Page 52 of Sophia & Cameron

Her heart thundered at his words.

Cameron.

Maybe he was right. Over the last five years, she’d still thought about the guy who had managed to break her heart in less than a week.

He pulled her in for a hug and instinctively, she hugged him back. “It was nice seeing you, Sophia. Maybe we can hang out later this weekend?”

They started to pull away from one another, and she turned to tell him that might not be a good idea just as he moved to kiss her cheek.

The result was an awkward smooch that could only be described as what it felt like to kiss her grandmother. Before she knew what was happening, a blur of color tackled Sam to the ground.

22

Cameron

Blinding rage.

That was the only emotion that built behind Cameron’s eyes as he took swing after swing at his brother. He lost track of how many times he pummeled his own flesh and blood before strong hands dragged him off Samuel.

Only then did he register that Sophia was screaming at him.

Someone was calling the sheriff.

Several people were watching him as his chest rose and fell with sharp breaths. His lungs burned, but the pain in his knuckles was even worse. Samuel looked disoriented as someone helped him to his feet. He glowered at Cameron.

He wiped at the blood that dribbled from his nose and split lip. “Cameron? Are you insane?”

Hands tightened on his arm, and Cameron yanked free, only to realize that it was Sophia’s touch that he pulled away from. She froze. Her eyes darted from Cameron to Samuel and back again.

“You guys know each other?”

Samuel seemed just as confused, but not Cameron. Somehow, he knew something like this would happen. Sam spat blood on the grass before jerking his chin at Cameron. “He’s my brother.”

Sophia gasped and looked to Cameron for confirmation. “What?”

Shaking out his hands, Cameron shook his head. “I don’t have a brother.” He expected to see a reaction from Samuel or even Sophia, but no one moved. They were in a stand-off. He lost track of the seconds that ticked by as he tried to make heads or tails of how this catastrophe had occurred.

Then he whirled around and faced the love of his life. She’d kissed another man—his brother, no less. Every fear Cameron had was manifested in the moments leading up to what he’d witnessed.

He’d come to town to meet with his brother. They were going to get lunch and catch up, and Cameron had been stupid enough to think if he kept Samuel contained in the city, there wouldn’t be any chance of Sophia running into him.

But he hadn’t counted on the fact that Sophia was going to be in town as well.

At first, he’d sat back and watched the interaction. Cameron knew his brother. He knew that Samuel wouldn’t pass up a chance to flirt with a girl as pretty as Sophia. She was his type, as history had shown. Cameron hadn’t been surprised in the slightest to see Samuel take a seat to joke around with Sophia.

Maybe it was morbid curiosity, but Cameron had been more interested to see what Sophia would do when a stranger hit on her without him present.

His fingernails had dug into his hands the longer he’d watched them. He’d been so proud of himself for holding back when he saw Samuel move closer to speak to her. Every memoryof seeing Samuel with his ex had been yanked to the surface while Cameron watched the interaction, and he just prayed that Samuel would get up and walk away.

Alas, his prayers had gone unanswered.

“You kissed him,” he growled at Sophia. “You kissed my brother.”

“What?” Her eyes widened. “No, I didn’t.”

“I saw it with my own eyes.” He let out a mirthless laugh that sounded almost sinister. “You can’t tell me I was seeing things because I know what I saw.” His heart was shattering and all the pain from his past came rushing to the surface. “The worst part is that you know how it would make me feel.”

This was personal.

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