Page 43 of Aftermath

"Stop." Cam shook his head and threaded their fingers together. "It's cool. I'm okay. I was just thinking…" That Austin had gotten what he wished for. He was back with his wife and daughter.

It was making Cam antsy as fuck to not know exactly what was going on between them. He trusted Austin with his life, and he knew Austin meant what he'd said—he didn’t take any of this lightly. But that didn’t really offer any answers. Austin was always gonna prioritize Riley, and while Cam could understand that—hell, he wouldn’t have it any other way—it made him question things. For instance, would Austin stay with Jade for Riley's sake?

Even if he didn’t, what was Cam ready for? They'd just returned to freedom; their lives were changed forever. Who knew how long they'd be picking up the pieces to put their lives back together. Cam needed his routines; he needed his stability. Then, on the other hand, he needed Austin, too. He wanted them in the same fucking bed at night.

Merely a few hours ago, he'd let Austin fuck him. And it had been…fucking amazing—no other words for it. He rarely bottomed, but that didn’t mean he preferred to top. Well, he did, but bottoming was more intimate, in his opinion. It wasn’t for casual hookups, which meant he hadn't bottomed since college. It was the last time he'd had a steady partner, and it hadn't ended dramatically with broken hearts or anything, but Cam decided casual was better for him. Opening up to another person wasn’t easy, and it took time for Cam to trust. But with Austin?

Cam would do anything for that man.

I'm probably in love with the bastard.

Austin was about to say something when Cam heard a phone ring from inside. It wasn’t his own, so he concluded it was Austin's. "Your phone's ringing," he said, reeling on the inside from his realization about his feelings.

Could that be it? Had he fallen for Austin?

"Oh. It's probably Riley." Austin stood up and went inside.

Cam sighed heavily and lit up a smoke, then started tapping his thumb together with his fingers.

When Austin grabbed his phone off the coffee table, he was surprised to see his home number as caller ID.

Jade and Riley weren’t supposed to be back from visiting Jade's parents in Delano until tomorrow.

"Hello?" He answered the phone, then immediately held it away from his ear when all he was met by were Riley's sobs. "Riley, what's wrong?" Austin was already heading down the hall to get his clothes from last night. "Talk to me, baby girl."

"I don’t wan-wanna move, Daddy!" she wailed.

"What?" He frowned in confusion and pulled on his jeans. "I don’t understand. Can you explain for me?"

Riley kept crying. "Mom said we're gonna move! I don’t wanna move to Delano! I-I have all my friends here!" Austin froze. A mere second later, the phone was ripped away from Riley, and Jade's voice rang out. "It's not what you think, Austin. Riley overheard me and my mother talking, so we left early—Look, can you just come home? Where the hell are you, anyway?" Now she sounded annoyed.

"I…" Austin didn’t know what to say. He was flabbergasted. "Uh—I'm with Cam." He shook his head as if to clear it. Then his anger was back in full force. "What thefuckis Riley talking about?" He pulled on his shirt, awkwardly buttoning it one-handed.

"It's nothing that should be discussed over the phone—Go to your room, Riley!" she yelled in the background. "Hurry, Aust—"

"I'll be there in twenty," he snapped and ended the call.

His mind was a jumbled mess, as per usual, but now there was a bunch of new shit. Jesus Christ, when was it all going to end? This day was proving to be both incredibly difficult to struggle through and…well, with Cam's presence it was manageable.

"Cam, I have to—" He broke off when he saw Cam standing in the hallway with his wallet and car keys. Austin sighed and walked closer. "Thank you," he said quietly, accepting his personal belongings. "Jade and Riley came home early. I have to go."

"I gathered that." Cam offered a forced smile. "Trouble in paradise?"

Austin snorted and put on his shoes. "More like the final nail in the coffin."

He scrubbed a hand over his face, bone-weary and angry. This was one of those times he didn’t want to be an adult. Closing the distance between them, Austin dropped his forehead to Cam's shoulder.

"Tell me to come back." He needed to hear it—to hear thatsomethingwas real.

Tension he hadn't even noticed before disappeared from Cam's shoulders. "Come back whenever you can," he murmured. "And, um, it's been a taxing day for you. You should probably take your meds."

Austin grinned tiredly and lifted his head. "We'll see." Leaning in, he kissed Cam but ended it too soon. "I'll call you."

14

The minute Austin stepped foot inside his house, there was shouting from Jade and sobbing from Riley.

Austin had prepared himself on the ride over, though. He knew what was about to happen, so he took control. Walking in to the kitchen, he was spotted by Riley first, who threw herself at him.

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