When I wake up the next morning, the air is cold outside of the covers. It makes it even harder to get up when I notice Joe laying on top of me, head on my chest, leg intertwined, arm across my stomach.
"Joey," I whisper and he rubs his face into my chest.
"Hm?" He hums, and finally looks up at me.
"It's 8, shouldn't you be working out or something?"
He shakes his head, "Recovery, baby. Day after game is film day, and I do that on my own."
"In that case," I start rubbing his back, which I know he loves, "I have some shopping to do for a trip, do you want to come?"
"Hell yeah," he sits up, "I love shopping."
"Great," I poke him in the back and he rolls off of me, "you are going to get dressed, then you'll drive me to my apartment, I'll get dressed, and then I have a lunch with my publicist and then the fun stuff happens."
"Yes, mom," he groans and stands up, stretching his arms above his head. I stare at him in wonder. We're dating. Literally boyfriend and girlfriend. If someone told me that 5 months ago, I would have actually had a heart attack from shock.
I need to thank Tyler for pulling Ella. Without them and Allie, we would have never met.
"Take a picture, it'll last longer," he puts his hand on his hip sassily.
"Okay," I reach over and snap a picture of him and we both laugh.
"Will you pick an outfit for me?" Joe calls out as he walks into the bathroom.
"Yeah," I answer, and immediately jump up to scrounge his closet.
Everything was in perfect order, shoes together, jackets together, pants hanging perfectly. I skimmed through drawers and hangers to get an idea.
It was supposed to be raining all day, so I picked out a blue sweater and black jeans with Dunks that matched the blue of the sweater.
I heard the shower turn off a few minutes later and I knocked on the door.
"Come in," Joe says loudly.
When I open the door, a giant bathroom sits in front of me. The floor was white marble and across the room was the biggest shower I've ever seen. To the right of it, a huge bathtub with gold appliances.
"Casual sweater and black jeans with your blue Dunks," I hold up the outfit proudly. When I first walked in, I hadn't noticed Joe standing there in nothing but a towel, but now I had.
"Very nice," he walks over and takes the sweater and jeans out of my hands, kisses me on the cheek, and goes back into his bedroom.
I stood there stunned and red cheecked. My ancestors would be ashamed to hear the thoughts I'm having about Joe in a towel and the huge shower.
I try to shake the dirty thoughts as Joe walks back in, dressed in the blue outfit.
"What's wrong?" Joe asks and I snap out of my thoughts.
"No- nothing," I quickly shake my head.
He hums and gives me a skeptical look.
I lift myself onto the sink counter while he's washing his face.
"It does not surprise me that you have a whole skincare routine," I chuckle, and he squints at me.
"I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing."
I smile, "It's a green flag for sure."
"Awesome," he rinses off the cleanser and then puts on toner and moisturizer while I'm scrolling on my phone.
"Cami," he pulls my phone out of my hands and places a bottle of gel into them, "oh sweet girlfriend, will you do my hair?"
"Yeah," I squint at him, "why?"
"Because I don't like the way it looks when I do it," he shrugs, "and you're a girl, so I want it to look good for you."
"You're a sweetheart," I put my free hand on the side of his face.
"Yeah, yeah," he turns away sarcastically and we both grin.
I squeeze some gel into my hands and start working it through his hair. He stands between my legs, lowering himself by putting his hands on my thighs so I can reach better.
"There," I ruffle it just enough so that a couple pieces fall forward, "your personal stylist strikes again."
"Thank you, dear," he kisses me and then picks me up off of the counter like a rag doll. I wish I could say I hated it, but there was something so attractive about him tossing me around like I weigh nothing.
The self restraint we were showing was impressive. We'd talked about how we didn't like it when relationships were just hooking up. Both of us, hopeless romantics at heart, liked sweet kisses and cute hugs, not just meaningless time with one another.
I look down at my phone and it shows that it's almost 10.
"We need to leave pretty soon, lunch with Olivia is at 11:30," I say, and Joe nods.
"I'm almost done," he sprays cologne on himself and nods, "now I'm done."
I walk out of the bathroom and make my way through the house, grabbing my purse and my other clothes on the way out.
Joe catches up to me and leads me to the garage, "A day like today deserves the Acura."
The bright yellow sports car stares back at me, "And here I thought it would be a low-profile day."
"You're officially my girlfriend," he opens the door for me and I get in, "I want people to know."
I shake my head at him and he shuts the door.
✧
"This is a huge problem," Olivia announces as she points back and forth between Joe and I.
"Hello to you too," I give her a suspicious look.
She sticks her hand out for Joe to shake, "Olivia Grey, I'm her publicist."
"I'm Joe," he says, and shakes her hand. All three of us sit down.
"He can be here, I don't care," I say, hoping that's what Olivia meant when she said it was a problem.
"No dear," she shakes her head, "the whole thing. You're getting bad press. Really bad press."
"I don't care," I chuckle and Joe puts a hand on my leg under the table.
"Well Camden," Olivia sighs, "you remember what happened to Olivia Rodrigo when she put that album out and everyone thought it was about Joshua? She got so much hate for it and it flopped because everyone loved Joshua."
Josh was another one of her clients and one of my confidants. He was going through a lot when Olivia released that album, so I made sure to watch over him. We've been friends since then.
"Well I'm not planning on the next one to be a breakup album," I shake my head.
Olivia raises her hands, "It's my job to keep up with your appearance to the media. If you want to go against my advice, then you'll have to deal with the consequences."
"It's just this one thing," I say, loud enough for her eyes to open wider. We were in a private part of the restaurant, but people were sure to hear, "let me have this one thing."
"Camden," Olivia says calmly, "I was with you a couple years ago. I know how social media can get to you. I don't want to see that ever again."
"I know," I say, calmer than before, "it's just, I've grown so much, and I'm sure about this. Trust me."
"I will," her shoulders drop in defeat, "I will trust you, but if everything falls apart, I'll be ready to pick up the pieces."
"Thank you," I smile and we share an understanding look.
The rest of the lunch went smoothly. Joe definitely won Olivia over. The charm was on another level today, even making me fall for him all over again.
Before we leave, Olivia pulls me into a hug and whispers, "If anyone could possibly send your career into a downward spiral, I'm glad it's him."
"Olivia," I scold her and we both break into laughter. We go our separate ways, Joe and I to an Urban Outfitters and Olivia to the airport to get stuff in New York handled with before the trip.
"What do you need to go shopping for anyway?" Joe skims through the hangers mindlessly.
"I have a brand trip to Paris next week," I pick up a jacket and examine it, "and I really screwed myself over with not packing up any of my fall clothes during the move."
"Paris?" He exclaims and flicks his eyes up to me, "When do you leave?"
"Monday," I sigh, "and I know, your game is that Monday."
"If I play bad, it's your fault," he points at me and I chuckle.
"You'll be fine," I reassure him and go back to focusing on the clothes. For Cincinnati, Ohio, this Urban Outfitters was pretty good. I found a few basics and a pair of sunglasses that Joey described as 'Boss Bitchy'.
The rest of the small boutiques that we went to were a bust. They were totally not my style. I'm pretty basic when it comes to clothes, but I lean towards darker stuff. All 5 of the local shops that we went into were bright and alive.
"I'm about to say something, and you can't make it weird," Joe points to me while he's at a red light.
I scowl, "What?"
"I've never been tired of you," he says like it's something insane, "like even Tyler is too much, but you've never been too much."
"You should teach a master class on how to pick up girls," I nod, acting very serious.
"Sign me up," he sighs, "but that isn't weird to you though right?"
"No," I shake my head, "it's a little too late to say you get tired of me."
I can see his smile out of the corner of my eye, so I turn to him.
"I don't think I could ever get tired of you," he chuckles as he says it.
I don't say anything, the smile on my face conveys enough emotion.
He gently picks up my hand and kisses it. I wanted to start crying because of how adorable it is. His mom raised him beautifully, I'll have to thank her.
"Why weren't your parents at your game the other day?"
He shrugs, "Something happened with Allie's dorm. They had to move her stuff out and into a different one."
"Oh," I whisper, "I was kind of hoping to meet them."
"I think my mom would love you. My brothers, too," he grins as if there's more to the story, "and obviously Allie is too star struck to even fathom the fact that we're dating."
"I love her," I chuckle, remembering the night all five of us spent together.
"But my dad is hard to crack," he brings the conversation back to a serious note, "he's, let's say, not very open minded. Like he complains about the clothes I wear, the way I act when I'm playing, my friends."
"I'm sorry," I wince, and he shakes his head.
"Don't be, if it weren't for him, I wouldn't be here."
"My mom is amazing, but she would have picked any other future for me than to sing," I shiver, "she always wanted me to be a doctor or a lawyer. If it weren't for my dad and my brothers, I would be in medical school right now."
"Brothers?" Joe gives me a nervous look and I smile.
"Yeah, Cade is 34 and Cowen is 26," a warm feeling takes over my chest and I talk with pride, "Cade is a neurosurgeon in Oregon, and Cowen does accounting, he's actually my accountant."
"Are you close with them?"
I nod, "Cowen, yeah. We grew up so close in age that we were always each other's best friend. And Cade, well, he's always been so driven on following in my dad's footsteps."
"Your brother and your dad are neurosurgeons?" He asks, confusion laced in his voice.
"Yeah," I sigh, "you can imagine the disappointment my parents felt when I told them I wanted to sing instead of look at cadavers."
"You aren't a disappointment," he laughs as if it's the most wild thing he's ever heard, "fucking Grammy winning singer-songwriter, you aren't disappointing anyone."
"Well, at the time, nobody knew if I was actually good because of Covid and everything, but my record label heard my tapes and signed me, a few months later, my first EP came out and I won best new artists for that and I won an album of the year for Good Riddance."
"That's insane," he sighs.
"Gee thanks," I smile widely at him and he smiles back. He starts to say something but he stops himself.
"Ella is really close with my mom," I say quietly, not trying to say anything that would come off as rude about Ella, "it's like she's the daughter that she never had."
"Cami," Joe pulls into my apartment parking garage and finds a spot near the door, almost like he's been here before. I did tell him where to go beforehand, so he isn't a total creep.
"I didn't mean it all depressed and everything," I chuckle in an effort to lighten the mood, "but I'm just saying, my mom loves her. She already said she'll be there for the birth of the baby and every moment after that."
"I'm confident that your mother doesn't love Ella more than you," we get out of the car and he grabs the shopping bags for me, "she probably just got attached because of Ella's situation."
"That's what I tell myself," I sigh and open the doors for him.
"It's the truth," he gives me a pointed look.
"I think my mom just expected grand babies out of me by now," I say, and Joe flinches at the word.
"Yeah my parents and I have had that conversation before," he groans, "it's like they don't want me to live a little. Like I'm supposed to settle down, get married, have kids, retire. Zero room for adventure."
"Exactly," I sigh as I unlock the door to my apartment. Although, I don't say how the thought of a family with Joe makes my heart beat a little faster. I can imagine us now, he would teach the kids about football and I'd show them the importance of art. We'd sit on the back porch of our house, overlooking acres of land, watching the kids chase one another while we hold each other. In a flash, I imagine us old. Grey hair and wrinkles. Then we would have our own grand babies.
"Cam," Joe nudges me out of my daydream and I step through the doorway.
"Sorry," I mumble, and quickly walk away from him.
I'd never thought of my life like that. It's always been about my career, how many people I can inspire and influence. How many awards I can win by the time I'm 50.
But a new variable comes to light. Now, my future isn't just material. It could be something real and solid that could pass down from generation to generation.
Not just a life. Living with Joey is what I want. No one else. Him, and our imaginary children.
Maybe I'm being insane, maybe I'm not. But I do know that I've never, ever, had these thoughts about any of the guys I've dated.
Even as a teen I knew it wouldn't last. But this felt real.
And it scared the shit out of me because it hasn't even been 24 hours since he asked me to be his girlfriend.
⇜⇝
This is really long, so sorry about that!
Not too sure how I feel about this chapter, so some stuff might be changed, but for now, here it is!
Thanks for reading! Love ya!