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Chapter Forty Three

Brooke

Bear's family is Christmas crazy.

From the second Cami and I stepped through the door, Christmas has assaulted us, and I love it.

I haven't had a good old-fashioned Christmas like this since Dad died. We played games and drank eggnog, Christmas dinner was so filling we had to go on a walk to "walk" it off.

Cami and I sit on the front porch snuggled under blankets as we watch Bears' nieces and nephews build snowmen or sledge with their parents and uncles. Witnessing a truly white Christmas has been incredible. I don't want to miss a second of the snow. Cami brought her skates and has been skating on their lake every morning, and I've watched her from the big kitchen window in the house's warmth. I forgot how amazing a skater she is.

"I never want to leave." Leaning her head back against the bench, Cami sighs and breathes in the air.

"Well, Mrs McDonald said you could just marry Bear." I snort, and she joins me, shaking her head and turning it into a full laugh.

"Bear's too sweet for me." And I couldn't agree with her more. Whoever Cami ends up with will be pure fire to match her own.

"Gunnar is not as sweet as I thought when he was arguing with Sasha." I subtly nudge toward a subject change. "Don't think I don't know what you're doing." She says, kicking my foot with hers, and I kick it back.

"I'm not skirting around this anymore, Cam. He's single, you're single. Couldn't this be it?"

She adjusts, so she's fully facing me, and pulls the blanket up higher. Most people would think of warmth, but I know Cami. It's to shield her. "Firstly, he just got out of a relationship." She puts the blanket up to her chin. "Secondly, we talked about all that already."

"What?!" I gasp, sitting forward, shocked because she had said they talked about Thanksgiving. He didn't listen to what Sasha had said on the phone and was calling Cami to check that she was still coming. Cami told him what Sasha had said outside our door, and he had apologised to me for what she had said about me, too.

"We spoke about the first night we met," she says almost nervously, which is not an emotion I see in Cami often.

I wait for her to continue, but she doesn't, and I narrow my eyes at her. She just turns her back. "You're not going to tell me?" I end up pouting.

"We agreed we are good friends, and we should stay that way." She shrugs her shoulders, looking out at the snowy backyard.

"Anyway, he needs time after getting out of a relationship like that, he's processing how unhealthy it was, and it's not fair to him to rush that." She fiddles with the blanket again before getting a sly look on her face. "A little like you."

I immediately shake my head, looking away. "Nice try."

"Come on, B, it's been four months; are you not going to go on at least one date?" She throws her hands up, leaning forward and dropping her blanket. Now she's not vulnerable.

"I'm not ready." I shake my head and feel bad for lying because I may be dating Grant, but we need to talk first, and I know Cami is going to need time to adjust to that.

She crawls over the blankets and hugs me, and I hug her back. "What if we start with something small, like a dating site?" she suggests.

"I'll think about it, okay?" And that seems to make her happy.

“Cami?” I whisper into our hug.

“Yeah,” she whispers back.

“Your dad wasn't going to make you pay to go on the cruise, was he?” I ask the question that has been on my mind all break. She pulls back and looks sheepish.

“Cami! You could have spent Christmas with your family,” I scold her. I know her mom and dad wouldn't have left one of their children behind, and she just smiles sneakily.

“I wasn't going to go without you. I knew you needed a white Christmas, so I spoke to Bear,” she shrugs. My eyes fill with tears because I love the snow around Christmas time; it wouldn't have felt right to spend my first one anywhere else. I throw myself at her again, hugging her tightly, and she hugs me back just as tightly.

“Thank you,” I sigh as we pull back. She lifts her pinky to me, and I link it with my own.

“No matter what we go through, it’s always going to be me and you, B.”

“Always,” I whisper back, swallowing the lump of guilt rising in my throat. I don’t know how much longer I can keep this secret from her. I need to get back and talk to Grant so we can figure out what we do next.