Thinking of Your Skin: The Truth Behind Camren - Book Two

Chapter 43: Still

"Hello?" I said.

"Hey." she replied, her tone unreadable.

"It's been a minute. I was starting to forget what your voice sounded like."

"That's why we have Spotify." she joked.

I chuckled lightly, not sure if that joke had been lighthearted or not.

"That's boring. Everyone can hear that. I want a personal experience." I returned.

"I'm sure Ty can give you something like that." she said.

My smile faded immediately. Ok, that joke definitely did not sound lighthearted. What the fuck was she so upset about?

"Um...Camila, what's going on?" I finally asked.

"What do you mean?" she said.

"I mean, I feel like you've been avoiding me or some shit."

"I've just been busy, Lauren. You of all people should understand that."

"We're always busy."

"Some times are busier than others."

"Like when you have a new boyfriend?"

The words had practically pushed themselves out of my mouth without warning. They had come out much more hostile than I had wanted them too, but she was just being so frustrating. Why couldn't she just talk to me?

The worst part was, she didn't even answer right away. We sat there in silence for a few torturous seconds while I awaited her response. Just when I was about to say something else, she spoke up.

"What do you care?" she said quietly.

I wasn't even sure how to respond at first.

"What do I care?", I began, "What do you mean? We're friends, Camila, I just thought you'd tell me something like that."

"You mean like you tell me about Ty?" she spat.

..............................................................

Camila

I knew that I had caught her off guard. I always did anytime I brought him up. I was done with the tip-toeing around this subject.

"Huh?" she stuttered.

"You clam up the second his name comes up and you don't tell me shit about him." I explained.

"I'm sorry, do you want me to?" She asked, clearly puzzled.

"No! I mean, ugh, I don't know. But, just, don't expect me to come running to you about Matthew when you know you're uncomfortable talking about Ty with me."

"I'm not uncomfortable, Camila, I just assumed you wouldn't want to talk about him."

"So I'm assuming the same with Matthew. Why do you want to know?"

"Because it's not the same thing! This is new and sudden and I just want to understand why the fuck you're messing around with some weird, 30 year old love doctor who Roger set you up with! Is it still PR or not, Camila?"

I bit my bottom lip, debating whether or not I should abandon my revenge plan. I could tell her the truth and we could just go back to being friends and I would be able to vent to her about all of this bullshit...but it all just felt too pathetic, and her interest in it all was too much to ignore.

"I'm not going to sit here and have you judge me. Should I remind you that your boyfriend is over thirty years old, too?" I chose.

"It's not even about the fucking age, Camila. We all knew Ty for over a year before he and I got together. This guy pops up out of fucking nowhere, is a self proclaimed expert in love, and started out as a PR scheme. What do you expect me to believe?" she countered.