One of the Boys ✔️

XXIV

I was sitting on the couch in the living area when Cam's door opened and I was treated with the beautiful sight of him in a pair of dark grey sweatpants while he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He seemed to be on autopilot towards the kitchen, but stopped dead in his tracks and did a double-take when he saw me awake and breathing before him.

When he surveyed the laptop resting on my crossed legs, his surprised look morphed into one of mischief.

"Planning our next date already, huh? Man, you just can't get enough of me. Isn't it enough that we live together?"

A sly grin tugged at the corners of my lips. "Oh, so last night was a date, was it?"

Cam blinked. Apparently he hadn't thought that jab through entirely. "A friend date."

I tried not to laugh at his remedy. "Friend date?"

"Mmhmm," he replied with false confidence. "Totally platonic."

"Just admit you're falling for me, bucko."

Cam winked. "No can do, princess. I've got to keep up the mystery."

I laughed, and Cam smiled in delight.

"Anyway, what are you doing?" He asked, crossing the room to lean on the back of the couch.

"I'm looking for a boxing place nearby," I said, scrolling through one of the many websites I'd inspected this morning.

"Boxing?"

"Yeah, I did it back home so I figured I could start up here."

Cam hummed. "Found anything so far?"

I nodded. "A couple of places. There's this one called A-Game that looks pretty good, and it's only a few blocks from here."

Cam stood up from where he was perched and stretched his arms over his head. His voice was strained as he arched his back. "Walking distance is always good."

"Bingo," I said, fighting the urge to turn and look at the spectacle behind me.

"You going to go take a look at it?"

"Yeah, I might head over. Their timetable says that they've got a class running soon. Did you want to come?" I turned to peek at him over my shoulder. He'd lowered his arms, to my disappointment. But it was still a good view.

"Sure, I'll tag along. Just give me a sec to shower."

While Cam headed back into his room to freshen up, I walked into my own to get changed. As I pulled on my sports leggings and swapped my Bonds bra for a sports bra, I couldn't stop my thoughts from drifting to what sparked this vigor to join a gym in the first place; the night that Ethan showed up and I fell asleep in Cam's arms.

We haven't spoken about that night. Cam was gone when I woke up in the morning, and when he returned from his run, I was beyond grateful that he hadn't brought up my waterworks show from the night before, despite the fact that I knew he was curious. I could've hugged him for not bursting into a game of 20 Questions.

I was so helpless against Ethan's charm when we first met, and I was under his spell thoroughly enough that I didn't even see the warning signs. I hated that even though I now knew exactly who he was, and I knew what he'd done, all I saw when he appeared at Everstone was the boy that I'd known before everything happened. I hate the nerves that come with knowing he's still hanging around here somewhere. Hopefully taking some classes can give me some of my confidence back. Ethan came here for a reason, and he won't be leaving anytime soon just because I blew him off. He's not the type of person to leave without first getting what he wants. That's what I was dreading. Because what he wanted was me.