Page 72 of You Are Cordially Invited

“Do you blame us?” Michael flashed his dimples. “I thought I was the only one who fucked relationship shit up that badly. Not to mention, you chewed my arse ruthlessly when I hightailed it back to LA, and Josh and I weren’t even together at the time. I’m feeling better by the minute.”

I sank deeper in my chair and tried not to smile. That I had friends who knew me that well was still a novelty and more than a bit scary. It had taken a long while to realise that the no-man-is-an-island thing wasn’t just a joke invented by sad individuals who needed a committee to make every decision in their life.

“I’m never gonna live this down, am I?”

“No,” they answered as one.

“Just talk to him.” Sandy grabbed my hand once again.

“I need a plan first.”

Michael arched a brow. “And whose plan would that be, exactly?”

Shit.I slapped a hand to my forehead.“Mine. Okay, I get it. No need to be so smug.”

“Oh, but there is very much a need.” Michael batted his lashes. “Now, go on with you. Go and make a plantogether.”

And before I could register what was happening, I was hauled onto my feet into two sets of arms and hugged till my brains squeezed out my ears. Yet another of those horrifying changes in my life that I was frantically trying to adapt to. Being hugged. Having friends. People knowing my shit. Being—God help me—open.

When I was eventually released from the madness, my expression tried for stoic resignation but failed dismally when a traitorous smile crept over my lips instead.

Sandy poked at it with his finger and laughed. “Aw, baby, look at that. See, I knew you really liked us.”

“Lies, all lies.” I batted his hand away, then changed my mind and tugged him into my arms instead. “Thank you.” I looked over his shoulder to Michael. “Both of you.”

Michael gave a sly grin. “Just remember that next time I steal your parking spot outside ER.”

I flipped him off. “If Ieverfind your car parked there, I’ll be writing your phone number in the bathroom at Downtown G.”

“Won’t be the first time.” He laughed. “And for what it’s worth, any baby would be lucky to have you two as parents. Fuck the media, Cam. Fuck everything except the two of you and the family you’re growing.”

I made it all the way into the elevator before the tears I’d been holding back finally broke free, and I embarrassed myself in front of two orderlies and a staff nurse who rode the car with me. The orderlies gaped in open disbelief, while the nurse slipped me a Kleenex and squeezed my hand.

My reputation was in tatters and I couldn’t find a single fuck to give.

I wanted every bit of that family picture Michael had painted.

I could only hope Reuben still agreed.

Chapter Fourteen

Cam

“Cam?”Reuben sat under a crumpled sheet and stared at me like he wasn’t sure whether to kiss me or kill me, and all I could do was stare at those beautiful grey eyes and hope they still shone for me at the end.

Shame burned through me, my throat so thick with it I could scarcely breathe.

Reuben had always been an open book to me, his emotions not just worn on his sleeve but waved in great fucking flags above his head. And they were all there: fear, hurt, confusion, anger, and... disappointment.

The last no less than I merited.

“Hi,” I answered, closing the door and sliding into the chair alongside his bed, my cheeks a hot beacon. “They tell me you’re pushing to be home on Friday.”

“Leyton isn’t making any promises, but yeah, hopefully,” he answered flatly, and I swallowed hard.

He was deservedly angry with me.

Still, he looked better than when I’d left, physically, at least. Beautiful as always, at least to my eyes. Blond waves washed and combed; someone had helped him with that—not me, of course, since I’d fucked off and left him. But those grey eyes were clouded, wary, and concerned—his expression so carefully schooled I wanted to slap him. I hated it. Hated to see that all too familiar guard back in his nature—the one he’d worn when he’d been buried in the closet.

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