Flowers

12

Camille

I pursed my lips and posed with Margaret as the photographer captured us in his frame.

"Camille!" A few of our girl friends ran over to also get in the picture, and we all squeezed together with giggles.

Once the photo was taken and the photographer walked off after sending us a grin and a thumbs up, we began gossiping and giggling to ourselves, all a little tipsy.

"I heard Tess is going to try to get something to happen with Robin tonight," our friend Naomi told us, leaning closer to whisper over the music with all of us glancing over at Tess flirting with Robin at the side of the packed living room.

He was drinking his beer, very awkward in the face of her advances.

I shook my head, "there's no way something's going to happen! Look how uncomfortable he looks..."

"A few more beers, Cam, then you'll see," Margaret sent me a knowing wink and wrapped her arm around mine.

"That's assault, Margaret..." I frowned, unappreciative of such a double standard.

Being surrounded by all my friends and good music had truly made this night an unforgettable one. Most of us still hadn't gone outside to the pool for some midnight swimming with coloured lights and the DJ, but the night was still young.

"Have you seen Jason?" I felt a tap on my shoulder.

I glanced back to see Oliver, offering me a loopy grin. I gasped in pleasant surprise and turned around to give him a tight hug.

"Oli! I've barely seen you at all tonight!" I laughed while he chuckled and hugged back.

"Sorry, Cam. There's so much going on, our team just won a game of beer pong twice in a row," he told me as we pulled back. I could tell he had had quite a bit to drink tonight.

"That's incredible!" I praised excitedly, glancing around quickly to see if Michael was here.

It was very important for me that my friends got along with Michael, because I really liked him and wanted to spend time with him as much as possible.

"Do you know where Jason is?" Oliver repeated, catching my attention once more.

"He's-" just as I was about to tell him about Jason and Michael talking and hopefully sorting their differences out, I jumped at the feel of an arm casually draping over my shoulders.

A delicious scent of aftershave, tinted with a hint of cigarette smoke, surrounded me, and I glanced up to find Michael having arrived by us.

I gave him a bright smile, but it soon faded when I realised he was fully focused on Oliver in front of us.

"Hey," Oliver gave Michael a tightlipped smile, hesitant eyes moving between the two of us. He replied with a simple nod, not seeming too friendly. I just hoped everything with Jason had gone fine and that they could now get along, or at least be civil.

"Is everything okay?" I inquired gently, not speaking loud enough for Oliver to be able to comprehend each word over the music.

His dark eyes met mine and he shrugged nonchalantly, "yeah."

Before I could continue I watched with sudden confusion when he shook Oliver's hand, before both tucked away in the front pockets of their jeans.

"Thanks, man," Oliver then spoke with a light grin, "I'll see you two around."

He then walked off while I stayed processing their unnatural interaction.

"Hey," Michael brought me back from my thoughts by moving to stand before me, strong frame towering over mine securingly, "you good?"

I gave him a genuine smile, feeling a surge of warmth through my body at the feel of him so close with his dark gaze solely focused on mine.

"Are you and Jason friends now?" I wondered, half-joking, reaching down to find his hand. I took it into mine and began gently playing with his fingers between us, loving how the size of his hand was significantly larger than mine.

Michael chuckled lowly, "you're real naive, you know that?"

I frowned and tilted my head up at him, "excuse me?"

"Nothing, sweetness," he brushed it off, "a little talk can't solve shit."

My brows raised at him and his use of colourful language. I could see from the corner of my eye how Margaret was carefully observing our interaction, along with some of my other friends.

"Oh, okay..." I nodded slowly, not understanding fully what he was truly getting at but also knowing I wouldn't get it out of him so easily, "would you like to meet my friends? I have so many I want to introduce you to!"

I gave him an incredibly excited smile, already beginning to tug him to walk along with me to a few of my close friends.

"No," he grunted, standing his ground and preventing me from moving away. I turned back to him with a confused expression.

"They're all very nice, you don't have to worry," I offered, thinking that he was just feeling like a bit of an outsider, which was exactly why I wanted him to meet my friends in the first place.

Michael just shook his head and tugged me closer to him. His free hand moved to my waist and he inched closer for his front to brush against mine. I felt his hot breath fan over my neck, and shivered pleasurably when his lips brushed along the side of my ear.

"I gotta go, sweetness," his voice was low, and my core clenched impossibly.

"What? Already?" I frowned and brought my free hand up to his hard chest, trying to pull away to be able to find his eyes with mine.

"Yeah. This was fun," he left a small kiss on to the side of my head, before removing his hands and walking past me.

I didn't even have time to say bye.

My frown only deepened when I processed his words over a few times. This was fun.

What had happened in my bedroom had been incredibly intimate and powerful. There was no way he had just called it simple fun.

"What just happened?" Margaret walked up to me, nodding back at Michael who was most likely just leaving my home.

I shook my head and pinched the bridge of my nose, a deep-rooted feeling of not being good enough weighing down on my shoulders.

Margaret understood me without me having had to say a word. She hugged me, and I relaxed in her arms.

"Where the fuck is he?!" A frightening yell made us both pull back in a rush and turn around toward one entrance of the living room.

Jason, with a bloody nose and bruised side of his face, was scanning the room around murderously.

I knew immediately he was looking for Michael.