Chapter 18 #2
I nod and open my door. The crisp air wraps around me and sends shivers down my body.
I walk to the tailgate, waiting for Camden.
He opens the back driver’s door and grabs something before joining me.
He lowers the tailgate and unrolls a blanket, placing it down on the tailgate and tapping it. “Hop up.”
I do, and when Camden joins me, he pulls the ends of the blanket around us to help keep us warm and wraps his arm around my shoulder. “Warm?”
“Yes.”
We sit in silence, the world around us completely still. The moon reflects off the water, giving off a romantic glow. It reminds me of so many of the nights we’d spent doing exactly this, sitting on the tailgate of his truck, talking, and making out like the teenagers we were.
“Laura and I dated a bit.”
I glance over and take him in. He’s staring out at the water, his expression unreadable. “You don’t have to talk about that.”
He turns his attention to me. “Yes, I do.” Taking a deep breath, he continues, “I didn’t date much, at least not seriously. I always kept women at arm’s length. I dated, but I wouldn’t let anyone get close to me. That includes Laura. Nice woman, but she just…I don’t know. Wasn’t for me long term.”
He shakes his head and chuckles. “Turns out, she was really thinking long term, because she was talking wedding and kids within a few weeks.”
“Really?” I ask.
“Yep,” he says, shaking his head. “I broke it off with her last summer.”
“She’s still sad. I saw it in her eyes when I walked up and you offered me your stool.”
“She was sad because she knew she had no chance with me, not with you here.”
The heat of his body seeps through my clothes, and between the blanket and his body, I’m surprisingly warm. My mind tries to process what he said, and I know that in order to move forward, I have to put the past to rest.
“My mom was miserable with my dad.” I swallow over the lump in my throat and stare straight ahead.
“As graduation approached, her comments about getting married, having kids, and staying in this small town became increasingly more insistent and derogatory. I ignored her for a bit, but after a while, the picture she painted wasn’t pretty.
I started to worry I would never be what you wanted or deserved, even though I wanted to try.
But the more she talked, the harder it was to see through the bullshit. ”
I suck in a deep breath and continue. There’s no going back now.
“Right after graduation, she came to me and told me she was leaving. She explained how she got pregnant with me at nineteen and married my dad out of duty. She hated Cooper Town, hated everything it represented. She was finally leaving him, spewing all this venom about him and creating this alternative picture from the one I’d known of my dad.
Every day, she grew increasingly angry at him, at the life he forced her to live by asking her to marry him.
“She told me I had to leave or I’d become just like her, miserable and stuck in a life she didn’t want.
She convinced me I’d resent you, and that thought terrified me.
I loved you so much, and the last thing I wanted was for either of us to begrudge the other.
She offered me a way out, to move with her to the city and leave the horrible small-town life behind.
Leave everything I knew and loved. She told me it was the only way to be happy, and…
I listened.” I turn and meet his gaze. “I shouldn’t have, but I did.
” My words are barely audible as a few tears fall from my eyes.
“I lost everything and the worst part is, I knew it then, just like I know it now.”
He turns to face me, his warm fingers gliding across my cheeks and brushing away the tears. He leans his forehead against mine and sighs. “Thank you.”
“For what?” I ask through a sniffle.
“For telling me what happened.” He pulls back, his blue eyes meeting mine. “I don’t like it, but I understand. What she did to you is repulsive. You were a young woman but perfectly capable of making your own decisions. She influenced you because she wanted you to leave with her, plain and simple.”
Exhaling a long breath, I agree. “She did. And she continued to do it. When I told her I was pregnant with Theo, she wanted me to consider alternative options because motherhood would ruin my life. I just…had to get away. I don’t hate her, but I don’t want her influencing my life anymore.
I want my son to have a relationship with both of his grandparents, but she makes it very difficult. ”
“You have a place here, Shortcake. In Cooper Town, with your dad. With me and my family. You and Theo both.”
I turn to face him once more. “For so long, I’ve lived with regret. A simple regret. The day I walked away from you and the life we were building, I lost everything.”
His hand cups my cheek, his thumb caressing my jaw. “No more regret, Maren. We’re only looking forward from this moment on.”
“I’m sorry I left,” I whisper, needing to say those words.
Those blue eyes I used to dream about hold so much sadness and hope. “I forgive you.”
Then, he kisses me. Our mouths mold together as if the other is the missing piece we’ve both been waiting for. His hands frame my face, tilting my head just enough to give him a better angle. I grip the front of his shirt, pulling him closer, desperately craving more.
His phone chimes in his pocket, but we ignore it. He masterfully kisses me breathless, causing everything to fade away around us.
Except, his phone chimes again.
We move, lying back in the bed of his truck. We’re facing each other, both on our sides. His kisses are exquisite, his lips a potent drug I crave. Just as I hitch my leg up on his hip and his hand slides up my outer thigh and grips my ass, his phone sounds once more.
Ripping my mouth from his, I say, “You should check that. It could be an emergency.”
Camden sighs and takes a deep breath. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”
He sits up and retrieves his phone, tapping on the screen. As I sit up beside him, I hear a muttered, “Damn it.”
“What’s wrong?”
He turns to look at me and states, “We’re being watched.”
My mouth drops open. “What?”
He hands over his phone, allowing me to read the messages on the screen. It’s a group text between his siblings and friends.
Wyatt
I can see you, dumbass.
Wyatt
Cameras, Camden. I have cameras all over the place.
Alex
It’s awfully cold outside, man.
Cade
Yeah, little brother. It’s February. Not exactly the right time of year to get it on in the bed of your truck.
Collin
The bed of your truck? Camden, did we not teach you anything? That woman deserves a bed that’s not attached to your damn truck!
Wyatt
Sorry, man. I had to download the video and save it for a rainy day. I’m pretty sure I saw your ass.
“Oh my God,” I blurt out, covering my mouth with my hand.
Camden turns to his right and lifts his middle finger. “Go away!”
A moment later, his phone chimes and we both look down at the screen.
Wyatt
You’re on my land, dude. You go away!
Quinn
What am I missing? Camden is parked at the farm? Who’s with him? It better be Maren or I’m beating his ass. No, wait. I’ll let Charli do the honors. She’s itching to get in a few licks.
“Time to go,” he states, hopping off the tailgate and extending his hand toward me. I slip off the tailgate and am pulled into his strong arms and greeted with another kiss. “My place?”
I nod. “Yeah. Your place.”
He grabs the blanket and closes the tailgate. As I climb into the truck cab, his phone chimes once more.
Cade
Bag up, little brother! We don’t need any little Camdens running around anytime soon.
Camden turns and flips off the camera a second time.
Then, he runs around to the driver’s seat and climbs inside the truck. The moment he starts it, he glances my way. “Ready?”
Am I ready?
For Camden?
For whatever the night holds for us?
There’s only one answer to that question.
“Ready.”