22. Kameron
22
KAMERON
This dick.
After everything…
“Yes.” I smile sweetly at his mom, who he’s not even bothered introducing me to still. “I’m not interested in going back down that road with your son.” I glance over at him. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to grab myself a drink.”
I let my smile drop right off my face when I stare him in the eyes and step past him. Screw him. If he thinks he can act that way, then I don’t give a damn about running interference between him and his parents.
He’s free range now.
Sucks to suck, bud.
I order my drink, thank the nice man, and turn to lean against the edge of the bar as I watch from across the room as Kris has to continue speaking with his mother. And by the way her arms are moving, and how poor Brian looks so uncomfortable while Kris stares at the floor, I’m assuming he’s getting his ass chewed right now.
And should.
I sip my glass of red wine, and move my attention around the room. The floor to ceiling windows overlook the patio with an incredible view of the mountains surrounding us.
If I ever get married, Gatlinburg is definitely going to be one of my contenders. Everything about it is breathtaking.
Small tables are set up around the room with what looks like placeholders sitting on the plates. Curiosity gets the best of me, so naturally I begin walking around trying to find our spot.
It takes me a bit, but I finally find my name and pull my seat out to sit.
“Allow me,” a deep voice says from beside me.
Davidson.
Before I can protest, I’m practically pushed down in my seat and it’s moving toward the table with him throwing himself in the empty one next to me.
“Thank you,” I fake a smile, trying to be polite.
“Having a good time?” he asks, leaning toward me.
“I haven’t been here long,” I point out, which he should know, he watched me walk in.
“Right.” He leans further into me, and if I move any further away I’ll be on the floor.
“You like red wine?” His eyes slowly glance at the glass in my hand before bouncing back to my eyes. The entire moment is awkward and uncomfortable.
“It’s not my favorite, but the menu is limited tonight.” I’m not really a wine-o, but salt a rim of a margarita glass and it’s on.
He laughs. So loud that a few heads turn in our directions, and I just know I’m turning redder than a ripe tomato.
“You’re in my seat, Davidson,” Kris’ deep voice says from behind me.
I don’t bother raising my chin to look at him, I’m still pissed at him for the way he acted earlier, but I’m also grateful he’s kicking Davidson to the curb right now.
Davidson looks at Kris quickly, and just when I think he’s about to ignore Kris’ demand, Kris speaks again.
“Move.” His voice is low, but has a threatening tone to it that gets Davidson moving.
“Save me a dance, Kameron.” He smiles before heading across the room.
Kris moves into the seat Davidson was in. I sip my wine, content to ignore him the rest of the evening.
“I’m sorry,” he finally says, breaking the silence. “I was a dick.”
“You think?” I frown at him.
He blows out a breath before pinching the bridge of his nose and turning toward me. “I panicked. You know I don’t do relationships.”
“Funny, we had one.” I move my finger between us, gesturing to what we had in college.
“Yeah, but it wasn’t that serious.” He takes a drink of his beer that I didn’t even notice he had. “And besides, look how that turned out.”
“ That turned out this way because of you. Maybe relationships aren’t the problem, it’s you.” Which I’m sure he knows, but I feel the need to point out the obvious here.
“I said I was sorry. I wasn’t even supposed to have to deal with them this weekend. Ruby and Kaleb were supposed to make sure that we were separated all weekend. I don’t know what happened.” His voice drops, nearly cracking and I catch myself staring at him.
He looks… worried? Like I’ll get up and leave at any point.
“Just don’t be a dick again, it’s unnecessary,” I tell him, and I hate that I’m letting him off so easily here, but he does have a point. He made it very clear that he can’t stand his parents, and he’s been thrust into dealing with them the second we arrived.
Everyone begins finding their seats, and the room’s volume level rises a bit until everyone is seated. We’re no longer sitting alone, but with both Kris’ mom and dad, and their dates.
The second they’re seated, the table is filled with tension, and the anxiety is rolling off of Kris in waves at this point. I almost feel bad for him, until I remember how he embarrassed me earlier.
Kris leans in, whispering in my ear, “I’m really sorry, Kam. I didn’t want my mom to dig for information between us because I can’t handle being around them for longer than necessary. I panicked, and I’m sorry. It won’t happen again,” he tells me.
I look at him, trying to gauge the sincerity in his words. I can feel myself caving and want to punch myself in the face for even considering accepting his apology.
“Okay,” I say, staring into his eyes. “But, I’m not doing this dance all weekend long. I’ll call Cora and have her come get me.”
“Deal.” He smiles, and my God. There goes all my thoughts, and he knows it.
His cocky side is back in full force, and to be honest, it’s the side I like about him. Not this nervous one when his family is around.
Which reminds me…
I look from Kris to our table guests, and realize that Kris’ mom and dad are staring each other down. Their dates look about as uncomfortable as I feel, and I have no direct ties to them.
Sneaking a glance at Kris, he seems stressed, but not as much as I’d have thought having both parents right in front of him now. Instead, it’s almost like he’s enjoying them being uncomfortable for a change.
“Who put us at the same table?” Kris’ mom asks, looking around the room for her other son.
Kaleb is at the front of the room with his back turned to us, I’d keep my back to this table if I were you, buddy.
“I certainly didn’t ask to be sat by you, ” his dad tells her.
“I’d hope not,” she snaps, and the tension kicks up a few more notches.
Awkward. I’m not sure I can deal with this all evening.
Well, all afternoon, I guess.
“Can you both just shut up?” Kris grunts, adjusting his seat a little closer to mine. Both his parents snap their heads in his direction.
“You can watch your damn mouth, young man,” his dad says, disappointment covering his features, but Kris doesn’t respond. He just fists his hand on his thigh. His mom, however; she just looks embarrassed.
“Kristopher.”
“Good afternoon,” Kaleb’s voice fills the room over a microphone, hushing the awkward encounter happening at our table right now. “I’d like to apologize for a few of the seating arrangements, there was a mishap with availability of tables when we arrived today so a few tables have more than the allotted amount.” He smiles, but glances briefly at our table. Oh, he knew… “We’re about to get started with the lunch portion of our day. We know this is a little untraditional, but we typically do things backwards anyways.”
I frown at that comment.
“After lunch, everyone will follow us into the rehearsal for the wedding. Once we’re finished there, my bride and I would like to invite everyone out for a night of fun. We won’t be partying too hard,” he pauses, looking over at his fiancee, “we do have the most important day of our lives tomorrow.”
She blushes, and I can’t help the aww that comes out of my mouth. They’re perfect together.
“Thank you all for joining us on this special weekend. Enjoy.” Kaleb smiles at the crowd before handing the microphone over and making his way to his seat with fiancee by his side.
Our meal is brought out, and our table falls into silence. Other than the couples whispering that is.
“So, Kameron, how do you and Kris know each other?” his mom asks, trying to keep the conversation light.
Of course she asks me right as I put a piece of the chicken into my mouth, and the entire table looks up from their plates, anticipating my answer. I cover my mouth, chewing quickly before answering, “We went to college together.”
“Oh, you’re Kam.” His dad smiles over at me, his date directly beside me.
She glances my way, and I can’t really decipher the look. Almost like she’s assessing me as a threat, but also curious about my answer at the same time.
“Kaleb has told me about you.”
Kris’ mom grunts, and all the heads bounce her way this time. “Care to share with the table what Kaleb has said?” Her tone is snappy, and I’m suddenly feeling the same uneasiness that Kris has felt today.
“Just that Kris was seeing a girl that he really liked, and they seemed serious.” My mouth parts briefly, and the worry builds in my stomach at the word serious.
I’m waiting for Kris to blow that word to pieces, because he doesn’t do serious , as he’s so eloquently pointed out today.
“That was a long time ago, but it was pretty serious.” Kris’ eyes drop to his plate. “I fucked it up though.”
My God. Who turned the heat on because I’m burning up in here now?
“Language, Kristopher. My goodness, I raised you better than this,” his mother chastises him from across the table.
Kris’ grunts, rolling his eyes.
“Excuse me?” she asks. “Something you’d like to say?”
Oh, please. Not here. Not now.
Kris balls his hands up so tightly, his knuckles turn white. Without thinking, I reach over, using my hand to pry his fingers loose then tangle them with mine.
Almost immediately, he seems to relax. His hand tightens briefly around mine before detangling and flattening my palm against his thigh, before covering it with his. He looks at me, pausing as he stares me in the eyes, and I see the gratefulness in his storm colored eyes. He looks back to his mom, before shaking his head lightly, and using his free hand to continue eating.
The table falls into a quietness that I’m grateful for, but I don’t let go of Kris’ hand.
And I try not to think about the fact that I like the feeling of it.