Page 10 of Only in Our Dream (Moonflower Cove #15)

Melanie

M elanie had no idea how long she and Cameron stayed with their eyes locked in the mirror.

They both seemed frozen; too caught off guard by being alone for the first time since Melanie had dropped two bombs on Cameron as if she were in the military.

She’d debated even going to check on Cameron, knowing her friend was probably processing everything.

“Should we go check on her?” she’d asked Isla and Vera after Cameron had been gone from the table for over five minutes.

“I’ll go.” It was Vera, who had yet to take her eyes off the bathroom door since Cameron disappeared behind it.

“No,” Isla quickly said, shaking her head as she looked at Melanie. “You should. She needs to know things aren’t going to change between you two.”

“Change?” Melanie furrowed her brow in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Isla and Vera exchanged a glance that told Melanie more than words ever could. It was clear then that the feelings Melanie thought she’d been hiding so well from everyone had been apparent to her two best friends. And definitely her third best friend after that kiss.

Standing, Melanie took the last sip of her second cocktail. “I’ll go check on her.”

She’d had no time to plan a speech or hell, even a sentence to say to Cameron as she walked back to the bathroom. And when she found Cameron standing at the bathroom sink, Melanie knew words would be useless, anyway.

“You okay?” Melanie cocked her head at Cameron and smiled.

“I should be asking you that.” Cameron slowly turned around and leaned up against the counter. It was as smooth as could be, and Melanie hoped her smirk conveyed that much to Cameron.

“I’ll be okay.” Taking a step closer to Cameron, Melanie felt her smirk change into a smile. “I mean, I have the best friends in the world who will help me through this.”

“Oh yeah? Who?”

“You’re so funny.” Melanie took another step toward her. And another. All the words she’d wanted to say since the kiss came screaming back at her.

I like you, Cameron. I may even love you as more than a best friend. I know it’s crazy, but I do. I haven’t stopped thinking about that kiss since it happened. I’m just so scared of losing you as a friend that I don’t know how to make the next move.

Never in a hundred years would Melanie have imagined she would be at this point in her life. She had an imminent divorce with her husband and had kissed Cameron just a few days ago. And now Melanie had to fight the urge to kiss her again.

But they were adults. They didn’t have to go around sneaking kisses in bathrooms. They had homes for that.

Not that Melanie had any intention of inviting Cameron over.

No. Not tonight. Yes, they had had plenty of sleepovers before but it was just as friends.

Nothing more. Ever. And Melanie would be damned if she’d fuck up a friendship she’d had since her twenties after just one kiss.

Because what if Cameron didn’t want to kiss her again? Then what?

“So,” Cameron licked her lips, “are you?”

“Am I,” Melanie’s eyebrow arched slightly as she stood mere inches away from Cameron, “what?”

Watching Cameron lick her lips again, Melanie leaned in slowly toward her.

Oh, my god. I’m just going to do it. I’m going to kiss her.

Melanie could feel her brain running a thousand miles a minute.

She couldn’t focus on any one thought for more than a split second.

As Melanie closed her eyes, Cameron leaned in and kissed her lips.

Slowly, Cameron slipped her arm around Melanie and pulled her closer.

A moan slipped out before Melanie could stop it, making Cameron giggle.

“I’m glad to know that last kiss wasn’t a one-off.”

“Definitely not,” Melanie breathlessly said as she ran her fingertips along Cameron’s jawline. “I’m sorry I kissed you and then ran away. It was in no way an indication that the kiss wasn’t great.” Melanie giggled. “Because it was.”

She tried to play it off as cool and silly, but she could tell by Cameron’s face that everything had just changed between them. For better or for worse. Melanie tried to read Cameron, but there were so many emotions fighting for top billing in Cameron’s eyes.

“It was a great kiss, wasn’t it?”

“I’d really love for there to be more.”

“Yeah?” Camron giggled again. “Me, too.”

“Good.”

The door to the bathroom opened, startling both of them. Thankfully, the woman who walked in was looking down at her phone and oblivious to anything else. Cameron nodded her head toward the door, and Melanie followed her out into the dimly lit hallway.

“We should get back to Isla and Vera.” Melanie turned to leave but Cameron grabbed her wrist before she could walk away.

“Wait.” Cameron’s voice was barely a whisper, but it caused Melanie to turn around slightly to meet her eyes. She could see they held the same uncertainty as Melanie felt. That helped to put Melanie’s nerves at ease, even just a little. “You can’t leave like that. Not again.”

Melanie’s shoulders slumped slightly, and she could feel tears welling in her eyes. “I don’t want to, just like I didn’t the other night.”

“I didn’t want you to leave then either.”

“Really?”

“Really.” Cameron smiled slightly.

“But I had to.”

“I know.” Cameron nodded as she tenderly took hold of both of Melanie’s hands. Although she’d known Cameron most of her life, she’d never seen the look in her eyes that was currently looking back at her. “Just remember this feeling right now.”

“I’ll never forget it.”

“Good.” Cameron tenderly tucked Melanie’s hair behind her ear. “I won’t either.”

“You know that Isla and Vera are going to think we were fucking, don’t you?”

“Eh, let ‘em.” Cameron winked, taking Melanie’s hand as they walked down the small hallway together. Melanie tried not to overthink the fact they held hands until they arrived back at the table.

“Did she need your help wiping her ass?” Isla teased as they rejoined them at the table.

“Wouldn’t be the first time I’d done that.” Melanie winked at Cameron.

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Cameron groaned. “I still can’t believe all three of you are still my friends after childbirth.”

“I still can’t believe you made me deliver Dylan less than a month after having Ellie and Brayden.” Vera shook her head, but a smile played on her lips. “And let’s not forget how Dylan’s newborn cries made me leak milk everywhere .”

“And left me to clean up both of you.” Melanie chuckled at the memory. She and Vera had been there for both of Cameron’s births, and she was thankful for those memories.

Melanie was also thankful that for the rest of their time at the bar, Cameron’s hand stayed on her upper thigh.

It wasn’t playful or dirty; on the contrary, it felt sweet.

Like she was safe. Cameron would occasionally move her thumb up and down along Melanie’s pants and when Melanie looked over at her, she’d be smiling right back.

For the first time in longer than Melanie wanted to admit, she felt happy. Truly happy.

As they all said goodbye outside the bar’s door, they made plans to do the same thing the next weekend. Isla and Vera headed off toward their vehicle as Melanie and Cameron lingered by the door.

“I’m that way,” Melanie nodded with her head down the street.

“Me, too.”

“How convenient.”

“I know, right?” Cameron giggled, wrapping her arm around Melanie’s arm as they walked down the street. Melanie was keenly aware that they were both walking slower than usual. “I had a great time tonight.”

“Me, too.”

“We need to do it again sometime.”

Melanie laughed as they approached their vehicles. “We literally just made plans to do it again next weekend with Isla and Vera.”

“I know, but I mean with just us.” Stopping their walk, Cameron and Melanie turned toward each other. Cameron’s voice was lower when she spoke. “Just the two of us.”

“I’d like that.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Melanie’s heart was fluttering in her chest as she looked into Cameron’s blue eyes. It didn’t matter she’d seen them a million times before. Because now they held something that Melanie had never expected to see looking back at her.

Desire.

The look both intrigued and scared Melanie.

On one hand, Melanie had loved Cameron for years, even if it was only as a friend.

But they were more than just friends. They had done everything in life together and had always been there for each other through the ups and the downs.

Love was a byproduct of their time spent together, and Melanie was thankful for that.

But on the other hand, the look scared her because of all the unknown it held. How would things change if she and Cameron actually got together? The idea of losing Cameron as a friend was a thought Melanie couldn’t bear. She needed Cameron in her life, always.

It just happened to be that currently, Melanie wanted her in her life as more than a friend. Was that crazy, though? To jump into a relationship with her best friend before her divorce was even final? Hell, before the divorce papers had even been drawn up. Melanie didn’t know.

All she knew was that she wanted to find out.

Cameron tilted her head at her, gently tucking Melanie’s hair behind her ear as she smiled. She scrunched her nose slightly as she winked at Melanie. “What are you thinking?”

“Just wondering if this is real.”

“Do you want it to be?”

“More than anything.”

“Me, too.” Cameron’s smile widened. “I know it’s fast.”

“Very.”

“But I don’t want to rush into anything.”

“Me either.”

“I know you need time to process everything with Rob and to get things straightened out there.”

“Yeah,” Melanie sighed. “That would be good.”

“So,” Cameron took a deep breath and held it, “what do we do?”

“My lawyer says the divorce shouldn’t take long since it’s uncontested by both of us.”

“So, like a week then?”

Melanie laughed. “Maybe a few.”

“Dammit,” Cameron smirked. “I will do whatever you want to do. This feeling… what we have between us right now. I don’t foresee that going away anytime soon.

Or ever, for that matter. So you take all the time you need to process the divorce and get on the other side of it. I’ll be right here, waiting for you.”

“Now you’re just sounding like an eighties love ballad.”

“Well, it was the best time for music.” Tenderly, Cameron pulled Melanie into a hug and held her close. Melanie wrapped her arms around her waist, nuzzling her head against Cameron’s chin. “Thank you for understanding.”

“You’re welcome.” Cameron gently kissed her cheek. “Thanks for kissing me the other night.”

Melanie chuckled as Cameron held on tighter to her. “Anytime. But I have one request.”

“What’s that?”

“That we kiss one more time before we leave here.” Melanie pulled back so she could see Cameron’s face.

But Cameron didn’t loosen her hold around Melanie’s waist, keeping them close together.

“I know it’s best for myself and us to not rush into this, but going weeks without kissing you again sounds awful, too. ”

“Well,” Cameron giggled, “I can’t disagree there.”

Tenderly, Cameron put her hand under Melanie’s chin as their lips came together softly.

They kept the kiss short because, at least on Melanie’s end, she didn’t want anyone to catch them.

Not when she was still legally married to Rob.

The last thing she wanted to do was hurt Rob and start her relationship out with Cameron on a bad foot.

“Are we crazy for doing this?”

“Kissing in public?”

“Crossing the friendzone line we’ve been in for twenty something years.” Cameron gently ran her fingers down Melanie’s jawline as she spoke. “Because I’d be lying if I said I never dreamed this would happen.”

“Well, lucky for you, I’m tired of dreaming about being with you.”

Cameron’s brow furrowed at Melanie’s words as she continued.

“I’m ready to start living that dream.”

“You’re good,” Cameron let out a sigh of relief. “I love you.”

“Now, you know you can’t say that before we’ve ever had our first official date.” She winked at Cameron, making them both laugh. “I love you, too.”

After one last kiss goodnight, the two got into their separate cars and headed home. All the while Melanie kept her fingers to her lips, begging the feel of Cameron’s lips on hers to linger there forever.