“Okay. Okay!”
I run for my room, stripping out of the jersey and throwing my robe on before I root through my drawers for fresh underwear and an outfit that says,Oh hey, ex-fiancé who shouldn’t fucking be here, how are you?
I start to turn and see the jersey on the floor. I panic, wondering where to put it. Back in Ben’s room is probably the best place, except I already hear her letting Cameron in and there’s a good chance he sees me if I try that. So I opt to kick it under the bed instead, and then make a run for the bathroom, shutting the door just in time to hear their voices overtake the living room as Joss insists he doesn’t need to go talk to me in the bathroom.
I turn the shower on, cranking the water up to high heat and collapse against the bathroom door. This is a nightmare. I haven’t even had a chance to process last night, and now I’m going to have to explain it to Cameron. And soon.
* * *
When I getout of the shower Cameron is in the living room, and it gives me enough time to change and brush my wet hair. I’ve just stepped out into the dining room to greet him, when I hear the front door open and see Ben carrying three coffees in a tray and a bag of pastries standing in the door.
“You’re up.” He smiles at me, looking bright and flushed from his run. I want to kiss him, and I almost do exactly that before I remember where I am and what’s happening. That’s what he does to me.
“Yeah. We have some unexpected company.” I turn my attention to Cameron, but I can see a look of confusion on Ben’s face out of the corner of my eye.
Cameron stands and makes his way over to me, grinning as his arms wrap around me, pulling me close to him.
“I’ve missed you so much Violet,” Cameron whispers against my temple as he squeezes.
I glance over to see Ben, and his face is a mix of emotions as he takes in the scene in front of him before it lands on something unreadable. He walks past us and sets the coffees and pastries on the kitchen counter silently, and I wish that the floor would open and swallow me to avoid the awkwardness of this entire situation.
“Did you get something amazing?” I hear Joss asking Ben, and he mumbles something in return.
I pull back from Cameron’s hug, wishing he wouldn’t even touch me. We still talk via text on a semi-regular basis as quasi-friends, when he sees something that reminds him of me or when I can’t find something that he put away before he left. I don’t know why he wouldn’t have used one of those opportunities to tell me he was coming.
“So this is a surprise,” I say hesitantly.
“I know. I had the opportunity to come to a conference this weekend at the last second, and I thought it would be great to see you while I was here. Surprise you and take you out to dinner, so we could catch up in person for once. I hope you don’t mind if I stay here?”
“Um, it’s not ideal. We have the Halloween party tonight.”
“Oh, right Joss’s famous Halloween party.” His lips turn down with displeasure because he never cared for her obsession with Halloween or my indulgence of the same quirky love of the holiday.
And if I wasn’t already irritated with his presence here this morning, that sealed it for me.
“Well, Joss won’t mind if I attend, will you?” He looks up at her as she’s sipping her coffee, and she just looks to me.
I make an irritated noncommittal face in return.
“You have to wear a costume. A real one. Not a T-shirt you pulled out of your bag, so I doubt it would make much sense for you to be here Cam.”
“Cut me a little slack, I just want to see my girl.” He makes a pouty face at her.
“Plus we have a pretty full house tonight. There really isn’t a spare place for you to sleep,” Joss adds on, and I could hug her for trying to help.
“I mean, I just planned to sleep in our room.” He glances back at me and grins.
“My room.” I correct him.
“You don’t mind though, do you? I can make it worth it.” He gives me a little grin that I imagine is supposed to look devious, but it just grates on my nerves that he thinks after everythingthiswould appeal to me. And having it all play out in front of Ben makes me cringe.
“I don’t know about that, but we can try to find somewhere if you can’t find a hotel...” I trail off, only because I really don’t want him to explode on me right now.
I glance up at Ben, and he’s staring at the donut in his hand, doing his best to look disinterested. Cameron must follow my line of sight because his attention joins mine.
“Sorry man. I didn’t see you there. I’m guessing you’re Joss’s guy?” He walks the few steps over and holds out his hand.
Ben looks up and shakes his hand.
