Cam deserved so much better than that. Maybe not the full romantic treatment tonight, but he could say the words—hopefully words Cam wanted to hear—and give him a really good orgasm.
“Good.” Cam smiled at him deeply enough his dimples popped. “I just gotta find—”
“Hey, kid, you looking for me?” Shane appeared then.
“Oh good, Dad, Iwasactually.” But then Cam hesitated again, like he was rebooting.
Shane drew him—well,bothof them, actually—away from the crowded bar. “Kid,” he said seriously to Cam. “You gotta stop worrying about everyone so much.”
Cam looked surprised. That he’d been called out? That Shane had realized?
“Dawson, back me up here,” Shane said, glancing over at him.
“Yeah, seriously. I’m not going to freak out if we hang out with your dad,” Dawson promised. “He even seems pretty cool.”
Cam flushed bright red. “I didn’t . . .I wouldn’t . . .”
Shane ruffled his hair but it was Dawson who spoke up. “Yeah, you did. And it’s cute. Sweet. Real thoughtful, actually. But unnecessary.”
“Yeah, I wanna get to know your guy, kiddo,” Shane said, and it was Dawson’s turn to flush. But not with embarrassment, with pleasure.
“You’re really—it’s not a problem?” Cam gazed down at Dawson.
“Not a problem. But . . .maybe not tonight?” Dawson suggested.
“Yeah, you guys go to Dawson’s place. I’ll hang out here a bit longer, then head back to your apartment, if that’s alright?”
“Perfect,” Dawson said, reaching down and tangling his fingers with Cam’s, squeezing them. “You good, babe?”
Cam gave him a grateful look. “Yeah. Yeah. I’m really good.”
“Good.” Dawson nodded and glanced over at Shane. “I’ll see you around, yeah? Have a good night.”
Unexpectedly, Shane grinned and tugged him into a quick hug. “Yeah. For sure.”
They said the rest of their goodbyes. Dawson felt a little bad that he didn’t see Nate anywhere. He’d been hoping to spot him at some point so he could try to smooth things over, but he was nowhere to be found.
Oh, well. He’d text him tomorrow. Make sure they were cool. Maybe even apologize for pushing him too hard, though in Dawson’s humble opinion, hehadn’t.
When they finally got outside, Cam said, “Do you wanna walk home or should we grab a cab?”
It wasn’t ridiculously cold tonight, and they both had jackets, so Dawson said, “Let’s walk. We should probably talk about what happened with your dad.”
Cam groaned, but he didn’t argue, so there was that, at least.
“I meant what I said in there,” Dawson said when they were outside. “You don’t need to protect me from him. He doesn’t freak me out.”
“I . . .yeah, Iwasworried. Things were so new, and I didn’t want to . . .” Cam trailed off and took a deep breath. “I just didn’t want to push too hard.”
“It’s not pushing if I want to get to know him, and he wants to get to know me,” Dawson said gently. “Also, let’s be honest. How new were things, really? We were dating for months.”
Cam’s eyes went big and round and he stopped right there on the middle of the sidewalk. But before he could say anything, Dawson continued. “I know we talked about it a little on our last date, before your dad showed up, but I want to make it clear. We’re together. I want to do right by you. I don’t want to impose on your time with your dad, but the last thing I want is for you to think you need to protect me from him. I don’t need to be.”
“Yeah?” Cam tipped his head down. His eyes were soft. Full of an emotion that Dawson thought he could identify.Hopedhe had identified correctly. “You like me, huh?”
Here it was, the opening Dawson had been waiting for. Had beenhopingfor.
“Little more than like, rook,” Dawson murmured, pulling him close against him.
