Like, for example, the fact that he was absolutely, totally, one hundred percent falling in love with Mina Silver.
Not that he was surprised by that revelation. After all, he'd been half in love with her his entire life. But what he felt now was no teenage crush. It was rich and deep. Desire mixed with admiration and respect and longing and a connection so intense that when she was away from him he missed her with a physical ache. And not merely the sexual kind, though he wouldn't deny he had that kind of craving as well.
They hadn't made love since the weekend of Darryl's party, and Cam was fine with that. Their sweet courtship had solidified his feelings, and, he hoped, made Mina see him, and not just a good time.
The hard part was that he wanted to tell Mina how he felt, but he feared scaring her off. And now, after years of hiding his crush from Darryl, Cam desperately wanted his friend's advice, since no one knew Mina better than her twin. But he'd promised Mina, and so he held his tongue.
"Have you seen her today?" Cam asked. "Do you know if she got that paper done?" She'd spent a good chunk of Tuesday on her laptop in Brent's house finalizing the cinematography article she'd been writing for publication with one of her advisors.
"She came into the house for breakfast," Darryl told him. "Said she hadn't had time to hit the grocery store and needed eggs. And yeah. She said she finished and was meeting with the professor right after lunch to go over it one last time."
"And you? What's on your agenda today? Anything after work?"
Darryl frowned. "I was hoping to go for a bike ride, but I'm going to end up working late. Want to go down to the Veloway this weekend?"
Cam nodded. "Sure." Frankly, he could use the exercise. He'd blown off all his recent training sessions at the gym with Matthew. Fortunately, he'd gotten quite a workout chasing Faith.
"I'm back on the clock at the Fix starting Friday," he told Darryl, "but my shift doesn't start until six."
Darryl was an avid biker, and though Cam knew he preferred the city streets, considering the mess that was Austin traffic, Cam would much rather bike on the path.
"Are you biking to work?" It was a trek from Darryl's house to the downtown Federal Building, but Cam knew that was nothing for Darryl.
"Maybe when the weather gets cooler. Right now, I'm too focused on making a good impression on my judge. I don't need to be juggling clothes, too. Speaking of, I need to get back." He pointed a finger at Cam. "Saturday," he said. "I'll pick you up. I've got a rack on the back of the Land Rover."
They finalized the plans and paid the bill, then walked out together. And although Cam had every intention of heading back to his room in the West Campus co-op, he somehow ended up in the open area in front of the main doors to the film school.
Which was ridiculous, since even during summer the University of Texas was an ant bed of activity, and the odds of him bumping into Mina were incredibly slim. For all he knew, she and the professor had finished hours ago, and she was at The Domain shopping with one of her girlfriends. Or she and the professor had gone to the Student Union to have a drink while they went over the article line by line.
He tugged his phone out of his back pocket, intending to tell her he was on campus, and to ping him back if she was free. Then he'd walk back to the co-op slowly, just in case he heard from her.
He didn't get the chance.
"Cam!"
He turned toward the sound of her voice, and when he saw her delighted smile, he felt as if he'd been lit by a beam of sunlight.
"What are you doing here?" she asked as she hurried to his side.
"Would it sound stalker-ish if I said I wanted to see you?"
Her smile widened and a tint of pink bloomed on her cheeks. "Absolutely. But in a kinder, gentler stalker way."
He laughed, then took her hand. "Are you free for the rest of the day?"
She frowned, looking genuinely disappointed. "I told Megan and Taylor we could do shopping then drinks at The Domain. What?" she added, obviously seeing his grin.
"Not a thing," he said, though he'd predicted that very scenario. "Tell them I said hello. What about tomorrow night?"
"That I can do so long as it's after seven."
"Hot date?"
She tilted her head up to meet his eyes, the heat in hers just about melting him. "Well, I certainly hope so."
"I think I can pretty much guarantee that after seven. Before, you're on your own."
"Not too much in the way of excitement there