“Sounds delicious,” I reply, rubbing my stomach hungrily. “What can I do to help?”
“Get the chicken going while I work on the stir-fry,” he says, lifting out several different items from the fridge.
“Deal. Chop-chop, mister. Your wife is hungry.” I clap my hands together, and with a chuckle, Beckett starts cutting up the vegetables.
Meanwhile, I open the fridge and pull out the chicken, and find a pan to cook it in. But just as I’m about to turn on the stove to start heating it up, my phone dings with an incoming text. Leaving the stove off, I pick up my phone and smile at the message waiting for me from none other than Beck’s mom. I had forgotten she had my number until she called to express her condolences after Grandpa’s passing.
CLAIRE DONNELLY: Hello Cam, I hope you’re settling in alright and Beckett is making sure you have anything you need. I wanted to reach out to you myself and tell you we’d love to have you at family dinner tomorrow night. We’re moving it from Sunday, as all the boys are available, including Kat’s fiancé Hunter who you haven’t met yet. Come on over anytime in the afternoon and we’ll catch up.
I’m honestly shocked it took almost two days of me being in Dogwood Cove for her to reach out. Claire Donnelly is one of my favourite people on this planet. She’s warm and friendly but takes no bullshit from anyone — especially not her kids. And she has always made me feel so welcome in her home. It’s easy for me to type out a quick reply.
CAM: Hi Claire, that sounds amazing. I would love to come. What can I bring?
CLAIRE: Just your lovely self! See you tomorrow.
I put my phone down and wander over to hop up on the counter next to Beckett. “Your mom just invited me to dinner tomorrow.”
He arches an eyebrow at me. “You? Or us? I haven’t been told dinner was moved from Sunday.”
I huff out a laugh at the indignant tone of his voice. “I’m gonna guess she’s assuming you’ll come with me, silly.”
Beckett flashes me a grin. “Yeah, or maybe she’s just more excited to see you than me.”
I adopt a haughty expression. “Do you blame her? I’m pretty cool.”
“Don’t let it go to your head,” he replies drily and just like that, everything seems back to normal between us. If joking about our situation and teasing each other like we always have is what it takes to keep things from getting weird, then that’s what I’ll do.
Later that evening, after we’ve had dinner and cleaned up the kitchen, Beckett disappears into his bedroom. He comes out a few minutes later wearing a pair of shorts and a long sleeve tee.
“I’m gonna go meet Sawyer and Hunter at the gym.” He grabs his keys and a water bottle. “Do you want to come?”
I give a delicate shudder. “No thanks. I went for a walk earlier, and you know I don’t lift heavy shit.”
Beckett shakes his head, a smirk on his face. “I know. I still remember the time you dated a personal trainer for a couple of weeks and the look of horror you gave him when he offered to help you learn how to do a dead lift.”
Folding my arms across my chest, I arch a brow at him. “Listen. I’m strong, I’m healthy, and I’m active. I don’t need to lift big chunks of metal and shit to prove it to anyone.”
His smirk softens into something else. “When was the last time you were up in a hoop?”
My heart twinges at the question. I fell in love with the beauty and grace of aerial hoops in university. But there weren’t exactly a lot of places to practice in Cliveden. I’d managed to drive to Brandon a couple times a month to a studio there, but they closed down six months ago.
“It’s been a while.”
Beck nods thoughtfully. “Maybe that’s something you can find a way to do again now.” He opens the front door, pausing to turn back to me. “Your life is yours again, Cam. Think about what you want to do and go out and do it. Channel twenty-one-year-old Cam and take no shit from anyone. Be yourself and live your life for you and no one else.”
The door closes behind him, and I stare at it for several minutes, thinking about what he said, letting it fully sink in. My life is mine again. I don’t have to consider Grandpa, or the asshats that live in Cliveden. I don’t have to consider anyone’s happiness except my own.
The question is, whatwillmake me happy?
Chapter eleven
Beckett
Did I text Sawyer in a panic, asking if he wanted to meet at the gym last minute tonight? Absolutely, I did. Honestly, I’m exhausted and going for a workout is the last thing I want to do. Add in my twin, whose energy is the exact opposite of mine, and I’m not sure what I was thinking.
Actually, I do know what I was thinking. I was thinking of Cam, her skin damp and glistening from the shower, wrapped in only a small towel — my towel. I was thinking of tugging that towel open and pulling her naked body into mine. I was thinking of all the ways I wish I could have her.
And then I was thinking of what a fucking asshole I am to be having these thoughts after so many years of successfully ignoring them. Especially now, while she’s grieving the loss of her grandfather.
