"We fell asleep," I say simply, breathing through the pain I'm still feeling in my ribs and my arm that I leaned on.
"And?"
Lex shoves Cam. "She's been having nightmares, asshole. Sebastian has been kind enough to stay with us so she feels safe."
"In herbed?" Cam sneers.
Now my temper rises. "What the hell difference does it make to you? You'renot here. You're a phone call." He flinches at that.Good."And on top of that, you act as if there's something sexual going on. Have youseen me?Can you imagine me doing anything sexual right now? I. Am. Broken!!!" I scream at him.
His eyes widen in surprise.
"I am sick of this shit, Cameron. You're not here because you're too busy so I'm relying on my best friends to help me through this. If you have a problem with that, then too fucking bad. Ineedthem—him," I say, pointing to Bash whose jaw is ticking.
"Once again you're thinking of yourself," Lex says to Cam, shaking her head. "Coming in here, getting all jealous and roaring at your girlfriend who wasfinallygetting some sleep. Do you know how much sleep she's gotten since she got home?"
Cam just stands there.
"Hardly any," Lex informs him. "She's either in too much pain or having nightmares—and who can blame her? So don't go getting all possessive and jealous when we—her best friends—are the ones doing what she needs to help her feel safe."
"I'm here now," Cam states.
"At one in the morning? What good is that?" she scoffs. "Big brother, you're fucking up and you're doing it majorly." With that, she walks out of the room.
He runs a frustrated hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, Liv. It was just a shock seeing you and Smith curled up like that. I didn't know what was going on, so I jumped to conclusions."
"Cam. I told you on the phone earlier I was having issues sleeping. You only had a few minutes to talk to me so I didn't go into detail. If you want to know what's going on with me you need to make more time. Otherwise, you need to back the hell off. I'm tired, I'm hurting, I'm scared—allthe time—and it feels as if you've deserted me ever since football started. You know it and I know it. We already had this discussion and nothing's changed. Even though I've been beaten to within an inch of my life, you still can't take ten minutes to come visit me. What does that say about us?" I ask, tears spilling down my cheeks as I admit the truth, not only to Cam, but to myself.
Cam kneels on the floor next to the bed. "I'm sorry I'm not here for you when you need me, Olivia. I'm at practice, studying films with the coach and the guys, in class, or doing homework seventeen to eighteen hours a day and then I get up and start all over again."
I reach for his hand. "Cam, I really do think it's time for that break. You don't have time for me and I'm tired of being angry because of it."
"Liv…"
I shake my head. "You know I'm right." He looks down at our hands. "When things slow down for you and you have more time, then we'll see where things stand."
His gaze lifts to mine and those emerald eyes shine with emotion—regret, fear, remorse, and love. "I really do love you, Liv."
I nod. "I know. But football is your life—your future. Go make it happen," I tell him, sniffling as the tears continue to fall.
He hangs his head down for such a long time I want to ask if he's all right, but I don't. I just wait. "I hate it but you're right. This isn't fair to you—I'm not being fair to you." He looks up. "Can I—" he swallows. "Can I still call and text, make sure you're okay?"
I nod, but we both know he won't.
"Of course. We're still friends, right?"
He nods and lifts his forearm up to wipe his eyes with the sleeve of his sweatshirt.
"I’m sorry for scaring you and making you hurt," he tells me, his sadness palpable.
"I'm sorry, too."
"For what?"
"For you walking in, seeing what you saw. Even if it was innocent, I would have reacted the same way you did," I confess.
He nods, glances over at Bash who's sitting behind me, playing on his phone, his earbuds in, giving us privacy without leaving the room. I respect the hell out of him for doing that.
"Are you two…" he asks.
