“Good. You?”
“Good.” She’s a good friend, but I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say, so I just start talking. “Actually, every time I open my mouth lately, I seem to get caught up in another person’s plan.”
Using her hand as a visor, she looks up at me. “You’re spread too thin.”
“It would help if I could get work under better control.”
“I’m coming to realize I have no control. My whole life revolves around planning this wedding, so much so that I’ve forgotten how I filled my time before this took over. At this stage, I’ll be lucky if Cade marries me. I’ve become a nightmare to live with.”
“He loves you. Crazy in love with you. So I’m sure he doesn’t mind. We should all be as lucky as him. He found his soul mate and his much better half.”
We stop with the wind at our backs and our toes in the water. “Honestly, he’s the better of the two of us. I can’t wait to put this extravaganza behind us and just be married to him.” She looks at me. “Tealey said you’re not working late every night anymore.”
“Some nights. Whatever I can get away with.” I shove my hands in my pockets, unsure of what I want to share versus what I like keeping private for Tealey and me—like last night.
She starts walking again, so I do as well. Approaching a large pile of driftwood, we part and walk around it. Hidden from view of the house, she asks, “Can we talk about the secret you’re hiding?”
My eyes shoot to her. “What secret?”
At the edge of the ocean, she pushes a log toward the water with her foot. “Tealey told me about you.”
“She did? When?” Cammie nods. Fuck. “I assumed we weren’t telling anyone this weekend.” Scratching the back of my neck, I redirect my gaze to the horizon. “It just happened.” When I look back at her, I ask, “We haven’t even had time to discuss it.”
This really surprises me. Cammie’s one of her closest friends, so I understand her sharing secrets, but I’d think that Tealey would talk to me first. Still shocked, I start rambling, “It was one kiss, and then that led to another, and hours later—”
“Hours later?” She gasps, her eyes going wide. “You kissed Tealey?”
Locking my lips, I don’t say another word because anything I say could be used to tease me relentlessly.
“You kissed Tealey for hours last night?” Cammie’s mouth hangs open as she waits for me to answer.
Distract. Distract. Distract. Shit. I’ve already fucked this up. “What were you talking about?”
“Oh, no. Too late for that, Rad. The cat is so far out of the bag that it’s down the street.” Stepping up to me, she squints and points her finger at me. “You kissed Tealey. Tell me everything.” Her tough-guy act cracks, and she giggles in delight. “You kissed Tealey.”
Tealey is going to kill me. “You can’t tell anyone, Cam. Tealey and I agreed to keep everything on the down low until we figure things out.”
“She must be freaking out.”
“Why would she freak out?”
“What do you mean why would she freak out? She’s crushed on you since the day you met. Strawberries. Hard as rock abs. Chocolate eyes.”
“Chocolate eyes?” Stepping closer, I say, “Never mind. She’s crushed on me since the day we met? She said that?”
“I’ve had to listen to that story so many times over the years.” She can’t contain her smile. Neither can I because Tealey Bell has been attracted to me as long as I’ve been attracted to her. This affection hasn’t been one-sided. “I always knew you two were meant to be, but I didn’t see it coming just yet.”
“Neither did I . . . What do you mean by just yet?”
The water drifts over our feet, and though it’s cold as ice this morning, we don’t move. We just let our feet sink into the sand. Shaking her head at me, she laughs. “You were kissing for hours. Making out like teenagers last night. Apparently, I’m not the one who’s gone crazy.” She pokes me with her elbow. Tealey and Cam are a lot alike that way. “Making up for lost time much? Yeah.”
Swirling her finger willy-nilly in the air, she adds, “You two are the crazy ones. Crazy for each other. I knew it!”
“You’ve gone mad with power, Cam. It was a tidbit in a deep well of information. It’s not like we had sex.” She laughs.
“You can downplay it all you want, but people who don’t want to have sex don’t kiss for hours.” She grabs a stick and draws a big heart in the sand. “Sex is next, my friend, and I cannot wait.” Looking back at me, she says, “That came out wrong. Rest assured, I have no intention of being there or wanting to see anything regarding you or her or you two together having sex.” She laughs, carving RW loves TB in the center of the heart.