22. Cameron
CAMERON
The sun was filtering through the curtains, but the weight and warmth of Nico’s naked body on top of me kept me in place. My arms were around him, and my fingers traced small patterns along his ribs. His breathing was even and deep, even though I’d snoozed my alarm three times.
This was bliss, and I resented that it was being torn away from me again.
When my alarm sounded a fourth time, Nico finally groaned against my chest. He stretched, his body sliding against mine, and the friction was tempting. I squeezed him tighter, pressing my hips up against his.
“What time is it?” Nico’s sleep-scratchy voice vibrated against my neck.
“Almost ten,” I said. If I didn’t get going soon, I’d be late to open Frosty’s. No part of me wanted to get out of this bed, though.
He popped his head up, meeting my eyes. “We slept in.”
“I wasn’t ready to wake up,” I murmured. I hoped he understood what I wasn’t saying—that this week had been a dream, and the thought of him leaving was a nightmare.
His eyes scanned my face, and I hoped he couldn’t see the moisture gathering against my eyelashes. Nico pressed his lips to mine, and I let him, even as a pained whine tore from the back of my throat.
“I should get packed,” he said when we parted. “So I can ride with you into town.”
I certainly heard the words he wasn’t saying: I’m leaving. This is goodbye.
As much as I wanted reassurance that this meant everything to him like it meant to me, the words clung to my throat. I was suddenly that twenty-year-old kid again, desperate to be chosen. Instead, Nico rolled off me and started pulling on his clothes, just like he had that night.
“Hopefully, your brother doesn’t see me.” Nico attempted a joke, but it fell flat. Fell too close to how things went down that night between us when we were naive and foolhardy.
I struggled to smile as I gathered my clothes. I stood in front of him and ran my hand through his hair, tracing the line of his cheekbone with my thumb and placing one more kiss on his lips. “Meet me downstairs at ten thirty?”
He nodded, and I refused to read into the emotions I saw in his gaze because they would kill me if they were real. I turned toward the bathroom and shut the door.
Nico’s bags were on the sidewalk in front of Dasher’s and Prancers, and I couldn’t bear to drive away.
I was cutting it close, but I let myself have a few minutes of quiet in my empty truck.
Nico chatted with Jorge as he picked up his keys and loaded his things into the trunk.
He waved back at me as he climbed into the driver’s seat, and I finally turned my ignition on again.
He’d promised to call, but I wasn’t going to hope.
Nico was leaving, and I needed to move on.
“Morning, bossman,” Gwen said cheerfully when I walked in the back door of Frosty’s.
“Morning,” I grunted. “I’ll be in the back.”
Gwen’s mouth hung open. She always got a rise out of me with that bossman routine, but today I had no energy left in the tank. I needed a minute to pull myself together before Frosty’s was full of customers.
Promptly at eleven, while I was running cold water over my face in the kitchen, the bell over the front door rang. Thank goodness for Gwen. I was planning on giving her a small bonus at the end of the summer season, and she’d earned every penny this past week.
I tried to lose myself in my work, but the bell didn’t stop ringing. By the sounds of it, we had a non-stop revolving door of customers, which was unusual for this time of year. Gwen peeked her head into the kitchen.
“I hate to ask, but we have a line, and I could use your help clearing it out.” Her cheeks were flushed, and her hair was sticking out from her hat at all angles. She rarely asked for anything, so it must have been crazy out there.
“Of course, let me just put this away and wash my hands.”
My eyes bulged when I made my way out front.
All our tables were packed with people, and there was a line almost out the door.
What on earth was going on today? Gwen took orders, and I started working on the tickets she’d printed.
All the while, I tried to overhear what people were saying at the register without appearing available to answer questions.
“Do you know if it’s true?”
“We’re just so happy for them!”
“Will he be moving back to town or are they doing the long-distance thing?”
Piece by piece, my greatest fear was being realized before my eyes. Somehow, the rumor mill had gotten wind of Nico and me. But Nico was gone, and I was going to be stuck with the whispers and well-wishes and eventual sad eyes all alone, like I’d told him from the beginning. Stupid, stupid.
Gossip had haunted my family for years after my mom’s divorce. I could only hope that something more interesting happened soon, so they’d forget about my doomed dating life.
Pasting on the kind of fake smile that only working in customer service can teach you, I handed everyone their ice cream orders.
Whenever they congratulated me or asked invasive questions, I smiled and said, “Gossip isn’t on the menu at Frosty’s.
” Eventually, Gwen was caught up on orders, and guests realized they weren’t going to get anything new out of me.
Gwen gave me a sympathetic smile as I slipped back into the kitchen.
I wished for noise-canceling headphones in that moment, but as the boss, I couldn’t get away with it.
I needed to be able to hear if Gwen needed me.
But that meant I heard every well-wisher at the register all afternoon, every one of my neighbors musing about my personal life, reminding me that the whirlwind affair I’d had with Nico was over.
I needed to get out of here.