Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Alonzo
I hadn’t expected much from my last night in Juana. I thought about taking an earlier bus, but I wasn’t ready to leave yet. Returning to Manila meant facing reality. Having to explain my disappearance to my family and dealing with Dani.
I was all for accepting the facts and taking action—and I would.
Tomorrow.
For now, I enjoyed my fill of Juana’s salt-soaked breeze, laidback vibe, and in a surprising twist of fate, some good company too.
Cam might not have wanted me at their table, but Nikki and Eric welcomed me so easily that it felt like we were old friends catching up after a long period of separation.
Their group dynamic fascinated me. From Jo’s mention of “Tita Cammy and Tito Eric,” I’d wondered if they were a thing, but it only took a few minutes of observation to realize I’d gotten the female counterpart wrong.
Whenever Nikki spoke, Eric looked at her with the same rapt attention that Jason and Gabe did with my sisters—as though the sun rose and set with her every word. Meanwhile, Nikki’s smiles seemed extra bright when it came to Eric, and she kept her body slightly angled toward him.
At a momentary lull in the conversation, I asked, “How did you all meet? Jo mentioned Cam and Eric came from Manila?”
“Uh huh. Funny enough, I met both of them at the café a couple of months apart,” Nikki answered. “Eric’s girlfriend back then chatted me up for my pineapple-banana bread recipe.”
Eric shook his head. “She was obsessed.”
“Then she moved to Canada, and he moved here,” Nikki continued.
“I’ve been a regular at Cuppa Jo ever since,” Eric said.
They shared a warm smile, and I averted my eyes because it felt like a moment just for them. My gaze fell on Cam, who was watching her friends with a look of exasperation. I couldn’t tell if she was annoyed by or disapproving of their almost-a-couple-but-not-quite dynamic.
“What about you?” I asked her.
She grunted. “Nikki gave me a job. Then we became friends and that was even better.”
Nikki’s bottom lip jutted out. “Aww, Cammy,” she said as she reached over and squeezed Cam’s forearm.
“The first time I had her as a waitress, she didn’t smile at all,” Eric told me conspiratorially.
“At least she wasn’t glaring at you,” I joked, throwing Cam a smirk.
“'Cause he wasn’t acting like he owned the place,” she said. “Unlike other people.”
I heard Erik and Nikki sucking in a breath, as though they worried how I’d react. Shrugging, I lifted my bottle to Cam. “Can’t argue with that.” Honestly, I didn’t mind her snarky comment…except for how it had reminded me of Dani.
I froze at the realization that it was the first time I’d thought about her since Cam had gone over to me at the bar. Maybe it was because Cam had taken me completely off-guard with her invitation.
I’d initially pegged her as a hot-headed woman who hated everyone, but seeing how she acted with Jo and her friends told me there was more to her beneath her prickly surface.
As the night went on, I grew increasingly aware of her presence beside me.
Between the size of our table and the positioning of our stools, it was impossible for our elbows not to bump or my knee not to graze her leg.
The accidental touches seemed to have a cumulative effect on my concentration.
The more time I spent around her, the more I wanted to get to know her.
Too bad my time was running out.
We were discussing coffee culture when Cam excused herself to use the bathroom. The second she was out of hearing distance, Nikki turned to me. “So, what did Cam tell you at the bar?”
“She asked me what my bottle was saying, and then she ordered me to drink with you.” No hi or sorry for shooting you down . She didn’t waste time on pleasantries, but maybe that wasn’t a bad thing.
Nikki laughed while Eric said, “Sounds like our girl.”
“She can be extremely direct,” Nikki told me.
“Like a bullet shot point-blank,” Eric put in.
She raised her eyebrows at him, which only had him shrugging. Turning to me again, she said, “Cam talks a tough game and has the hardest shell I know. But she’s as loyal as they come.”
“I can tell. I don’t mind the directness,” I reassured her. “Actually, I enjoy it.”
The two exchanged a loaded look, the kind that signaled a deep understanding of the other person, so much that you could read their thoughts without speaking. It was the same kind of look I saw between my parents and my sisters with their partners.
Dani and I once had that too.
Remembering it was like pouring a bucket of ice-cold water over my head.
It was a reality check that as fun as this trip had been, it was just that—a trip.
A distraction. And in a couple of hours, this would be a memory.
That one night when three friends adopted me and took my mind off my failed relationship.
“Glad to know she doesn’t scare you off,” Nikki was saying. “Are you coming back anytime soon?”
“Hopefully in the summer.” I’d been saving for a trip with Dani. Now, though…
My phone rang with a call from an unknown number.
“That’s me.” Nikki held up her phone. “Text me whenever you’re in the area.”
“Will do.“
Cam came up to the table, deliberately blocking me out as she spoke to her friends. “I’m going.” She pulled out a few bills from her pocket.
I stood. “I’ll walk you back.”
Her head snapped in my direction. “I don’t need you to walk me back.”
“That’s a great idea,” Nikki piped up. “Also, your place is on the way to the bus terminal, so it makes total sense.”
“No.” Cam slapped the cash on the table.
I half-expected her to storm off, but she paused to hug Nikki. As she moved to do the same to Eric, Nikki looked at me and mouthed, “Go with her.”
I grabbed my wallet, but Nikki shook her head, mouthing, “It’s on us.”
Cam said, “Bye,” and walked off.
“Go,” Eric whispered to me as soon as she left.
“Thanks, guys,” I said, bussing Nikki’s cheek and slapping Eric’s shoulder. “I owe you.”
“Take care, Lonzo,” Nikki called out as I waved and jogged after Cam, who was already out the door.
It took me no time to catch up with her. Like this morning, she simply sighed. “You know this could be called stalking, right? Harassment, even.”
“I’m just walking in the same direction as you.” I made sure to keep a careful distance from her. “Do you want me to stay behind you?”
“Why, so you can watch my butt all the way to my place?”
I rolled my eyes. “So you won’t feel threatened.” Though now that she’d mentioned it, the memory of her ass in her board shorts popped into the forefront of my brain.
“Manila, you’re as threatening as a golden retriever.”
“Hey. I prefer to think of myself as a husky. Maybe a lab.”
“Why am I not surprised?” she muttered as she picked up speed.
Swinging my plastic bag of clothes, I matched my steps with hers. “Your friends are great. Did you get along from the beginning?”
She side-eyed me. “Just because we’re walking in the same direction doesn’t mean we need to talk.”
“Right.”
For a few minutes, we walked in silence, both staring straight ahead.
“Do they have a thing?” I couldn’t resist asking. “Because I sensed major chemistry there.”
No answer.
“My friend Miggy has this theory that guys and girls can’t just be friends. He says someone’s bound to catch feelings for the other person. I can imagine for a trio, it might be awkward?—”
“Can you shut up?” she snapped.
I grinned. “Sure. When I get my answers. So, do you agree with Miggy’s theory? And did I call it right about Eric and Nikki?”
“That’s none of your business. I’m not gossiping about my friends.”
“Fair enough. I’m sorry.”
“I could have walked by myself, you know,” Cam griped. “I do it all the time.”
“Yeah, but we’re heading the same way. Besides, it’s my last night here. You should enjoy my company while it lasts.”
“You read my mind. That was exactly what I wanted.”
“I do have good intuition.”
“Do you?” She scoffed. “It doesn’t seem like it to me.”
I halted as her meaning sank in. “Seriously? I tell you something personal, and you’re using it against me?”
She pulled to a stop and turned to me. The street lamps cast her face in shadows, but I saw the surprise in her expression…and the regret. “Shit. I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to say that. I was annoyed and I spoke without thinking. It was a dick move.”
I stared at her, at a loss for words.
“You can insult me if you want.”
Laughter stuttered out of me. “Are you for real?” How did she go from hitting me below the belt to apologizing and telling me to hit back?
“You get one free pass, so use it wisely.” Folding her arms across her chest, she looked me straight in the eye.
“I’m not going to insult you, Cam.”
“The offer’s expiring in thirty seconds. I won’t warn you again.”
“You are something else.”
She tilted her head to the side. “That’s it? Impressive.” Then she flicked a condescending look down my body and started walking again.
What did it say about me that I grinned?
Cam
Low laughter followed me as I turned onto my street. Was this guy a masochist or something? I’d dissed him multiple times in two days, and still he kept coming back for more. Did they not teach the concepts of self-preservation and learning your lesson in law school?
“The bus station’s on the main road,” I told him.
“Yeah, but I have”—he glanced at his watch—“forty-two minutes to go. Lots of time to get you home safe.”
I glared at him. “ You’re not getting me anywhere. I am.”
“You’re right,” he said, giving me a sheepish look. “My sisters would punch me for undermining your capabilities.”
As they should.
“But they’d do worse if they found out I left you to walk alone in the middle of the night.”
“Like I said, this isn’t Manila, and I do this all the time.”
He shrugged. “Well, I’m from Manila, and I’m sticking with what I know.”
“You are the most annoying person I’ve met.”
Not a flinch. “As long as I’m not the worst.”
“Aww, does someone have a fear of failure?”
“Who doesn’t?”
“People who have nothing to lose.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “Guess you don’t know what that feels like.”
“And you know me well enough to infer that?” he shot back, his voice raised.
There it was—that temper of his that he kept leashed.
It added fuel to my own fire. “I know you were top of your class. You and your girlfriend were probably one of the it couples, right? Part of the popular crowd. You say you’re not rich, but you can obviously afford to stay in school longer than most people do, so you have enough to put off working full-time.
You talk about your sisters fondly, which tells me you have a good relationship with them, if not your entire family.
So, no,” I concluded. “You don’t have nothing to lose.
You have plenty, and you can’t imagine the thought of losing it, so you try damn hard to keep up your perfect boy persona. ”
His chest rose and fell faster as he stared at me with fire in his eyes.
“What about you? You talk tough and pretend you don’t care.
That you’re an island and you don’t need anyone but yourself.
But I’ve seen you with your friends. You volunteered yesterday, even though you hate tattooing strangers, because Eric organized that event.
You tattooed Jo’s drawings on your leg and then bought a skin-safe marker and drew the same flowers on her arm.
You even let her call you Tita Cammy .” He snorted at my growl.
“I’m thinking you’re not as cold as you want people to believe. ”
If looks could burn, he would be ash by now.
“In fact, I bet you’re a big old softy at heart. You’re only pretending otherwise to protect yourself.” He paused. “Am I right?”
“Do you ever stop talking?”
“It’s one of the things I do best, so no.” His shrug had my temper surging to the boiling point.
Stepping toward him, I spoke between gritted teeth. “You should know when to shut up.”
He moved closer so there was barely an inch of distance between my chest and his midsection. “Make me,” he whispered.
We stared at each other for one long, tense moment. My eyes tried to sear into his skull, and he smirked right before opening his mouth again?—
And then my control broke.
Grabbing the front of his shirt, I yanked him to me and silenced him with my mouth. Barely a beat passed before his arms locked around me and his lips moved on mine in a kiss that was bruising. All encompassing. We fought for dominance, his tongue sweeping inside my mouth to parry with mine.
Everything in me went molten. I tasted anger and frustration in his kiss—but also desire. And it tasted good .
Somehow, I ended up pinned against a wall, with one hand buried in his hair and the other clutching his back. He pulled up my leg, hooking it around his waist, and I moaned against his lips as his erection settled against me.
I met the motions of his hips with my own.
He broke our kiss, and we both gasped for air for the first time in what felt like ages.
Grinding against me, he murmured, “You like this, Cam?” His voice sounded gravelly, so different from his usual, and it seemed to vibrate through his body.
“Fuck.”
His smile flashed, dark and cocky, and he thrust against me in a rhythm that was pure sex. I traced the length of his spine down to of his waistband. Tugging his shirt up, I slipped my hand beneath his jeans and dug my fingers into his ass.
He groaned.
Then a bark of laughter sounded in the distance.
We froze. A heartbeat later, he pulled away, practically jumping back from me.
My pulse raced and I struggled to breathe.
“Shit,” he muttered as he shoved his hands in his hair. “Shit, that was a mistake.”
The heat in my body drained away.
He swiped his palm down his face. “I shouldn’t have done that. I don’t do things like this.”
More like he didn’t do girls like me.
Of course he didn’t. I’d known that from the beginning, yet I’d let myself get swept up all the same. Guess I hadn’t learned my lesson like I thought I had. That made the rejection even worse. “Right.”
He winced, and my blood pressure shot up. “I’m sorry, I?—"
I glared at him. “Save it.”
“Cam.”
His voice came out pleading, and I wanted to tell him he had no right to say my name. That he should just forget it, like I wanted to forget I’d ever met him.
I thought I’d misjudged him. That maybe he wasn’t as bad as I’d suspected him to be.
Wrong.
This was the last time I was taking a chance on some city boy.
“Let me explain.”
I shook my head. “Goodbye, Manila.”
And I stormed away, wishing with every ounce of me that I’d never see him again.