Page 115 of Out on a Limb

And for the first time all summer, Doug unclenched. They seemed to be equally taken aback by Walker’s honesty.

Doug picked at a loose string on his pillow. “I liked it.”

Walker’s ears perked up.

“I liked thinking that you stayed for me. It was romantic in the beginning, but then it became stressful. I knew you weren’t happy for a long time.” Doug slumped into the couch. “That I wasn’t making you happy.”

He put a tentative hand on Doug’s shoulder.

“I think we were two people who found each other at the wrong time,” Doug said.

Walker squatted down to get eye level with him. “I don’t regret it. Because one amazing thing came out of it.” He nudged his head upstairs.

They smiled at each other with pride. They had a great son. Walker saw the Doug that swept him away all those years ago. They would always have a connection, a shared history.

“I’m sorry I cheated on you. I hurt you.”

“We hurt each other.”

“I used to hate you for taking those years from me,” Doug said. They glanced in the mirror. They weren’t in their twenties anymore, that was for sure. “But if I hadn’t been with you and then not been with you, I wouldn’t have found Ron.”

Doug didn’t let the past hold him back, Walker realized. He moved forward. Walker wondered how many years he wasted trying to go backward.

“You and Ron work well together. Although please tell him to stop wearing those bicycle shorts.”

Doug nodded in agreement. “You should call Cameron.”

“You’re serious.” Walker stood up, wondering if this was a trick. “Why would I do that?”

“Because you love him.”

“It was a fling. A fling with an expiration date.”

“You and I both know that’s not true. You should fight for him.” Doug smiled, and he was his young and carefree twenty-year-old self for a second.

“He’s happy in LA.”

“Remember how happy people used to think we were?”

They knew how to pose for the camera. Doug was a master of curating their life online.

“Why are you doing this? You hated Cameron! You pushed him away!”

“Because you looked at him in a way you never looked at me.”

Walker sat next to his ex on the couch. They’d spent too long fighting a battle with no winners.

“Give him a call, Walker. You deserve to be happy.”

Then Walker did something he hadn’t done in years. He hugged Doug goodbye.

CHAPTER thirty-Seven

Cameron

Cameron sat in his car for a few seconds before going into work. His phone buzzed with an email from Arthur. He used his email like Post-it notes. Any random thought he had got sent to Cameron and catalogued for future use. He stopped using the subject line.

(No subject)