Page 15 of Finally Home

“Sounds like you’re doing really well for yourself.”

Cami stared out to where the retreat house sat beyond the trees. “I started the retreat center as a bit of a joke. I didn’t think it was going to take off, or that I was going to enjoy it as much as I do. But it’s become a dream job. I love the groups we’ve had up here, and many of them return year after year.”

“That’s amazing.” He smiled, trying to convey how happy he was for her, even though a small part of him hated she was so happy with her life without him.

You left, bud. Remember that.He didn’t get to be upset her life had gone on without him. He had gone on too. Without her. It didn’t matter he’d been forced to give Tiffani the life he’d dreamed of for Cami because of some holier-than-thou-moral code. It was what his dad would have done, so it was what he did. Even though doing so overrode what he wanted. Ultimately life didn’t give a shit about plans.

“Welp, we’re burning daylight.” Cami brought her mug to her lips and tipped back the rest of its contents. “Run upstairs and get changed out of those sweats, and we’ll go out and find a tree.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He gave a mock salute and slipped past her into the cabin. Halfway down the hall he looked over his shoulder to see her eyes roaming over his backside.

He chuckled to himself when she saw him and tried but failed to shift her attention elsewhere.

Yup. After all these years, I still got it.

CHAPTERSIX

CAMI

Damn, the air force had been good to West. He walked in front of her with Bear padding alongside him. Clad in plaid with an ax over his shoulder, he looked like a lumberjack sent from the heavens.

She let him believe he would be the one swinging that ax, but between the altitude and any lingering soreness from the crash, she gave him less than ten swings before he tapped out.

“How about this one?” West pointed to a tree that was of decent height, but it wasn’t full like a Christmas tree should be.

“It looks like the tree equivalent of a pencil dick.” She blurted it out before she considered that maybe she shouldn’t be talking about dicks.

It could be nerves making her mental filter short-circuit. Or it could’ve been that she was falling back into the easiness that always flowed between her and West.

She needed to get a grip. Fast. It was an accident that he was still there with her. If not for the snow, he would’ve walked away from her. Again. That didn’t mean she couldn’t have a little bit of fun with him while he was there. She’d be fine as long as she didn’t get in too deep. As long as she remembered he would leave once the snow was cleared.

West tipped back his head, and his belly laugh echoed through the trees. “A pencil dick, huh? And just what does a pencil dick look like?”

“You know, long and skinny. Nothing to fill it out at the base.” She barely contained her smile.

“So you’re saying girth matters.”

“Absolutely. I’d say it’s just as important as length.” She paused, and it struck her she’d described a dick, not a tree. “I meant height.”

She was on a roll. First insinuating she liked waking up to him making breakfast and now using trees to define her dick preference.

A mischievous smirk formed on his full lips. The same one that consistently made her panties wet. That time was no different. “Did you, now?”

Heat flooded her cheeks. She should’ve stopped there, but she’d come that far, so she might as well hit her point home. Cami walked over to a short stubby tree and gave him an award-winning smile. “See, this one is all girth but wouldn’t hit the ceiling. It just wouldn’t get the job done.”

He cocked a brow at her. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

She had no doubt he would. Not that he had anything to worry about. From what she saw the night before, he still had one worth writing home about.

Her nipples peaked under her jacket, and it wasn’t from the cold. She needed to stop thinking about dicks. Especially his.

They continued trudging through the woods. Every few trees, one of them would make a comment about girth or height, and they’d laugh all over again.

It felt like old times. Warmth filled Cami’s chest, and she struggled to remind herself he wasn’t there for this. He wasn’t even there for her.

While going on about a particularly short tree, Cami tripped over a fallen log. With catlike reflexes, West looped his arm through hers and kept her face from meeting the ground. He kept her arm firmly in his after that, and she leaned into him. To anyone watching, they’d look like a happy couple on a walk through the woods.

Still, being this close to him had her considering everything that could’ve been. She needed to know where things went wrong. Why he’d given up on them in the first place. She would have waited, would have gone with him after she graduated. But he didn’t wait.

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