Down London Road (On Dublin Street #2)(32)
Author: Samantha Young

‘Then he’s an idiot.’

‘– It’s more that I missed out on joining the debating team because I was too shy to speak up. And I know I’d be really good at debating.’

‘I think we all know that.’

She threw a cushion at me and continued as if I hadn’t spoken. ‘And I missed out on the Christmas dance this year because my friends and I felt too self-conscious going alone together. And I wrote this poem that really means a lot to me and I wanted to enter it into this regional competition but I didn’t because –’

‘You were too shy.’ I patted her knee again. ‘So you what? Just woke up one day and decided not to be?’

Hannah sat up, her eyes filled with wisdom beyond her years. ‘No. I kissed a boy I really like and he rejected me. If I can handle that, I’m pretty sure I can handle opening my mouth in front of people I’ve gone to school with for years and saying what I want to say.’

I nodded slowly and then gave her a reassuring smile. ‘For what it’s worth, you are the coolest person I know.’

‘Even cooler than Cam?’

Cam was that smart, geek-like, hot guy who marched to the beat of his own drum. Yeah. He was so cool I could die from his coolness, but I wasn’t going to admit to that like a besotted teenager. I snorted, getting up off the bed. ‘Oh, please, he only thinks he’s cool.’

‘He’s really cool, isn’t he?’ Hannah grinned at me over her shoulder as she opened her bedroom door.

I followed her out, all fake superiority gone. ‘Yeah. Just don’t tell him I said so.’

‘Tell who?’ Ellie was suddenly in my face as if she’d appeared out of nowhere. Within seconds, Hannah and I had been herded back into her bedroom by Ellie and Joss.

Joss gave me a sympathetic smile. ‘I tried to stop her.’

I sucked in a breath, waiting.

And then Ellie began peppering me with her rapid-fire questions.

Lunch actually couldn’t have gone any better. Cam was well-mannered, gracious, intelligent, interesting – all the things I knew he was and could be, but I was glad to see that the Nicholses and Joss and Braden could see that too. I also loved that they noticed how close he was to Cole already. They sat together at the table and whenever conversation wasn’t directed at either one of them, they had their heads together, talking quietly about the book Cole was listening to. Apparently Cam had recommended it.

Since Cam shared Braden and Adam’s dry sense of humour, I had no worries that the three guys wouldn’t get on. Braden kept shooting me these teasing smiles that somehow translated into ‘I’m happy for you.’ That was nice. It really was. However, it just amplified the little ghost of anxiety floating around me, groaning at me about what would happen if this ‘thing’ with Cam fell apart.

I’d never received that awful pity and sympathy other people did when they broke up with someone, because no one had ever really taken my feelings for my boyfriends seriously – whether they were serious or not – yet I knew that in this situation there would be agonizing sympathy if Cam walked away, and I wasn’t sure I could handle that.

There I was, already imagining the demise of our relationship.

I needed my head checked.

With Cam’s strong, slightly callused hand in mine, his body close, his voice full of warmth and affection as we strolled down London Road with Cole, I knew I needed my head checked. This was good. We’d only just started and it was good. I wasn’t going to let my mistrust poison this. I wasn’t.

I squeezed Cam’s hand as we walked into our building, his deep voice echoing up the stairwell as he told me about a couple of jobs he’d seen advertised in the paper.

‘You should definitely apply for them,’ I responded, frowning at Cole, who walked upstairs ahead of us, his shoelace flapping against the concrete. He was going to get himself killed. ‘Cole, tie your shoe.’

‘We’re nearly at the flat,’ he argued.

‘Tie your shoe.’

We all stopped and waited for him to follow my instruction.

‘Happy?’ he grunted, continuing upward.

‘When you speak to me like that, baby boy, how can I not be?’

I could hear Cam choke on his laughter behind me, so when we turned on to his landing I was looking back at him. That’s why I slammed into Cole.

‘What the …’ My voice trailed off as I turned sharply to see what the problem was.

The problem was Becca, standing in front of Cam’s door with a carrier bag in her hand.

‘I want my stuff back.’ She thrust the bag out at Cam, who stepped in front of us to approach her. ‘Here’s your shit. You were always careful not to leave much with me, so there’s only a book and your MP3 player.’ Ouch. The hallway fairly echoed with her bitterness.

Guilt immediately assailed me and I pressed close to Cole, who leaned back into me, his stance almost protective. He’d met Becca only once, but he knew who she was and what this situation meant.

Cam calmly took the bag from her. ‘What stuff did you leave?’

She sneered at him. ‘You don’t even care, do you? You broke up with me and then you went home with her.’ She pointed at me like I was trash. ‘Yeah, Malcolm filled me in.’ Her eyes glittered now as she turned to face me. ‘Don’t worry, slut. Malcolm and I made each other feel better last night. Hope that lessens the guilt.’

‘Enough,’ Cam snapped, stepping into Becca’s space. He bristled with anger and Becca was smart enough to slam her mouth closed. ‘Don’t ever speak to her like that again. Understood?’

Her eyes narrowed. ‘Just get me my stuff.’

‘I’ll look around the flat and whatever I find of yours I’ll send to you.’

‘But –’

‘I’ll send it, Becca. We’re done here.’

It was cold of him, but I understood his reaction. I imagined he didn’t want a scene in the hallway where our neighbours could hear and, worse, where Cole could hear. Intimidating her into leaving seemed like the safest option. I moved out of her way as she passed me, but she stopped as she reached me.

‘Are you going to f**k every man I fuck?’

I flinched. ‘Watch your language.’

Becca looked at me as if I had just crawled out from under a rock. ‘You’re an idiot for walking away from Malcolm Hendry for him. Everyone knows Cameron MacCabe only f**ks around with a girl for a couple of weeks before moving on. You downgraded big time. But that’s your mistake.’ She shot Cam a snide smile that I knew merely covered her hurt. It had always been clear that Becca was more into Cam than he was into her. ‘I think I’ll upgrade.’ Her nasty smile was just for me as she leaned in to whisper, ‘I might give Malcolm a call.’

The three of us watched her leave in silence, and finally, trembling a little, I let Cole lead us up to the flat. He shot me a worried look before disappearing into his bedroom, and I felt more than heard Cam follow me into the kitchen.

The heat of him enveloped me as he pressed against my back, stilling my hand on the kettle before wrapping his arms around my waist. I slid my hands over his and leaned into him. ‘You okay?’ he asked softly, genuine concern in his voice.

I shrugged, not really sure what I was feeling. ‘I guess. I feel bad.’

‘If it makes you feel any better, I never made any promises to Becca. We were very casual.’

‘Malcolm and I weren’t.’

Cam’s arms tightened. ‘Did it bother you? What she said about her and Malcolm last night?’

I didn’t know. I thought it did. I just wasn’t sure if it was because I still had feelings for him or because my vanity was pricked. ‘It just reinforced the truth. It wasn’t real between us.’

The touch of Cam’s warm lips on my jaw sent a delicious shiver down my spine and I momentarily forgot everything. ‘Where am I sleeping tonight?’

My skin grew warm just at the prospect of tonight. ‘My bed is too small for us to share but I can’t leave Cole alone. Why don’t I come down to see you? I won’t be able to stay, though.’

‘That’s fine, baby. Listen, I said I’d meet Nate for a drink.’ He pulled back and turned me in his arms. ‘I’ll see you back at my flat tonight?’

‘Yeah. Around eleven thirty?’

‘I’ll be there.’ He dipped his head to press a light kiss to my lips, but I reached up to cup his jaw, drawing his mouth back to mine. I deepened the kiss, my tongue teasing his, my fingernails scraping gently along his stubbly jawline until my fingers clenched in the hair at his nape. I kissed him until he had to pull back to draw breath.

Eyes a little wide and unfocused, Cam nodded and reluctantly let me go. ‘Let’s make it ten thirty.’

17

‘I was thinking we should both get checked out so we can stop using condoms. You’re on the pill, right?’

My hair whispered across the pillow as I turned to look at Cam lying next to me, his skin glistening with a faint sheen of sweat. I was still panting from our exertions and it took me a minute to process what he’d asked. ‘Yeah. I’ll get checked this week.’

‘Me too. I should be fine. I got checked before Becca and she and I always used protection.’

‘A little friendly advice.’ I sighed, looking up at the ceiling. ‘Don’t talk about your sexcapades with another woman seconds after hav**g s*x with your current woman.’

‘No need to be jealous, baby. You’re a ten – she was a five. Maybe a six on a good day.’

I rolled my eyes, pretending not to be satisfied that Cam thought I was a better lay than Becca. ‘And definitely don’t score them.’

Cam laughed, rolling on to his side so he could pull me to him. He tried to kiss me, but I was still slightly pissed off that he’d mentioned Becca, so I covered his mouth with my hand. He kissed it and said something, but it was muffled against my skin.

I pulled my hand back. ‘What was that?’

His eyes roamed my face, a small smile playing on his lips. ‘I said I’m sorry.’

‘Good.’

Dipping his head, his eyes serious, Cam spoke, his lips grazing mine. ‘You ever try to keep this mouth from me again and I’ll find very creative forms of use for it as punishment.’

I shivered. This side of him in bed was a real turn-on. ‘It’s my mouth. It’s up to me who gets near it.’

‘True,’ he acquiesced, his hand trailing down my hip to wind up between my legs. I jolted involuntarily at the press of his thumb on my clit. ‘But last night you agreed that we were together, and being together means that mouth belongs to me. I don’t like people hiding my things.’ He ended that pronouncement with a roguish grin. His thumb circled my cl*t and I gasped, clutching his wrist, urging him on.

I wanted to call him on his crap, but I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t think. My body had already been treated to a tremendous orgasm and was now positioned on the precipice of another.