16. Camden
Camden
“That was so good,” Colton said as we exited the theater.
“I’m still shocked you were able to find tickets.”
Colton winked at me and grinned. “Must be my charm.”
“Or your smartphone, you doofus.” I shoved him.
“That’s dancing queen to you, stud.”
I felt the flush rise up my neck. That had been happening recently when Colton flirted. He pretended not to notice, even though I hadn’t reacted like that to him in years. I had no idea what was happening to my hormones. Well, I had an idea. They were going berserk.
Wouldn’t anyone get their hopes up if they saw that the love of their life had held onto a gift they gave them, as if it meant the world to them? Sure.
And when your biggest crush of all time barges their way into the dressing room while you're half naked, wouldn't anyone's first thought be ‘Rip my pants off and blow me’? Totally.
And wouldn’t anyone get hard at the gym if the only dick they’ve ever sucked in their entire life was dangling inches away from their face? Hell yeah.
It was all explainable. I was still utterly and completely in love with Luke. The boy who broke my heart was now a man, and I still wanted him. I wanted to explore his new muscles. I wanted to claim his body as mine. I wanted so much more than that.
“Seems like an awful lot of thinkin’ over there.”
“So-sorry,” I stammered. “You know me. Ov-”
“Overthinking,” Colton replied, mimicking my voice before I could finish. “You wanna find somewhere to eat here, or head back to the village?”
“The village if that’s okay.”
“You got it, Cam,” he said, looking at his phone. “All set. It’s this way.” I followed him, and he kept talking. “No shame in overthinkin’. Sometimes it’s good to think. Anything you wanna talk about?”
“It’s just Luke stuff.”
We boarded the train.
“It’s not just anything, Cam.” Colton lowered his voice. “He hurt you and you’re trying to see past that. It’s serious and it’ll take time.” He put his arm around me and rubbed my shoulder. “Y’all’ll figure it out.”
“I hope so.”
We headed straight to the dining hall to get a late dinner, and Colton distracted me with his own renditions of most of the musical numbers from the show. He even spoiled me with a surprise ice cream sundae, which I ate despite Noah’s voice inside my head telling me not to. I’m stressed. I need it.
My hangover was long gone, and I felt normal despite having eaten a eleven hundred calorie sundae. I yawned and stood up. “It’s late.” Colton grabbed my tray and cleared it for me. “Such a gentleman.” He tipped his imaginary hat at me and smiled. “Why’d we never date?” I heard myself ask.
Colton rolled his eyes. “That was non-alcoholic ice cream, or so I thought. And we both know why. You weren’t over Luke. And don’t tease me, Cam. I’m taken.”
A few minutes later, on our way back to the dorm, I said, “You’re more reserved than taken, Colton. It’s not like he’s marked you.”
“Yet,” Colton said, wagging his finger at me. “We’ll get there, sugar. Trust me.”
I could barely trudge along. I was so tired.
“You gonna make it, Cam Cam?”
“Yeah, I’ll make it,” I answered.
“Goo-” Colton’s phone started ringing. “Speak of the devil. It’s Zeph. You go on ahead. I don’t wanna keep you awake.” He winked, waggling his eyebrows. “I’ll stay down here in the lounge.”
“Alright. Play safe, now,” I teased.
“This ain’t my first rodeo, Cam. Get your sexy butt in bed. I’ll see you in the morning.”
No one was waiting for the elevator, so it was a quick trip.
I felt sleep coming on strong, so I started stripping while brushing my teeth, leaving a trail of clothes through Colton’s side of the room. By the time I got to the bed, I only had socks on. I tore those off, set my alarm and snuggled under the sheets. It was a pretty good day.
I had a dream I was home. It was Thanksgiving.
I wasn’t hungry at all, but I hadn’t eaten yet.
Something smelled off in the kitchen. I walked in just as my mother opened the oven, releasing a giant cloud of black smoke as she swore and pulled out what used to be the turkey.
The smoke alarm started going off, and I headed to the back door to open it and wave it to stop the alarm, but it kept beeping and beeping and it wouldn’t stop.