Page 24 of The Gift that Keeps On Giving

“Dean, Cameron wouldn’t do that,” Ruby breathes.

“You’d been drinking, Ruby. You might not remember, but I do.”

Cameron shoves off the counter. “Like I said, Dean, you walked in at the wrong moment and it wasn’t what you thought. But I guess a lifetime of friendship didn’t earn me the benefit of the doubt.”

“Explain it to me now, then. Tell me what I saw.”

“Fine.”

Cameron

I can’t believe I’m about to say any of this out loud.

But I’ve come too far to turn back now. And honestly, after last night, explaining my twisted desires to Dean and Ruby doesn’t seem so daunting. Not after they witnessed me giving in to it, right in front of them. Why not rip off the full Band-Aid?

“Six years ago, Ruby, you came over for a tutoring session. You’d been at a pool party at one of the sorority houses and you’d had too much to drink. That wasn’t like you. I’d never seen you even tipsy before.”

Her cheeks are adorably pink. “I remember. I didn’t expect to enjoy myself and I’d drank too much before I realized someone had been refilling my glass. I was a mess. And I should have cancelled the tutoring session, but I didn’t want to let you down, Cameron.”

I nod. “My dad was visiting. When I saw the state you were in, I carried you upstairs, thinking I’d just let you sleep it off and we’d make up the session another time. And that’s what I did. I laid you down in my bed and came back downstairs, proceeding to make lunch for my father, but you must have fallen off the bed, because he went upstairs to investigate a thud.”

“I remember him coming into the room. Kind of.” She winces. “It’s all kind of hazy, but he was talking to me. A little flirty, sure, but a nice man.”

My stomach is tying itself into a knot. “When I realized he’d gone upstairs, I followed him, and…”

Dean turns, braced. “Andwhat?”

“Ruby, you were a little disheveled from falling off the bed. You still had a bikini top on from the pool party and a dress covering it up, but the top had shifted and your breasts…” I gesture to my chest. “They were completely out. You were having a full conversation with my father with virtually no top on. And I could see he was…”

Ruby’s hands are covering her cheeks, obviously embarrassed after hearing the details of that afternoon for the very first time. “You could see he was what?”

“Horny. Excited. By your freshman tits.” I quietly curse my father for his actions that day and what they led to—an incurable hunger inside of me that nothing satisfies. At least not until last night. “He wasn’t touching you, and to this day, I know damn well he wouldn’t have tried anything with you, Ruby, but…Jesus. Something about my father wanting you so visibly made me…want to see it happen.”

“Christ,” Dean says, studying me closely. But he doesn’t look disgusted. Or like he’s going to accuse me of being a pervert. He’s more thoughtful than anything. “This is why you get off watching me be her Daddy.”

Hearing it out loud is a trip. “It seems so, yeah. You’re the same type as my father…personality wise. Physically, too. I don’t have this interest with anyone besides, Ruby, though. I love watching her get…dominated. By an older man. By…”

“A man like me,” Dean concludes. “I guess I can’t judge you too harshly considering…you know.” He clears his throat. “The Daddy thing.”

“No kidding,” I snort.

“Wow. I had no idea that afternoon was the source of…well, everything.” Ruby presses against me, sliding up the front of mybody to kiss me, long and slow. “I’m proud of you for telling us, Cameron.”

But the story isn’t finished yet—a fact that is clear, thanks to the stubborn set of Dean’s chin. “So, if your father didn’t touch Ruby, what the hell did I walk in on?”

I look at Ruby, because this explanation belongs more to her than anyone. “When I saw your top was down, I rushed over to fix it, angel. You thought I was trying to help you up, so you put your arms around my neck. I didn’t have my footing and stumbled a little, so my dad stepped in to steady you. And like I said, we were both…turned on. For different reasons.” I let out an exhale. “That’s when Dean walked in and saw us surrounding you. I can imagine how it must have looked, considering your top was down and you were slurring your words.”

I expect him to call me a liar. To tell me once again that he knows what he saw. Instead, after a full minute, he sighs. “I believe you. I know you better than to think you’d take advantage of Ruby. We’d just drifted so much, I didn’t feel like I knew you anymore. God knows there was a lot of jealousy in those days.”

“Thankfully, we’re over that,” I say, sarcastically.

Dean laughs at my sarcasm. “Old habits die hard.”

“But this friendship doesn’t have to,” Ruby says, snuggling her way in between us, beaming a smile up at me, then Dean. “In fact, I think it’ll be even stronger going forward.”

“How do you figure?” asks Dean, a shade skeptical.

“Yeah, like we just said,” I say. “The jealousy never really goes away. Dean doesn’t want to share, and while I really, really love watching, I want to be inside you, too. Badly, angel.”

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