Page 18

CHAPTER 18

Cami

The team’s plane landed in the middle of the night and Charlie must’ve been feeling the effects of a long day, because he texted around five in the morning and pushed our afternoon hangout to the evening.

I was thankful for the extra time to reset my space a little bit. I’m in the mood to clean today and that doesn’t happen often, so when the itch sets in it’s best to scratch it. Never know how long it’ll be before it comes around again.

About half an hour before he’s supposed to be at my place, I run down to our favorite deli a few blocks over and grab our regulars. The walk there is brisk in an effort to spend less time in the cold, and when I get to the small shop I barely fit inside. Some would call this a bodega, but others would say it doesn’t fit in that category considering they only sell deli products and nothing else like milk and eggs. I just call it by its name out front: Waverly.

The same man who is always behind the counter stands there now, taking orders and throwing together sandwiches. He’s not friendly, but that’s never scared me. Once I make it to the front of the line, I place my order and he grunts back at me, so I know he heard me correctly.

Charlie always gets the grilled chicken classic deli sandwich with no tomatoes, and I rotate between three or four “regulars” because I can’t ever pick. Today I order the honey glazed turkey sandwich, and as I watch him prepare it I know I made the right choice.

He hands the two rolled up sandwiches to me over the glass deli counter, and I take them before giving him a smile he doesn’t return. I make my way down to the equally unfriendly man at the cash wrap, pay, and head back to my place.

Waverly was a little busier than usual today, so I’m not surprised to find Charlie manspreading on my tiny couch when I walk back into my apartment.

“I was about to call and put in a missing persons report,” he says.

“Sorry, Waverly was busy and it took a little longer.”

“You should’ve texted.”

“Do you want to argue about it or come and eat your sandwich?”

“Fair point.”

He walks into the kitchen and grabs two paper plates from the cabinet as I unwrap the sandwiches. As I set each of them on our plates, he turns to the pantry and grabs each of our favorite chips, Cheetos for him and Ruffles for me, and carries our plates to the small bistro table in the corner while I grab strawberries from the fridge. We move like a well-oiled machine at this point in our friendship. It takes no effort to be around one another.

“How was the flight?” I ask as he takes the biggest bite of his sub. He chews for a second before he speaks, thankfully.

“Wasn’t awful. I was wiped after, so I slept for most of it.”

“How’d you feel about the outcome of the game?”

“It was a good one. The Predators are a solid team this year, so they gave us a strong fight.” He takes another huge bite and I take the opportunity to approach the task at hand.

“So…I thought up a few items for your list.”

“I can’t wait to hear them, but can we talk it through after we eat? I have been surrounded by nothing but hockey for the last twenty-four hours and I just want to breathe for a second.”

His comment catches me slightly off guard. His life is hockey and while I know anyone can hit burnout after too much time doing one thing, he is usually up for talking about it all the time. Even if he’s just spent multiple back to back days on the road.

“Sure, that’s fine.” I search my brain for something else to talk about. It’s not like it’s difficult to talk to him, but now that there’s this new fake relationship at play things feel a little more serious than they did before. “I spoke with Alana last night.”

“How is she? That guy treating her right?”

“ Alex is treating her just fine. He’s sweet. I think you’ll really like him.”

“We’ll see about that,” he scoffs as he shoves a handful of, like, seven chips in his mouth at once. I roll my eyes. Men .

“Did she say how things were going?”

“She just said she was having trouble falling asleep and that work was a little crazy. She sounded good, though.”

“I’m glad. She deserves that trip.”

“Agreed.”

By the time we finish talking about Alana, he has scarfed his whole meal down and I have half of my sandwich left. I wrap it up and put it in the fridge for tomorrow’s lunch, then we make our way into the living room and sit close together on the couch.

My living room is cozy, mostly because it’s small, but also because I’ve tried to make it that way. The loveseat, where he and I are now, is an old piece of furniture I got at a thrift store when I first moved in here. It’s worn and I’ve had to sew patches of different patterned cloth in places, but I think it gives it character. It sits in the somewhat center of the room facing the television. It’s enough distance that you wouldn’t have to strain your neck looking up at the TV, but it’s still pretty close. The joys of living in NYC.

I have a small window to the left of the couch that doesn’t have much of a view, but it does let in natural light which I love. On the wall I have two TV trays that I use for almost every meal, and a picture hangs above it of Charlie, Alana, and I.

After we get settled on the loveseat, I speak. “Can we talk business now?”

“Yes, I’m ready,” he says as a serious expression takes over his face. I stare at him for a few seconds before laughter bursts out of me without my permission.

He scowls. “What?”

“I’m sorry you just looked so serious and this whole situation feels unreal. I can’t believe we’re actually doing this.” I sigh deeply and drop my head onto the back of the couch.

“Cam, if this is too much please tell me. The last thing I want to do is mess with our friendship. It means too much to me to risk it.”

The worry in his voice is apparent, and I have the strongest desire to do whatever I can to assuage it. I reach over and place my hand on his knee.

“It’s going to be fine. I want this to work as much as you do. If you leave, it’ll wreck Alana”—and me—“and she needs her people around her just as much as you do. No more worrying about if this is going to mess things up between us. I’m telling you now that it won’t and I need you to trust me.”

“I do trust you.”

“Okay, great. Then let me go over the things I think we could do to make the world like you more.”

“Harsh much?”

“You know what I mean.”

“So you made a list while I was gone? Of like…activities I can do?” He looks so unsure of himself, which is totally not like him. He normally has this easy calm about him that makes him seem like the most confident guy in the room, even in social situations that make him antsy and quiet. He’s always been that way.

“Yeah, I came up with a few ideas. But you have to have an open mind.”

“Oh, great. I don’t know if I’m going to like this.”

“I can guarantee you won’t,” I say. “But it’ll be good for you and it will help your image. Plus, I’ll do them with you so it will be fun.”

“Okay, lay it on me.”

I hand him the list and watch as his eyes roll down it. They widen in places and narrow in others and judging by the look on his face I know this is going to be fun.

“Cami, I am not going to your knitting club. Those ladies are going to eat me alive. I’m terrified of them.” He genuinely looks a little scared and it takes everything in me to hold in my laughter this time, but I’m successful thankfully.

“They aren’t scary at all, don’t worry. They already love you.”

“Wait, how do they know me?”

Whoops.

“I’ve mentioned you before. They’re excited to meet you. Plus, if you don’t want to go to knitting club we can just knit here and I’ll set you up to volunteer at the retirement home.” He looks at me quizzically, so I move on to the next item so he doesn’t keep going down that line of questioning. “What charity do you think would be good to get involved in?”

He thinks about this for a few minutes, scrolling on his phone and googling things before giving me his answer.

“This isn’t really a charity, but it’s an outreach program for guys in high school…” he trails off and I know this has something to do with his past. Whatever happened that he hasn’t and won’t reveal to anyone, not even his sister. This doesn’t feel like the time to press, so I don’t. “It’s a twice a month mentorship program. I’d get assigned a kid and then meet with them and like…help them and stuff I guess.”

“That sounds like fun. How do we get in contact with them to sign you up?”

“Looks like I just need to fill out this form.” His fingers fly over the phone screen as he types and I can tell he’s excited, even though he won’t show it. “Done.”

“Nice. I can’t wait to hear about the student they pair you up with. Now, onto one of my favorite ones.”

“What is library story time?”

“Only the most magical thirty minutes ever.”

“I think I’m scared.”

“You don’t need to be. The public library has story time every week and people can volunteer to go and read to the kids. If you went and we snapped a few pictures of you for social media everyone would go crazy.”

“I’m not sure.” He reaches up and rubs the back of his neck. “This all feels like a lot. Won’t everyone catch on when all of a sudden I’m just out doing all of these things? Especially if Sophie is calling reporters ahead of time.”

“Not if we don’t use reporters.”

“How do you expect this to work if no one sees me doing all of the things we’re saying people need to see me doing?”

“We’ll post it on social media. I can add it to my stories and tag you, like any girlfriend would do, and you can repost it on your page. Fans will see it and a few reporters are bound to pick it up naturally that way.”

“Okay…”

“The next two are easy. If you volunteer at the retirement home and meet the ladies we can mark off two in one.”

“Sure, I don’t mind doing that.”

“And then volunteering at an animal shelter. Playing with animals all day hardly sounds difficult.”

“Agreed.” His eyes scan the list one more time, landing on the last item, fake date your best friend. “Looks like you saved the best for last.”

He says it with no hesitation, no question that I am the best thing on that list, and it causes my stomach to flip. It’s not uncommon for him to cheer me on or say nice things about me, but in this context it feels completely different. I look down to try and hide my blush, but I’m not sure I’m successful.

“I would hardly say the best .”

The comment is kind, but it’s an unfamiliar feeling to be considered someone’s best. I’ve never been able to make my mom proud enough to be her best, always falling behind my sister. I certainly haven’t ever been another man’s best, considering the fact that none of them lasted longer than a month or two. I have to admit, I think I’m afraid to fully feel what it might be like to be someone’s best.

“Well, then you and I must have different definitions of the term. Dating you will be easy.”

“ Fake dating,” I remind him.

“Right.”

“Perfect,” I say, eager to move on. “By the time we’ve completed all of those things the Rangers fans won’t be able to let you go and you’ll stay here for the rest of your career.”

“I really hope this works,” he says as he anxiously pulls at a thread on his shorts. He’s wearing a white Rangers tee that hangs off of him, and a pair of black Lululemon shorts. Every bit casual and handsome.

“It will. It has to.”

“Okay, so when are we taking this relationship out on the town and making our public debut?” I ask. He continues to fidget nervously for a few minutes before clearing his throat and squaring his shoulders.

“I was thinking about the Nutcracker. We were already going to go, so we can just make it a little more cozy and post about it. Does that sound okay?”

“Sounds great to me. We can take a few pictures and that should do the trick.”

By the time we’re done talking logistics for everything it’s around eleven, so we decide to move into the bedroom to watch a movie. The next thing I know, my phone buzzing wakes me up and the screen tells me it’s just after one in the morning. Alana’s name scrolls at the top and I startle as I realize her brother is in bed with me. Not the best look.

I press answer anyway, concerned at her calling at this time of night even with the time change.

“There better be a good reason why you’re calling me. I just fell asleep,” I whisper, trying not to wake Charlie.

“Oh thank you baby Jesus.”

“What’s going on?”

“I think I want to jump into bed with Alex and I need you to remind me why I decided not to.”

“I’m not going to do that. And why are you whispering?”

“Because I don’t want him to hear me. Just be a good friend and go get the letter I put in your junk drawer in the kitchen.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I groan and slowly pull the covers back, then tip toe into the living room and close the bedroom door quietly behind me. Opening the kitchen drawer, I find a piece of pink notebook paper, Alana’s signature, folded neatly inside. “When did you even put this in here?”

“That’s not important. Just read it.”

“Alana, it’s Alana Cade from Impress Magazine speaking to you through Cami, friend and beautiful editor,” I read. “Wait, is this from Parks and Rec ?”

“Just keep reading. Leslie Knope won the presidential election for a reason.”

“Do not do anything with Alex. Be responsible, no matter how cute his mouth is. Your job is on the line.”

“Great delivery. You’re exactly right, thank you,” she says and I huff a laugh. As much as I’m annoyed that she just woke me up, I miss her. Even though I literally just spoke to her.

“You’re forgetting Leslie and Ben end up together and become arguably one of television’s biggest power couples.”

“I need you to help me stay strong. I just put myself back together, Cami.”

The conversation continues and I help soothe her fears about her feelings for her coworker. Personally I think they would be a really great match, and I’ve seen the way he looks at her when they’re just hanging around the office.

I head back into the bedroom as I say my goodbyes to Alana and cringe when Charlie speaks.

“Cam? What’s going on? What time is it?” I slice my hand across my neck to try and communicate that he needs to stop talking, but I’m not sure he understands in his delirious state. I need to get off of the phone with his sister and I need to do it now. If she finds out he’s slept over…I don’t know how she’s going to take that. And nothing even happened.

“I’m extremely tired so I should probably get back to sleep,” I say into the phone. “I want you to just take it slow, but don’t completely close yourself off. You deserve love more than anyone I know, Lan.”

“I’ll try.”

“Good. I love you.”

“Love you, too, Cam. Thanks for picking up.”

“Always.”

I hang up the phone and take a deep breath, thankful she didn’t ask any questions even though I’m sure she heard her brother and just didn’t realize it was him.

“Who was that?” he asks as he rubs the sleep from his eyes and yawns.

“Your sister. She thankfully didn’t catch on that it was you who was over in the middle of the night, but in the future we need to be more careful.” He’s tense all of a sudden and I wish I could take back the seriousness in my voice and replace it with humor, but I can’t.

“You’re right, but I won’t be staying here again. This was just an accident.” He stands and starts to put his shoes on quickly, bumping into things left and right because we’re sitting in darkness.

“You don’t need to leave. It’s the middle of the night, just stay and go home in the morning.”

“No, I really should go.” He moves towards the bedroom door and hesitates with his hand on the knob. He turns back towards me, takes the two steps to the bed and leans down before placing a soft kiss on the top of my head. He pauses, three inches away from my head, eyes wide. I don’t dare breathe.

“Sleep well. I’ll lock up,” he says quickly before turning and darting out of the room.

He turns and leaves, closing my bedroom door behind him, and a few seconds later I hear the lock fall into place on the front door. I stare up at the ceiling, grab the pillow next to me that smells like him, and scream into it. What in the world just happened? Why did he kiss my forehead? I can’t help but think how thankful I am for the darkness of the room so he didn’t see my blush.

I snuggle back down into the sheets and as I fall asleep I can’t shake the thought that I wish he’d stayed.