Cameron stood up from the bed also, but more slowly than she had and completely uncaring about his nudity. “I’m not saying anything, Audrey.”
She jabbed an index finger at him. “Yes, you are. You’re saying I’m too scared to take a chance.” Dammit, she wasn’t.
“I’m not saying it, Audrey. You are. And there’s nothing wrong with being afraid,” he pointed out.
“I’m not afraid,” she reiterated. “I’m just trying to protect myself.”
One side of Cameron’s mouth kicked up. “That’s what you’re calling it? Protection?” He shook his head as he yanked his boxers over his hips. “At least I admit that I’m not sure what I want.” He tugged his shirt over his head then reached for his jeans. “But you? You think you know exactly what you want. You think you have it all planned out, but you really don’t have a clue.”
She watched him grab his shoes as fear fisted in her heart. “I was never part of the deal, Cameron,” she reminded him. “It was just supposed to be you and Piper. None of this”—she waved her hand around the bedroom—“was supposed to happen.”
“But it did happen,” he said after he put his shoes on. He came toward her and took her chin in his hand. “But you go back to Boulder. Go on back, if that’s what you really want.”
Twenty-One
Cameron dragged himself through the door at eleven o’clock that Friday night. The Bobcats had played a hard game, pushing it until the last second and barely squeaking out a six-point victory over the Alamosa Maroons. But he’d returned home with a heavy heart because Audrey wasn’t there.
She’d left early that morning and driven back to Boulder, taking a piece of his soul with her. As he’d watched her put Piper on the bus, running her hands over the girl’s ponytail, knowing that Audrey was minutes away from hopping in her car and leaving, he tried telling himself that it would be okay, that he knew it would be okay. But he didn’t know shit. And he was just as pissed at her as he was himself. He was pissed at her for running away, for thinking she knew what was right. And he was pissed at himself for completely botching the conversation, for demanding that she admit she was just as scared as he was, but maybe they could figure it out together.
But the sinking feeling in his chest had worsened when she’d pulled out of the driveway and disappeared down the street. She hadn’t said goodbye, and he’d tried not to take it personally. But how could he not, when the night before last he’d been inside her. Several times. But something had felt off as he’d stared at the empty driveway, and it wasn’t just the knowledge that she wouldn’t be here when he returned home.
She was just going to use the time away as an excuse to find a reason why being with him wouldn’t work. He knew because he’d used the tactic before on just about every woman he’d been with. And to be honest, it stunk.
Like yesterday’s garbage left in hundred-degree heat.
But okay, fine. He’d give her space. She needed it, and he got that. He just hoped she didn’t use the time to talk herself out of something that could be really good.
The house was quiet when he shut the door. The porch light had been left on, as well as the lamp on the hall table. Last night Audrey informed him that she’d made arrangements with his neighbor Zoey to come and stay with Piper after school until after the game. Yeah, that was all good and stuff. He knew Zoey. He liked her and trusted her.
She was twenty-five and lived with her grandfather, who was showing early signs of dementia. She was a good kid. Responsible and sweet.
But she wasn’t Audrey. She didn’t have brown eyes and she didn’t irritate the shit out of him with her cooking skills and kiss like sex on a stick.
Zoey was in the living room watching some old Clint Eastwood movie with the volume turned way down. She turned when the floor creaked beneath his feet.
“Hey,” she greeted with a warm smile.
Cameron set his bag down and pulled his cap off his head. “Sorry I’m so late.”
Zoey just shrugged. “Hey, I went to every Bobcat game in high school. I get it.” She stood from the couch and slipped her tennis shoes on. “Think we’ll make state this year?”
“Better believe it,” he answered. They just needed to win one more game to clinch a spot in the playoffs.
“I had a hard time getting Piper to settle down,” Zoey admitted. “It was almost ten o’clock before she got in bed.”
Cameron just waved that away. “That’s all right. She’s usually pretty wound up on Fridays.”
Zoey gave him a cheeky grin. “To be honest, I think she was waiting for you. She kept saying she couldn’t fall asleep until you read to her.”
Hello, ice pick? Meet heart.
“She’s a sweet girl,” Zoey added.
“Yeah,” Cameron agreed easily. “Where’d the little monster end up?”
Zoey laughed, obviously knowing he was talking about Pinkie Pie. “On the bed with Piper. Though she did get a hold of one of Piper’s tennis shoes and chewed it up pretty good.” Zoey sent him an apologetic look. “Sorry about that.”
Cameron walked her to the front door. “I can’t keep the cat out of trouble either, so don’t worry about it.”
He opened the door and handed her sixty dollars, but Zoey just waved it away. “Oh, I don’t want to be paid. Audrey tried to offer me money too, but I wouldn’t take it.” Zoey slipped her coat on and walked down the steps. “She said you’d try to pay me too but not to take a dime from you. She also said she’d text me your phone number and that you’d be proud of her
