But as I stare at him right now,he looks like he has.
It’s terrifying.
Cameryn wraps her hand around his flexed bicep, then she whispers with a cloud of smoke, “Relax.”
Tyler cracks his knuckles, his jaw flexing when he pulls her down onto his lap. I can tell he’s using Cam as his shield to stop himself from attacking Caleb like a wild animal.
Caleb moves through the room, completely unbothered. I want to chuckle because it’s kind of funny watching Tyler squirm. He was the one who left me after all; he can’t just come back into my life and tear it apart. He already fucking did that when he left me, and I’ve decided to move on. Now he has to accept that he doesn’t know me as well as he used to, and that I have friends who aren’tjust him.
Caleb’s leg brushes up against mine when he falls onto the seat next to me and wraps his muscled arm around my shoulder,pulling me into his side and placing a kiss on my temple. His clean, spearmint, vanilla scent engulfs me. “You good?”
I look up at him. He’s bigger than Tyler, as Tyler is leaner. I nod, when Tyler answers for me, “She’s good.”
Caleb laughs again.
When my gaze slides over to Ty, my eyebrows curl inwards, mouth popping open. Cameryn shoves his chest, then mumbles around a lungful of smoke, “Stop, dickhead.”
Ty relaxes into the seat, his top teeth sinking into his bottom lip when he white knuckles Cameryn’s thighs.
You can tell she loves it,the pain,because she closes her eyes gently.
The rain has stopped, the sky no longer a flashing, broken bulb of sporadic light. Caleb is watching Ty too when he decides to remove his arm from around me and shove up from the seat. He grabs the amber bottle between two fingers and twists it in his palm, walking straight past Tyler toward the balcony doors. He shoves them open and doesn’t turn around when he says, “Tyler, let's have a little chat.”
Fuck.
Tyler is already on his feet, following right behind him.
They slip through the door, leaving it open, as Cam turns to look at me and smirks. She’s shaking her head as she plops down next to me, passing me the blunt. The sweet scent tickles my nostrils when I take a hit.
“He hasn’t changed a bit, has he?” I laugh, sucking in again.
Handing it back to Cam, she shakes her head. “Not. One. Bit.”
I lean forward, snatching up my bowl and eating the last couple of beads of edamame and rice. “You know what…” I start to say.
“What?” Cam asks, sucking another line down her throat.
“I still love that about him.” I turn my head and grin, and she laughs.
The echoes of Keaton’s name have me flicking my attention back toward the balcony, where I see both Tyler and Caleb resting against the railing. Their arms are both crossed over their chests as they look at each other in conversation.
There’s understanding there now.
Respect.
A quiet acceptance.
Tyler nods, and they push off the still wet metal, clap their hands together, and pull each other in for a quick manly shoulder tap.
That was easy.
When they step back into the living room, Cameryn jerks her chin toward the bottle of whiskey. Caleb passes it over, and she takes a heavy mouthful straight from the neck and swallows it effortlessly, running the back of her hand over her lips.
“You boys finished measuring dicks?” she asks.
Silence fills the room before we all burst into a round of laughter.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you guys…” I start to say, as Tyler lifts Cameryn up and sits next to me, pulling her onto his lap. Caleb takes a place in the armchair, kicking out his feet and running his large fingers over his jaw.
