Defamed: Book Three (bxb) ✔️

Chapter Sixteen: Here

Cameron Windsor

"I hardly think all the shoving is needed, Megan." I clutched my three books to my chest. "Remember, you dragged me in here with the promise of buying me books. You're lucky I only managed to pick three. Do you know how many romance novels I could be buying right now? I want the whole romance section."

Megan linked her arm with mine as she continued to scour the shelves. "Yes, well, my bank account can't cover all of that. But pick more, Cameron. You finally left the house to come in public, and we only met like three assholes. The rest look at you with sadness in their eyes. Though, I'm not even sure if they can tell which triplet you are."

I shrugged as I reached toward the shelf and plucked a book from it. "My brothers told me they get the same treatment, so odds are, they don't. Us having the same face is a curse sometimes. I never realized how much this was going to impact my brothers. Even Asher. I've made it a point never to be seen in public with him if I could help it. He's going through enough; he doesn't need me adding to it."

"Do you think he cares?" She flipped over the book in her hand, reading the back. "Do you really think any of them care? However, I have to wonder what it's like for all of your significant others to date someone who has two identical triplet brothers. What if they mix you up?"

"They don't." I put the book back on the shelf, looking over the selection again. "Alastair walked over to the three of us this morning and kissed Carter while still half asleep. Ace did the same thing. It's weird, honestly. But they love my brothers, and when you love someone, you just know who is who. Even half asleep and before a cup of coffee."

Megan sighed as she grabbed another book to read the back. "I think that's so incredibly sweet, honestly. I would love to see you three dress up completely the same. Same style of hair. Same clothes. Same facial expressions. Then put it to the test. I wonder if they would still be as smug."

"I think Alastair and Ace would be able to pick out their triplet."

"Oh, Asher should be included, too." Megan dropped the book on my small stack and looked at me with a smile. "I assume he could pick you out in the past, no?"

I tried to prevent the smile from showing, but I failed. "Asher was able to pick me out since we first met. In this same bookstore, funny enough, I met him. He picked me out in a picture. Then I gave him a notebook to write to me in and told him to find me." I chuckled at the memory. "He sat in the quad, and Carter was there. He knew that Carter wasn't me. He found me immediately. I don't know that he'd be able to still do it, but he once did. But he told me my eyes gave me away. He said it looked like I was on my first life, but that's not particularly true anymore. So, it's not likely."

She hummed as she reached for another book. "Don't be so sure of yourself, Cameron. If you love someone, as you stated, you always know which triplet is yours. I'd bet my fucking house that he'd be able to pick you out."

"I'm not testing him," I told her. "I don't know what I'd do if he couldn't pick me out anymore. I can't have hope for something that doesn't particularly exist anymore. We've been broken up for eight years, and it would still hurt."

"Don't be so sure that you two don't exist anymore." She took the books from my hands and placed one there. "Come on, I want to look through what you have before we buy. I have to make sure everything is up to expectations."

Nodding, I followed her through the store before we sat down in a place that brought back far too many memories. I tried not to think about the moment I walked in here, and it changed my life for better and for worse. Not that it was ever either of our faults, but it was a reminder of what I didn't have anymore. What I wanted and couldn't have. What I wasn't good enough to have.