Page 2 of What He Always Knew

“Maybe you should stay home today.”

I shook my head before he’d even finished his sentence, throwing the covers back. “No. I want to go.”

“I think everyone would understand after last night if you—“

“I want to go, Cameron.”

I said the words with finality, and his brows bent together. He knew why I wanted to go, or rather,whomI wanted to go to. But he didn’t let me see his heart break as that truth settled in.

“Okay,” he said with a slight nod.

He stood first, holding out his hand to help me up. I wobbled a little, my head swimming, but Cameron held onto me and kept me steady. When the dizziness passed, I opened my eyes and took him in. My husband. The man I’d promised forever to.

The promise I wasn’t sure I could keep anymore.

Cameron pulled his phone from his pocket, tapping a few buttons on the screen before setting it gently beside my tea on the nightstand. A soft, slow melody filled the room, a song I wasn’t familiar with, and Cameron pulled me into his arms just as the first verse began.

He swayed me gently, but I was stiff in his arms, my eyes catching on the clock. I needed to get ready.

“I should get dressed,” I said, but Cameron still swayed, his hand on the small of my back rubbing gently.

“Just one dance.”

“You’re going to be late for work.”

“They’ll live.”

I looked at him then, just as the chorus swept over us, and I tried to remember the last time he put me before work. When was the last time he said work could wait, and I was priority number one?

I couldn’t remember.

And now, it only felt like he was doing so because he knew he’d lost me.

It was too late, and only now was he waking up.

“Cameron, about last night…”

He shook his head firmly, pulling me closer until my head rested on his chest. He wrapped me up tighter, like that embrace would make me stay, like he could be the anchor that would keep me home.

“We don’t need to talk about that right now,” he whispered. “I know it was a lot of me to ask, and a lot for you to give. And I know it doesn’t mean anything will change.” Cameron swallowed then, stopping our dance long enough to pull back and look me in the eyes. “But I won’t waste this chance, Charlie. I won’t let you go without doing everything in my power to make you want to stay.”

He looked younger then, in that morning light. Like the man I fell in love with.

“All I’m asking is that you try, that you let me in again. Just… give me this time with your heart before you decide to give it all to him.”

The pain that had reverberated in my head all morning zipped down through my chest, and my next breath was haggard and harsh. I didn’t know what to say, didn’t know how to feel about the fact that he wanted me.

It wasn’t long ago that I would have fallen into his arms overwhelmed with joy at his proclamation. I would have sobbed, would have sighed with relief at him finally coming back to me.

But now, I only felt pain — and anger.

Because it wasn’t until he’d lost me, until I’d found comfort in Reese’s arms that Cameron had noticed me again.

Cameron pulled me back into him, resting his chin on my head as we swayed, my left hand in his right, my ear to his chest. I closed my eyes, listening to his heart beat, and the longer the song played, the more I felt him. My breaths came a little lighter, the pain in my chest receding, and I sighed.

I still loved him.

I knew that last night. I knew it all weekend, even when I was with Reese, even when I knew I would leave Cameron I also knew I still loved him. I wasn’t sure that would ever change, no matter what happened next.