Chapter 12 #2
A breeze kicks up off the water, and for a second, all I hear is the tide, steady and sure.
Then Cami speaks, sweet and hushed. “Guess it wasn’t the house that didn’t fit. It was her.”
We sit in companionable silence for a moment, the waves crashing rhythmically just a few yards away, the glow of the candles casting long shadows across the sand.
Cami sets her plate down and leans back on her palms, head tilted toward the stars. “My therapist once told me, when someone belittles the things you love, it’s never really about those things. It’s about control. About making you feel small so they can feel bigger.”
I steal a glance at this beautiful, smart, kind-hearted woman staring at the sky like she’s not sure if her admission was brave or foolish—and she doesn’t know how much I needed to hear it.
After a beat, she adds, even quieter, “I used to twist myself into someone else to keep my ex happy. Shrink my world to fit his.”
My jaw clenches from realization.
We’ve both dimmed ourselves for people who never deserved the light.
And now, sitting here, all I want is to protect every piece she had to hide for someone else’s comfort.
Appetite forgotten, I set my plate down beside me, then shift closer, my knee brushing hers. “You don’t have to shrink around me, Cami.” The words scrape their way out, tight with emotion. “I see all of you and like every damn bit.”
She looks at me, startled. Not by the words, at least I don’t think. But maybe by how much I mean them. And just when I lean in, lips a breath away from hers—
Chirp.
We both freeze.
Cami blinks. “What was that?”
“Right. Almost forgot.” I exhale a quiet laugh and lean back, reaching beneath the edge of the blanket.
From a small drawstring pouch, I pull out the two flip phones that evidently need charging.
Cami’s eyes widen. “Are those…burner phones?”
I chuckle. “Bubble phones,” I correct, handing her the silver one. “Saw them while in line at Seaside Market. Had this random urge to text you, then remembered: no numbers, no real-life crossover.”
She flips it open with a grin. “So this is your workaround?”
“Yep. I even adjusted the Caller ID settings to hide the numbers. That way, there’s no cheating. We can’t text this number to our real phone even if we tried.”
“You’re kidding?”
“Nope. Bubble security,” I say, settling back beside her. “Think of it as no-strings communication. Like: Hey, I’m at the store, want anything? Or: Hey, I just woke up and can’t stop thinking about our last kiss.”
Cami’s smile falters for just a second, something tender slipping through. “That might be the most romantic use of outdated technology I’ve ever seen.”
“Only the best for my summer fling,” I deadpan.
She bumps my shoulder, laughing. “You’re ridiculous.”
I tilt my head, watching her. “Ridiculous when it comes to you? Yeah. I could live with that.”
Her breath skips as she sets the flip phone aside, fingers curling lightly around the back of my neck.
“I suppose you’ve never made out on the beach?” she teases.
I dip my head, letting our foreheads touch, the scent of salt, wine, and lemon hanging between us. “No. But I’ve thought about it every night since our collision.”
“I haven’t either,” she whispers. “But I think about it all the time now.”
Our kiss begins unhurried, exploratory, like we’re mapping out a language only we understand. But when her lips part beneath mine, something shifts. Heat builds fast and fierce, no longer content to lie dormant.
Gently, I guide her down onto the blanket, her body yielding to mine, a tender blend of permission and trust.
One hand slides beneath the curve of her back, the other tangling in her hair as I settle between her legs.
I deepen the kiss, and she answers with a quiet moan that threatens to undo me.
“I still remember our rules,” I murmur, lips brushing her cheek, her throat, the line just below her ear. “This isn’t me pushing past them.”
“Doesn’t mean I don’t want you to,” she breathes out, body arching into mine.
I grind into her, my hands cupping both breasts, nipples pebbling through thin bikini fabric.
Cami gasps softly against my mouth, and I swear I feel the sound down to my bones.
We’re both breathing harder now, quiet panting that belongs to long-held restraint burning at the edges.
My mouth trails down her neck, to the hollow beneath her collarbone, to the swell of her breasts where her pulse ticks faster under my lips.
I slide her bikini top down, my tongue alternating between both nipples as she threads her fingers into my hair, whispering my name like a secret she’s finally allowed to say aloud.
My mouth trails lower, measured and unhurried, each kiss coaxing her closer to the edge.
Cami glows under the moonlit sky, skin flushed, legs parting as her breath stutters, her body pleading without words.
“Knox,” she says, breathless. “Please…please don’t stop.”
Easing her bikini thong aside, I savor the view of her beautiful, bare pussy like it’s something sacred.
And, as I press a gentle kiss to the inside of her right thigh, then the left, she moans, back arching, fingers threading tighter in my hair—already undone, and I haven’t even truly started.
Slowly, I circle my tongue over her clit, tasting her sweet arousal as she bucks against me. I take my time, learning what makes her gasp, what makes her grind against my mouth, what makes her lose herself completely.
Then, as though I’ve hit the edge of my own control, I give in, devouring, sucking, licking, burying my face in her pussy until she starts to come apart beneath me.
Her hips rock, fingers tangled in my hair like it’s the only thing tethering her to this galaxy.
Body tightening, a shudder rolls through her.
I slow my rhythm, just enough to feel her fight the edge, one hand gripping my hair, the other gripping the blanket.
She moans my name again, and I press deeper, tongue flicking in time with the pulse beneath my fingers until she breaks apart completely, breathless beneath me.
I stay with her, two fingers curling inside, my mouth sucking her clit until her orgasm crests, long, hard, and shattering.
“Knox, ohmygosh…”
When she finally falls still, I kiss my way back up her body, drunk on her taste, on the trust threaded through every breathless tremble.
Fuck, I want nothing more than to bury my cock deep inside her, to lose myself in her, to shout her name as I come.
But instead, I grind into her, teasing, holding back, my mouth brushing against hers.
“I don’t want to stop. I want to feel you come again, this time with me inside you, right here under the stars.”
My words drip out thick with restraint as I cup her breasts, thumbs circling both nipples.
Cami arches into my touch with a breathy gasp, blue eyes dark with need. She doesn’t have to say a word; her body’s saying plenty.
“You tugging at my shorts like that? Oh yeah, Bubble Girl…” I smile against her mouth, letting my tongue trail slowly along her bottom lip. “You want this just as much as I do.”
Cami shivers, hips shifting beneath me, and for a beat, I nearly give in.
“But we agreed to at least three dates.” My breath brushes against her ear. “And I’m a man of my word.”
I pause, letting the heat simmer between our kisses, bodies still grinding together like desire might just overrule discipline.
“One more date,” I whisper, lips fanning hers. “Then we make good on what we’ve been holding back.”
Cami smirks, cheeks flushed, fingers still tangled in my hair. “Only if you promise to always call me Bubble Girl from now on, like you did a few minutes ago. Hottest thing ever.”
A slow smile spreads across my face. “Deal.”
Waves hum around us, a quiet rhythm that echoes the steady thrum pulsing through us.
And for once, I don’t want to rush or overthink what comes next. I simply want to stay here, caught in the hush of a night that feels like the beginning of something I never saw coming.