He climbed back onto the bed, kneeling between my legs. Running his hands up my calves, sending tiny bolts of electricity zipping through me. Lowering himself back over me, he gripped himself, nudging his erection against my clit. “Cam,” I gasped. “C- condom.”
“Wait,” he said, his voice thick. “Just let me…” He rubbed himself against me again, sliding through my wetness, sending delicious waves rippling through me. “You feel so good, Hailee.”
“More,” I panted, twisting my fingers in the sheets. “I need…” My head rolled back, and I was vaguely aware of the tearing of foil, of Cameron’s hands between us. And then he was there, pushing inside me, stealing the air from my lungs.
“Fuuuuck,” he rasped, dropping his face to the crook of my shoulder. Warm lips kissed me, sucking and tasting, as I clung onto his shoulders. His arms hooked around my legs, dragging me closer, as he began to thrust into me. Slow at first, hitting a spot deep inside me that made my tummy clench and my breath catch in my throat.
“Oh God,” I cried as Cameron picked up his pace, driving into me with deep measured strokes. I met him at every thrust, rolling my hips to meet his until nothing but the sound of skin on skin and our moans filled the room.
“Fuck, Hailee, I can’t…” he mumbled against my mouth, our kisses growing messy; all teeth and tongue and hot desperation as we both raced toward the edge.
It started like a gentle wave rolling to shore and then crashed over me like a powerful tsunami knocking me over, leaving me boneless and breathless as I clenched around him.
“Shit,” Cameron groaned, burying his face in my neck, sucking the skin there in a way I knew would leave a bruise, as he jerked inside me.
“That was…” his voice was muffled as we both rode the lingering waves of pleasure.
But no words seemed to do justice to what I felt. Being with Cameron had been amazing. It had felt right. Like a cleansing of the past. But most of all, it had changed everything.
And I wasn’t sure I could ever go back.
“Are you okay?” Cameron asked me as we lay side by side sometime later, the sounds of our ragged breaths finally returning to normal.
“I will be,” I said, pulling the sheet up my body. “Flick is going to kill me though.”
He rolled onto his side, his eyes on me. “Nah, she won’t. We can buy her new sheets.”
I smothered a laugh. “I can’t believe we did that.”
“Believe it, Sunshine.” Cameron leaned over, pressing a kiss to the end of my nose. “And that’s only the beginning.”
Beginning?
Surely, he didn’t mean…
“Don’t look so worried.”
“But what about Jason?” I peeked up at him.
“What about him?” Cameron sounded cool, but I noticed the slight tic in his jaw when I mentioned my step-brother’s name.
“For all we know, he was the one who put Thatcher up to this—”
“He’s a douche, Hailee, I know that. But he’s still your step-brother, he would never do that. Besides, him and Thatcher working together, I don’t buy it…” Cameron trailed off and I frowned.
“Cameron, what is it?” His eyes had clouded with something.
“Do you regret it?” He brushed my jaw, leaning in to steal a kiss.
“Regret what?”
“This… us.” Vulnerability flashed in his stormy gaze, making my chest constrict.
“No, I don’t.” I didn’t regret a single thing that had happened between us this year because it all led to this point. Lying here in his arms, feeling safe and cherished. “Why?” I asked. “Do you regret it?”
A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “The only thing I regret is not doing it sooner.”
I swatted his chest, but Cameron caught my wrist, pulling me onto my side.
“I guess Flick was right all along.”
“And what exactly did Fee say?” His brow rose playfully.
“She seemed to think that all this, the pranks and stuff, was some kind of weird foreplay.”
“I guess you could say it was.”
“Cameron, come on…”
He shrugged, running his nose along my jaw. I sucked in harshly, my eyes fluttering, hundreds of butterflies taking flight in my stomach. “I never hated you, Hailee. I hated that I couldn’t have you. But Jas—”
“Don’t,” I urged. “Don’t ruin this.” Any mention of my step-brother was only bound to burst the temporary bubble of bliss we’d created for ourselves.
“You know, we’ll have to talk about this, us, eventually,” he said.
“I know. I just… I want it to be ours for a little while longer.”
Cameron nodded, leaning in to capture my lips again. Our tongues swirled together in long, lazy licks. “Can I tell you something?” he asked finally pulling back.
“Anything.” Easing away to put some space between us, I looked him in the eye. “You can tell me anything.”
“I’m scared, Hailee. I’m so fucking scared there’s something wrong with my mom.”
Oh god, his mom. I hadn’t even thought to ask how she was because I’d been dealing with my own crisis. “Is she—”
“She’s okay. They released her yesterday after a few hours of monitoring, but I found them earlier looking over all these papers and they were both acting cagey. Dad said they want to talk to me tonight, that everything was going to be okay, but I have this feeling…” His voice broke, and my heart broke right along with him. Wrapping my arms around him, I pulled Cameron into me. “This year is supposed to be my year, Hailee. I’m supposed to be excited about college, about the future. And all I can think is what if something is wrong, really wrong…”
“It’s okay,” I said softly. “I’m sure it’s all going to be okay.”
“And the worst of it is,”—Cameron pulled back to look at me, his expression beaten—“I can’t tell anyone. I mean, Ash knows some stuff, but Jase doesn’t get it. He doesn’t understand because football is everything to him. The end goal. But I have to think about Xander, my family. My dad wants me to focus on football, on winning State, but what kind of person does that make me?”
“Cameron, you’re eighteen. It’s senior year, I’m sure if things were… well, I’m sure your dad would tell you if he needed more help.”
He gave me a small smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I don’t know anything anymore,” he sighed. “Football, the team… Jase; it always seemed so important but now Mom might be sick, really sick, and you’re caught in the crossfire in this thing with Thatcher and I just don’t know—”
“Ssh.” I pressed my lips to the corner of his mouth. “I’m here, I’m right here.” I’ll be here as long as you need me.
Cameron held onto me like I was a life raft and he was drowning, and I realized there was so much more to the infuriating, cocky guy I knew him to be. He was shouldering the weight of the world; the pressures and expectations of the team against his family’s situation. And now, for reasons I still didn’t quite understand, he’d taken on my worries too.