17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Sophia

Golden light poured in through my lacey curtains as I watched the sunrise from the comfort of my bed. Fluffy white covers, a silky pink sheet, Lucian’s arm still thrown over me as he held me tight. Everyone should wake up like this, honestly. Nothing could possibly be better.

But I was missing something—no, someone.

Where was my Cameron?

I rummaged through the sea of pillows surrounding me as I looked for my phone. It was weird not waking up to Cam beside me. Sure, we all had our own rooms, but that was mostly for privacy purposes or if one of us was sick. He seemed healthy enough yesterday... Maybe he got up already?

Normally, I was the first one awake, but Cam was an early riser too. With that in mind, I slowly untangled myself from Lucian’s heavily tattooed arms. As soon as I pulled away, one of his eyes cracked open, and his dark gaze settled on me. He didn’t have his contacts in yet, so I knew he couldn’t see me very well.

I wiggled closer to him. Nose-to-nose, we took a moment to breathe each other in.

“Where are you going?” His voice was gravely with sleep.

My heart fluttered as I kissed his cheek. After over a decade together, I still loved Lucian just as I had in high school, even if he was rough around the edges. He was like an unpolished diamond; to most, he was still a lump of coal, but I saw how beautiful he was on the inside.

“Not everyone likes to wake up at noon,” I scolded.

He rubbed his eyes and yawned. The muscles in his arms caused his tattoos to twitch as he did.

“There’s nothing special about being up at the ass-crack of dawn.” He rolled over and pulled a pillow over his head.

That’s where he was wrong. Waking up early meant you had more time to enjoy all the magic a day had to offer—but there was no use in arguing with Lucian. He’d just get mad, and while I loved getting under his skin, I had a Cameron to find.

So I snuck out of bed, slid into my slippers, and hurried down the steps. I expected to see Cameron reading in the corner of the living room; usually, that’s what he did when he was alone. But Richard and Pepper were curled up in the chair instead.

I pressed a finger to my lips as I thought. The cats were in the chair, the kitchen was quiet, and the bathroom doors were open. He must be in his room.

But why would he be there ? He never slept in his own bed.

My curiosity got the better of me, and I tiptoed down the hall. I didn’t want to risk waking Cam up in case he really wasn’t feeling well. The metal of the doorknob was cool in my hand as I gingerly twisted it, opening the door just enough to peek in.

I gasped.

Mason was in Cameron’s bed, wearing one of his shirts, her face nestled in his chest. Cameron was awake, but just barely. There was a ghost of a smile on his lips as he gently traced the curve of Mason’s stomach. His half-lidded gaze was warm, and his chest rose slightly as he sighed.

Honestly? I expected Lucian to fall for her first... but I could definitely live with this.

Cameron’s honey-brown eyes lifted from Mason’s sleeping form to meet my gaze.

I shot him a smile and a thumbs up, but panic took over his features, and he rushed to put Mason down without waking her. After successfully extracting himself, he scrambled to the door.

“This ain’t what it looks like,” he pleaded, pushing himself into the hall.

But there was nothing to misconstrue here, so I smiled.

“Then what’s happening? Because it looked like you were cuddling Mason.”

He swallowed hard, his eyes never falling from mine.

“Oh my god! You’re in love with her. And you’re going to kiss her and— “

“Darlin’, stop.” He held up a hand. “There’s something going on with her and Luce, and I’m worried.”

I tossed my head back, fighting the urge to groan and stomp my foot. I knew Lucian never learned how to properly express his feelings, but that wasn’t my fault. He knew how much I wanted this to work. The least he could do was not mess it up on purpose just to be a brat.

“Is he bullying her?”

Cameron slowly shook his head before looking into the room one last time and pulling the door shut.

“We, uh… Can we talk about this somewhere she won’t hear?”

The chirping of birds filled the silence in the kitchen. Cameron poured our coffee while I retrieved our freshly-warmed toaster pastries. They were hotter than expected, causing me to drop them on the plates less than gracefully. But they didn’t break, and that’s what mattered.

Cameron took a seat at the island, and I joined him, sliding the brown-sugar-flavored treats to him.

“I made breakfast.” I beamed.

“I bet you slaved away all morning,” he teased before kissing me, his beard scratching my chin. When he pulled away, I turned to my plate and picked up my pink-frosted tart.

“So... what did you want to talk about that Mason couldn’t hear?”

Cameron tore a bite off his pastry, dipping it in his black coffee before popping it into his mouth. The muscles in his jaw bunched as he chewed.

“She’s driving Luce crazy.”

I knew she would; that’s just how those two worked. They were constantly picking on each other, pushing all their buttons to see how they would react. I just didn’t expect it to cause problems this soon.

“In a good way or a bad way?” I tried to remain hopeful.

“He uh, he’s mad that she came back hurt.”

Oh, Lucian.

Cameron’s eyes focused on something in the distance, but I had no idea what. He rubbed his fingers together, trying to brush off the crumbs.

“But, him sayin’ that means... she, uh, she ain’t always been like this, right?”

“Mason’s always been a little gloomy, but that’s understandable because her life is a hot mess.” I laughed, but it wasn’t funny.

“Like Lucian mess?”

I shook my head before focusing on my plate.

“Lucian’s family is messy, but his parents were at least there… Mason’s weren’t.” I picked at the crust on my breakfast. “Mason pretty much raised herself.”

“... She did?”

I nodded. “Her mom uprooted her from France after a fight with her dad, and it took James over a month to realize Holly and Mason weren’t there anymore.”

“That’s disgusting.”

It was. But that didn’t even begin to describe James’s problems. He was a narcissist, an alcoholic, a gaslighter... but for whatever reason, Mason idolized her dad. She wanted to be like him, and she would do anything to make him proud, which is what scared me the most when she left. But even so, Mason’s dad was a saint compared to her mom.

“Her mom was friends with my moms when they were all in high school, so when Holly said she wanted to come back to Maine, my moms offered to let her and Mason stay with us until they got on their feet… It didn’t exactly work out. At one point, my moms actually kicked Holly out and tried to keep Mason.”

They had caught Holly screaming at Mason, pressuring her to smoke, and calling her ugly. I had been told there was more to the situation, but both my moms refused to tell me the rest.

“Tried?” Cameron asked.

I nodded, and my bottom lip quivered. My family had love in spades, but Holly had money and lawyers. To this day, I wondered what Mason would have been like if Holly had let her stay with us. That month without Holly was the healthiest I ever saw Mason. Well, until Leona became her legal guardian after her suicide attempt.

“Mason stayed with us for a month, but her mom started causing problems, and we didn’t have a choice but to let Holly have her back.”

“Was she always this... skittish?”

“What? Of course not.” I snorted. “We couldn’t really talk at first because of the language barrier, but after she learned English, Mason was open, kind, and smiley.”

Even when Lucian would relentlessly bully her—but Cameron didn’t need to know that part. He was cradling his cheek when I looked up, and there was a coy smile on his face.

“I’d like to see that version of her.” His voice was soft, almost like he was talking to himself.

“Is Lucian the only reason you brought this up?” I asked.

He jerked a little before turning to me, cheeks flushed.

“I uh, I’m worried...” His voice trailed off. “She’s having my baby, so it’s completely normal for me to be concerned. Ain’t like I’m getting feelings for her, so don’t think that.”

He totally has a crush.

“And I was kinda hoping you could tell me she’s fine, and I’m being silly,” he said.

“I wish I could… but she had a panic attack over dropping a cinnamon roll on the floor.”

It was like she genuinely believed I would hurt her for making a simple little mistake. I didn’t want Cameron to worry too much, but it did scare me.

“You think Seb’s doing something to her?” he asked.

“... Why do you look like you hope he is?”

Cameron looked away quickly.

“I don’t like Sebastian,” he admitted. “And I don’t want him in my daughter’s life.”

“I didn’t think you wanted to be in her life.”

Cameron’s throat bobbed as he swallowed.

“I’m still figurin’ out what I want.”

It was cute how quickly Cameron was crumbling around Mason. I was sure after a week or so, he’d be completely wrapped around her finger, and that’s precisely what Mason needed. Still, something didn’t make sense to me.

“Why don’t you like Seb? He’s nice!” And it didn’t hurt that he was literally hotter than the sun, but I wasn’t sure if Seb was Cam’s type.

Cameron’s lips pressed into a thin line as he tilted his head.

“I don’t like cops, you know that.”

I snorted. “Sebastian isn’t a cop.”

Cameron’s brows raised.

“Luce said he’s a detective.”

“And he is… I think. But there’s no way he’s a cop.”

“How do you know that?”

“He makes too much money,” I explained. “We were talking one night, and I asked what the mortgage on his house was like... just in case we all moved back to Portland.”

Cameron raised an eyebrow, but didn’t question me further. I was really hoping to keep everyone together—it would just take a little convincing to get Lucian and Cameron to agree. Lucian didn’t want to be close to his family, and Cam didn’t want to be in a big city.

“Okay, and?”

“He paid cash for his house and his car.” Which was as scary as it was impressive. “That means at some point he had approximately a million dollars in his possession… way too much for a cop.”

Cam’s brow furrowed.

“Wait, so, if he’s not a cop… what does he do ?”