Chapter 9
Camden
Ellie frowns like she’s confused. I don’t blame her. What I said was totally insane.
“What?” she says.
“Marry me,” I say again.
She bursts out laughing. “Very funny.”
“I’m not kidding, Ellie. If we get married, you’ll have access to my health insurance. You’ll be able to get the medicine you need for your migraines, and it won’t cost you anything. You won’t have to work a million jobs anymore. You could focus on saving money for your pet-sitting business.”
Her delicate brow lifts, and her sparkling blue eyes go wide.
“Wait, you…you’re serious?”
“Dead serious. Ellie, it’s messed up that you can’t live your life the way you want to because our health insurance system is unfair and fucked up.”
She blinks at me, the look in her eyes dazed, like she’s struggling to process everything I’ve said.
A moment later, she shakes her head. “Camden, no. I can’t.”
“Why not?”
She stares at me like I’ve suddenly sprouted a second head. “Because we’re not a couple. We’re not in love. And I’m pretty sure it’s illegal to get married to someone just to use their health insurance,” Ellie says. “That’s gotta be a form of insurance fraud.”
“I’m pretty sure it’s illegal to deny a hardworking, honest person like you medical coverage, but insurance companies do it all the time,” I say without missing a beat. “Why not play the system to your advantage for once?”
She shakes her head, clearly still in disbelief. For a long second, she’s quiet.
“Camden, do you even realize what you’re offering? If you marry me, you can’t marry anyone else.”
“I don’t have plans to get married, ever. You know that.”
“But you’re okay with being fake married?”
“Yeah. Because it would help you.”
She’s quiet again. I can’t tell if it’s because she’s seriously thinking about what I’ve proposed or if it’s because she’s thinking of more reasons why we shouldn’t.
She lets out a heavy breath and shakes her head. “I really appreciate you offering this to me, Camden. Truly. But I can’t accept. It’s too much.”
Disappointment flashes through me. “It’s not too much, Ellie. I swear it’s not. I’m happy to do this for you.”
Her mouth curves up in a pretty smile. “I know you are. Maybe if you were getting something out of it too, I’d feel differently about it. But I just can’t let you do something as big as this for me. It doesn’t feel right.”
I’m quiet as I scramble to think of something that she could do for me to make her say yes—to make her feel like she’s giving me something in return.
But I don’t want anything from her. I just want to help her. I just want her to be okay.
But she’s not interested. I need to respect that and let this go.
I drive her to her place, which is a run-down apartment building in a sketchy neighborhood. Sirens blare in the distance. The sound of glass shattering echoes from the other side of the property, and a car alarm wails.
An uneasy feeling inside of me fires off. No way is this safe for her to live here.
“Thank you for the ride,” she says, unbuckling her seatbelt.
“When do you get your car back?” I ask. She told me while we were waiting in line at the fast food place that her car is in the shop, so she’s been taking rideshares to her jobs the past few days.
“The mechanic says it’ll be ready for me to pick up on Wednesday.”
I gaze at the entrance of her building, despite the uneasy feeling burrowing deeper into my gut “I’ll walk you to your front door.”
She flashes a small smile and shakes her head in a gentle rejection. “I’ll be fine, Camden. I’ve lived here for almost a year. It looks rougher than it is.”
I nod, even though every instinct inside of me is telling me to drive her far, far away from this place.
She grabs the small paper bag of medicine from the dashboard. “Thank you again for paying for my medicine,” she says softly. “I get paid next week. It won’t be enough to cover the whole cost of the medicine, but I’ll pay you back when I…”
I shake my head, cutting her off. “You’re not paying me back, Ellie.”
She bites her bottom lip, her big blue eyes shy.
Then she leans over and hugs me. I wrap my arms around her, holding her tight.
That I-have-to-get-her-out-of-here feeling rams through me.
I don’t want to let her go. I don’t want to let her out of my car.
I don’t want her to have to spend the night in this dangerous place.
When she starts to pull away, I force myself to let her out of my hold.
“Text me when you get inside, okay?” I say.
She smiles and nods, then hops out of the car and walks through the entrance of her building. I stay parked in my spot until my phone buzzes with her text.
Made it inside safely. Thanks again for everything today :)
I let out a breath and start my car, then drive off in the direction of my house.
That knot in my stomach doesn’t budge. It stays there the rest of the day and the whole night, even as I struggle to fall asleep.
I know it’s not going anywhere. Not until I figure out a way to convince Ellie to accept my proposal.