Page 32 of What He Always Knew

When I did, I laughed. “Oh, my God. It’s lukewarm.”

“At best.”

I chuckled, but I saw the frustration shading Cameron’s face. He was trying so hard to make the night magical, to relive an evening that had meant so much to us years ago.

Carefully, I sat my glass on the edge of the tub, stripping out of my blouse and letting it fall to the floor before my fingers began working the buttons on my jeans. Cameron’s face smoothed when he saw me undressing, and he swallowed, eyes catching on my lace panties as I dropped my jeans to the floor next.

“We’ll make it work,” I said, unhooking my bra with an arched brow. “You going to let me get naked all alone?”

Cameron smirked, shaking his head as he watched me a moment longer. Once my bra was unclasped and dangling from one finger, he stood, stripping with me. We watched each other with only the sound of the water running, and once we were both bare, Cameron cut the water off and thumbed through his phone until a soft melody started playing through it.

He grabbed his glass first, settling back into the water with his legs wide enough for me to sit between them. I crawled in carefully, but it was useless, the water sloshed over the sides as I sank down, taking my seat in front of him.

“It’s almost cold,” I said on a laugh, and Cameron blew out a frustrated breath from behind me. “But I still remember what it felt like that night,” I added. “How hot it was, and the bubbles — remember?”

“I do,” he said in my ear, one hand holding his glass while the other trailed circles on my knee. I leaned back more into him, letting his body envelop mine.

For a while we just sat there, silently sipping on our champagne and touching each other gently. I would reach back for Cameron’s hair, running my fingers through it, and he would trail the skin of my collarbone, making me shiver under the touch. Eventually, our hands met in the middle, and our fingers folded together as I leaned my head back on a sigh.

My eyes caught on the old chandelier in the middle of the room, its bronze paint chipping, only half of the bulbs lit. I chuckled again, lightly enough that I don’t even think Cameron noticed.

“Why did you bring me here tonight?” I asked after a while. “Back to Garrick? To this hotel?”

Cameron pressed his palm flat to mine, his fingertips slipping between mine slowly until we were holding hands again.

“Honestly?”

I nodded.

“I wanted to bring you back to a simpler time, I guess,” he said on a breath. “And maybe I wanted to come back to this time, too. So much has changed since we fell in love here — good and bad. I thought maybe if we could come back here, to the beginning, we could remember what that felt like. What it was like just falling into each other and not having to think about anything else.” Cameron chuckled. “A time before bills and houses and steady, nine-to-five jobs.”

I smiled, leaning my head back on his chest.

“I think you’ve said more on this trip than you have in the past five years.”

He paused.

“Well, I should have been talking to you more. I should have let you in more.”

Cameron squeezed my hand, and I squeezed his in return, my eyes closing at the truth behind his words. “I know it’s hard.”

“It is,” he agreed quickly. “But I’m your husband, and I should have been there for you. When everything…”

Cameron’s voice broke, and he cleared his throat, adjusting his position behind me.

“I’ve been seeing someone,” he said, and instantly, my heart froze, the beat stuck under my rib cage. But before I could draw any conclusions of my own, he clarified with, “A therapist. His name is Patrick.”

I sat up, twisting a little until I could see Cameron’s face.

“How long?”

“A little over a week,” he said, and I felt the tremble in his hand still intertwined with mine.

Cameron hated talking, hated opening up and feeling vulnerable, and here he’d been doing so with a stranger — and now, with me. I leaned against him again, this time curling into him, my cheek against his chest as I wrapped my arms around his middle.

“There’s so much I want to tell you, Charlie,” Cameron said, his hand running over my damp hair before he pressed a kiss to it. “So much Ineedto tell you, things you need to hear, but I may not be able to say it all at once. I may not get it all out tonight, but I promise you, I’m trying. And I will tell you everything. I will.”

“It’s okay,” I tried, but he shook his head.