Page 55 of Be Mine Forever

“That’s what I want for us, Cam.” She scooted up beside him, bringing her jar with her to provide a little light. “Your past, your secrets, your hurts—you’re storing them all in the dark, and they’re having their way with you every night. I think the light will make it better.”

Cam drove his fingers through his hair, cupping his forehead in his hands and aiming his eyes toward the ground. Jo cleared her throat and prayed her plan would work. Time would tell if this was a brilliant move or a bumbling mess.

“I’d like to go first.” Jo wrapped her arms around her bare knees. “We both know your past was harder than mine. Darker than mine, so I won’t try to compare battle scars.”

Cam snorted, the only indication he still heard her.

“But I will share some of the most embarrassing, pitiful moments of my life to even the playing field some.”

Cam’s body was stiff and still. Not a smile. Not a twitch. Not a shift of his feet. Maybe he had gills under his T-shirt because he didn’t even seem to be breathing. Jo figured this first one would relieve some of the tension at least.

“Low point number one. This one is kind of funny, even to me, and I am the butt of this joke.” She poked a finger in his face. “No big butt jokes. This is not the time.”

Despite the somber expression on Cam’s face, his lips twitched just the way she had hoped.

“I was in high school and refused to go all the way with my first boyfriend.”

“Mark Ballow.” Cam turned his head, giving her his undivided attention. “I hated that guy.”

“So did Walsh. So did Daddy. So did Aunt Kris.” Jo chuckled and plucked at a patch of grass. “That’s probably why I stayed with him as long as I did.”

“Walsh and I wanted to end him several times.”

“I remember. I can’t believe I ever had a date, as protective as you guys were.”

“Yeah, well, hopefully it spared you a few broken hearts.”

“Oh, they weren’t the ones breaking my heart.”

Cam winced, mouth wry.

“Point taken. Go on. Give me the low point.”

“Sadist.” She reached over to kiss behind his ear. “Well, he wanted to go all the way, and I didn’t, so we compromised.”

“Compromised how?”

“We agreed on a blow job. My first, in fact.”

Cam turned his body to face her fully for the first time, more in the light than he had been since they’d sat by the river.

“You blew Mark Ballow? I would have choked him if Walsh didn’t scalp him first.”

“Correction. Itriedto blow him, but I…um, ran into a little difficulty.”

“What kind of difficulty?”

“I threw up.”

Cam’s lips clamped and his cheeks puffed up with the laugh bomb exploding inside his mouth.

“You…like on his dick?”

“On his dick. On his jeans. On his new sneakers. It was a gag reflex thing.” Jo wondered if her cheeks glowed brightly enough to provide more light than the fireflies. “You guys always wondered why we broke up—well, that was the straw that blew the camel’s back, so to speak. Mark drew the line at vomit in his boxers.”

Cam fell back on the grass, shoulders lifting and shaking. He bit his lip, but laughter kept sneaking out.

“It may be funny now, but—”

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