Page 9 of Meeting Me, Loving You (Hearts of Maple Lake #1)

I never really thought about it then, but now I’m realizing that Cam spent a lot of his free time at our house, often helping me with schoolwork.

Tyler didn’t seem to mind that his best friend’s attention was split between the two of us, at least not from what I could tell.

Honestly, he was probably relieved to not be the one on math duty.

But I never wondered why Cam spent so much time at our house.

He just seemed to belong there, with us.

I never even met his parents, and my mom and dad only ever saw them once.

Blood related or not, he always made our family feel complete.

When he moved away, we all felt it. And, unfortunately, that was just the beginning of our family falling apart.

“I’ve always wanted to come back. It was always my plan,” he says, his eyes directly on mine. “It just wasn’t the right timing until now.”

Cam’s eyes tell a story that I haven’t yet been told, but I can see there’s a sadness there.

“And why did you? Come back?” I ask more bluntly. I want him to open up to me. I want to know the new Cameron Dunne, as well as the old.

His gaze falls to his plate, and he’s quiet for a moment, dipping a fry in his ketchup.

“I didn’t have much of a life in Washington.

After I graduated college, I started teaching at a large high school, and I absolutely loved it.

I can honestly say that I wouldn’t want to do anything else.

But… my parents have never been on the same page as me when it comes to my life choices.

” His voice falls away and he shrugs a shoulder, still looking down.

“They never wanted me to be a teacher. If I was getting a college education, they wanted it to be something more prestigious, something more important, as they put it. Even now, after I’ve taught for five years, they still want to have control over my ch oices.

They’ve just… always had a different way of looking at life and its potential than I have. ”

“I’m sorry,” I say quietly.

His eyes meet mine.

“Thank you. You may have noticed back then that my parents weren’t really around, and that’s why I always felt welcomed in your family’s home.” He smirks, leaning back against the red diner booth. “Anyway, I needed a change and the chance to be free, so here I am. With you.”

With me.

The way he says that sends chills up my arms, as if he had reached across the table and run his hands down my skin.

I know whatever he’s been through has been hard for him, and I get the feeling he’s brushing it off as less than what it is.

But I won’t ever pry; I’ll let him tell me whatever he wants whenever he feels it’s right.

If ever. But I want him to know I’ll be here for him if he wants a listening ear.

I need him to know that, and I have no idea why that need settles itself like a rock in the pit of my stomach. The need to be here for him.

For someone .

That thought flushes my cheeks, and I break eye contact, looking down at my hands that at some point began pulling at a loose thread on the sleeve of my sweater.

Giving him a wide smile, I say, “Of course. This is a day to celebrate! You’re back and it’s really great to see you.” I sit up a little straighter. “And I’m always here if you need anything, just like you were always there for me when I was ten and didn’t understand jack about division.”

He throws his head back with a laugh. “Thank you, I appreciate that a lot.”

Cam asks about my parents, and I go into detail about all the traveling they’ve been doing. Since they no longer have kids at home, they decided to travel the world, starting with road tripping across America.

“Their goal is to visit every state in the U.S. before they travel internationally. They’ve already been to a few other countries in the past, but now they want to be strategic about it.

See as much as possible, starting with their home country, I guess.

And I think they’re hoping that maybe Tyler or I will get married in the next few years, so they want to be close enough for all of that when it happens. ”

Cam is all smiles as we talk about my parents, and it warms my heart that he’s this interested and showing excitement about their adventures. Until I mention marriage.

His eyes break from mine, his chin tilting upward as his fingertips scratch at a hidden spot in his red-tinted beard. It’s trimmed neater than when I saw him last week at the gym.

“And are you close to getting married?” He asks, his elbows resting on the table. His hand slides around the back of his neck and stays there.

“No,” I say a little too forcefully, a smile tugging at my lips.

I play with a strand of my wavy curls, pushing my empty plate away from me.

“I’m not in a relationship. Unfortunately for my parents, they’re probably going to have to wait a very long time for that.

Good thing they have a lot of states to check off that list of theirs. ”

Cam’s posture relaxes slightly, and he nods. A small smile appears at the edge of his lips, one I can tell he’s attempting to hide.

He doesn’t ask why I don’t have a boyfriend or if I’ve ever had one before, which is probably a good thing.

Somehow, with him, that topic feels weird.

Cam was always the perfect kid, he never got into trouble and was super respectful to friends and adults alike.

I remember all the girls fawning over him at his and Tyler’s football games.

I’ve never thought about him in a romantic way, seeing as I was only ten when I knew him; boys were far from my mind.

And he was my brother’s best friend, which practically made him my brother by association.

But even so, he was the perfect guy. Do I really want to explain to him that I have a tendency to date losers? The list isn’t long, but I’ve had a few boyfriends who could top the charts if there were a “National Loser Boyfriend Award.”

However, I can’t help but be a little curious about his relationship status as well. I decide it’s worth the ask. Friends ask friends about who they’re dating all the time, right?

“What about you?” I feign indifference, still aimlessly curling my hair around my finger.

“Do you have a girlfriend?” I force my eyes to wander around the diner at the other patrons, hoping I don’t look or sound too invested in his answer.

But I can’t help imagining him with a tall blonde woman who wears strappy heels and mini skirts.

Everything I’m not. Because, come on, with his good looks he could have anyone.

I don’t want to ask if he brought his hypothetical girlfriend to Pennsylvania because I don’t want to know. I’m afraid of his answer.

Why?

I have absolutely no idea. I couldn’t tell you. Except that maybe, just maybe , I’m hoping he’s single.

And that’s when it hits me, like a bus on the interstate hitting a poor, unsuspecting mosquito.

I think I have a crush on Cameron Dunne.

Just a tiny, itsy-bitsy crush. Nothing to write home about. Nothing to dwell on.

Just as I come to that realization, he looks up at me under gorgeous brown lashes, the dim diner light reflecting off his deep green eyes and says, “Yes, I do have a girlfriend.”