“It was just a cruel prank, Cameron.” Both of Hailee’s hands gripped my arms now, but I couldn’t figure out if she was holding me closer or trying to keep me at a safe distance. “Jason will—”
“Ssh.” I pressed my thumb to her lips. “Jase is the last person I want to talk about right now.” This shit with Thatcher, between him and Hailee, it had to end.
It should have ended long before now.
Her eyes flashed with surprise as she sucked in a shaky breath. “Why are you here, Cameron? Why did you come?”
It was the question I’d asked myself more than once on the ride over here. But the second I’d opened that link, I couldn’t think of anything but getting to her.
“Because I care about you, Hailee,” I confessed. “I care about you so fucking much.”
Her expression faltered and then she was burying her face in my chest, sobbing into my t-shirt. My hands slid into her hair, coaxing her face back to mine. “I will fix this, I promise.”
I didn’t know how yet but I would. It had gone too far. Hailee didn’t deserve this. She’d never deserved any of it.
And I’d been too much of a fucking coward to stop any of it.
Tears collected in the corners of her eyes and I slid a hand down her face, brushing the drops of moisture away with the pad of my thumb. “Don’t cry, Sunshine,” I said. I can’t bear it.
Hailee’s mouth curved. “I really hate it when you call me that.”
“And I really love the way you blush when I do.”
“What are we doing, Cameron?” Her eyes pinned me to the spot, searching for answers. Answers I wanted to give her but wasn’t sure she was ready to hear.
“What we should have done a long fucking time ago,” I choked out, my grip on her tightening.
And then I kissed her.
Hailee
“Cameron, wait.” My hands slid to his chest, pushing gently. He jerked back, his eyes simmering with lust and something I didn’t want to acknowledge. “We can’t—”
“We can,” he said without hesitation. “Tell me you don’t want this, Hailee. Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t want me.”
I want you.
I want you so much it terrifies me.
But the words were lodged in my throat and all I could do was stare back at him.
“Hailee, I’m done pretending,” Cameron breathed out, lowering his head to mine. “I want you. I’ve wanted you since the first day I laid eyes on you.”
“We were just kids.” I rolled my eyes. There was no way he could possibly mean that.
Could he?
Cameron’s hands slid up my arms, resting on my shoulders. “I want you, Hailee Raine. You.” His eyes burned into me, igniting a fire in my stomach.
“But we… we hate each other.” It was a useless argument. One I knew no longer applied where me and Cameron were concerned. The tug of his mouth into a smirk told me as much.
“Nah, Sunshine, it’s not hate, it’s—”
I smashed my lips to his. I didn’t want to hear what he thought this thing between us was, not yet. I just wanted to feel. To forget. I wanted him to help me escape the shitshow my life had become, just for a little while.
Cameron groaned with approval as I pushed my tongue into his mouth, pressing my body against his. But it wasn’t enough. I needed more.
I needed all of him.
My arms looped around his neck and pulled until we fell onto Felicity’s bed landing with a whoosh of breath and a tangle of limbs.
“Shit… Flick,” I rasped. “We shouldn’t—”
“She’s not here.” Cameron stared down at me, his weight crushing me in the most perfect way. “I sent her to keep an eye on Jase.”
“You did?” My brow rose, unsure how I felt about that.
“If you want to stop...” He started pulling away, but my fingers dug into his shoulders.
“I don’t want to stop,” I breathed out, my heart crashing violently in my chest.
“Thank fuck.” Relief settled over him and Cameron dipped his head to kiss my jaw, moving lower to suck the hollow of my neck. A soft moan worked its way up my throat, spilling out as a needy sigh. He rocked back onto his haunches. “Up.”
I sat forward, letting him work my t-shirt over my head, shivering as his fingers brushed my bare skin. Cameron yanked his own t-shirt over his head and my eyes drank in the inches upon inches of tanned muscles. Our eyes connected, as he crawled back over me, pressing me into the mattress. “I want to touch you, Hailee.” His gaze held a silent question, and I nodded, my mouth dry, my mind clouded with desire.
Anticipation vibrated through me as he leaned forward, pressing a kiss to the curve of my chest. Cameron’s hands slid underneath my back, fumbling with the clasp of my bra, and the material fell away from my body as he tugged it off, cool air dancing over my sensitive skin. His eyes darkened with lust, his Adam’s apple pressing against his throat as his fingers traced over my pebbled skin. “Perfect,” he whispered, before capturing one of the pink buds in his mouth.
I arched off the bed, smothering a moan. “You like that, Sunshine?” Cameron looked up at me through dark lashes. Pressing my lips together, I fought a smile, but he saw right through me, dipping his head once more to give my other breast the same attention. The feel of his hot mouth, the graze of his stubbled jaw against my skin, had my heart fluttering wildly, my stomach coiling so tight I gasped his name.
Cameron sucked and nibbled a path from my breasts up my collarbone to the slope of my neck. “What do you want, Hailee?” he whispered against the shell of my ear sending shivers rolling up my spine.
“You,” I finally admitted. “I want you, Cameron.”
His entire body seemed to relax as he smiled down at me. It wasn’t arrogant or smug this time, it was genuine. Warm. And it softened something inside me.
“What?” he asked, still braced above me.
“Is this real?” I chewed my lip, nervous energy pinging through me.
“It’s real.” Cameron kissed me, deep and unhurried, his tongue swirling with mine as he rolled his hips against me. There was no denying he wanted me, I only hoped he wanted more than just this moment.
But I was too far gone to worry about the consequences now. I needed him. I needed him in a way that confused me and excited me and made my head swim with possibilities. He kept kissing me, silently reassuring me this was real. That I wasn’t going to open my eyes and discover it was all a dream.
My hands ran down his chest, finding their way to the waistband of his jeans and I worked the button free, slipping my hands inside, grasping him.
“Fuck, Hailee,” he choked out as I began to stroke him. He was so hard and heavy in my hand, his body responding to my touch. “That feels…” Cameron swallowed, kissing me again.
But then his hand snagged mine, pinning it beside my head. “Your turn.” He smirked, pressing a quick kiss to my lips before leaving my body cold. Pushing his jeans and boxers off his hips, Cameron kicked them off before stripping me out of my leggings and panties.
“I could get used to this.” His hungry gaze swept down my body as he palmed himself. But I only had eyes for him. His sculpted body and broad shoulders, his tapered waist that highlighted the delicious V most girls only dreamed about.