“Cameron won’t be here.”
“But he lives here!” Hobie said.
“Not all the time.” Walker pulled over to the side of the road. He turned to face his son. “Remember when we walked through that campus in town, and I told you that it’s a sleepaway school for boys and girls to get really smart? Cameron is a student there, but this school only lasts for four years. Would you want your school to last forever?”
Hobie shrugged. His classes involved coloring and recess. That probably sounded awesome.
“This is Cameron’s last year at the sleepaway school. In June, he’s going to graduate and move to California. I don’t know if he’ll be able to come back to celebrate Thanksgiving with us.”
Walker watched most of this sink in for Hobie.
“California is all the way on the other side of the rug,” he said.
“I know.” Walker hated this, hated seeing the look on his son’s face. He’d take another year of changing diapers not to have to see this. “But actually, Cameron and his friends did say something to me about having Thanksgiving with us. You know, I think they will be here.”
“They did?”
“They did! Now, I don’t know if it’s for sure. Thanksgiving is so far away. So we’ll see what happens, okay?” Walker patted his son’s leg, and turned it into a tickle. Hobie had no choice but to laugh, and that seemed to do the trick to lift the mood of the car.
Walker took him to a park to play on the swings. It was a warm, sunny day. It was actually spring, not just post-winter. Walker hoped this made Hobie forget all about Thanksgiving for a long while, and himself forget that he just outright lied to his son.
CHAPTER twenty-three
Cameron
It had been two whole days since Cameron had seen Walker, and like an addict, he was starting to itch. He didn’t know what was going on with him. Maybe there was some type of addictive chemical on Walker’s lips, or other places. Ever since they had sex, Cameron couldn’t stop thinking about him. And it was more than the usual daydreams here and there about Walker’s eyes and smile. No, this was something deeper. Something embedded into his mind.
Walker wasn’t making things easier by not coming into Starbucks for his usual coffee this week. Cameron feared that Walker was avoiding him. Perhaps it was karma for all the guys whose text messages he never returned after sex. He doubted the Puritans ever had to deal with this type of tension.
The last part of his shift was the worst. All the suits were already in their offices doing things that required wearing a suit. The morning rush was over. That gave Cameron more time to think about the amazing sex he and Walker had, but the even more amazing morning waking up together. Cameron seemed to enjoy those times more than when they were at their hottest and heaviest. He really needed to pull himself together.
His brain seemed to be on a different wavelength, though, because it carried him to the west building instead of toward campus. He marveled at how office-like these office buildings were. All neutral colors and all business. Cameron felt his soul get crushed just a little.
Walker’s floor was even worse. White walls, white fluorescent lighting, white rows of tables with computers. Yet despite all the white, it seemed nothing like heaven. More like a waiting room. There must have been well over 100 people on this floor, but you could hear a pin drop. Cameron didn’t know a room full of so many people could be so silent.
“Cameron?” Walker approached him, his arms full of files and papers.
Cameron wanted to stare at that face for hours, but no. He had his own business to attend to in this office. He just couldn’t remember what it was.
“How are things?” Cameron asked.
“Good.”
“That’s good.” Cameron nodded. Quiet office people were looking at him. “That’s grand, actually. I’m just wondering why you haven’t been coming into Starbucks this week. My boss sent me up here to ask you. Because you’re such a loyal customer, and he was worried that you suddenly didn’t want to drink Starbucks anymore. Or that you found another Starbucks to frequent. And, you know, that would suck. Because of the loyalty aspect.”
“I’m sorry if your boss was worried. We’ve been having early meetings here, and they’ve been bringing in breakfast. And Starbucks.”
“My Starbucks?”
“I, I don’t know. A Starbucks. Don’t worry. I still want to frequent your Starbucks.”
“Now is not the time for a sexual metaphor, Walker.”
Walker blushed. He motioned for Cameron to follow him down the hall, past a row of cramped offices that overlooked other office buildings. A chubby Latina woman gave Cameron a goofy smile. They wound up in a conference room that had one wall painted cerulean to give it character, even though it was still just a conference room.
Walker shut the door. “What’s going on?”
“I haven’t heard from you all week. We could’ve hung out.” Cameron couldn’t get over how he sounded, but the words wouldn’t stop. “I miss…ed seeing your face.”
