I barely slept, my mind racing with what my baking list consisted of as well as a constant interruption piercing my thoughts that this weekend could actually be a bad idea.
My heart kept saying this was the greatest idea since sliced brioche.
Since I wasn't sleeping, I got up, showered and packed a bag before heading to the bakery fairly early to start baking.
By 3 PM, I had seven containers of baked goodies stacked on the counter. There was a container for each of my guys based on what they liked so chocolate peanut butter cupcakes for Zack, Tony was getting dessert empanadas since I'd already given him churros this week. There were cherry hand pies for Pete, a maple bacon fritter for Josh, the lemon tarts for Cam and a batch of cupcake sized maple bar bourbon bacon bread puddings for Sam. The seventh container was crammed full of chocolate chip cookies for me.
Because I'd need them.
And I'd need at least four bottles of wine to make it through. I sent Cam a message to make sure he had enough wine on hand before offering to bring some additional bottles if he didn't have enough wine.
I also had five baguettes and an assortment of other breads and rolls to get us through the weekend and whatever dining experiences we managed to have. I made a mental note to tease Zack about ordering a family style meatloaf dinner for seven from the diner.
Actually, that didn't need to be teasing, I really should place an order for dinner tomorrow so that we could share the joy that was the diner's meatloaf.
He'd absolutely love it.
My phone buzzed with Cam's reply to my message. Cam: Got your wine fix covered, Mon Ami, just get your sweet cheeks over here!
I laughed, my face turning red even though I was currently alone in the kitchen. ~Fine. I'll be over in 20 minutes.~ I pushed send on the text and busied myself loading up all the containers into my car with the bag I'd packed this morning.
My hand shook slightly as I got closer to the guys house, taking a few moments for some yoga breathing and a good look at the house again as I pulled into the driveway behind the garage door Cam told me was the best one to park in since his car was in the garage and I'd only be blocking hm in. Zack sure did some amazing work, I though as I looked at the house.
The house was huge and beautiful and if I dared to let myself believe it, it was everything I could have ever wanted in a house of my own. I pursed my lips and wrinkled my nose. It was almost as if he knew it was going to be meant for us.
For all of us.
When he designed it and had it built?
The idea was surprising but honestly, it made sense since Zack had definitely met my entire family when we were dating.
It almost went without noting that I could easily see Tony's work all over the landscaping. Absolutely gorgeous, of course. I got out of the car, going around to the back to grab my bag and some of the containers before heading to the door to ring the bell.
Cam met me at the door. "There's my bestie." He smiled and reached out to grab the containers from me. "I'll put these in the kitchen."
"I have a couple more to grab." I said.
"Oh, I'll get them. You go ahead and take a look around the living room and everything and meet me in the kitchen.
"Okay, sounds good." I said, holding on to my bag as I headed towards the only room I'd been in before. I had to admit, getting a closer look at the room was everything. The décor style absolutely spoke to me as a Cam signature. Things were arranged much like we'd had them in Paris.
I stepped closer to the wall in the short hallway leading to the kitchen. Finally, someone had pictures. I'd been puzzled over this for ages after I'd discovered they knew each other. How did I miss that? But then it dawned on me. I'd never been to Zack or Tony's place while we dated. I'd never been in Josh or Pete's bedrooms. Cam had relocated to Paris so he hadn't brought any pictures with him. Meanwhile, his room in our flat had been full of pictures of us, just like mine was and nothing of our lives back home was displayed for viewing.
I had a photo album I'd looked at in Paris when I was homesick but I'd never shown it to him and he'd only met Gabriel, Sang and my mom briefly in that first week I was there while we were all at the hotel. And Sam, well, he was in the same sort of spot, traveling with Serina and living out of hotel rooms so he didn't have any pictures of home with him either.
But now, I can see it. Pictures of them throughout their early years as a team. Pictures from when most of them were in Chicago on their Academy assignment for college.
Maybe I'd need to make up some photo collages for us. One for each of them with our relationship in pictures and one big group one for this hallway wall.
If I ever had time to be crafty again.
Although, it would easily be a project that Sang may want to get in on too. It sort of had Christmas present written all over it and I'd have to tell her the idea.
I gave the pictures one final look before I went into the kitchen.
"You can put your stuff in my room." Cam said, giving me a smile as I walked in. "Let me show you up there." He said, taking my bag from me and leading me up the back staircase to the second floor. "We have six bedrooms up here, three bathrooms. Somehow we're managing to survive with sharing a bathroom between each bedroom."
"Oh, that's both interesting and impressive." I smiled. "Zack designed this house with all of you in mind."
Cam nodded, opening his bedroom door and waving me in ahead of him. "Yeah, he did. There's also a fairly large master suite downstairs with it's own bathroom."
I stopped just inside his doorway, staring at his room, my eyes wide. I took a slow turn to take in every bit of it, it was exactly how he'd had it set up and decorated at home. "Just like coming home." I murmured, my eyes meeting his.
He tilted his head and studied me. "No tears." He warned before tossing my bag on the bed and pulling me into a bear hug. He kissed the top of my head and rested his chin on my hair. "It's okay, Mon Ami."
"I know, I just... wasn't expecting it to feel at home, you know?" I swiped at my eyes before pulling away from him. "Downstairs master, hmm? All decorated and everything?"
He shook his head before giving me another quick squeeze before letting go. "No, surprisingly. It's completely empty as though waiting for the perfect person to move into it and make it their own."
"Huh. Interesting."
"Right?" he rolled his eyes.
"Love what you've done to the place." I smiled. My eyes landed on a frame on his dresser and I went over and picked it up. "Oh, I love this one. Can I get a copy?" I waved it at him. It was the selfie from the airport in Paris. I was kissing his cheek while he smirked at the camera.
"Of course. I may have already printed it, hoping to offer it to you as a peace offering for being a jerk."
I laughed. "You don't have to give me a peace offering for that. I know you. I know how you are. And I'm over it. You're not a jerk anymore, okay? We're fixing everything. It's all going to be just fine."
"If you say so." He said. "Now, hear me out. Feel free to raid my dresser if you want to get comfortable."
I raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah, like that's not going to give any of the others a crazy idea about us."
He shrugged. "You can wear what you brought, care to bet on it?"
"For what? If you guess right, I wear what you want me to wear? What do I get if you're wrong?"
His blue eyes sparked with amusement. "If I'm wrong then you get a kiss."
I pursed my lips. "That almost doesn't sound like a fair bet. I mean, if you're wrong, I should get to wear what I brought."
"Oh, that's a given. Oh, and Eiffel can sleep with you tonight." He said, winking at me.
"Like she wasn't going to already." I exhaled slowly. "Fine, that's more like it. You're on." I slapped his palm. "You're guessing what I brought to wear."
"That's right." He rubbed his chin, thinking for a moment. "Okay, basing on our history and your preference to lounge around in clothes you stole from other people." He mused.
"Do go on." I crossed my arms over my chest.
"Okay... assuming that my observations from last weekend are correct about your family and their favorite colors..."
My eyes widened and I blinked at him.
Shit. He might actually guess right.
"I think that you have pajama pants from Kota, a t-shirt from Luke and a cashmere sweater that was clearly hijacked out of Owen's closet at some point." He stated a smug look on his face as he crossed his arms and mimicked my stance.
"It wasn't hijacked, it was liberated." I protested. "Fine." I shook my head. "All this time apart and you got that right away."
He closed the distance between us. "I lied, I got it right but you still get a kiss." He said, framing my face with his hands and bending his head to plant his lips on mine and kiss me deeply.
I mean, toe curling deeply.
I moaned in the back of my throat, my lips parting to allow his tongue to plunder my mouth." Cam..." I breathed against his lips before kissing him back.
He kissed me for a few moments longer before he dragged his mouth away from mine, drawing in a ragged breath. "God, I've missed you." He let go of my face to trail his fingertips down my cheek.
"I smiled at him. "Yeah? I've definitely missed you more than I realized."
He laughed. "We'll have to work on that because now that I know what your hang up really was with that first-class louse of an ex... well, I suspect we've all missed you more than we realized."
"How are you holding up?" I asked. "Have you talked more among yourselves about it?"
He shrugged. "I have a plan. I told them I have a plan and they'd have to trust me and here you are. The first part of my play it by ear plan."
"Sounds like a plan." I teased before nodding my head at his dresser. "Everything still in the same spot?"
"Of course." He said. "Tradition holds that we do change into casual clothes or pajamas right away and then it's dinner and spots in the living room to watch movies in this house."
"All right." I said. "You're sure that I should get dressed in your clothes right away? Won't that give them the wrong idea?"
"It's fine." He said, turning and leaving me alone in his room
I turned to the dresser and went to poke around in it to see what he had for me to borrow. I frowned slightly.
I was sure that he would have gotten rid of these boxers and t-shirts, they were far too small for him when I used to steal them in Paris.
Why had he brought them with him?
I shrugged it off before locating my favorites and changed, heading downstairs in a pair of blue and green plaid boxers paired with a black t-shirt. I'd gone ahead and taken off my bra.
He said to get comfy.
I'd tossed on Owen's sweater after all.
Yes, they were my exes but we hadn't gotten that far with some of them so I didn't want to make them feel awkward.
It was their house, after all.
I squared my shoulders and headed into the kitchen. "Hey." I murmured.
Cam's head jerked up and he smiled, letting his gaze rake over my body. "Now that's making yourself at home." He smiled, holding up a bottle of wine. "Wine?"
"Like you have to ask." I smiled before moving to the food containers and digging out the baguettes I'd made to go with dinner.
"No, I didn't." he agreed, pouring us both a glass. "It is your favorite."
"Which is also your favorite." I teased, taking a deep breath, inhaling the scent of it before sipping. "Oh yes, this is the good stuff. I've been getting Owen hooked on it too. He's always had a discerning palette but it's fun to watch his mind get blown by a French wine."
Cam chuckled. "I bet. It's been fun to get some of these guys in line with the good stuff too." He took a sip. "Did you manage to fit lemon tarts into the schedule?"
"Maybe." I smiled. "I don't understand why you still have these." I said, plucking at the shorts I was wearing. "They don't fit you. I would have thought you would have tossed them before you shipped them overseas."
His cheeks flushed with a rush of color. "Well..." He ran his hand through his hair. "They're not mine."
I blinked at him. "Yes, they are."
He shook his head. "They are far too small for me. Always have been." He said. "I bought them for you. You'd steal mine and they'd practically fall off of your hips." His eyes were pained as they met mine. "It was before we ever discussed extra benefits in our roommate agreement and it was difficult to maintain my composure within the contract. So I bought some specifically to fit you."
"Oh. I had no idea."
He laughed. "Clearly. I just made excuses about shrinking them so that you wouldn't feel bad about always wearing them."
"Such a sweetheart." I sipped wine. "So dinner has about an hour?"
He nodded. "They'll start trickling in within that hour." He checked the food in the oven. "Everything's right on track."
"If you say so." I said, finding his box of lemon tarts and handing them to him.
"You are the best ever." He stated, digging one out of the box and eating it in two bites.
I was perched on a stool at the kitchen island, keeping him company as he put finishing touches on dinner. I'd chopped all the veggies for the salad and sliced up the bread. Did we eat half of a baguette with French butter while we worked?
Yes. We absolutely did that. Yes.
We were having fun. I felt like I'd come home. I don't know that I'd ever felt this at home in my own kitchens that I had available to call home.
The backdoor opened as I tossed a handful of chopped carrots at Cam for teasing me. "You're such a meanie." I pouted.
"Is he being mean to you, Love?"
I couldn't help the shudder that ran through my body as Tony's accented, warm baritone voice washed over me. "No. he's not that bad." I turned to look at him, drinking in the sight of him. "Hi." I smiled.
"Hi yourself Love." He smiled and set his lunch bag down on the counter before stepping over to me, glancing at Cam.
I also glanced at Cam.
Cam grinned before raising an eyebrow at Tony. "Kiss her properly, jerk. I don't mind."
My eyes widened and I stared at him. I guess I shouldn't have thought about that really. He and I had kissed and he did know me best. It would just go down as par for the course if he was right and having me here for a movie marathon weekend would be good for all of us. I met Tony's gaze when he turned his focus on me. "Yeah. What he said." I reached out for him when he got close enough for me to wrap my arms around his neck.
Tony smiled before tilting his head, lips covering mine as he kissed me soundly.
"Tony..." I murmured before biting his lip slightly and seizing control of our kiss. It had been a long time and my body was just starting to wake up to the fact that I'd truly missed a major part of myself when we broke up.
He broke the kiss when we both needed air and just held me close, my forehead resting against his chin as he hugged me. "I've missed this." He said.
"Me too." I said, shifting away to study him. "You've not changed a bit."
"Neither have you. You're still the same, Love."
"That's what you're supposed to say." He shrugged. "I won't go into all the details of the pastry weight I've put on in the past few years." I laughed.
He leaned in again and brushed his lips against mine. "I've just been working and working out." He shrugged. "I'm going to go get changed. Looks like Cam filled you in on the required dress for movie night traditions."
"Oh, yeah. He filled me in plenty. Funny thing is, this is practically how we always had movie nights in Paris." I laughed.
Cam laughed and went over to check dinner again. "I guess you're right. I just never told you that it was how I usually had movie nights with my friends."
"Nope." I popped the P sound on the end of the word. "Imagine what great chats we could have had if we'd bothered to dig a little bit deeper into each other."
Tony laughed when Cam shrugged. "I guess, but to be honest, I wouldn't trade one bit of our two years. I think knowing all about it would have ended up making things super awkward between us and we were sharing the flat and the kitten."
"True." I reached for my wine glass. "We had two amazing years as roomies and we didn't have time for awkward." I sipped after saluting him with my glass.
"And I'm out. Be back." Tony said, heading up to his room.
"Is this your big plan?" I asked, grabbing a slice of bread. "Get them all home one at a time and make them kiss me in front of you?"
"Maybe. I think it will work." He said. "Face it, Jess, I've got the advantage. Yes, you've dated all of them. I watched you date Sam and I realize now that all our talks in France centered around a few things You never dated any of them longer than two or three months. You never gave them a chance to really see how they felt about you and you said you triggered a few break ups to get out before you were let down." He pinned me with a gaze while he topped off both of our glasses. "But I know you. And I know who you are now. We never dated and yet we still managed to get close to having sex four times." He brushed a light kiss across my lips.
I set my glass down, running my hand across the scruffy stubble along his jaw. "That's an excellent point." I said before kissing him back lightly. "I hadn't considered that enough. What kind of relationship did we have if you almost comforted me about Sam leaving by taking me to bed?"
"Oh, I did take you to bed." He teased. "But we didn't do anything because I tucked you in with the cat because you were distraught."
"True." I nodded. "I wouldn't change anything. You were right when you dropped me at the airport. If we'd dated after Sam left and stayed a couple, then I wouldn't have been able to leave we'd still be in Paris or maybe we'd be here, breaking everyone's hearts that I chose you."
He chuckled. "I could see that."
"So, who's next to get home?"
"Usually Sam or Zack. Depends on what sort of job Sam has going on right now."
"Are we betting on it?" I asked. I was far too used to how Sang and my brothers bet on practically everything.
"You want to bet again?" he smirked. "What's the stakes?"
I pursed my lips. "Loser does winner's laundry for a week. I'll bring mine over."
He laughed. "So confident today. Those stakes work for me. And you know how I like my laundry anyway. I'll expect you over to do it every few days."
"Deal." I said, offering my fist as we fist bumped on it like we usually did. "Okay so... It's going to be Zack first."
"Then my laundry rides on Sam." He grinned.
BAM!
Butterflies activated.
I loved that smile.
I missed that smile.
I missed the scruffy look he always rocked when he had a few days off from the hotel because they had a facial hair ban in place.
I blinked again and took a deep breath, staring at him for a long time. Anyone else might feel uncomfortable under my unwavering gaze but Cam knew me.
Knew me better most of the time than I knew myself.
"God, I've missed you so much." I murmured. His eyes softened as he stared back at me until we heard a door slam out in the driveway.
"We didn't talk about if it wasn't either of them." He said.
"Bet stands until they're home because it's still about which one of those two gets here first. They didn't carpool or anything, right?"
He shook his head. "It would have been Zack and Tony if anything."
"Good." I smiled. "May the odds be ever in your laundry's favor." I teased as we waited to see who would come through the door.
A/N: This is not a cliffhanger. do not come for me with pitchforks! It's a necessary break in a mega run on chapter that is way too long to actually be interesting. lol. xoxo