15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Mason

I didn’t even realize I had fallen asleep on Cameron until the gravel driveway of the farmhouse crunched under his all-too-massive truck tires. My body was heavy, and the world was blurry as I rubbed my tired eyes.

I looked around with a stretch. The last time I went inside the home, I was so preoccupied with running inside that I didn’t stop to look at the massive exterior: white siding, black shutters, and more land than I’d ever know what to do with. The front door was such a bright shade of red that not even the moonlight could wash it out.

How did Sophia and Lucian even afford a place like this?

“Is the house yours?” I asked, and Cameron jumped.

“You scared the daylights out of me—I thought you were asleep.”

I looked down, hoping to avoid eye contact, and found his jacket on my lap. Apparently, he’d covered me with it so I wouldn’t get cold on the ride home. Cameron was a complete and utter gentleman. It was no surprise that someone like him wouldn’t want a life with me, especially because I told him I didn’t want one with him first. But his earnest kindness made it hard not to dream of a future beyond this shared roof that would disappear in a few months.

“To answer your question—the house ain’t mine. Soph inherited it from her grandad when he passed… She and Luce just had the twins, and he wanted to help ’em out however he could.”

The truck stopped as Cameron pulled in between Sophia’s dinged-up Ford Fiesta and a neon green Jeep I recognized all too well.

When Lucian turned sixteen, his dad began refusing to drive him anywhere. He said Lucian needed to learn independence. But his true motive became clear when he offered to buy Lucian a car if he broke up with me. So, I purchased the Jeep for him instead. Lucian needed it to get back and forth from practice, and he was tired of having to run three blocks to my house when I became a punching bag for one of my mom’s countless drunken suitors.

Lucian’s dad and stepmom always hated me and my family, and after I gave him the car, it got worse.

“Did they also inherit you?” I joked. I didn’t like thinking about my past, and I needed the distraction.

“Actually, that’s a good way of putting it.” Cameron laughed. “I was working for Soph’s grandpa after I moved to Hartwood, and the living arrangements I had weren’t working out… so I moved in, and ol’ Silas told Sophia she couldn’t kick me out. Not that I think she would’ve anyway.”

I yawned, and my eyes stayed closed for just a moment too long. I jerked up with a sharp inhale when I realized I’d started falling asleep again. The truck was warm, and for the first time in years, I felt safe. Which was weird, considering I was in the car with someone who was essentially a stranger.

This is how people get kidnapped.

“Here.” Cameron undid my seat belt and pulled me across the bench seat to lean on him. “I ain’t done talking to you yet.”

With his arm so close, all I could smell was him. Cameron mostly smelled like a man—not in a gross way, either. But, under the scent of testosterone, there were hints of cinnamon, nicotine, and smoke.

“You smell like Christmas.” The words escaped before I could stop them, and my heart stopped. “Sorry.”

“Ain’t never heard that one before… but I like it.” Cameron laughed, jostling me in the process. “I know you said you didn’t want to talk, but can I ask you a few things?”

After making an ass of myself, allowing him a few questions was the least I could do. I nodded.

“Before we start, are you comfortable?”

… He was checking on me? Why?

“Actually, could you move your arm just a little if it’s not a—”

He lifted the arm I was leaning on, and I fell into him, our bodies fitting together like puzzle pieces. I didn’t deserve this feeling.

“Just take my hand and put it wherever you want,” he offered.

My body tensed as I tried to act like this wasn’t a world-shattering display of kindness. Cameron’s palm was warm as I guided it to my hip.

“Better?”

My throat went tight, but I nodded. How was Cameron being so casual about this?

“So, the first thing I want to know is how you met Lucian and Sophia. I saw a picture of y’all in high school, but obviously, I met you in France. And, not to be rude... you don’t sound like you’re from around here.”

“I’m not,” I admitted. “My mother was from Portland, and she was really good friends with Sophia’s moms. She was starting to get really successful as a model, and she met my father while working in France. And then, I happened.”

I shrugged, pretending that my birth was a happy accident, instead of the catalyst for the destruction of my mother’s career.

Cameron’s brow furrowed as he traced semi-circles on my side. This felt too natural, and it was scaring me.

“So, how’d y’all end up over here?”

A bitter smile masked my sadness. “The rock star life isn’t for everyone, and eventually, Mom wanted to come home. My dad didn’t want to come to America, so we packed our things and did what my mom wanted anyway… just, without my dad.”

“And how’d you go back?”

More questions I didn’t like. I squirmed against him, trying to pretend my heart didn’t hurt.

“What have you heard?”

“Soph says your mom killed herself, and the next day, you were gone. Lucian says something similar, just with more detail.”

Suddenly, all the thoughts I didn’t want to have came crashing in.

I was the one who found my mom with a bullet hole in her head. Even thinking about it now made my stomach flip. After all these years, I could still hear Lucian’s heavy steps as he approached her bedroom . One at a time, thunk, thunk, thunk, bringing him closer to a sight that would destroy him. If I had just moved my stupid body or even just called out to him to stop, he wouldn’t have had to share in my trauma.

But no. He saw everything. And somehow, that made it even more real.

After the police showed up and talked to both of us, I was so numb that all I could do was shake. Lucian wasn’t in any shape to drive, so we just walked to his dad’s.

“They’re right,” I whispered. “They deserved better, and I made sure they got it.”

I picked at a callus on my thumb as I remembered the list of my sins Lucian’s father read to me that day. Lucian left me to wait in his bedroom while he went to take a shower. He promised he’d be right back, that he just needed a minute to think. As soon as Lucian was out of sight, Lincoln Castillo came to confront me.

His voice played in my head like a damaged record, skipping and repeating as it saw fit:

“Look at all the pain you’ve caused my son.”

“No nineteen-year-old should ever be put through what you’ve done to him.”

“Just let him be alone with his real girlfriend.”

“Everyone’s lives would be better if you left.”

That wasn’t the whole list, of course, just the parts that kept me awake at night. He capped off his speech by offering to pay for my plane ticket back to Lyon if I left immediately. And, as a seventeen-year-old who was just as damaged as his nineteen-year-old, I accepted it. No goodbyes, just a sudden departure in an attempt to undo the damage I had caused. Despite everything, no part of me wanted to leave.

I just didn’t have a choice.

My eyes burned with the threat of tears, and I fought a disgusting whimper.

“Hey, you alright?” Cameron’s eyes were wide, filled with wholehearted concern that made me feel dirty. The idea of someone genuinely caring for me was overwhelming and stressful, and I needed something to get my mind off it. I needed to do the one thing I knew I was good at.

So, I cleared my throat and met his gaze.

“This is going to sound crazy.” I warned.

His forehead wrinkled. “Crazier than everything else going on?”

“Maybe.” A forced laugh escaped my lips, and I did my best to turn it into a giggle. “My hormones have been making me a bit, well…”

“Horny?”

Hearing a pastor say that felt wrong, but being with me would never be right.

“Your jacket smelled really good, and you’re handsome.”

That wasn’t a lie. Cameron was an attractive man, just not in the way I typically sought out. He was big, masculine, and rugged. Normally, I liked pretty boys and women exclusively. If Cameron and I hadn’t met in the right place at the right time, I probably wouldn’t have given him a second glance.

But that wasn’t to say that I regretted sleeping with him. He rubbed the square of his jaw, scratching at his copper stubble. With his hand in the way, I couldn’t tell if he was smiling. Was I scaring him off?

“I appreciate the compliment. Do you uh... want me to get Lucian for ya?”

My upper lip raised into a grimace.

“Why would I want him ?”

That came out more judgmental than it was intended to. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to fuck Lucian. He was excellent in bed, as I remembered. But he clearly didn’t want anything to do with me, and also, he wasn’t the one in the truck with me.

“You’re, uh—you’re a bit too young for me, darlin’.”

My brow furrowed. It seemed like he was just making excuses.

“I’m old enough for you to get pregnant, but not old enough to sleep with? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“That was before I knew I was sixteen years older than you.” Cameron went tense and shifted his weight.

Instinctively, my eyes darted down. I could see the outline of his cock straining against the light-wash denim of his jeans.

Fuck, I forgot how massive he was.

“Hey now.” Cameron placed a hand on his lap for decency. “My eyes are up here, little lady.”

My gaze shot back to his face as I pulled my lower lip through my teeth.

“I’m not asking for a relationship, I just want dick, and it looks like yours is willing.”

Cameron hesitated, but his eyes focused on some very ungentlemanly places. Instinctively, I

straightened my back. If he wanted to stare at my tits, I might as well help him out.

“After everything we just talked about, you really want sex?”

His question caught me off guard. No one had ever stopped to ask me if I actually wanted sex. They just accepted the offer. But I didn’t want to acknowledge that I was using sex as a distraction, so I nodded.

Cameron sighed and shook his head, a smirk pulling at his lips.

“Are we having sex, or are we fucking ?”

The way he said that last word made my heart race.

“There’s a difference?”

Cameron nodded.

“Sex, we could do in the truck,” he explained. “That’s how I got you, well...”

He gestured to my rounded stomach.

“Pregnant?”

Once again, he nodded.

“If that’s sex, what’s fucking?”

Cameron covered his mouth, and my gaze darted down once more. The zipper was now straining to keep itself closed.

“Let’s just say I gotta sneak you inside.”

The sneaking part was easy. The bottom floor of the house was empty, and all the lights were off. The hard part was controlling my anticipation.

Sex was the one thing I never did wrong. My most redeeming quality was my body, and I was eager to help Cameron feel good after he spent all night being kind to me.

Eventually, we came upon his room. Cameron had left his overhead light on, and when his door creaked open, light spilled into the hallway. The decorations that greeted me were unsurprising—stereotypical, even.

There was a well-maintained fireplace on the far wall that appeared to be no longer in use. In front of the cold hearth was a rocking chair sitting atop a simple red rug. A wooden desk and bookshelf stood side-by-side along the wall to my right, and on the opposite side, he had a four-poster bed covered in cream-colored linens and a flannel comforter. The space was rustic and charming, just like Cameron. The only surprise in his room was the red-and-white pack of cigarettes on his nightstand. I thought I’d smelled nicotine on him in the truck, but I assumed it was just his cologne.

Cameron led the way in, and I shut the door behind us. He kept his back turned to me as he began unbuttoning his shirt. After a moment, he slipped the checkered fabric off his shoulders and tossed it aside.

Instantly, I noticed several raised scars on his back. They looked old, but they were long; a few of them stretched diagonally from the tops of his shoulder blades to the bottom of his ribs. I wanted to ask about them, but quickly shrugged off the thought. If he wanted to talk about his past, he would.

Instead, I focused on enjoying the show.

Cameron’s shoulders were impossibly broad and peppered in rust-colored freckles. He ran his fingers through his ginger curls, causing them to dance against the back of his neck. The muscles in his back rippled as he raised his arms. He was truly enormous, especially compared to me—the top of my head barely reached the bottom of his shoulder blades. If I were to describe him, I’d say he was a big boy… but, no, that didn’t do him justice. Cameron was approximately seven feet of hulking man , soft in all the right places with thick muscles underneath. He wasn’t chiseled like Sebastian, but still, seeing him shirtless made my heart flutter.

“You smoke?” I asked, more to make conversation than out of curiosity.

He looked over his shoulder directly at the nightstand.

“Oh, yeah. Guess I do. Why do you ask?”

He turned to face me, and the hair on his chest caught my eye. I swallowed hard as my eyes meandered down his stomach, fixating on the happy trail that disappeared into the waistband of his jeans.

Heat rushed to my face.

“Smoking’s bad for you.” I choked on my words as a strange quiver infected my body.

Even though Cameron seemed lovely, I expected him to yell at me. We barely knew each other; who was I to tell him something like that? It was a well-known fact that people didn’t smoke for the health benefits.

Still, as he approached me with slow, confident steps, the heat in my face traveled down, collecting itself into a pulsing ache in my core. His boots thumped against the weathered hardwood floor, and I held my shoulders high as I fought the urge to dissolve into a puddle of Mason-colored goo.

“You want me to quit?”