Page 92 of Bang

She stared up at me with apparent confusion before saying, "Oh, I need help, alright."

With growing concern, I moved closer. "What kind?"

With a light scoff, she replied, "Probably psychiatric."

Something in my shoulders eased.She was joking.I knew this, because Cami was one of the sanest people I'd ever met.

And yet, she wasn't looking quite as sane as she'd been looking only a few moments ago.

Funny, I wasn't feeling so sane myself. I told her, "I know the feeling."

"Good."

No. It wasn't good.I replied, "Says you."

"Well there ya go," she said. "And I thought we were gonna talk on the patio."

"Not inthisweather."

"Oh, please," she said. "It's not like it's snowing. And besides, the cold doesn't bother you. You said so yourself. Remember?"

"I was thinking of you, not me."

"Oh." She paused. "Well that's nice."

Her words said one thing, but her expression said another. I wasn't sure what was going on, but the more we talked, the less I liked it. She was acting like I'd taken her against her will.

And we both knew that wasn't the case.

I said, "Hey, there's always the pantry."

She stiffened, but made no reply.

And now I felt like a dick. "That was a joke."

"No it wasn't."

She was wrong.Maybe it hadn't been a good joke, but Ihadbeen joking. "And you know this, how?"

"Because you weren't smiling."

She didn't need to tellme.I felt like I hadn't smiled in weeks. "You don't need to smile to make a joke."

"Alright," she said. "Then your joke was in poor taste."

Shit.She had a point. And the truth was, I liked that about her, how she cut through the bullshit without kissing my ass.

She was one of the most genuine people I'd ever met, which made her recent behavior all the more baffling.

Whatever was wrong, I wanted to make things right.

Deliberately, I softened my tone. "Maybe."

"There's no 'maybe' about it," she said. "But you know what? It's not worth arguing about."

"Cami—"

"Forget it." And with that, she turned and walked away, heading not toward the stairway, but toward her own bedroom. Over her shoulder, she said, "See you on the patio."