Page 44 of Fault Lines
I realized, too late, that Cam was staring at me, the implication hanging thick between us. My cheeks went hot.
“I’m sorry, Cam. I didn’t mean anything by that.”
He caught my chin, his thumb gentle. “I know, baby. We mate for life, too. I couldn’t live without you. I wish you could believe that.”
His words should have soothed me, but instead I felt a deep, aching sadness. I slipped my arm through his and tugged him toward the next exhibit.
“Let’s see the dolphins,” I said, forcing brightness into my voice.
We stood in front of giant windows that looked into the blue depths of the tank, watching dolphins gliding through the water. They moved as a pair, sleek bodies arching in unison from the bottom to the surface and back again.
Cam pointed. “They stick together, see? I bet those two have been a pair forever. Love at first sight, just like us.”
But there was a heaviness in me that his words couldn’t lighten.
“Dolphins are polygamous,” I told him quietly. “They have lots of partners. Kind of like us, I guess. Or just you, since I only have one.” I hesitated, then added, “If you come back in anotherlife, you’ll be a dolphin, and I’ll still be an otter. Maybe fate will get it right next time.”
He sighed. “Are you going to keep poking at me all day, Livi? I thought we came here to enjoy ourselves.”
He was right. But even as I apologized, the words hollow, I realized that being with him like this had started to feel wrong. Like wearing a shirt that didn’t fit anymore.
I loved Cam. But it hurt now to look at him without picturing him with her—a memory alive and cruel, refusing to fade.
“I’m sorry, Cam,” I said, voice small.
He pulled me against him, held me tight. “I don’t want to keep hurting you, I just don’t know how else to fix myself. I wish I did.”
A horn blared overhead, the loudspeaker announcing that the sea lion show would start in forty-five minutes.
“You hungry?” Cam asked, gentle again. “We’ve got time before the show.”
“Yeah, I could eat,” I said.
We ordered burgers and fries from a nearby kiosk and found a seat. He dumped armfuls of ketchup packets in front of me, and I couldn’t help but smile at the thoughtfulness.
I buried my burger under ketchup. Cam groaned around his first bite, eyes rolling up in bliss.
“It’s just a burger,” I teased him.
“Yeah, but I was starving. And it’s amazing.” He looked almost sheepish, licking a smudge from his thumb. “You’d think I hadn’t already eaten three croissants this morning.”
I’d started baking more since he’d taken a liking to them, setting some out for him in the mornings before I took the rest for Mr. Porter and Nate. But today’s batch had been just for Cam, with a little chocolate drizzled on top for effect.
He tore through his meal in record time and, when he thought I wasn’t looking, started pilfering fries from my tray. Ilet him. But thinking about his appetite made me think of Nate, and I had to shove the thought away. I couldn’t let my mind wander like that.
Cam grabbed another fry, and I giggled. “Why don’t you just order something else?” I smiled, shaking my head at him.
He shrugged. “If you insist. Want anything?”
I shook my head. He walked back to the counter, and I found myself watching the way his back moved under his shirt, the way his jeans fit. He was a handsome man. Even now.
He came back with a melting vanilla ice cream cone. I watched the way he licked it, slow and deliberate, and for a brief moment the sweetness cut through the heaviness inside me.
“Good?” I asked, taking a last bite of burger.
He nodded, offering me the cone. I took a careful lick, the cold and sugar bright against my tongue.
His gaze went dark as he watched me. “I was just remembering when we met,” he said.
