“The offer’s still on the table, Ellie. We can still get married,” Camden says, as if he can read my mind.
Let out a shaky breath. I’m so close to saying yes…but there’s still a part of me that’s holding back.
“I’ll be honest with you, Camden. I really, really want to say yes.” I swallow, relishing the warmth of his hand on my cheek. “But I can’t do it if I’m the only one getting something out of this.”
“I’d be getting a lot out of it,” he says.
“Like what?”
“I want to be considered for alternate captain for my team, but I’m not in the running because of my…behavior.”
“What do you mean?”
He huffs out a breath, then chuckles like he’s embarrassed. “I’m a manwhore, Ellie. And no one takes me seriously because of it.”
He goes quiet for a moment.
“It’s my own fault. I’ve only ever been interested in hockey and having a good time off the ice,” he says. “But I want more than that. I want people to take me seriously. I want my teammates to look up to me like I look up to them.”
I take in the red flush painting his cheeks, the shy look in his eyes. He’s embarrassed to admit all this to me.
Something inside of me warms and softens. I looked him up on social media the day after we reconnected, and most of what I saw were photos of him partying, kissing, and flirting with beautiful women.
But that doesn’t matter. When it comes to what counts, he’s always done the right thing.
I think about all those times he’d get my homework assignments for me when I was too sick to go to school, without me even asking. I remember how, in second grade, when one of our classmates was making fun of me for being small for my age because of my illness, Camden shoved him to the ground and called him a jerk. He got detention for it, but he didn’t care. He said it was worth it.
And there was another time when he noticed one of our friends in school started bringing less and less food every day for lunch. When Camden asked why, our friend said it was because his dad lost his job and they didn’t have much money. So Camden started bringing two lunches to share with him.
Yeah, Camden’s a little wild, but he’s a good person to the core. He always has been. And everyone around him should look up to him for it.
“If I get married, it’ll show that I’m mature. That I’m done messing around and ready to be taken seriously,” Camden says. “I’d have a shot at making alternate captain, something I’ve wanted my whole life.”
He clears his throat and rubs the back of his neck. “So, see? I’d be getting something out of this too. If we got married, we’d be helping each other.”
I’m quiet as I take in his words. Now that Camden’s admitted all this to me, the idea of getting married seems a lot more appealing.
“If we do this, Camden, we need to work out all the details,” I say. “We’d need to come up with a convincing story to tell our family and friends.”
“We’ll tell everyone that we reconnected after the bachelor party and fell madly in love.”
I can’t help but chuckle at the cheeky grin on his face. “You don’t think that seems kind of fast?”
He just shrugs, still grinning. “We were best friends as kids. That’s a built-in backstory for us.”
When I don’t say anything, he says, “We’ll tell everyone I had a huge crush on you as a kid, and when we met again as adults, I didn’t want to waste any more time. I wanted to be with you.”
I smile at how sweet and romantic that is.
A second later, my brain catches up. He never had a crush on me; he’s just coming up with a convincing story to tell people.
I clear my throat, embarrassed that I lost myself in that little fantasy. “Yeah, okay. That works. What about everything else?”
“What else is there?”
“Our living situation. If we get married, we’ll have to live together.”
“You can move in with me,” he says without missing a beat.
