CHAPTER 34 #2
“Thank you,” she replied. “Toast?”
“Toast? Sure,” Lacey said, clearly not having expected that, but she held up her wineglass, and Cameron held up the beer that Lacey had just placed there.
“To us,” Cameron said. “I trust it.”
Lacey tilted her head in confusion.
“Just go with it,” she added.
“Okay,” Lacey said with a chuckle. “To us. And I trust it, too. I don’t know that I get it yet, but I trust it.”
“You don’t get what, exactly?” Cameron asked.
They clanked glasses, and Cameron waited for Lacey’s response until after she took a sip of her wine.
“Why you like me. You could have anyone,” Lacey said.
Cameron took a drink of her beer, set it down, and replied, “I know we don’t know all that much about each other yet. Some, yes, but even our FaceTime chats have been more about the recent events and plans than about the older stuff.”
“Okay…” Lacey stated.
“I was looking around the house today, trying to think about how I wanted to handle things. We have a lot of stuff, but most of it, Ken just picked out, and I realized that I never really moved in.”
“What?”
Cameron laughed and said, “I have my stuff there, but I don’t think a single piece of furniture in that place is mine.
Anyway, it got me thinking about why that’s the case.
Yes, she likes things a certain way, but it’s also because of me.
I have never needed much. I’ve never had much.
I didn’t grow up in this business. In fact, I grew up with a dad who had a job that required him to move a lot.
He worked on oil rigs and took work whenever and wherever he could get it, so my mom and I would sort of station ourselves wherever we could to be close, but no place ever felt like home.
It’s kind of like being an Army brat without the Army part.
Whenever one job ended, he would find another one, but there would be this time between jobs where he’d be home, and we’d all be together.
” Cameron smiled at her memories. “I knew from an early age that home wasn’t a house.
It was the people. It was my family and my friends.
It’s the people I love. I think Kennedy and I were meant to meet, Lacey.
I do believe that. I think we were always meant to fall in love, fall out of love, and be friends.
She’s part of my home. But that house isn’t home, and I know I won’t live there forever.
I want to find home in my person. I don’t know yet if that’s you, but when you say things like you don’t understand why I like you, it just seems wrong to me for you to even ask that, because I feel like I can be completely myself with you.
It felt like homecoming here tonight. It felt like home being out with you on our first date.
It felt like home in the beach house, too, playing air hockey with you. ”
Lacey smiled but didn’t say anything.
“Sorry, if that’s a lot.”
“It’s not. And it’s okay,” Lacey said. “I know you want to take things slow. I understand why, and I agree. I think we both just got out of relationships that were important to us, so we need to take some time here, but, Cam, I want you to stay tonight. Can we actually sleep in the same bedroom for once? I wanted that at the beach house, and I hated myself for it, but we’re here now. Can you stay?”
“I think staying the night is an appropriate next step,” she replied. “So, yes.”
“And you know that I’m only asking for sleep, right?”
“Yes, Lace. That’s what I want, too.”
They ate their meal, and when they were done, they took their unfinished wine and beer into the living room, where Lacey picked up the TV remote control.
Cameron wrapped her arm around Lacey’s shoulders, and they cuddled up while a movie played on Lacey’s TV.
Cameron kissed the top of Lacey’s head, and Lacey’s hand found its way under Cameron’s shirt to rest on her stomach.
About halfway through the movie, Lacey got up to use the bathroom, and Cameron lay down.
When Lacey came back, she just smiled softly and moved to lie in front of her, which was what Cameron had been hoping she’d do.
She kissed Lacey’s neck and held on to her tightly until the movie was over.
“I really don’t want to move, but it’s getting late,” Lacey spoke then. “And I have an early appointment tomorrow.”
“But you’re warm,” she said and burrowed into Lacey’s body.
“I’ll be warm in bed, too.”
“Promise?” Cameron asked.
“Yes.” Lacey chuckled.
They got up reluctantly, and Lacey pulled Cameron by the hand into her bedroom, where Cameron looked around the space for the first time, having only seen it briefly when she’d gone to the bathroom earlier. Now, she could finally get a better look at it.
“Did you clean up for me?”
“I straightened up,” Lacey corrected. “It’s always clean in here; it’s just not always this organized. I have a thing where I throw clothes around. You should know that before we get too far into this.”
Cameron smiled as Lacey handed her clothes to sleep in, and she got up and changed in the bathroom while Lacey changed in the bedroom.
Then, they both took care of whatever they needed to do before sleep, with Cameron borrowing a toothbrush, and when Lacey slid under the covers next to her on her side of the bed, Cameron had a moment where she thought about the fact that her side of the bed now had been River’s just recently.
“I know. It’s weird,” Lacey said.
“Can I, like, buy you a new bed? Is that weird to ask?”
Lacey laughed and said, “I do need a new mattress. This one is old and hurts my back. I’ve been saving.”
“Done,” Cameron replied. “Want to order it now? I can grab my phone.”
Lacey laughed, moved into Cameron’s body, and said, “No, not now.” She then looked down at Cameron and held her gaze with those beautiful eyes. “It’s just a bed, Cameron. You’re in it now. That’s all that matters. And you’ll be in it anytime you want, okay?”
Cameron nodded and said, “Yeah, okay. But if you really need a new mattress, I can–”
Lacey kissed her, pulled back, and said, “Make out with me before we go to sleep?”
Cameron nodded rapidly and rolled on top of her.
“Oh,” Lacey let out, and her hands went to Cameron’s back and rubbed it under her shirt. “I think I’m really going to like how you make out with me, Cameron Levine.”
Cameron smiled and captured Lacey’s lips.