Page 67 of Under My Skin

So I stop her from going back to her seat and keep her on my lap.

“Although I like this jealous side of you,” I say as I hold her chin so she looks at me. “I feel like I need to set the record straight. I brought girls up here and made out a little, but I never had sex with any of them. You’re the first.”

“Really?” The shock in her voice has me smiling more. She must really think I was a bona fide player in high school. Homework, football, and the farm consumed my life at that age. I didn’t have a lot of extra time in general, so girls weren’t my top priority.

“Yeah. Believe it or not, you’re gonna get some of my firsts too, Lizzie.”

“That makes me happy,” she whispers.

“And my lasts. There won’t be anyone else for me either.”

The smile that spreads across her face, the blush that colors her cheeks, and the way she says, “Good,” make me really fucking happy.

She leans her head against me, snuggling up against my chest as much as she can. It seems like neither of us wants to be apart right now.

“Sooooo, did you notice that the old Kellerman building is vacant now?” she asks, clearly trying to segue into something else.

“Where the library used to be?” I ask, making sure I still know where things are. Brantley Falls has changed a lot in the last five years, and the town is growing like crazy.

“Yeah, they finished the new one on Grant Street a couple of months ago, and everything has officially been moved over. The building is for sale now. Or ready to be rented out, I guess. I’m not sure how they’re handling that.”

“That’s…interesting,” I say, genuinely having no idea where she’s going with this.

“It’d be perfect for your gym. It’s not too big or too small. It’s right in the heart of downtown, so you won’t have to worry about not being busy. Even though you wouldn’t have to worry about that anyway. Once the town knows you’re the one behind it, every woman—and man probably—will sign up for it. Fitness will become the new trend in Brantley Falls. You’ll start a movement,” she laughs.

“There you go stroking my ego again, baby,” I manage to get out as I laugh.

Maybe I need to give it some thought. The space would be great. I’m sure Wyatt would approve of it—and especially of finally moving on with it.

“I’m being serious, Cameron,” Lizzie pleads.

“Come with me to look at it this week then? You can give me all the advice you want, and then I’ll reach out to Wyatt,” I concede.

“Really? You want to look at it?”

“I’ll never get it off the ground if I don’t start somewhere, right? That seems like the best starting point. Plus, Wyatt has time off from the season and training right now, so it might be the best time for him to get the ball rolling with me.”

There’s a part of me that is still worried about failing. But it’s hard to focus on that right now when Lizzie is beside me. When she supports me in this. It’s not that there’s no chance of failing at it, but it doesn’t sound as bad if it falls through.

I guess that’s part of the magic of Lizzie Montgomery too. She makes me want to try.

31

LIZZIE

A weekafter I brought up the old library space downtown, Cameron finally agrees to go see it. I don’t want to be pushy about it, but I can’t stop thinking that it will be the perfect space for what he and Wyatt have in mind, and I don’t want them to miss out on it.

But I keep telling myself to step back because what I might think is encouragement could actually be coming off as obnoxious and forceful. And while he seems to be on board with doing this, especially after his last chat with Wyatt, I feel that Cameron needs to make his own decisions. I’m here for support and encouragement.

Unfortunately, Wyatt couldn’t fly in since he had some press thing to shoot for the team, so we video called. I could see Cameron’s face light up when we saw the place, and even Wyatt was impressed with what he could see through the phone screen. It seemed perfect.

Cameron asked all the right questions, even though sometimes it seemed like he was trying to find faults wherever he could. He asked about water damage in the ceiling, how long ago they updated the electrical, and how much keeping this place cool usually costs during the summer.

I don’t blame him for being skeptical and hesitant with such a big undertaking, but it almost feels like he’s purposefully looking for ways that it won’t work. But, again, I remind myself to back off because this isn’t my dream—it’s Cameron’s. As much as I want to help foster it, it’s not my place to push.

After saying goodbye to the realtor, we jump in his truck, and I’m met with complete silence. I know he’s thinking hard over there, so I stay quiet. He needs to be the one to reach out to me.

When we make it home, I’m half convinced he needs some space to work stuff out.

---