CHAPTER 26
Lacey
She sat in her car and stared up at her own apartment building.
She’d probably saved a lot of time by leaving Cameron’s place early.
No, Lacey had left Cameron and Kennedy’s place early.
Having a few clients who lived in very nice houses or had expansive and secure offices, she’d been buzzed into places before, so that hadn’t been anything new, but driving up to that house, knowing that it belonged to the two of them, had hurt, and she had realized she liked Cameron more than she’d thought she had.
She recalled sitting in that car last Sunday, driving home with River sitting next to her, thinking about how she’d have to go almost five whole days without seeing Cameron, and that when she finally would, she’d be seeing her mostly naked, with her girlfriend, also mostly naked, in the same room.
She’d put on her professional face to get through it, and she always wore khakis and a polo shirt with the name of her company, but seeing Cameron walk out of the house and join her in the driveway hadn’t been something Lacey had expected.
It had thrown her off because she’d only planned on delivering the massages she had promised Cameron.
That should’ve been it. She’d been prepared for the usual small talk because checking in with her clients during the massage was usual practice, and she’d expected massaging Kennedy to be awkward, but massaging Cameron would’ve been hard.
It would’ve hurt to feel Cameron’s skin beneath her fingertips, knowing it would be the only time she’d ever get to touch her.
She’d told herself on the drive there many, many times that she would do her job and leave because she couldn’t do anything else.
Then, she’d never again massage Cameron, and even if Cameron asked her to, Lacey would just refer her to someone else because she couldn’t do it.
She hadn’t been sure if she’d tell Cameron why, or if she would lie and say that the drive was too hard to make consistently, so she’d be keeping her business more local for now.
“I’m going to have to stick to Anaheim because I can get to more clients that way,” she could’ve said.
“Makes sense. No problem,” Cameron could’ve replied.
Lacey didn’t know what happened next, but the thought of not seeing Cameron ever again didn’t feel right to her. It created a burning pit in her gut. And the thought of trying to be friends with her also felt wrong because her feelings were more than friendly.
Now, after a long drive on a Friday afternoon, she was sitting in her car, feeling exhausted because she’d had three extra clients this week due to a few last-minute requests, and this drive to see Cameron had had amounted to nothing but more confusion.
Lacey sighed and rested her head against the seat.
Dinner with River was at seven, and it was already five-thirty.
She needed to get inside her apartment to shower and change, and then she needed to put on a brave face and have a damn date with her girlfriend.
This time, she’d tried harder. She’d made a reservation earlier that day at a restaurant she’d thought River would like.
She wasn’t even sure why she had done it.
They hadn’t seen each other since Sunday, and while they’d texted a few times, there had been no calls.
It was time, Lacey knew. She wanted to find someone who made her happy.
Still, there was something about River that had always been there, even outside of the great sex they had had at the beginning.
They were friends. Lacey really didn’t want to lose that.
She just didn’t know how to suggest to River that they remain that way after the romantic part of their relationship ended, and everything she’d come up with so far had felt so cliché and like she would be forcing it when that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Maybe that was what they were meant to be all along, and they’d just had chemistry in the beginning, so things had gotten clouded up in that.
Now that the chemistry had waned, though, she could only hope to keep River in her life somehow, even if they needed a little time first.
Lacey reached for her phone, planning to finally get out of her car, which would require her to lug her very expensive table to the elevator and farther to her apartment, but when she opened the door, planning to do just that, she heard her phone ping.
Thinking it was probably River canceling gave her both a sense of relief and annoyance at the same time, but when she glanced at the screen, she noticed it wasn’t River at all.
Cameron Levine: Kennedy and I just broke up.
Lacey sat back in her seat and stared down at that message, wanting to read and re-read it to be sure of what was in it.
“Holy shit,” she said to herself and covered her mouth as if someone else would’ve heard her when there was no one else around.
How was Lacey supposed to respond to this?
Was she supposed to respond to it? Of course, she was.
It was a text message, and not one from her dentist telling her that the appointment was confirmed.
This was Cameron Levine telling her that she and her girlfriend had just broken up.
There was an obvious reason why Cameron could’ve sent this message, letting Lacey know that she was now single.
And while Lacey appreciated having that knowledge, it didn’t mean that she should text back and ask Cameron when they could go on a date.
That would be insensitive, and on top of that, Cameron might want time. Lacey could understand that.
“Dumbass. You can’t be with her anyway,” she muttered. “She’s Cameron Levine, lives a million hours away in LA traffic, and just got out of a long-term relationship. Oh, and you are still in one, so there’s that.”
Lacey locked her phone and worked on getting everything upstairs and into her apartment.
Then, she sat down on her sofa, pulled out her phone, and thought about how best to reply because there was another reason Cameron could’ve texted her about this right after it happened.
She could need a friend. Lacey had gotten the impression that Kennedy was Cameron’s best friend and maybe one of the only people in the world whom Cameron truly trusted.
She couldn’t talk to Kennedy about this; at least, not right now. So, Lacey typed.
Lacey Keller: I’m sorry, Cam. I’m really sorry.
She waited for a moment, but when no bubbles with the dots appeared to indicate that Cameron was responding, she set her phone down and went to shower and change for her date.
After her shower, Lacey realized that she couldn’t just leave her phone out on the table because she needed to know immediately when Cameron replied, so she hurried back out into the living room, still naked and wet from her shower, picked it up, and rushed back into her bedroom because River could be there any minute, just letting herself in with her key, and…
“I don’t want her to see me naked,” she said to herself, sitting on the end of her bed. “Wow.”
She remembered River walking into the bathroom last weekend, wrapped in a towel, and she got it now.
She wasn’t River’s to see naked anymore.
She wasn’t Cameron’s, either, but the thought of River seeing her naked and still not dried off from her shower felt very wrong now, when in the past, Lacey would’ve welcomed River walking in on her like that, knowing River would’ve taken full advantage of the moment and they would’ve had to cancel their reservation.
When the phone pinged in her hands, taking her out of her thoughts, Lacey looked down.
Cameron Levine: Thanks.
While Lacey hadn’t expected a novel in response, something more than that would have been nice.
She didn’t know what she was supposed to do now.
They had left things so up in the air, mainly because of her being unable to stand in that house any longer than she had to because there were pictures of Cameron with Kennedy on a table behind the couch that she could see, and even though she’d seen photos of the two of them together on various red carpets and all over the internet, seeing the ones that they had chosen to put up in their home, that were more private and intimate and not taken at Hollywood events, had made her feel like she’d invaded their territory or something.
Then, Kennedy had shown up, and Lacey had wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, but that meant not knowing if she and Cameron would ever even see each other again.
Her thoughts were interrupted by another ping then.
Cameron Levine: She left. She’s staying in a hotel for at least a few days.
It needed to happen, and we’re both going to be adults about it.
We didn’t fight or anything. We accepted what had already happened and made it official.
The house is extra empty now, so it’s weird, and I don’t know what to do.
I feel like I’ve lost my best friend, Lacey.
“Shit,” Lacey said. “How am I supposed to respond to that?”
Lacey Keller: Are you okay? I mean, I just got home, and I’m getting ready, but if you need to talk, Cam, you can call me.
She hit send before she could talk herself out of it and then typed again.
Lacey Keller: Or later. I can talk later. I can talk anytime if you need it. I didn’t just mean that I could only talk now or never, you know?
“Idiot,” she told herself after hitting send.
Cameron Levine: You’re about to have your date, Lace.
And I’m assuming that later, River will still be there, so probably not.
I shouldn’t even be texting you right now, but I didn’t know who else to talk to.
Most people I know and trust are people I work with, and they work with Kennedy, too.
We’ll have to figure that out later. I didn’t even think about Zane and Jessie, and everyone else we have in common.
Do we just split them like we split our assets?
Does she get Zane in the divorce, and I need to start looking for a new agent, but I get Jessie, and Kennedy has to find a new publicist?
I’m sorry. I don’t mean to put this on you.
Please get ready for your date and have a good night.
Lacey Keller: Can I call you tomorrow? Check on you? I’m not working. I don’t know what you’re doing; if Kennedy will be there at all, or if you need to talk to her more this weekend or something. I’d like to call you, even if you need to vent or yell or cry, Cam.
Cameron Levine: I’m crying right now, actually.
I think it hit Kennedy harder at first, and it’s hitting me harder now that she’s gone.
She took most of her stuff from the bathroom.
It’s like she just ran her arm over the sink and let it all fall into her suitcase, which is not like her at all, and when I saw that the other side of the counter was empty, I pretty much lost it.
Cameron Levine: Also, I’m not crying because I lost the love of my life.
I’m crying because she’s my best friend, Lacey.
I haven’t been in love with Kennedy for a while, and I meant what I said before.
We’ve basically been broken up for a long time.
We just made it official today. It’s going to be weird, not having her here with me every day, but it’s the change and the hopefully only temporary loss of someone I really care about that’s making me cry right now.
“Well, hell,” Lacey muttered. “Why did she have to go and tell me that?”
Lacey Keller: I understand.
Cameron Levine: Do you?
Lacey Keller: I can read between the lines, Cam. I don’t know… Maybe we shouldn’t be talking about this, between the lines or not.
Cameron Levine: Because of River?
Lacey Keller: Because you just got out of a long relationship.
Cameron Levine: Kennedy knows that I like you, Lacey. She told me to move on. She understood because she… Well, you know.
“Likes my girlfriend,” Lacey muttered.
Lacey Keller: I know.
Cameron Levine: We both want the other person to be happy, and we know we can’t be a part of that happiness how we were before.
That’s what it comes down to for us. So, I guess I wanted you to know that.
I’m not asking anything of you, Lacey. I’m not na?ve.
I know things are complicated right now and scary, but I’m an honest person.
I always have been. It’s probably part of the reason why Kennedy fighting with me over some girl I didn’t even know hurt me so much.
She should’ve known that I’d never cheat on her because that’s not who I am.
Extenuating circumstances there, I know, but I’ll never lie to you, Lacey.
You know that Kennedy and I are done now.
That means there will be things that I’ll have to work out with her, and I hope I can be friends with my ex-girlfriend, who happens to be Kennedy Gannon.
Yet another complication, I know, but this is good for both of us; her and I.
We’re both free now, and there’s something about that that has me feeling relief from the pressure for the first time in a long time.
So, I guess what I’m saying is that I hope you and I can text or talk or something, and we’ll figure out what the rest means later. Can we?
“Can we figure out the rest later? What is the rest? What does that mean, Cameron?” Lacey asked out loud before she went to type her many questions.
Then, she heard her front door open.