Page 63 of Feels Like Coming Home

Haley, wait…

I didn’t readthe rest of the message before deleting it.

Camden Johnson wouldn’t have the last word and I wouldn’t cry over him anymore.

Not until after tonight at least.

32

HALEY | NOW

Once Cam and I had finished eating, he walked me back to the bungalow, holding my hand as we went. I chewed my lip as we walked, thinking about what he had said last night and again at the table this morning.

That he wasn’t going anywhere and that I could trust him.

I wanted to trust him. But I had trusted him so many times before and then he would break that trust. We would get close, talk about being together, and then suddenly he would ice me out and bolt in the opposite direction.

The last time he and I were as close as we were last night was our freshman year in college. But after the heartbreak he put me through, I swore I would never go down this road again.

Yet here I was, on the same road.

Again.

You’re going to get hurt, you stupid girl,the voice inside my head said.You’re a horrible wife to Connor, how dare you betray him like that? You never deserved him in the first place. No one will love you enough to stay, not even Cam. You can’t trust him, remember?

I pushed the voice out of my head and tried to focus on how good Cam’s hand felt in mine. It was strong and callused from throwing a football a hundred times a day. The way it caged itself around mine made me feel safe. I couldn’t help but feel like it fit perfectly into mine.

When we reached the old oak door of the bungalow, Cam squeezed my hand and kissed me on the cheek.

“Just the cheek?” I raised my eyebrows at him, surprised by the move. He rolled his eyes at me and leaned in, stopping just before his lips reached mine.

“Jones, if I do anything more than just kiss you on the cheek, I won’t be able to stop. And I don’t think your old lady friend across the street would like to watch me take you right here on the front porch.”

My face burned and I bit my lower lip as he kissed my cheek again.

“I’ll see ya around, Jones. Thanks for the best date ever.” He winked at me before heading down the front walkway. He turned once he hit the gate and turned to wave before walking back down the street. I stood on the front steps for a moment, watching him go until I couldn’t see him any longer. My head was spinning and I could feel the stupid grin on my face as my fingers laced in front of me.

That’s when I felt the sleeves of Cam’s sweatshirt between my hands and I looked down to realize I hadn’t given it back to him. I almost ran down the street after him, but after sinking my nose into the collar and taking in his scent, I decided against it.

Realizing I’d been standing on the porch for an unreasonably long time now, I turned and pushed the front door open, still smelling the collar of my new sweatshirt.

As soon as I stepped inside I could feel her eyes on me from the kitchen. My eyes slowly moved from the floor up toward the bar to find Piper sitting on a barstool, one leg crossed over the other, with her hands crossed on her knee.

She had a welcoming smile on her face and anyone who didn’t know this smile would think they were safe. In reality, this was Piper’s way of luring you into a false sense of security. Making you think you were safe before she tore you open with a million questions.

“Hi, Piper…” My voice came out slow and I braced myself for her attack.

“Sup, slut.” Her nice smile slowly turned into a shit-eating grin as my mouth fell open.

“How do you know we even did anything?!” I shouted at her, kicking off my shoes and walking toward the coffee pot. I was going to need another cup of coffee to get through her cross-examination.

“Well, let’s look at the facts.”Oh boy, here we go, she has facts.“One, you’re coming homethe next morningafter going on a date with him. Two, you’re wearing his sweatshirt and are practically chewing on it like a starving animal. And three, your dress is on inside out.” My eyes flashed down toward the hem of my dress and sure enough, there was the tag on the outside, all the inner seams exposed to the world.

“Shit, that means it was like that at breakfast this morning.” My hand palmed my face and I was suddenly hoping no one at Coastal Brews noticed. Piper burst into a fit of laughter and I thought for a second she might fall off the barstool.

“You went to breakfast looking like that?! Do you want the entire town to know you and Camden fucked last night?!”

“It’s not like we know these people! They’re total strangers to us!” I was mostly trying to convince myself that I would be fine if the old ladies around town started to whisper about me.

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