The Truth Within (Pelican Bay 3)

And I wasn’t.

Not yet.

I didn’t want to do anything but hold onto the man who was fast becoming my entire world.

I hugged him harder. I knew there were things we needed to figure out, but at the moment I didn’t care about any of them. I was just so fucking glad he was there and I wanted him to know that. I hoped the way I was holding him told him so, because I was having trouble getting past the emotion stuck in my throat.

I felt Ford press a kiss to the top of my head. “I love you, Camden Wells.”

I went completely still at that, then blinked back the tears that started forming in my eyes. They were the last words I’d expected to hear from him.

But the very ones I’d been needing to.

“I love you, Ford,” I choked out as I pressed a kiss to his chest. “So very much.”

And that was it. I fell asleep in his arms, not even bothering to get undressed. When I woke up the next morning, I was under the covers and wasn’t wearing anything more than my boxer shorts.

But unlike every other time I’d woken up after spending the night with Ford, this time I wasn’t alone.

Ford had stayed.

He’d fucking stayed.

Chapter 26

Ford

“I’m sure Jimmy is fine, Edith,” my stepfather was saying calmly as I walked into the kitchen the next morning.

“He’s not fine,” my mother snapped. “Or he’d be home, wouldn’t he?” I couldn’t help but flinch when my mother spotted me. “Where have you been all night?”

“Working,” I automatically said. Fuck, I’d said that out of pure instinct. But I couldn’t just admit to having spent the night with the new sheriff as he’d practically fucked me into a pleasure-induced coma, especially considering the former sheriff was sitting at the kitchen table sipping a cup of coffee. I needed to tell my mother and stepfather the truth about my relationship with Cam, but I definitely didn’t want to do it in front of Uncle Curtis.

It’d been three days since Riley had shown up.

Three days since I’d told Cam I loved him.

Three days that I’d woken up in his arms and quietly made love to him in his big, warm bed.

Three days since I’d sworn to myself that I’d tell him the truth about Jimmy but hadn’t.

Three days since I’d tried to pin my family down long enough to tell them I was gay and that I didn’t care what it meant.

Three days to delight in the fact that Cam was my future, no matter what. If it cost me my family, so be it. Even if Cam hadn’t told me he loved me, I’d already chosen him. And if he decided to end it with me because I’d kept the stuff about Jimmy from him, it wouldn’t change my future with my family.

Riley had been a big eye-opener for me. And seeing how Cam had welcomed him even after everything that had happened had shown me that my instincts with the mural in the nursery hadn’t been just wishful thinking… it was a future I could have, even if I couldn’t have Cam. Dallas and his family had welcomed me with open arms despite my family name. I wouldn’t ever make them choose between me and Cam if Cam decided I wasn’t it for him after all, but if people like the Kents and their significant others and Sawyer could care about me in Pelican Bay despite the fact that I shared blood with a man who’d caused them such harm, then it stood to reason that there were others in the world who could maybe love me. I didn’t need to end up like the woman who’d given birth to me. I didn’t blame her for anything that had happened because I knew how strong my mother’s hold on people was… I’d been under her thumb for years and hadn’t even really realized it until now. Who was I to judge Aunt Grace for how she’d turned out or for giving up on the future we’d talked about?

“Where’s your brother?” my mother snapped.

“I don’t know,” I began, but then stopped. It was one thing to not tell them about Cam while Uncle Curtis was here, but I’d be damned if I was going to keep covering for Jimmy. Or letting my mother deny the truth about her precious little boy. “You know where he is, Mom,” I said.

“No, I don’t!” she snapped. “If I knew, why would I waste my time asking you?”

“Because you want me to lie to you,” I said. “Like we all do,” I added as I motioned to Uncle Curtis and my stepfather. Uncle Curtis seemed unconcerned by my remark and my stepfather quickly dropped his eyes and busied himself with making his coffee. I’d never had any problems with my stepfather, but he didn’t have much of a spine when it came to my mother. Few people did.