Chapter 11
He is the find of the season.
– Oliver Hazard Perry “O.P.” Caylor, baseball columnist for the New York Herald
Javi had texted on Saturday asking if Camdyn would like to go out after his game that night and she’d had to decline because she’d driven home to Oasis on Friday evening.
She’d known her parents had gone to the game that night, but she’d purposely avoided it.
She wasn’t sure that she wanted to start a relationship yet, though Javi was tempting.
If their situations were different, she might have considered it, but the reality was that her life was in a state of transition.
She was moving three hours away from Phoenix and he was only there until Thorton recovered.
What was the point of starting something unless it was temporary, like a friends-with-benefits type of arrangement.
She did like him, and thirteen had always been her favorite number, but she really didn’t need the complication. Growing attached would only hurt her.
So instead of going to the game, she’d unpacked several boxes of her belongings that she’d brought back to Oasis.
She’d lived in her grandparents’ apartment in Phoenix for several years now.
They’d purchased it years ago, when her grandpa had been active in the state bar association and a board member for several different organizations.
It had made sense to have a place there rather than driving the three-hour commute back and forth.
It’d also saved money that had been going to hotel costs.
By the time she’d graduated high school, her grandpa had begun to slow down, and they had offered her the apartment when she started college, so that her parents could avoid paying for a dorm.
And even though the place had been furnished, Cami had collected a multitude of junk while living there.
So she’d started the process of going through her things and deciding what to cart home.
The boxes she’d brought back this weekend contained her out-of-season clothes and a ton of books.
Javier texted again on Sunday. She’d again declined.
She’d corresponded professionally with him through email on Monday and Tuesday.
She’d requested information and documentation about Lola, and he’d worked with his mother to get her everything they needed.
Cami had even arranged a video call for Friday for Javier and his mother to meet with her grandpa.
She’d known he’d had a back-to-back away series, but she’d thought he’d message her again.
However, no message came. Maybe he hadn’t been as interested in her as she’d thought, or he’d lost interest altogether.
Perhaps he’d found a convenient Annie on the road.
That hurt to think about. Maybe she should have gone home early from Oasis the previous weekend and had dinner with him. She should probably just text him.
Even though the thoughts plagued her, days passed and she did nothing.
Izzy called on Thursday afternoon and Cam could no longer keep her emotional turmoil to herself.
“Should I have gone to dinner with him?” asked Cam after she’d filled Izzy in on all that had happened.
“Camdyn Gallegos, I am so mad at you! Of course you should have. Why didn’t you tell me about San Diego?” demanded Iz.
It was a good question. One that Camdyn didn’t have a good answer for. “Well, I told you about the bar association banquet.”
“Yeah, but you made that sound like Cal just scratched you up a date so you wouldn’t have to go with Ricky. You purposely didn’t tell me about already having had a fling with this guy. Or him staying over after the banquet. Why not? I tell you everything!”
Great, now she’d hurt her best friend. “I don’t know. I guess I just wanted to keep him to myself. I wasn’t expecting to see him multiple times, and now I like him…but I don’t want to like him.”
Izzy huffed. “You’re not making sense. If you like him, text him. Talk to him. Go on another date with him.”
“I’m not ready for a new relationship,” Cam protested.
“Why? You didn’t have a healthy relationship with Ricky. You told me you wanted to break up with him. I know you’re not hung up on him.”
Izzy was making too much sense. So Cam tried again. “I’m moving soon.”
Her friend tsked. “The perfect reason to date in Phoenix while you can. The options in Oasis have not changed.”
“Ugh. Fine. If I hear from him again, I’ll go out with him.”
The next morning, almost a week since she’d last heard from him, she woke up to a message. Her heart raced as she opened it. What were the odds after last night’s conversation with Izzy?
If you’re free Saturday, could I take you to lunch?
Relieved that he hadn’t given up, she quickly typed out a reply.
I’m free for lunch Saturday.
His response came just as quick.
Does noon work? Is there anywhere you’d like to eat? Do you have a favorite restaurant?
Noon is fine. My favorite is a little hideaway off 16th Street. I love their Santa Fe chicken.
It was an honest reply. The restaurant was nice, but quiet and low-key. A little expensive, but that chicken was probably her favorite meal in Phoenix. She wouldn’t have the opportunity to eat it as often once she moved.
I’ll have to try it. I’ll meet you tomorrow at noon.
After that exchange, she’d heard nothing else, but she showed up the next day to meet him.
He’d been there when she arrived, standing outside the entrance looking handsome in a button-down shirt and chinos.
“Hi,” she greeted as she approached him.
“Hello, Cami,” he said before leaning forward and kissing her cheek.
They went in and ended up having a lovely lunch of Santa Fe chicken.
There was none of the awkwardness that sometimes occurs on dates.
They’d easily chatted about everything in their lives.
How she’d decided on law, how he was nearly done with his doctorate program, their shared love of baseball, their families, and her transition back to her family’s law firm in Oasis.
After lunch she invited Javi back to her place.
She still wasn’t comfortable being seen at his.
Cal knew Javi had accompanied her to the banquet as he’d suggested, but she didn’t think he was aware of what had happened in San Diego.
At least, her brother hadn’t mentioned it, and she was sure he would have if he’d known.
Which meant Javi was discreet, and she liked that.
Not that she was embarrassed to be with him, but she’d rather not advertise something if she didn’t know where it was going.
Javi lived in the gated community of townhouses owned by the team.
In fact, he was in the same townhouse quad as her brother.
She’d rather keep quiet for now, so that she didn’t cause issues between them or have to answer questions that she didn’t know how to answer.
She didn’t know how to describe what was going on between them.
When they came in through Camdyn’s front door, she sat her bag on the side table and toed off her shoes as she always did when she entered.
Javi quickly followed her lead and took his off as well.
After locking the door, she wandered into the living room and clicked on the television.
It was on the Investigation Discovery channel and the volume was low, but she had nervous energy and needed something to do.
“Would you like a drink?” she asked as she turned to look at Javi.
He walked up and placed his hands on her hips. “Only a drink of you,” he replied.
Her smile was instantaneous, but she rolled her eyes playfully in response. He could be so silly. She put her hand on his chest. “I’m being serious. I’m going to grab some water. Do you want anything?”
“I’ll take a glass, too,” he replied while dropping his hold on her.
While she walked into the small kitchen, Javi took up residence on her floral Victorian-style sofa. His large frame looked ridiculous perched on it, and Camdyn knew from experience that the sofa was hard and uncomfortable.
“Did you pick out this couch?” he asked as he perched on its edge.
“No,” she called from the kitchen. “It came from my grandparents’ house.
My grandpa hated it, but my grandmother loved it, so they gave it to me when I moved out for college.
I can honestly tell you that I have spent very little time on that couch.
It’s mainly decorative. I don’t normally have people over, so if it’s just me, I’m normally in the chair or my bedroom.
And to be honest, I don’t spend a lot of time here. ”
Javi let out a breath like he was relieved. “I’m glad you didn’t pick that out, because that is horrible. I can understand why your grandpa disliked it. It is so uncomfortable, and I feel like I’m going to break it,” he said.
Camdyn giggled. “Move to the chair. It’s much more comfortable there.”
“But I wanted to sit with you,” he said with his playful smirk.
“I’ll still sit with you.” The chair was oversized and comfy, but still in a Chesterfield-ish style that worked with the sofa.
The chair wasn’t as large as a love seat, and two people couldn’t actually sit in it, especially with one of them being as broad as Javi was. He wasn’t a little man by any means.
He moved over to the chair and immediately picked up the framed picture on the side table.
It was a photo of Camdyn in her graduation gown, surrounded by her parents and brother.
He set it back down as she walked into the living room with two glasses of water that she sat on the little table.
Then she placed a hand on his shoulder and straddled his lap.
Javi’s hands immediately moved to support her.
“I like sitting in this chair,” he announced with an exaggerated smirk.
She couldn’t help but laugh at his reaction. Had she ever met a man who tried so hard to make her laugh? She didn’t think she had. She moved her hands and linked them behind his neck.
Javi reached one hand up and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I want to keep seeing you, hermosa. I want this all the time with you. I want a serious relationship with you.”
She stiffened. “I don’t know if I’m ready, and I’m moving soon—”
Javi put a finger over her lips, shushing her.
“Listen to me. I know you just got out of a relationship. Maybe you weren’t what he wanted, and that’s why he did what he did.
We don’t know, but I can assure you that I know what I want, and that’s you.
I will do everything I can to make our relationship work.
So, Cami, please, will you explore this with me? Can we date seriously?”
“Javi, it’s not that I don’t like you. I just don’t see how we can make this work. I’m moving three hours away to be part of my family’s law firm. Working there is a nonnegotiable for me. I don’t want either of us hurt, because if you’re traded or decide to move back to Florida, I won’t go.”
From his expression, her protests were falling on deaf ears.
“I know what I want. As long as we always choose each other, we can make it work,” he said.
“I wish I could believe that,” she murmured, more to herself than to him.
“You can. Just trust me. Say yes.”
His eyes beseeched her, so she closed hers and took a deep breath. He’d better not make her regret this. “Yes,” she whispered.
“I’m sorry, did you say something?” he asked.
She opened her eyes to glare at him. He knew exactly what she’d said. Funny how she found his smirk infuriating now. “You heard me.”
A full-blown grin spread across his face. “Yeah, I did. Now kiss me. Make it official,” he said as he reached up with both hands to cup her cheeks and pull her lips to his.
Their kiss was a reunion they’d both been anticipating, and their hunger for each other quickly became a frantic exchange.