Page 58 of The Easy Way
“Damon Fitzpatrick, my brother,” Cort confirmed, holding his breath as he waited for Cam to recognize the name, to ask morequestions.
But Cam only nodded and looked back up at the sky. “Yourturn.”
“Truth or Dare?” Cortasked.
Cam rolled his eyes. “I’m over the dares. Ask thequestion.”
Cort’s mind churned. He wanted to knoweverything. He wanted to know more about Cam’s family, about his plans for the future, about his feelings for Cort, whatever those might be. A voice in the back of his mind reminded him he should find out more about Sebastian, for Damon’s sake, but he rejected that almostimmediately.
“What scares you most?” he asked, instead. “Besidesflying.”
Cam pursed his lips, looking thoughtful, and Cort felt his heart squeeze almost painfully. He loved this about Cam - the way he made sure things were true before he said them, like he took Cort’s thoughts seriously and wanted to give him an honestanswer.
“Drew says I get scared of emotions. Since the crash. I run from things when they getreal.”
Cort’s lingering annoyance at Drew flared to life. “That’s whatDrewthinks. What doyouthink?”
Cam shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s right, because I’ve thrown myself into work. I stopped doing things I used to want todo.”
“You’ve been grieving,” Cort pointed out. “And you’ve taken on a pretty huge responsibility at SeaverTech.”
“Yeah. I also ended things between Drew and me pretty easily, though, and I haven’t dated anyone seriously sincehim.”
“Well, Drew’s kind of a douchebag, so I don’t know if it was fear so much as good judgment,” Cortdrawled.
Cam laughed, and the sunlight played over the defined muscles of his abs, the freckles on the tops of his shoulders. Christ, the man was gorgeous. Cort had to look away again, pretending the water wasfascinating.
“Fair point,” Cam allowed. “But, should I have tried harder? Was I running away because things gotreal?”
“Did you love him?” Cort’s chest was tight as he asked the question, but Cam’s answer was immediate andunequivocal.
“No. Never. Not like that. He was a friend. Another brother, almost. But I wonder if maybe I sensedhelovedme.Maybe it scared mesubconsciously.”
“Hedidn’t.”
Cam turned to look at him in surprise. “How do you know? I mean, you’ve seen him at his worst. He’s not always ajerk.”
“Nah.” Cort shook his head firmly, completely confident. “He didn’t love you. Not really. Not the all-in kind oflove.”
“And you know this how?” Cam’s voice wasamused.
“Because if he had, he wouldn’t haveletyou run.” He felt Cam’s eyes on his face and he took a deep breath before turning to meet them. Their gazes locked and the words were pulled from his belly. “Iwouldn’t let yourun.”
Cam’s nostrils flared, eyes wide, as parsed Cort’s words. He shook his head slowly. “I don’t want you to, either. I’m trying notto.”
“You’ve been thinking about it?” Cort clenched his hands into fists because he wanted to reach for Cam, right then and there, crush him against his chest, hold him inplace.
Cam swallowed and glanced down. “I have some trust issues, I guess. Comes with the name. And then the thing with Sebastian…” He glanced up at Cort. “Anyway, I’m trying. I said I’d give you a second chance, and I am, but it’s a lot,” he whispered. “And I know you still have secrets. What’s the phone about, Cort? What’s this investigation about, if it’s notwork? Does that mean it’s personal? Because it seems really personal. I know it’s not all classified FBI bullshit, either.” His voice took on a warning edge, cautioning Cort not to play that card again. “For one thing, the FBI has plenty of ways onto this island which don’t involveme.”
Cort huffed out a breath, opened his mouth to saysomething, but Cam cut himoff.
“I want to know. I do. But tell me not because I’m asking, or giving you an ultimatum. I need you to tell me becauseyouwant to,whenyou want to. Does that makesense?”
It made a scary amount of sense. He wanted Cort to show him the same trust Cam had been showing since their very first meeting. But the truth about Damon, what they’d learned about the plane crash - weren’t entirely Cort’s secrets toshare.
He ran a hand over his jaw, feeling the rough stubble against his palm, and mentally cursed his brother. Where the hell was Damon? Why hadn’t he made contact? The familiar anger was creeping back. Damon had disappeared from his life ayearago, and now Cort’s loyalty to his brother was fucking things up withCam.
Corthimselfwas fucking things up withCam.
