The Outlaw

05

F I V E

"Well, if that isn't the walk of shame if I've ever seen one." Cameron's voice startled me, shooting down my plan to creep into my bedroom undetected.

I twisted, smiling sheepishly as he stuck his head out of his bedroom, wiggling his eyebrows. His door opened a little wider, and a pretty, statuesque blonde stood next to him. "Nice outfit," Talia winked at me.

I smiled, taking in the baseball jersey she wore that obviously belonged to Cam. "Right back at ya,"

Cameron turned to Talia, leaving a perfunctory kiss on her forehead. "I gotta talk to my sis for a sec."

"Take your time," she retreated back into Cam's bedroom, "I'll hop in the shower."

Pointedly staring at her back, her long, blonde hair swaying as she sashayed away, I looked to Cam, smiled widely and gave him two thumbs-up. He must have met up with her last night around the time I'd ditched him at Zed's, impulsively leaving with Travis. The fact that she was still here told me that Cam liked her—a lot.

Cameron followed suit as I walked into my bedroom, throwing my heels into the closest. "So... you slept over?"

"Yup,"

"You've never done that before."

"Nope,"

Cameron dug a little more. "And I'm guessing Travis hasn't either."

I shrugged.

Aggravated with my lack of cooperation, Cameron remarked, "This is me you're talking to. You don't need to guard yourself from me."

I looked at him, realising he was right. Sighing, I said, "There's not much to say. Nothing has changed." That was a big, fat lie.

"So tell me," Cam ran a hand over his chin, "is this a new development between you two?"

My lips twisted to the side wryly. "I'm not sure." But I wasn't against it, like I should have been.

"Maddie..." I could hear the warning in his tone, "this could get complicated real fast if you're not careful."

Grabbing fresh clothes out of my closet, I hesitated a little before telling him, "Get this. Travis wants this thing to be exclusive."

Cameron's eyebrows hit his hairline. "Exclusive? And you agreed?"

"Well, yeah," my head canted to the side, "it's no different for me because he was the one doing it for me, right now, you know?"

"Maddie, what are you doing?" Cameron shook his head, his voice a little panicky.

"What do you mean?"

"You stayed the night, and then you agree to be sleeping only with him. Sounds to me it's a relationship without actually having to be in a relationship."

"That's not true," I countered, "I don't know anything personal about him. We don't see each other outside of the bedroom. We're not even friends." I stressed. "Besides, we agreed that we'll end it as soon as it stops working for either of us."

"What happens if feelings are caught?"

I wouldn't let that happen. "Travis won't want a relationship with me. Too many hang-ups,"

Cameron's face softened with a frown, knowing all about my stupid insecurities. "Maddie..."

"You can't exactly like someone you don't really know. Don't worry," I assured him with a smile, "I'll be fine."