Page 71 of Without Bound
I laugh at him and step into my shorts, adjusting them when they sit on my hips. With the stealthiness of a spy, he opens the door, peeks out, then quickly ushers me out. We stop at the bottom of the stairs where he kisses me once more then smacks my butt.
“Off you go. Sweet dreams my little butterfly.”
“ ‘Night big guy.” I wink at him and pad softly to the room. As I near it I see the door open and I freeze in my tracks.
A shadowed figure steps out and when she moves into the dim glow of the nightlight, I see Cami’s face with the same look as earlier and approach her with much more caution than I normally would.
I meet her in front of the door and chew on my lip as my fingers twist nervously together. Cami reaches out and pushes my wild curls from my face and gives me a tilted grin.
“Be careful, okay?”
“I don’t–” I try to deny, but it’s useless.
“I talked with Bish, so there’s no use in trying to tell me you were getting a drink of water.” My lip trembles and my eyes fill with tears.
For as cool as Cami is, I doubt she’ll hide something this big from my uncle.
“I’m not going to tell Phoenix. As long as you two come clean after the series. Okay?”
I breathe a sigh of relief and nod my head. “We will. I promise. Thank you, Cami.” I reach out and hug her, taking care not to squish her belly.
She hugs me back and says, “Now I’m off to find a snack. This kid decided he’s hungry and wants pickles. I know. Weird two a.m. cravings.”
My eyes light up and I ask, “It’s a boy?”
“I don’t know. I just feel like it is. Seems a little weird to say this, but I feel like someone is coming back into my life in a new way.” I watch her eyes glisten before she bats away the tears. “Good night.”
“Good night, Cami.” She moves past me and I watch as he walks out of sight.
I slide the door open and crawl back to my spot where I sleep like a baby.
24
Bishop
It’s just a normal Wednesday night for me, which means watching tv and binging 30 for 30 I have recorded. Except there’s one small difference tonight. A beautiful girl with wild hair spread out on my lap is the best interruption to my mundane night that I could think of.
Anais flips through her Kindle, reading one of her text books she has downloaded. Her thick mane is draped over my thighs and I run my fingers through it, as best I can with all its wildness. She wears only my old Magnolia Creek High School baseball t-shirt. It’s a hundred years old, but it’s worn thin and so comfortable.
She found it when I was sorting through a stack of shirts for her to wear. She begged for me to let her wear it, which was unnecessary because she can have anything she wants. She simply has to smile and I’ll rope the moon for her.
“Ugh. I don’t understand this. It’s like a foreign language.” She drops her device on her stomach and throws her arm over her eyes.
“What is it, baby girl?” I mute the tv and grab her Kindle from where it rests.
I scan the page and agree. It feels like decades that I was in college and this all looks like Sanskrit and nothing I’ve ever seen.
“What class is this for?”
“The Art of Mathematics,” she says with dramatic flair. “I assumed because the description said the focus is on the process of thinking and not formulas that it would be easy. Clearly, it is not.”
I bring my lips to her forehead and kiss it tenderly. “Want me to call Cami? She’s a math genius. She and her husband ran a holdings company and she ran a lot of the financials and day to day operations of all these other businesses. I don’t even know exactly, other companies bought or managed other companies.”
“Maybe,” she whines. “I think I just need to rest my brain for a bit. Hey. I have an idea.”
She pops up, practically slamming into my face, and turns towards me. She crawls her way over and straddles my thighs.
“I’m in need of a tutor. Know of any good ones?” Her teeth pinch the corner of her lip and she gets a wicked gleam in her eyes.
