“I second Dad,” Fisher says through the speaker.
Marla raises her eyebrows and bites the inside of her lip.
I can’t see Derek making another appearance, but my dad has a point. “Okay, I guess. Cam can move in with me.”
“That’s my girl,” my dad says.
“I’ll drop him off later. Until we know for sure this Derek guy is gone, it’ll be nice to know Cam’s with you to protect you.” Fisher hangs up without saying goodbye.
The pit of my stomach sours. How am I going to live with the guy I’ve crushed on for years without wanting to give in to temptation?
7
“HONEY, I’M HOME.”
Cam
Fisher comes into the interrogation room, sits in the chair across from me, and sighs.
“What? Just tell me.”
He looks up and smiles. “Thank your best friend Fisher for bailing you out of trouble again.”
I stare at him for a beat. “He caved?”
“Yes. So again… thank your best friend Fisher.” He points at himself, his smile wide and annoying as all hell.
“Thanks. Although you could’ve been nicer when you arrested me. You didn’t even let me get a shirt.”
He stands and I follow suit. “I can’t treat you differently than I would anyone else. People wouldn’t vote for me next year.” He shrugs.
“I hit somebody to protect the honor of your sister.”
I don’t miss the way his jaw tightens at the mention of what happened to Chevelle. “I didn’t know that. I thought maybe you got drunk and got into a fight.”
“Derek was at Mandi’s wedding as Chevelle’s date. When he pressed charges, what did you think?” I shake my head as we leave the interrogation room. At least he never put me in an actual jail cell. I can just imagine him snapping a few pictures and spreading them around town as a joke.
“Well, I’m a little busy and sleep deprived with, oh that’s right, raising twins. Do you know how hard it’s been since they started to crawl? And Allie called this morning after I left to say Laurie has started running. My life is officially over.”
I laugh because he’s so dramatic. “It’s supposed to be a blessing raising kids.” I slap him on the shoulder. “Thanks again for springing me. Drive me home?”
He stops short of the door and his eyes crinkle at the sides. He puts his fingers on the bridge of his nose. It’s his way of saying there’s more he has to tell me. “So, your dad called me because he wanted to know if he should send a lawyer over.”
“I knew he wouldn’t stay mad at me.” I reach for the door.
“I told him we worked it out, and he thanked me and asked if you could stay in the apartment above our garage. He’s having a crew box up the stuff from your apartment and he’s taking the car back. You’ve been cut off.”
My head rocks back. “I thought for sure he was bluffing.”
Fisher shakes his head. “But I found you a better place to stay.”
“Better than above your garage? I’m sure I’d find it comfortable there.” I shrug.
“Yeah, the apartment is filled with a lot of storage right now. And you know… Allie and the twins—you don’t want us to bring down your social life.”
“I don’t?” He clearly doesn’t want me to live with them.
“Chevelle has the entire house to herself, and you can walk to the marina from there. Problem solved. Not to mention, the girls have left all their furniture behind, so bonus for you.”
“You want me to live with your sister?”
Hearing him say this is almost like a dream. I thought for sure Fisher saw right through me and knew I’ve wanted his sister for a while now, but I guess I was wrong. I’m surprised Chevelle would even agree to it, and I can’t help but wonder why she would.
“You’re family, Cam.” He hits me on the back as he opens the door to the outside. It’s still cloudy and foggy, as if the sun decided not to show today. “The only thing I’m worried about is getting calls from the neighbors when you two fight.” He laughs and climbs into his sheriff’s truck.
I get into the passenger side. “Can you take me to my apartment to get my clothes and stuff?”
“Sure.”
As we pull away, I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that he set it up for me to move in with Chevelle. This has to be a joke the universe is playing on me. I’m gonna have to see her in her pajamas, and please tell me she’s not a tank-top-and-panties girl because I’m going to be living with blue balls until my dad takes me back into the fold.
“Why do you seem stressed? You should be relaxed that you’re in the clear.” Fisher turns down my street.
“I’m not. It’s just… I’ve never lived with a girl before.”
His forehead crinkles when he glances at me as he stops at a stop sign. “It’s my sister, man. It’s not like it’s a girl you’re, like, hot for or anything.” He laughs, but my stomach sours.
If he only knew.
“Yeah, but still. I’m an only child. I don’t want to offend her or anything.”
“Chevelle?” He laughs again. “You know her. She’ll tell you if you’re pissing her off.”
Since I have no other options, I sit in his truck, stewing over the fact that I’m going to live with Chevelle. Stupid things can happen when you lust after someone, and the Greenes are like family to me. Fisher isn’t just my best friend, he’s like a brother. I cannot fuck this up.
Fisher stops outside my apartment, and sure enough, my dad’s Range Rover is parked outside. He’s probably dictating to the movers exactly where to move my stuff.
My neighbor’s door opens, and my dog, Gunner, runs out to greet us before I make it into my apartment. Chip agreed to watch him overnight since I was expecting to be home late.
“Hey, boy, did Chip treat you well?” I run my hand over his yellow fur. He wags his tail and pants excitedly.
“Since I was nice enough to take him in for the night, I think I deserve to know why you were arrested?” Chip comes out wearing his robe. He’s Nikki’s sidekick on the morning show of the local radio station and an active participant in Nikki’s gossip segment, Scandals of Sunrise Bay. “And now your dad is in there.” He nods toward my place next door. “What’s up with that?”
“I’m sure Nikki put her own spin on it.” Fisher disregards Chip and heads into my apartment.
Gunner follows him because Fisher always gives him too many treats.
“Cameron?” Chip gives me the eye. I do feel bad that Nikki always has the gossip over him. And he’s always been good with me when I needed him to watch Gunner for a night.
I step closer and lower my voice. “I hit one of the fishermen and he pressed charges.”
“Why?”
“That I can’t say. I don’t want to bring anyone else into it.” Nikki will dig and she’ll probably put Chevelle and me out there anyway, but I don’t want to be the reason the information is out there. “Believe me, you don’t want in first on this story. Hank Greene won’t be happy if it gets out.”