CHAPTER 15 #2
While I might have been planning to kidnap a man mere moments ago, I wasn’t a complete asshole. And this guy clearly was on good terms with Cam. So, behaved boyfriend mode was activated.
I discretely put the spell pouch back into my coat pocket before Cam could notice. Wasn’t too late to pull out the Morning After Bomb in my back pocket though and make a run for it, though. Always good to have a backup plan in case things went awry.
“Glad to see you’re doing well, Cam,” Avery said. “What brings you back to town?”
Cam wrapped his arm around my shoulders, tugging me into his side. “Victor.”
My heart skipped. Shit, was he too adorable.
“What about you?” Cam asked. “Didn’t you move to New York?”
“Mhm, just for the holidays. Going back tomorrow, so I’m glad I got to see you before I left.”
Are you, Avery? I thought sardonically. Are you glad you got to see him? Why is that, might I ask?
“So, uh,” I began awkwardly, hoping my face didn’t betray me, “how do you two... know each other?”
Avery gave me a small smile. “Dolly and Delia are my moms, so Cam and I grew up together. Could say we’re childhood friends.”
“Camden!” a woman’s voice called out.
Our heads turned to see Dolly’s petite form scurrying over.
“I see you’ve already reunited with Avery, here,” she said as her son gave her a kiss on her wrinkled cheek. “He’s been asking all about you. Worried sick, he was.”
Avery blushed then rolled his eyes, “Mum.”
“What?” she demanded as she turned to hug Cam then me. “Victor, dear, lovely to see you again.”
I smiled fondly at the older woman as I pointedly ignored Avery’s blushing face. I didn’t want to think on what that meant.
“Now that you’re here, let’s have a seat,” she told us. “What’s this about an accident?”
Cam took the seat next to me and immediately reached for my hand beneath the table. His fingers tightened around mine at the question. We hadn’t discussed what we would say when faced with this line of questioning which, thinking on it, we should have figured out before coming here.
Me, unprepared? Shocking.
“It was nothing serious,” Cam said after a moment of silence. I fought the urge to hug him at his cavalier words. “It’s actually how I met Victor.”
He quickly turned the conversation, sparking Dolly’s immediate interest. Her smile came back with full force, eyes crinkling deeply.
“He saved me.” Cam’s voice was velvet. When I turned to look at him, I caught him watching me.
I didn’t fail to also notice the way Avery’s eyes narrowed slightly. The look told me he seemed to know more than he was letting on but was staying silent. As for how much he knew, now that was the question.
“I’m really happy for you, Cam,” Avery said earnestly, confusing me slightly, just before his phone began ringing. He looked at the screen, and his face made a complicated expression. “I’m sorry, I need to take this. I’ll see you around Cam. Victor, take care of this old lug, will ya?”
He leaned down and kissed the top of Dolly’s gray head before she chimed,
“See you later for dinner, hon!”
He gave her a small wave before leaving the diner. I barely heard him as he answered his phone and snapped,
“I thought I told you not to call-”
“Dolly?” someone called from the back of the diner, voice urgent and drawing my attention. A blonde head popped out through the swinging kitchen door. “We need your help back here.”
Dolly sighed, “The fun never ends, does it boys?”
Just as quickly as it all happened, the whirlwind that was us any time we visited the diner ended, and Cam and I were once again left to ourselves.
I looked at him the same moment that he turned to me.
The relief on his face made a broad smile spread on my own.
Then the question nagging at my brain rose to the surface,
“You weren’t just childhood friends, were you?”
Cam’s head tilted to the side. “What?”
“You and Avery,” I grumbled in a pout.
Mature, Vic. Real mature.
Once Cam realized what I was insinuating, his eyes widened. Then that frown transformed into a smirk. A smirk. Little shit.
Anger flared hot and bright, and I debated using one of my more minor spells on Cam in my annoyance. Maybe a quick zap to his ass would teach him a lesson about rubbing his past flings in my face.
“No, we really were just friends.” Cam squeezed the hand he was still holding while lifting the other to cup the side of my neck. “There’s nothing between us like that. Well... Except that he was my first kiss.”
I jolted, “What?”
He chuckled, shoulders vibrating with his laughter. “I’m just teasing, Victor.” Then he leaned in to whisper directly into my ear, “I like when you’re jealous.”
His breath sent racing shivers over my body as a wicked bolt of lust coursed its way through me. His responding chuckle was honey smooth and just as sweet.
“Let’s head home, Victor.”
I stood so fast a wave of vertigo nearly took me out, light-headed as I already was. The relief at this being a false alarm, that no one dangerous was looking for Cam, that no one knew the truth about what happened to him, was leaving me giddy with happiness.
Giggling like a couple of horny teenagers, we left some cash on the table and swiftly made our way back home.
***
We didn’t even make it through the door before Cam’s mouth was on mine.
As soon as it shut behind us, keeping the cold at bay, my back was immediately pressed into the entryway wall.
Pinned in place by Cam’s muscles and needy groans, I flung my arms around his neck, essentially throwing myself into him.
Hot shivers raced over my body as his hands rucked up my sweater to greedily splay his palms on my bare sides.
Heat sparked low in my belly where his thumbs pressed in on either side. I could feel the points of each finger where he squeezed me tight, keeping my groin pressed to his.
I boldly ground myself against his already hard cock earning a delicious whimper against my lips.
A thud from upstairs had both of our heads snapping up. We were each panting heavily, chests brushing with each shared gasp of breath.
“What was-” Cam began, but I cut him off with a bruising, demanding kiss.
“Just the ghost,” I purred against his lips. “She’ll get the hint.”
Just then, there was a hard thump. Almost like wood cracking against stone. Cam pulled back with a groan of pain before his arms left me, and he toppled to the ground. Without his support, I teetered to the side as the room came into focus without the wall of Cam’s body.
And the figure of the man now looming in front of me.