Page 50 of Feels Like Coming Home

I smiled at her sarcasm and texted her back.

Listen Jones, you can never be too sure. There could be some really dangerous people in this tiny town. The old lady in the house across the street from you is pretty fuckin scary if you ask me.

Oh my god, you’re ridiculous.

Do you need someone to walk you home and keep you safe?

You have no idea how hot the idea of you keeping me safe is Jones.

I replied quickly. Once I hit ‘send’ though, I second-guessed myself and wondered if I had crossed a line.

She just told you she wasn’t ready for anything more, you asshole.

I saw the three dots pop up on my screen.

Cam please, we both know that between the two of us, YOU would be the one doing the protecting.

I like the thought of that…

And I will gladly protect you any day, from anything, as long as it’s within my power to do so Haley. I would do anything for you.

My thumb tapped ‘send’ on the message and I waited for her to answer me. When she didn’t for a moment, I started to picture what she might look like as she read my message. I could see her perfectly in my mind.

Her face was probably flush and her lips were probably pressed together, suppressing a smile. I wondered if Piper was reading her messages over her shoulder.

After a few moments, she didn’t answer me, so I sent another text.

Did I make you blush Jones?

Shut up.

I totally did.

Damn I’m good.

While she couldn’t see it, a cocky smile spread across my face.

I hate you.

Awww, love you too Jones.

If only she knew how much I meant that.

You’re ridiculous and I have to go. Piper and I are going to watch a movie. I’ll see ya later.

I didn’t want to stop talking to her but I also didn’t want to seem desperate.

I’ll see ya around Jones.

I sat on the couch smiling and looked down at my phone. Scrolling through our messages, I reread them all from top to bottom, still unable to believe that the person I was talking to was Haley.

For so long after I’d screwed things up with her, I had let go of the hope that we would have any kind of relationship again. But here we were, so many years later, acting as if we had never lost touch.

My mind wandered to what our lives could have been like if I hadn’t run away the morning after that night in her dorm room. The sportscaster on the TV droned on in the background as I finished my dinner and let my mind continue to create stories and images of the two of us and what we could have been.

Maybe we would’ve gotten married and she would have moved with me as I signed my first NFL contract. I imagined us having kids and loving her even more with a large, rounded belly. Thinking about the two of us being parents made me wonder why she and Connor never had kids of their own.

The sun started to set outside the hotel’s windows and the longer I sat on the couch, the more my eyes started to droop.

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