from me, and I stand there, watching her limp toward the lodge.
Did I really mess up? I didn’t even think about it when I came to her assistance...
I was just trying to...
What was I trying to do?
Why is she being so hurtful?
I blink a few times, my pace considerably slower than Nila’s. Her limp slowly begins to fade with every stride, and while she’s clearly mad at me, at least she’s not seriously injured.
My sneakers drag on the ground, and I wish more than ever that I had my phone. I need to talk to someone ... someone who actually freaking knows me.
By the time I make it to the lodge, Nila is already inside, and as I step into the lobby, the place is empty. I’m sure she’s hidden away somewhere using the Wi-Fi.
I really thought things were going well between us, but Nila seems flighty.
Or maybe I’m the problem.
I don’t even know anymore.
I just don’t want to lose her .
“Cameron,” Tina calls from the hallway. “Why don’t you come sit down with Dr. Shadid for a few minutes.”
“Can I make a phone call?” I ask, my voice coming out thicker than I intended it to. “I just need to talk to someone.”
“I’m sorry, but it’s not within the proper hours for calls.”
“And this whole thing doesn’t warrant an exception?” I squeeze my eyes shut for a few long seconds, counting to five in my head before opening them.
Tina is looking up at me, her lips pursed. “Let’s just go sit down with Dr. Shadid, and then I’ll see what I can do about allowing a phone call.”
I nod. “Thanks.”
She gives me a half-hearted smile and then waves for me to follow her to the office at the end of the hall. I pass by the lounge and as I peer over, I catch sight of Nila sitting on the couch with her phone in her face.
Just what I thought.
She doesn’t look up as we pass by, her eyes fixated on a video playing across the screen. I start to wonder if this is it.
Maybe she’s going to hate me now.
And she’s right. What if this whole incident gets leaked to the press? This isn’t going to look good on me or the team. It might even end my career.
My stomach knots up with anxiety as Tina gestures for me to step into Dr. Shadid’s office .
“Cameron,” he greets me, his voice flat as he looks over the dark rims of his glasses. “It’s nice of you to join me.”
“Where’s Samuel?” I ask, glancing around the room.
“We’ll speak a little later once his nose has been taken care of.” Dr. Shadid lets out a heavy breath. “Why don’t you take a seat? Do you need some water?”
I eye the chair and then take a seat, shaking my head. “I’m good for now. Thanks.”
He nods and then looks at Tina. “I’ve got it from here.”
She gives us both a terse smile and then slips from the room, shutting the door behind her. I listen to the click and then look back to Dr. Shadid. His expression is unmoving. I squirm in the chair.
“So ... why don’t you tell me what happened today?” He picks up a pen and notepad and clicks the pen. “I’d like to know where you’re at with this whole thing.”
I chew on the inside of my cheek. “Um...”
His thin lips curl upward into an understanding smile. “This is a judgment-free zone, Cameron. You can just tell me what happened and we can go from there. I’m bound by confidentiality. Nothing about this conversation leaves the two of us.”
“But Nila—”
“I won’t share it with Nila.”
I bob my head—like that even matters. I don’t care if he shares it with anyone. I don’t care at all. “I did what I had to.”
“What you had to do?” His brows raise .
“Yeah. Nila stepped forward, hit a hole, and fell. In the process, she knocked down the guy in front of her, who went off like a nutcase.”
“Samuel.”
“Yeah, that’s his name. I couldn’t remember it at the time.”
“And you saw it as coming to her rescue, right?”
“Well, duh, I’m not going to let some jerk berate a woman who tripped and fell. She tried to say that I was putting on a show—but I wasn’t. I didn’t even think that far ahead. I told him to back off and then he swung at me, so I finished it.”
Dr. Shadid chuckles, his pen scribbling something down on the pad. “I see.”
“I’m not going to sit around and pretend to be a punching bag. That’s stupid. I’m not a wimp. I’m a man.”
“So, you ended the fight because you’re a man?”
“Okay, that makes me sound weird.” I groan, running my hands over my face. “I don’t know ... I was just trying to protect her.”
“And what did she think about this?”
I let out an empty laugh. “She hates me. I think she seriously hates me now. She thinks I did it all for show or something. She told me that ‘ maybe I do have a problem ’—and that really hurt. I ... I don’t know. I like her a lot.”
“Are the two of you together?”
I blink a couple times, not sure how to answer him. “I don’t ... I don’t have an answer to that. ”
“Are you sleeping together?”
I scoff. “Not like that.”
“Right, okay. But you do have a romantic interest in her,” Dr. Shadid points out, the cap of the pen pressing into his lower lip.
“Yeah, I guess,” I mutter.
How the heck did we get to this ?
“And how does she feel about it?”
“Um, what?”
His lips purse. “Does she feel the same?”
“Uh ... I think so. I don’t know. It’s complicated.”
He nods. “She seems to have a lot on her shoulders. She strikes me as the kind of person that keeps everyone at arm’s length. It wouldn’t surprise me if she was doing the same thing to you.”
I take a deep breath, my head still spinning. I don’t care if she keeps people at arm’s length. I want to get through the walls she has...
And I seriously thought we were making progress. She was finally opening up to me.
But right now, I’m not sure she wants anything to do with me.
“I think you should have a conversation with her next,” he says carefully.
“I think I should be able to call my friends or dad or something,” I say flatly. “I feel cut off from them, and they’re my biggest support system.” I lean back in the chair, missing my teammates. They’re always there for me—and they’d understand why I punched that guy. They wouldn’t have even questioned it.
I don’t need all these yahoos of peace to tell me that it was wrong or try to pick my brain apart.
“Maybe I can arrange a phone call for you?”
I look up from my hands. “Could you? Because that would be amazing.”
“Who do you want to call?”
My teeth bite into the flesh of my lower lip. I glance at the time on my watch, trying to pinpoint what time it is. As I deduct a couple of hours, I sigh. It’s right in the middle of practice.
No one is going to answer.
“I’ll call my dad,” I say.
“Okay.” Dr. Shadid pushes the phone on his desk across to me and then stands to his feet. “I’ll give you some privacy. When you’re finished, you can find me in the lounge. I’ll have a sit down with Samuel as well, and then the two of you together. Can you handle that?”
I shrug. “Sounds like I don’t have a choice.”