Page 60 of Feels Like Coming Home

“Isaid, you’re impossible, woman!” He planted a kiss on my forehead before smirking.

“I’m not impossible, I’m just hungry. Now hurry up.” He rolled his eyes at me as I picked up my pace, nearly pulling him down the street toward Coastal Brews.

When we walked in, the place was packed. Cam asked me what I wanted to order and told me to grab any table I could find, breakfast was on him.

Feeling butterflies in my stomach, I gave him my order and made sure he knew it was a caramel, iced macchiato with almond milk. I even had him repeat the order back to me to be sure he got it right. He gave me a knowing look but played along. He already knew my order because it hadn’t changed since we were in high school.

Out the window, I could see an open table under an umbrella and quickly moved through the crowded coffee shop to snag it. While it was still technically winter, it was nice enough to sit outside, even if I was a little chilly in just my dress. As I waited for Cam to come out, the people of town started to fill the streets. Parents with their kids, people walking their dogs, and elderly couples walking hand in hand toward the boardwalk.

As I watched one elderly couple, the older man bumped hips with his wife and then pulled her in for a kiss. A pang of sadness stabbed at my heart as I thought about Connor and how that would never be us. As I was sinking into my grief, a voice came from behind me that warmed me instantly.

“Mhmph, that’s nice.” I turned up to see Cam watching the same couple I was, a look of longingness on his face. My mind wondered if he was hoping to have that someday just like I was.

“Yeah…it is nice.” He took a seat across from me and set my coffee down in front of me. I took a long, drawn-out sip from it and felt the relief of morning coffee slowly bringing me to life. Piper always gave me a hard time about my incessant need for coffee, and Deborah always suggested that it was probably making my anxiety worse, but I happily ignored them both. Nothing would stand in the way of me and coffee.

Nothing.

“So, what are you up to today?” Cam asked, holding his black coffee with both hands.

“I don’t know how you drink that.” I scrunched my nose as I looked at his cup.

“That wasn’t an answer to my question at all, but okay,” he quipped.

“No, it wasn’t, but still…I don’t know how you drink your coffee like that!” I laughed.

“Why are you judging my coffee preferences?! What did black coffee ever do to you?” Cam made a face at me.

“Nothing…it did nothing to me. It’s gross though, I just need you to know that.”

“Some could say the same about the sugary milk you’re drinking, Jones.” His finger pointed to my cup with his eyebrows raised. I rolled my eyes at him and thought about the day.

“Well, it’s Sunday, and Piper and I have virtually no food at the house so we will need to go grocery shopping at some point. Ireallyneed to shower and then, I don’t know what else. I try not to work on the weekends even though with the conference so close, I might crack open my computer later and do a little work.” As I talked about the conference, a million things that still needed to be done came to my mind. Roughly seven weeks stood between now and the first week of April, which was when the conference was being held back in Wilmington. While Piper and I had gotten a lot of the planning done, there was always more to do.

“Hmm…so you probablycan’tcome back to my room tonight and let me taste you one more time? I would love to sink myself deep inside of you again if you’d let me.” Cam leaned in as he said it, a coy smile on his lips.

“Cam!” I gasped and looked around the packed picnic area we were sharing with the locals and felt my face flush. “You cannot say those things here!”

“Come on, Jones. Come back to my room tonight. Let me have my way with you.” He kept his eyes on me, the desire in them clear as day. I groaned, knowing that I couldn’t do what he asked or what my body was now longing for too.

“I want to, Cam, but I can’t. Piper and I heavy load our Mondays with things like meetings and calls. We try to get an early start to the day so we don’t work too late. I would hate to have to get you up early if you don’t have to. Plus, I already know Piper is going to be on me for last night anyway. I don’t think I could take back-to-back interrogations from her.”

“What is she going to be on you about? It’s not like you did anything wrong. We’re two consenting adults enjoying one another’s company. That’s all.” As he finished talking, a server brought us our breakfast. I took a big bite of my breakfast sandwich before speaking again.

“Yes, but Piper knows you and our history and will just want to make sure I’m okay. Plus, she’s going to want a play-by-play because she’s living vicariously through all of this right now,” I spoke with my mouth full.

Cam was watching me eat and smiling.

“Areyou okay?” His voice was filled with genuine concern. I knew why he was asking the question. We hadn’t spoken to one another since the morning after the dorm room incident when he left without saying goodbye. That was, not until I ran into him almost seven months ago at that coffee shop in Charlotte. Now we had slept together and were sharing a table at breakfast.

Was I okay or was I losing my mind?

“Can I be honest with you?” I asked, setting down my sandwich and looking at Cam.

“Of course you can, Haley. I always want you to be honest with me.” My heart fluttered at the sound of his voice saying my name. It wasn’t often that he said it, so when he did, my heart couldn’t take it.

I took a deep breath and reminded myself that I could tell Cam anything. I did when we were growing up, and I wanted to believe I could now, too. His arms were crossed in front of his chest and he was leaning on his elbows on top of the table. A late winter breeze blew through the courtyard we were sitting in and I shivered as it ran across my back. The backless dress was a good idea yesterday when the sun was fully up and it was warm, but right now I was having second thoughts about it.

“Oh, here take this!” Realizing I was cold, Cam tore off his sweatshirt and stood up to hand it to me. Gingerly taking it from his hand, I held it over my lap for a second as if I had just been given a million-dollar check. Then, I pulled it over my head and I could still feel Cam’s body heat inside of it. And it smelled like him.

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