Page 35 of The Easy Way
[Cort:]Already told you. I would call it the best night I’ve everhad.
[Cam:]Because you got me where you wantedme.
[Cort:]Because it was real, even though it wasn’t supposed tobe.
Cam did not have the capacity to handle this. His stupid, traitorous heart leapt at thewords.
[Cam:]Wow. I’m all aflutter. I bet you say that to all the guys you fuck forinformation.
[Cort:]Jesus. I think you’re just trying to convince *yourself*now.
Ding ding ding. Give the FBI agent a prize. It was disturbing that Cort could read him so well. It was even more disturbing that Cam wasn’t having an easy time convincing himself. It had to be an act, but Cam couldn’t figure out why, or what the endgamewas.
[Cam:]You’re right. I’m deludingmyself.
[Cam:]I mean, I’m kind of the total package - sexy, rich, daddy issues. Makes sense you’d go forme.
[Cam:]Who *wouldn’t*?
[Cort:]Keep being snarky, badass. Remember what it does tome.
[Cort:]In fact, since I’m here all alone, I’m gonna re-read your sassy texts and have a privatemoment.
Cam rolled his eyes.Infuriatingman!
[Cam:]Trying to workhere.
[Cam:]Cort?
[Cam:]Cort, I swear to God, you’d better not be jerking off to my bitchytexts.
[Cam:]You. Make. Me.Insane.
It was after seven o’clock and Cam had been fighting a losing battle against texting Cort again… or,okay, he’d actually been brainstorming stupid pretexts for messaging the man… when his phone buzzed in hishand.
[Cort:]Okay, fivequestions.
Cam waited a full two minutes, just staring at the screen, before replying. Not that Cam was playing mind games or anything, because that would bewrong.
[Cam:]Anothergame?
[Cort:]Nope, not a game. We just ask each other five questions. You have to answerhonestly.
[Cort:]First person who refuses to answerloses.
That didn’t sound completely terrifyingwhatsoever.
Cam set his jaw. Hadn’t he given Cort enough honestyalready?
He stared at the phone in his hand, feeling as though he was standing on the ten-meter diving board back in high-school. He’d only ascended that platform once, on a dare, and from the ground it hadn’t seemed scary at all. He was co-captain of the swim team, not afraid of water or heights, sono big deal,right?
But when he’d climbed to the top deck, reality had set in. He’d been around divers enough to know that breaching the water from that heighthurt. You had to break the surface with your palms so you wouldn’t brain yourself by smacking your head against the water, but they said even then, you’d feel the impact all the way up your spine, in every one of your muscles. It would be painful anddisorienting.
The payoff was a massive adrenaline rush that made you feel like you could conquer the world, but first you had to survive thejump.
[Cam:]Notinterested.
[Cort:]We’re pretending to be dates on Saturday. We should know some basic shit about eachother.
