Page 15 of Pomegranate Kiss (Charmed in Charleston #2)

Chapter Fifteen

L ex had done it. She had set the stage by asking Cam to talk, and now she would have to deliver, once they got through the reception.

Not like that helped fuck-all for her nerves. The idea of “the talk” and pouring out those feelings had her heart slamming forward in her chest like she was the final girl at the end of a horror movie. She’d jotted down a couple of notes for her maid of honor speech on the crumpled papers in front of her, but she wouldn’t even try to compete for the heartfelt one Cal would regale everyone with. The man oozed emotion from his pores.

Still, one glance at Cam in that canary yellow dress with the winsome look in her eyes, and Lex was a half-step away from spouting Shakespeare.

The Hickory House was one of those venues that fit Danny and Adrian perfectly, with wide windows streaming sunlight onto the dance floor and a massive chandelier made of flowers gracing the center of the room. The sun had already begun to set, and the jar fixtures buzzed on with tremulous lights that cast a gentle glow through the room. The podium lay at the front of the room, and Cal poured his heart out with warm diatribes of things Adrian had done for the family over the years. Mom sniffled into a handkerchief for the thousandth time today.

Her turn would be next, but she’d far rather stand up in front of friends and family and talk about love than deal with the very serious conversation she planned on having with Cam later tonight. The buzz in the back of her mind reached a roar as she tried to shove away the bitter memories of all her past failed confessions.

Lex sipped more of her drink, avoiding the pointed looks Matty tried to send her. The rum wasn’t cutting it. Cam sat on the other side of the table, her dark eyes glowing with emotion as she listened Cal’s speech. She was different than the others. This was the longest time Lex had spent with anyone, and by the end of the six months, Cam had begun to initiate as often as she did. Like a future together might be something she wanted too.

Cal cracked a joke, his voice smooth as coffee with cream, and everyone began to applaud. Danny and Adrian lifted their champagne flutes to toast, and then Cal stepped away from the podium.

Game time.

Cam mouthed “good luck” to her as she rose from the seat, clutching to the scraps of notes she’d written down over the past couple of days, trying to think of what to say. Her heart thudded.

Lex stepped up in front of the podium, the light beaming over her. Hundreds of people circling the tables focused on what she would say next, most of the faces familiar, because she had about a thousand aunts, uncles, and cousins. Lex flashed Adrian a wicked smile, which earned her a warning look from him and a laugh from Danny. Fuck, her sister-in-law was amazing.

“Adrian and I were always closest in age, so I think he’d kill me if I dove into the stories from when we were kids because I know everything. However, part of knowing everything about your big brother includes the crushes, and his crush on Sam Peterson—or Danny Reynolds as the lovely bride goes by now—well, that one was legendary.”

Adrian’s shoulders relaxed, and he flashed her the “you asshole” look she was so used to getting from him. He was far too fun to string along.

“My brother’s always been the serious sort, and I’ve done my best to shake his life up and cause a little trouble along the way. I always worried he’d marry some twit that would allow him to work his life away without injecting a little joy in the mix, but he couldn’t be in safer hands with Danny.”

She winked at Danny, who gave her a radiant smile. “And this woman here. I may not have known her in high school, but I wish I had because we would’ve been fast friends. Danny, when you asked me to be your maid of honor, I was wondering if you hit your head—no one asks for the chaos I bring. But the more time I’ve spent with you, the more I’ve come to realize you’re fearless. You plunged right into the Dukas family without even blinking, and by the time you left that first dinner, I knew you’d be one of ours.”

Danny’s eyes glistened now, and Lex’s heart pounded louder as she scanned through the audience. Her gaze fixated on Cam, and her chest squeezed tight.

“You’re only going to hear this once from me, so listen up,” Lex said, her voice scraping a bit. Even as she glanced to Danny and Adrian, all she could see was Cam in her peripheral. “I’ve been the Anti-Love poster girl for as long as I can remember, but when I see the way the two of you care for each other, how you help each other grow and support each other through the difficult times? A love like that makes even a cynic like me hope to find the same.”

Lex stepped back from the podium and tried to ignore the prickle of heat behind her eyes as she offered a flourish. Mom blew her nose again, loud enough to hear, and a smile rose on her face. Applause rippled through the crowd of family members and friends, before the DJ cut them off to make his next announcements.

Lex headed to the table of bridesmaids and groomsmen, trying to ignore the incredulous stares from Matty and Cal.

“You make one comment and I’ll slit your throat,” Lex grumbled in warning.

“Now that’s the sweet garbage I’m used to you spewing,” Matty crooned, an amused glint in his dark eyes.

“Don’t worry Lex, Cal’s was way more emotional,” Nellie added, entertaining a small teasing smile. Her siblings were assholes, the lot of them. Cal lifted his drink to toast, but not before giving her one of his patented mom glances. Lex slammed into her chair and tipped back her dark and stormy. She couldn’t look Cam in the eye right now, not after exposing herself in public. Ugh.

“I thought it was beautiful,” Cam said, her voice holding a tenderness that made her hope.

This time, Lex flushed. “Well, speeches are done now, so let’s get on with this whole eating and dancing thing.”

***

Lex’s entire family had flooded to the dance floor with Danny dragging Adrian out to the center, despite his protestations. As much as he whined, his eyes were laughing and that smile on his face told her everything she needed to know. Lex loved how Danny pushed him out of his comfort zone.

The hours had flown by in a haze of loud music, laughter, and sweat. Her feet ached, even in the flats she wore, but she’d needed to be out there distracting herself on the dance floor. Otherwise the talk looming between her and Cam would’ve driven her insane.

However, as the music slowed in tempo, leaving the couples with their slow dances and the older family members began to clear out, time ticked closer and closer to their conversation.

She probably shouldn’t have had so many dark and stormies, because they were corroding her stomach. Lex scanned over the dance floor, but she didn’t see the striking canary yellow dress or the curves she’d memorized with her mouth and with her hands. Lex sucked in a deep breath. Time to do this.

Lex strode off the dance floor, running a hand through her pompadour, which held up by will of extensive product alone. She headed for the corners of the room, but she didn’t spot Cam or Danny either for that matter. The outside didn’t offer up the duo, just Matty leaning against the siding to catch a smoke with their cousin Jeremy. Lex raised her middle finger in greeting, and Matty saluted back with the same.

Where could they have gone? She hadn’t checked the corridor leading to the bathrooms yet. Lex’s feet carried her forward by some miracle, even as the nerves threatened to stage a coup. Few people waited around here at this point, where before there had been lines all the way to the corridor from the ladies’ room. She’d almost reached the turn into the posh mirrors-and-throw-pillows entryway in front of the bathroom when she heard familiar voices.

“I can’t believe this is your last week,” Danny complained louder than normal, because the woman had drunk enough to drain the Atlantic at this point.

“Just because I’m relocating to Savannah doesn’t mean you won’t see me. I’ll only be two hours away.”

Lex stopped in her tracks. That was Cam’s voice.

“Why can’t your school be online, or near me?” Danny whined. “If I have to face the Horntrees alone, I’ll die.”

“Okay, drama queen,” Cam responded in the wry tone that normally caused warmth to pool in Lex’s chest. Except right now she was falling, falling, falling.

Going back to school? Moving to Savannah?

She’d faced some epic rejections in the past but never someone relocating to a different state. Her hope shattered like glass plates in an alcoholic’s house, and the shakes began trembling through her body.

Cam hadn’t said a word. She planned on going back to school, quitting her job, and leaving. Yet she hadn’t bothered to tell her.

The news didn’t just hurt—it cracked something inside of her, like the snap of a femur.

Lex had been sure, so sure Cam felt the same way. That she wasn’t alone in falling deeper in love than she ever had before. Yet the woman kept this a secret from her. The memories approached, hungry things determined to swallow her whole. The disgust on Maddy’s face after she’d confessed her feelings, the pitying wince from Lila as she told Lex about her now-serious boyfriend. The taste of shame on her tongue. Time and time again, she remained the casual fling, never anyone’s reality.

Her feet carried her forward even though her mind reeled. Her fingertips numbed. The hurt she’d experienced before, too many times in the past, but this grief that arose was new, this loss that had her barely able to breathe. It clawed at her chest without mercy, even as she steeled her features.

Lex turned the corner to walk in on Danny and Cam sitting on the couch along the side wall.

When their eyes met, Cam’s widened, and she leaned in to whisper to Danny. Lex’s lips thinned, the anger brushing across her skin like third-degree burns. Danny’s brows pulled together, and her head tilted when she glanced over to Lex, but her sister-in-law didn’t ask any questions. She stood and waved at Lex as she strode away. Cam rose from the seat, and Lex could see the way her legs trembled even from here.

“You’re leaving.” Her words fired like a bullet from a gun.

Cam swallowed hard, and she wrung her hands as Lex crossed the distance between them. “Look,” she said, “I was planning on telling you. I wanted to, so many times.”

“You had six months,” Lex responded, her voice as dead as her hopes. “And you’re leaving next week? Convenient that it’s right after we’re wrapped up.”

Her heart thumped hard in her chest, enough that it boomed in her ears. From the moment she heard the news, she’d plummeted into a void she might never emerge from. Stupid, she’d been so stupid to hope. Cam was no better than the others. Lex was good for a fling, but no one could fall for someone as damaged as she was. No one would ever take the risk to brave her shit moods, her acerbic words, or whatever-the-fuck seemed to repel anyone she fell for.

“I’m sorry,” Cam said, “I wanted to talk about it with you tonight. There’s so much we need to discuss.”

Lex shook her head. The time for talk was well past. All the speeches she’d rehearsed in her head throughout the day in preparation made her feel stupider than ever. God, she’d fallen for this shit again, like the sucker she was. Her skin crawled like she wanted to climb out of it.

In the faint light, Cam’s features were as sharp and stunning as ever, the sight slicing her heart to shreds. Her tumble of curls Lex had threaded her fingers through, the full lips that had twisted into an affectionate smile at the goofy things Lex said, and the eyes that had once looked at her with enough tenderness to make her forget why she didn’t do commitments. Why no one could be trusted. Now Cam’s eyes throbbed with a seriousness she didn’t want to face.

Her actions proved enough, but she couldn’t take hearing those words fall from her lips: that this had been a bit of fun, nothing more.

Lex slipped her hand around Cam’s nape and leaned in to brush her lips against hers. God, she still tasted so good, and her body sparked to life even as her heart splintered. The scent of roses surrounded her, one she’d have to avoid now.

She pulled back, knowing this was goodbye. She wouldn’t see her off to Savannah, and they’d reached the end of Danny and Adrian’s wedding.

“The six months are up,” she murmured, trying to keep her voice from breaking. “You’re free.”

With that, she turned on her heel and strode for the bathroom. Her entire body trembled, and the heat stung her eyes, but she’d be damned if Cam got a shred of emotion from her. The woman had already stolen enough. Crashed cars couldn’t always be salvaged.

The bright lights of the bathroom glared down on her, but no one else was in here. She locked herself into one of the stalls and sagged against the cool surface. Her shoulders shook and she clutched herself tight as the sobs erupted from her in shuddering, violent waves, with enough force her ribs ached. Her eyes blurred, but she didn’t need to see to know what an idiot she’d been. Falling in love with another straight girl who didn’t return her feelings. Giving a part of herself away she’d never get back.

This plunge into a frozen lake was unforgiving, even as hot tears streamed down her cheeks, ones she hated almost as much as the traitorous throb of her heart. God-fucking-damnit, she thought she was past this. Her shoulders shook, and her whole body tremored in the wake of the hurricane that descended upon her, like one of those flimsy trees battered by the winds.

Yet no matter how she tried, no matter what steps forward she’d taken, the inevitable always slammed in.

She ended up curled in a bathroom stall, her college dorm, the secret park by her parent’s house sobbing her loss out. Alone.