Scratch the Surface

“Not the paintings, though, right?” Cody wanted to know. “They’re great.”

“No, those all stay, but some of the fixtures, the furniture––”

“Like the torture device masquerading as a couch?” Seth sounded especially hopeful to see it gone.

“Yes—” He snickered. “—Jere suggested that the couch be donated to a research facility for testing ass numbness.”

Makayla’s burst of laughter made everyone else chuckle.

“Ohmygod, that horrible, horrible couch!” Courtney squealed.

“No give at all on that thing,” Cody stressed, squinting at Cameron. “What the hell? Did you lose a bet? Is that what happened?”

Cameron made a cutting motion with his hand to shut them all up. It was all I could do to keep it together.

Their parents had stayed to sit with their guests after dinner, so Courtney and Seth went over and filled them in, Courtney scrolling through the pictures on Cameron’s phone.

“Hey, you don’t have any naked pictures of me on your phone, do you?”

“No.” He scowled at me, then added, “But there are a couple of––”

“Wow, you guys look great in your suits,” Courtney announced from across the room. “When was this taken?”

“At the Rauch Group’s company Thanksgiving party this past Monday,” Cameron told her.

He was a hero, as he’d secured Kingman’s for Axton Enterprises, the deal finalized, Merrell Barrett having unloaded the property before it had become a true drain on his family’s finances.

Some of the Kingman employees were even going to return, but many had gone the way of Lance, Cheyenne, and me, taking the opportunity to try something new.

“I loved that party,” I told Cameron, and he shook his head like I was ridiculous.

“Drake wasn’t interested in me.” He leaned in to kiss the side of my neck and lingered a moment, which caused a shiver to run down my spine. “You didn’t have to hold my hand all night.”

But I did, and Cameron liked it, and that was the important part. And yes, Drake Holmes had been very interested in my boyfriend, which became obvious when he’d cornered me at the bar and asked how long we’d been dating.

“Since the day we met at the restaurant,” I apprised him, and noted the irritation on his face. But when Cameron had come up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, his nose in my hair, inhaling me, and said he was ready to go home, I saw it in Drake’s warm gaze. Cameron being happy made Drake happy as well. It was a superpower my boyfriend had, that people wanted the best for him because he always did the best for them. He didn’t think people noticed him, but I could vouch for the fact that they truly did.

“Oh, Cam…” Courtney gave a low whistle, and when I glanced over at her, I saw the mischievous grin on her face. “Your boyfriend looks amazing wet.”

“What?” His gasp made everyone laugh, and he practically sprinted across the room to snatch back his phone.

“What picture was that?” I teased him when he came back to the couch where I was sitting with the wolfhounds at my feet.

“When we got caught in the rain, walking home from getting shakes at, like, what, two in the morning.”

They were all such recent memories, but they felt older, grounded in history, like there were layers of time cementing us together instead of mere weeks.

“I don’t know why this popped into my head, but do you know what I was thinking?” Cameron turned to look at me, eyes wide. “Maybe the new manager that Axton brings in to run the Country Porch will turn out to be Merrell Barrett’s Prince Charming.”

I scoffed.

“What? Why not? You don’t think that would be romantic?”

“You have a very active fantasy life; do you know that?”

“I can’t help it if you’re not a romantic like me.”

But after I kissed him, he whispered that he took it back. “You’re actually very romantic,” he conceded, staring into my eyes.

“You bring it out in me.”

He clutched his heart, and I put an arm around him so he could snuggle in close.

16

Cameron

I was ready to go. I wanted to leave because my very hot, very sexy boyfriend wanted me, and since I was human, and breathing, it was time to say goodnight. The problem was, my father was enjoying talking to Jeremiah about construction of all things, and then my mother announced we should split into teams to play games. First up was Pictionary, and my sister set up the easels and whiteboards, and I had to admit it felt like the universe was trying to cockblock me. Because God, yes, I wanted to get home to my bed, but I also wanted both my parents to see how amazing Jeremiah was, and thus far, my father was in, but my mother had settled on polite with ice around the edges.

She was doing her very best Snow Queen impression.