Page 63 of Ravage

"Why would they upset me?"

"I don't know... they can be a lot, and I know you aren't used to how they can be..."

She reaches across the centre console to squeeze my hand as it rests on my thigh. "Thank you for worrying about me. But I'm fine, I promise. My own family might be awful, but I can still be around other people's families without it triggering me."

"Okay, good. That's good." I slide my hand out from under hers and turn the car on.

She pats my cheek as I turn to look at her before pulling away from the curb. "You're sweet, Cam."

I raise an eyebrow. "What happened to me being the devil?"

"Oh, you still have your moments." She winks. "But there's more heart in there than you let on."

With her words echoing inside my mind, I pull away from the curb and head towards home while planning all the not sweet things I'm going to do to her once we get in the door.

27

I THINK YOU'RE PRETTY AMAZING

IMOGEN

One weekafter meeting Cam's family, we somehow end up having brunch at Diana and Steven's place.

I'm not entirely sure how it happened... One minute I was casually mentioning to my sister that I was seeing someone and had met his family... the next... Well, here we are.

I'd enjoyed watching how a normal family interacts when Cam introduced me to his parents and brother. The casual way they all spoke to one another, and joked together was so foreign to me, yet so refreshing. I have no memory of ever being that relaxed around my parents and extended family, save for when my grandmother, the only family member to ever not treat me like shit, used to take care of me. My father used to tell me I was so much like her in a tone that told me that wasn't a good thing, as far as he was concerned. The high-strung and outspoken Spanish woman didn't give two shits what my arrogant arsehole of a father thought of her, and she'd always had a strained relationship with her judgemental daughter - aka dear old Mum. Of course, neither of them hated her enough to keep her from babysitting Diana and me for free whilethey swanned off to any events they went to where they didn't need to put on the fake 'happy family' face.

The day she died when I was thirteen had been one of the worst days of my life, and that small glimmer of happiness in my shitty life was snuffed out.

So, seeing how a family is truly meant to be, whilst a little overwhelming, had been pretty amazing. And to have them welcome me so easily... I'd never experienced that before. I'd only met my ex-husband's parents a handful of times as they lived overseas and he wasn't close to them, but when we were with them, they were standoffish and cold. Guess that explained where Chris got his attitude from.

"So Cam. You're a paramedic?" Diana asks, pulling me from my musings as she brings a tray of bacon and scrambled eggs to the table.

Tabitha lets out an excited squeal from her highchair beside me, her eyes locked onto the delicious smelling food. I subtly rub my ear, trying to make sure Diana doesn't notice.

I don't know why she insists on seating me next to my niece whenever I'm here for a meal. Whilst she's cute and all, I have no experience with children and have no desire to do more than give her a cuddle when she's not crying, pooping or something else gross. I'll be around for cool aunt duties when she's in her teens and hates Diana and Steven, though.

"Yep, going on twelve years now," Cam replies after finishing the mouthful of coffee he'd taken.

"That's pretty cool. I don't think I've met an ambo in person before. You guys must have such a hard job," Steven says from where he's stationed in front of the stove.

Cam shrugs. "Yeah, it has its moments, I guess."

I've noticed he does this a lot, downplaying the stresses of his job. He's only told me about the funny stories, but I know there have been cases, even while we've been hanging out, that have been traumatic. He hasn’t said much, just that work was a bit roughthat day. I wonder how long it will take before something finally breaks him.

Diana waves the platter of food in front of me, indicating it's my turn to serve myself. "Well, I think it's great. About time we had someone in the family with a selfless job."

I don't know which part of that statement I'm the most concerned about... Probably the part about Cam being part of the family.

I shoot her a warning look as I take the platter from her, avoiding looking at Cam to see how he reacted to her words.

We still haven't defined what we're doing, and I'm happy in my little 'we're just fucking' bubble, even though I'm fully aware I'm lying to myself. Denial is a place I'm very happy in, and I plan to stay there as long as possible.

"I resent that statement," Steven says, coming to join us and placing the last of the food on the table. "My work is selfless."

She shakes her head. "I don't think working in insurance counts as selfless, babe."

Fried tomatoes, onion, spinach and halloumi to go along with the bacon and eggs. It's enough food to feed an army, and my mouth starts watering.

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