Chapter 14

Fourteen

Cam

When I wake up the next day, I have no idea what time it is. The sound of rain hitting against the window of Cassie"s bedroom has been lulling us to sleep for hours. But now, I have to move. My hips are sore, I have to use the bathroom, and I desperately need a drink of water. I attempt to roll to the side, but I"m stopped by someone lying beside me.

Cassie.

She and I wrapped up in each other as soon as we got home and showered. I don"t even think I laid here for longer than five minutes once my head hit the pillow, and she was asleep before I was.

As I move around, she groans. "What time is it?"

"I"m not sure, but I need to use the bathroom, eat something, and drink a gallon of water in the next five minutes." I joke. Reaching over, I palm my phone and turn it so that I can see the time. "Well, we slept for thirteen hours. That explains why my body aches, and I"m so hungry."

"Guess we needed it." She drops a kiss onto my bare chest.

"Definitely did." I disentangle myself from her and head to the bathroom.

When I"m done and I"ve washed my hands, I walk back into the bedroom, not surprised that Cass still isn"t in bed. She"s never been one to linger. The pop and sizzle of food makes my stomach growl. I'm very interested in what she's making. Hurrying toward the scent and sound, I come to a stop to observe.

"Hey ..." I give her a grin as I stand in the doorway, watching as she"s frying bacon. "I thought I smelled something awesome."

She turns, giving me a smile right back. "I don"t know about you, but I love a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich when I"m eating in the afternoon. I have some hashbrowns in the freezer too. So I popped some of those in the oven. This should be ready in a few minutes."

My stomach growls loudly, and I can"t help the way my mouth is watering. "Anything I can do to help?"

Cassie cocks her hip. "I never would"ve taken you for the type of guy who"d be willing to help a woman in the kitchen."

Now"s the time, I need to tell her things about me she doesn"t already know or believe she knows. I need to stop perpetuating who everyone thinks I am, and really tell her the type of man I can be. The type of man I want to be for her. "Believe it or not, I was in charge of dinner every night." I admit softly. "Breakfast too, if I wanted it."

"What do you mean?" she asks, as she turns to face me. "Didn"t your mom ever cook for you?"

Folding my arms over my chest, I slowly walk over to where I can stand beside her. I take the spatula from her hand, and start cooking the eggs. "Do you like a runny yolk?"

"Who doesn"t?"

"Lots of people. Troy for one." I melt butter in the pan and then crack two eggs in. "To answer you, my mom didn"t have the energy to cook for me. She was a single mother who managed to make rent by the skin of her teeth every month because my dad was a son of a bitch. There was a lot she worried about, still worries about, and one thing I made sure she didn"t have to, was me eating. I became good at cooking, even baking. I enjoy it, but I think it"s where I became a germaphobe. One time I gave myself food poisoning and after that, I"ve been slightly obsessed."

"You don"t say?" she teases.

"There are things in our childhood that scar us for life. That was one of them. I mean puke came out of my nose, Cass. It was a hard couple of days."

"Too bad I wasn"t a nurse back then. I would"ve helped you get over it."

Putting my arm around her, I pull her in closer. "That would"ve been nice. As it was, the nurse I had in the hospital puked with me. It was a shit show."

Cass is finishing up the bacon and I"ve got the eggs almost done, when I decide to keep talking to her, opening up in a way I"ve never done before. "You know, I love my mom. I would do anything for her. But she made it difficult for me to open myself up to others, especially women. I was never allowed to express emotions, because she didn"t."

Her hand is soft on my arm. "Is it possible she didn"t know how to? If she had to keep her life going, maybe she had to compartmentalize, and while she was able to give you a roof over your head and the food to make for your stomach, she wasn"t able to give you much more."

I hate how her voice is understanding when I don"t deserve for her to be. "I wanted more, and I needed more." I let the words come out, although I"ve tried to hold them back.

"One of the things I"ve figured out from my job is we all have some trauma from our childhoods. Our parents do the best they can, and sometimes it"s much less than what we need. Because we"re adults who live in a world where therapy is a part of everyday, normal life, I feel like we take it upon ourselves to try and figure out where our parents were wrong. But at the same time, we don"t give credit where they"re right." She reaches up, putting her arms around my neck. "You"re a good man, Camden. You are not perfect, but none of us are. There"s nothing wrong with that, and there"s nothing wrong with you."

Those words hit deep in my chest, and I drop the spatula, wrapping my arms around her, and burrowing my face in her neck. My throat is tight, and I can"t speak, but I pray that I put everything I feel into this hug, and Cassie knows just how much this conversation has meant to me.

An hour later,we"re on the couch, watching some stupid reality show, and she keeps breathing against my chest. It tickles, and I chuckle, pushing her forehead away slightly. "Are you doing that on purpose? You keep breathing against my nipple, and it"s distracting."

"Yeah?" She questions, getting up on her knees, straddling my waist. "Camden Fellows, I think the last thing in the world I"d like to be for you is a distraction."

My eyes meet hers, and I can read the sassiness there, as she grins. "What are you going to do?"

She licks her lips, settling against my cock that"s beginning to make itself known. "I think I"m going to show you exactly what a distraction is. Because me blowing on your nipple? Not a distraction. Me taking my shirt off with no bra on underneath?"

I groan loudly when she slips the T-shirt over her head, showing me that she"s indeed not wearing a bra. "One thousand fucking percent a distraction, but one I will enjoy every single time."

Leveraging myself up using my stomach muscles, I grasp her around her hips, bringing her closer to me. When we"re within the distance that I can reach over and wrap my mouth around the hardened tip, I do so, before letting go.

"Take me on a ride, Deputy?"

"With pleasure. Hold on, Cass. It"s bound to get bumpy."

She falls forward, and when she does, I grasp her hips, turn her over, and take the kiss I"ve wanted since we woke up. Cassie melts into me, and it"s the best fucking feeling in world, knowing she trusts me enough to give me this part of herself. I will always hold it close, and I make a promise to myself I will never, ever disrespect it, no matter what my brain is hardwired to do. This will work out, because I"m determined, and if there"s one thing I know about myself, it"s that when I"m determined, I don"t fuck things up.

And Cass? She"s one thing I never wanna fuck up again.