Page 18 of Camilla & Dallas
“It’s more common than you think,” Cheyenne murmured, brushing her off.
“Still a great opportunity for a soon-to-be teacher. Really, I’ll be fine.”
Cheyenne continued to frown. “Just promise me something?”
“What?” Camilla let out a mirthless laugh.
“Don’t… don’t let him manipulate you into something. Be strong, okay? There’s someone out there for you. It’s just not Dallas.”
Camilla nodded absently, her eyes shifting to Dallas once more. Cheyenne would be gone for the rest of the summer, leaving Camilla alone to battle against the irresistible wiles oftheDallas Thorton. Maybe Camilla should have been more focused on making friends with some of the girls over at the Callahan ranch when she’d moved here. Well, it was never too late to start, right?
Cheyenne got to her feet, not hiding the disdain in her expression as she headed down the steps and pushed past her brother. All was not well between them.
Dallas’s gaze followed Cheyenne until she got in her car and drove off. Then he looked back at Camilla.
Her heart stumbled a beat. Then slowly sped up as he moved closer to her. He’d only dropped her off a couple hours ago. Why was he back? Had he caught up with the wolf? Thankfully, herquestions were answered before she had a chance to put a voice to them.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
Camilla got to her feet and moved to the edge of the porch, leaning her forearms on the railing as she stared down at Dallas. He hadn’t bothered coming up the stairs to speak to her. “Is that all you came to say? You could have texted me.”
He shifted from foot to foot and rubbed the back of his neck. “Would you have messaged me back?” There was an accusation in his tone like she was wrong for even making the suggestion.
She scoffed. “I’m not the one who changed my number and ghosted my girlfriend, am I? Out of the two of us, communication is something I was much better at.”
There was a flicker of surprise in his gaze. He opened his mouth, then shut it before shaking his head. “Yeah, you’re right. I could have sent you a message. But that doesn’t answer the question. Are you okay?”
“You already asked me?—”
“Just answer the question, Camilla.”
She stilled. There was a sting to his words, one that demanded she didn’t ignore him. “I’m fine,” she whispered. Then she cleared her throat. “And thank you.”
“For what?” he said, not looking at her.
“For… saving me. For keeping me safe.”
Dallas peeked at her. “I’d never let anything hurt you, Camilla. Never.”
She wanted to point out that he’d been the only one to really hurt her, but she bit her tongue. They were finally opening a dialogue, and the lingering questions as to whether she wanted to reconsider something deeper with him seemed to knock the sense out of her.
Camilla nearly brought up the idea—nearly confessed that everything she’d said at the country club had been a lie, but Dallas beat her to it.
“I don’t want to fight with you,” he whispered. “You… what we had… it was more than just…” He looked away and his voice cracked. “Camilla, I miss you.”
She couldn’t speak. Was he really asking her what she thought he was? Could this be what she’d been needing? A humming of nervous energy flooded her senses. She straightened, waiting for him to continue, not daring to believe he might want to try again, even if it sounded ridiculous.
But how could she say no after he’d saved her life?
Then, just like that, it felt like Dallas threw a bucket of ice-cold water all over her.
“Can we… start over? Be friends again?”
Friends.
Dallas wanted to be friends.
Disappointment reigned supreme and shehatedit.
