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FORTY-TWO

“Fuck.” The word came out more like a squeak, my voice unable to produce much more.

Out of all the ways I expected Victoria to find out, this never even crossed my mind.

So much for the gradual conversation about what happened between us.

I’d pictured this moment a million times in my mind, trying to figure out exactly how to tell my best friend I’d fallen for her ex.

I expected tears, and hopefully, some understanding, but that was only if I framed it right.

And this? Her walking up and finding us making out in his truck?

That was the wrong way to break the news.

My heart thundered in my chest as I stared at her, trying and failing to find the right words to say. Cam just shook his head as I spluttered out. “Wh-what are you doing here?”

“I live here,” Victoria said, her dark eyes glinting with amusement. “I think the better question is, what have you two been doing here?”

If the Earth could’ve swallowed me whole right then, I would have welcomed it. Where I was the picture of anxiety and unease, Cam just chuckled, climbing out of the car and sweeping Victoria into his arms. “When the hell did you get back, Vic?”

“Last night.” She looked at me. “Are you going to get out of the car, Hads?”

“Depends.” I leaned back in my seat. “Ar-are you mad?”

Victoria’s brow furrowed. “Why would I be mad? About you and Cam?” She rolled her eyes.

“Do I wish you had given me some kind of heads up? Definitely. That was not what I expected to see when I opened the door. But if this means I can finally host a dinner party without the two of you screaming at each other, I’m all for it. ”

“Dinner party?” I asked as I got out of the truck. “Did we secretly slip into the sixties?”

“Shut up,” Victoria teased as she rushed to my side.

I tensed when she came closer, still not fully trusting she was okay with what she’d just witnessed.

But when her arms wrapped around my shoulders, it felt like coming home.

It didn’t take long for my arms to settle around her waist, holding my best friend close.

God, I’d missed her. It was a phantom ache, the type you didn’t realize you needed until it came back into your life.

It was like going home after a long stretch and remembering how much you loved the quiet comfort of the town.

“But after all your teasing about Adam, you better believe I’m giving you hell about this. ”

She pulled back, and a wide, genuine smile filled her face.

The girl was glowing, pure happiness radiating from her pores.

Still, my guard remained raised, waiting for her warm disposition to change.

Cam walked up to my side and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

I tried to step back, but he refused to let me, holding me close.

“Okay, Vic, I know you’ve got questions. Let’s hear them.”

She rolled her eyes at his flippant tone. “First, let’s go inside. Cole’s going to drop Emilia off in an hour, and I want to hear everything before she gets back.” She stepped toward the porch. “You guys want some coffee?”

“Only if it’s spiked with something,” I muttered under my breath. As Cam guided me toward the house, I stopped, tugging his arm so he stayed back with me. “Why are you not freaking out right now?”

“About Vic finding out?”

“No, about Christmas coming early.” I smacked his bicep. “Of course about Tori finding out! I’m about to throw up in the bushes, and you’re acting like this is a regular Saturday morning.”

Cam stepped closer and enveloped me in a tight hug. His head rested on top of mine as he rubbed soothing circles on my back. “Why are you upset?” He leaned back and searched my expression. “Did you want to keep us a secret?”

“What? Of course not.” I didn’t miss the flicker of relief in Cam’s eyes. “It’s just… I thought we’d have time to figure out what we were going to say, have some sort of plan in place. I don’t want her to hate me for this.”

“Hey,” Cam said, tipping my chin up to meet his expression. “She won’t hate you. I don’t think she’s even capable. I agree this wasn’t the best way for her to find out, but it might be even better. We’ve ripped the Band-Aid off, and now we can talk about it together.”

I shook my head. “But we haven’t even talked about what we are, what all of this means, the two of us.”

“I know I want to be with you.” Cam reached down and took my hands.

“Maybe we haven’t defined what we are yet, but I know in my heart you’re the person I want to be with.

I like being around you, like the way you make me feel.

And no matter what insults you hurl in my direction, you want to be with me too. ”

“You’re so cocky.”

“Not cocky if it’s true, menace.” He shifted closer and kissed my temple. “Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me we don’t belong together. The world makes more sense as long as we’re facing it side by side.”

I stared up at him, searching the soulful brown eyes I loved so much. The words couldn’t come. They never would, not when I’d already surrendered my heart to Cam. He leaned forward, brushing a soft kiss on the side of my mouth. “That’s what I thought.”

“I don’t know what’s more shocking—that the two of you are together, or that you got Hadley to sit through an entire baseball game.”

Victoria sat on one side of her dining room table, Cam and I on the other, like errant teenagers facing down their parents. Nerves still tittered along my spine, but Cam clutched my hand, giving me something concrete to hold on to.

My best friend’s eyes tracked our every movement, as if cataloging each one for later.

Despite her calm demeanor and accepting words, I had a hard time trusting the sight in front of me.

Even though my last relationship had ended a long time ago, I probably wouldn’t handle the same situation in stride.

Cam’s phone chirped on the table, and his face paled as he looked down at the message.

He grabbed the device and kissed the top of my head. “I’ll be right back.”

Questions sat on the tip of my tongue; I wanted to find out what had caused his face to fall, but the weight of Victoria’s stare kept me in my seat. I turned back toward her, searching her expression for any signs of anger. “Okay, Tori. What’s really going through your mind right now?”

“What do you mean?”

I groaned and dropped my head on the back of the chair. “You cannot possibly be okay with this. It’s Cam. Scream at me, curse me out, flip the damn table if you have to. Just get it all out, because I don’t want this to ruin our friendship.”

She leaned closer. “Would that change anything?”

I pondered her words. As much as I wanted to say yes, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

No matter what happened between us, I refused to regret Cam.

After years of searching for a place in this world, it was like it had always been waiting for me in his arms. He and Emilia were my world, and as much as I loved Victoria, I loved them just as much.

“No,” I quietly admitted. “It wouldn’t.”

“Good.” She smiled at me, reaching out to take my hands. “I’m not upset, Hads. Was I shocked? Of course. But that was more because I know the history between the two of you. I honestly would have been less surprised if I came home to caution tape.”

“There were moments when I wondered the same thing,” I chuckled.

I cleared my throat then, and my voice took a more serious tone.

“I’d never do anything to intentionally hurt you, Tori.

You’ re the light of my freaking world. But Cam…

” I tried to swallow the lump in my throat. “He’s everything to me.”

She smiled boldly back at me. “That is all I’ve ever wanted for you, Hads. For someone to love you just as fiercely as you love everyone else. I never imagined it’d be Cam, but now that it happened, it makes perfect sense. You two complement each other—when you’re not trying to kill each other.”

“So you don’t think I’ve lost my mind?”

“No,” she smirked back at me. “This might be the best decision you’ve made in a long time.”

“And you’re sure you’re not mad that I’m dating your ex?”

“Hads, I love Cam, but we haven’t been together in a long time.

I barely remember what we were like together, especially now that I’m with Adam.

All I’ve ever wanted is for Cam to find happiness.

And you, Hadley, you make him so happy. I haven’t seen him like this in years, and I’ve only been back for a couple of hours. ” She paused, chewing on her lip.

“What?”

Victoria tilted her head. “Are you all in with him?”

Her question caught me off guard. As much as I wanted to explore things between Cam and me, I was still holding back, refusing to give my feelings a voice.

He’d alluded to caring about me, but without knowing his mindset, I refused to dive completely into this new relationship.

It was my last line of defense, only the rubble remaining of my once-fortified walls.

While Cam had already knocked down most of them, I couldn’t completely give in, not just yet.

“I want to be,” I said. “I-I’m trying.”

Victoria squeezed my hands. “That’s all I ask. Because Cam—he’ll move the world for you if you ask him. But if you’re not all in with him, it’ll break his heart, and I don’t want to see that for either of you.”

I nodded, soaking up her words, when my phone rang, breaking the tension.

I released Victoria’s hands, pulling my device from my purse.

When I saw my old neighbor’s name and number, my heart froze in my chest, terrified about what she had to say.

Mrs. Majors never called me, not unless there was an emergency.

Victoria’s brow furrowed across the table. “Everything okay?”

No. It wasn’t. But as I stared down at my phone, I couldn’t bring myself to answer, terrified of what waited on the other side of the line.

After a moment, the call clicked off, and I breathed a sigh of relief—at least until the voicemail notification sprung up on the screen.

I lifted myself up from the chair, my legs already shaking with adrenaline. “I should check this. Be right back.”

As soon as the porch door closed behind me, I lifted the phone to my ear, hearing the scrambled message. Words like hospital, ambulance, and intensive care rose above the rest, making me almost cry out with guilt. My hand shook as I tucked them back into my pockets.

My mother had a heart attack.

While I was having the time of my life, my mother had been alone, fighting to survive.

Now, she was sitting in a hospital room, unsure if she’d see another day or two.

I rushed inside, telling Victoria I had to go, telling her I’d call her later to explain what happened.

My feet barely touched the stairs as I rushed into Cam’s room, grabbing my bag and shoving a couple of outfits inside.

As I rooted around my stuff, trying to find my car keys, the door opened.

My throat constricted as I turned around and locked eyes with Cam. “Hadley, what’s going on?”