Cam had no idea what had caused Hutch to wig out. It didn’t really matter now since the damage had been done. Maybe they’d all been fooling themselves. Maybe this hadn’t ever had a snowball’s chance in hell of working.
He parked beside Reggie’s truck and prepared to make the trek down to the creek bed. But when he got out and glanced over at the RAV4, he saw Reggie curled up in the front seat.
He opened the passenger door and blinked when the overhead light came on. She didn’t move or acknowledge him as he slid in and shut the door again.
His heart clutched as he looked down at her slight form. She looked vulnerable. Lost. He swallowed the knot lodged in his throat and struggled with what to say. How to say it.
Finally he opted to say nothing at all. He reached down, hooked his hands underneath her arms and gently tugged her upward until he could pull her into his arms and against his chest.
Her body shook as a sob escaped her.
He hugged her tightly and buried his face in her curls.
“I’m sorry, love,” he whispered.
For the longest time, she huddled against him and didn’t say anything. The longer she took to speak, the more worried he became.
“I knew this would happen,” she finally whispered. “It’s not fair, Cam. I can’t choose sides. How could I?”
“No one wants you to choose sides, Reggie darling.” God, he hoped he hadn’t just lied out his ass. He would have never thought Hutch would pull the stunt he had, and now he was stuck here speaking for both Hutch and Sawyer.
“Not in so many words.”
Her voice was muffled by his chest, and he adjusted her position, sliding her head back so he could hear her better.
“What was I supposed to do, Cam?”
The ache in her voice made him ache. She sounded small. Tired. Utterly defeated, as though she’d spent the last several hours beating herself up for something she couldn’t control.
“It’s not up to you to fix this,” he said softly. “This is Hutch’s problem. He crossed the line. He has to make things right with you and with Sawyer.”
She sighed and wilted further into his arms. “I was fooling myself. This couldn’t ever work,” she said sadly.
He halted the protest, the denial that wanted to burst out of his mouth, his heart. Instead he drew in a steadying breath and prepared to try and fight.
“It will work, Reggie.”
She pushed away to stare at him in the dark. “I shouldn’t even be talking to you. It’s not fair to run to you when I have problems with Hutch or Sawyer. It wouldn’t be fair to go to them if I had a problem with you.”
He reached out to touch her face. He needed to touch her. To make that connection. His fingers were trembling so bad that he curled them into his palm and simply rested his knuckles against her cheek.
“Why? Reggie, you’re being too hard on yourself. It’s not up to you to be all things to us. How can you expect to be the rock with no one to ever confide in? Talking to me about a problem you have with Hutch or Sawyer isn’t a betrayal.”
“It’s not fair,” she said stubbornly.
“Why isn’t it? We talk about you. We’re a unit. A fucked-up, twisted kind of unit, but we’re a unit nonetheless.”
“What the hell do you say about me?” she demanded.
He smiled in the darkness at the irritation in her voice.
“Oh, just about how stubborn you are. How infuriating you can be. That we worry about you. And that we miss you.”
She leaned back into his arms. “I don’t know what happened tonight, Cam. I thought I’d finally gotten through to Sawyer.”
She broke off and went silent.
“And?” he prompted.
