Chapter 6
Dakota
My vagina, if not my whole freaking life, has not been the same in three weeks.
I can barely look at the guy who lives with me.
After that crazy insane sex we had, I’m rethinking my entire take on reality.
Do I sound absolutely nuts? Yes. But did he absolutely one hundred percent rock my world?
Yes. Enough so that even before he was inside me, when our bodies were pressed up against each other, I had to take a step back and just regroup.
I mean, ya, sure…I regrouped by getting naked, but I needed some air, dammit. It was too intense.
And now it’s been three weeks of this weird back to business attitude.
I don’t even get how it happened, but we’re essentially avoiding each other.
It’s probably on me because I’m the one that said thanks after sex, and he’s the one that growled mine in my ear while he came inside of me.
Pretty sure the whole burden of awkwardness rests on my shoulders.
But am I going to admit that? Nope. And sure…
do I want to have sex with him again? Yes.
I mean, my entire body is screaming yes all day long.
Every small glimpse of him I have to fight my own urges off.
But it’s for the best. I still hate him—kind of—and he still doesn’t want to settle down. So what’s the point?
Today I’m avoiding him by hanging outside in the backyard reading my latest hockey romance.
It’s “research” for the article I’m going to write on the Calgary Courage hockey team that has so many players from Lit Creek.
Research. I snicker to myself amidst my bangxiety.
This one’s a slow burn, but it burns so good.
The burn’s good. The book’s good. The sun’s hot. And the day is lovely. I can hear Tara’s kids playing in the yard next to me, and all is good with the world.
Until the back door slides open and Cam pops out.
“Oh hey…didn’t realize you were out here.” His voice rolls through the air and sucker punches me to the gut. Why does he have to sound so sexy?
Why does he have to be so sexy?
“Yup.” I hold up my book. “Just reading.”
He smirks at me. “Nice.”
Just then, a scream pierces the air. It’s one of Tara’s kids. Cam hops over the fence. “Ruby, hang on!” he yells.
How he knows her name, I don’t know. Maybe he’s made friends with them since he moved in. I look over and see that Ruby’s hanging in the tree with her foot stuck between some branches.
Cam doesn’t hesitate. He launches himself into the tree, the whole time offering her soothing words. From both the pain and the scare factor, she’s sobbing now. It takes me a bit longer to hop—ungracefully—over the fence, but I make it into Tara’s yard.
“I got you, Ruby. Sh…it’s okay.” His voice is soft, but I can still hear what he’s saying. Ruby’s clinging to his shirt as he prods her foot free and then hauls her down from the branch. Instead of letting her go, he sits down and pulls her into a big hug.
When I hear what he says next, my heart cracks open. “You’re pretty brave to be climbing such a big tree for a little girl.”
Ruby nods her head and gives him a weak smile that only grows when he starts to tickle her. And you’d think it would all click into place when she squeals, “Stop, Uncle Cam,” but I just have more questions.
“Are you okay, Ruby?”
“I’m good.” She gives me the thumbs up while squeezing one eye shut. “Uncle Cam saved me.”
“I didn’t know you were Cam’s niece,” I say, talking more to Cam than to her on that point.
“Tara’s my second cousin, but her kids call me uncle.”
And seeing him here like this, holding this little girl, encouraging her, and making sure she feels strong, just hits me hard.
I have so many questions I need to ask him now, and it’s like he can sense that because he tells Ruby to run inside and ask her mom for a juice box.
Once she waves from the back door and heads inside, we go back to my yard.
“What was that all about?” I can hear the irritation in my voice even though what I’m really feeling is admiration.
“Right. So” —he grabs the back of his neck— “Ruby’s like my niece. She’s one of the reasons I wanted to move in here.”
To say I’m shocked is understating it. By a lot. “Why didn’t you just say that? Why didn’t you just move in with Tara?”
“She wants her independence. Even though it’s just the three of them and she could use the extra help, she doesn’t want to be a burden. I asked her, and she said there was no way she’d let me move in. When this job opened up, I thought it was a sign.”
This job. The words sting. Like I’m the job and not my basement. At the same time, I want to cry at how considerate he is. How caring he is. But then the real explosion occurs in my brain as I recall what he did to me, and even though it’s the last thing I want to bring up, I do it.
“I’m so confused, Cam. How can you be such a caring guy and yet do what you did to me after university? You knew it was my dream job to land the position at that magazine in Calgary, but you sabotaged it. Why would you do that?”
“I knew who your boss would be. I used to play pick up with him, and I know how he treats women. I couldn’t see him do that to you.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me about him?”
“I saw the stars in your eyes, Koty. I heard how you talked about him. It wouldn’t have been enough.”
“You don’t know that—” But he’s right. I wouldn’t have listened to anyone saying anything about that job.
That had been my dream for far too long to let a silly little thing stop me.
And even though I’ve been standing still in front of him, I feel like I’ve been stopped in my tracks.
Like my perspective on the past was skewed and his words are realigning things.
It’s a lot. And it’s happening fast. Almost like my brain is catching up to my heart.
And I think I’m finally ready for that to happen.