I grabbed my phone and quietly exited the bus. There was a patch of grass not too far off to the side. I hit Cameron’s number and paced as I waited for him to answer.
“Hey, man. I hear congrats are in order.”
“Thanks. We need to talk.”
There was a pause. “Oh, shit. What happened? Is Sawyer okay?”
“Yeah, she is now. Your parents happened. I took Sawyer to see them, and apparently, they’ve regained their asshole status. Sawyer told me everything.”
“Oh fuck. Are you serious? Shit. Why didn’t she call me?” Cameron’s voice grew louder, and I could feel his anger over the phone.
Good, he’s on Sawyer’s side.
“She asked me to. I don’t think it’s something she wants to go through again.”
I threw the ball a few feet for George to chase. In my spare time, I’d been working on training George. Sawyer had no idea.
A door opened and closed on the other side of the line. “Tell me everything.”
I launched into the story, not leaving out any of the details.
On the other end, Cameron sighed. “I can’t believe they’re doing this again. When they did this before, I made sure to be there with Sawyer to help be a buffer whenever she insisted on trying to be normal with them. Then out of the blue, they changed and pretended they hadn’t treated Sawyer like she didn’t exist for years. I pushed them for answers but never got anywhere. Finally, Sawyer asked me to stop. I knew she was afraid they would change back if they were pushed too hard.”
At least she’d had someone in her life to protect her. “Well, it’s not going to keep happening. Sawyer agreed to all of this. She’s blocking their numbers. If they want to talk, they can reach out to you or me. I have no problem dealing with them. I have a few things I’d like to say to them.”
“Did you talk to them this afternoon?”
George brought the ball back. I gripped it hard in my fist before tossing it. “No. I needed the details first, and having a showdown with them was not going to put Sawyer’s best interest first. And she is my priority.”
“You two are that serious already?”
“I think you know as well as I do that we’ve been serious about each other since November. I was too much of a pussy to admit it.”
“At least you’re honest.” He chuckled.
It irritated me that I’d been too scared to be there for Sawyer the way I should have been. At least I was now. I pressed on, making sure Cameron was crystal fucking clear about where I stood on this. “They may have been able to pull this shit before, but I will rain hell down on them if they try to fuck with my girl. And I hope you’ll stand by me if they do.”
“Of course. I’ll call them and see if I can figure out what’s happening.”
“Thanks, Cameron. And just so you know, I’m serious about Sawyer. Very serious.”
“Good, because if you break her heart, I’ll rain hell down on you.”
“I would expect nothing less. Good talk, Cameron. Call me if you find anything out.”
“Same here. Thanks, Kurt. I’m glad Sawyer has you.”
“I’m glad I have her.”
I ended the call and ran my fingers through my hair. “Sit, George.”
Without pause, he sat. When Sawyer decided it was time to train him, she was going to think he was the smartest dog ever. I couldn’t wait.
“Down, George.”
He lay down on the grass at my feet.
“Good boy. Let’s go to bed.”