Page 70 of Camriel
Zoe gave him a sympathetic smile when she saw his crushed spirit.“Vic told us your date didn’t end well,” she said.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” the warrior said sullenly.
Grace wasn’t about to be dissuaded so easily.“You should have told us your plan,” she scolded him.“I would have given you way more modern romance books to get tips from.”
His eyes widened when he realized they all knew about the books.“How did you figure it out?”he asked, face going red in embarrassment.
“Victoria showed us her torn shirt and repeated what you said to her,” Amaros told him gravely.“Apparently, the books you were reading haven’t been trendy for several decades.Women no longer fantasize about having their clothes torn off as a form of foreplay.”
Camriel soaked up the knowledge, bitterly regretting not asking the girls’ opinion about his stupid scheme.“I blew it,” he said, fighting to contain his emotions.“Victoria hates me now.She’ll never let me bond with her.”
“You haven’t blown it completely,” Grace said, shaking her head.“Vic will give you another chance, but she needs some space right now.”
“Stay away from her, brother,” Amaros advised.“She’ll let you know when she’s ready to talk again.”
Sagging in relief, Camriel’s knees almost gave out at that news.Grace gave him a hug and he clutched her tightly to his chest.“Can’t.Breathe,” she complained.
“Sorry,” he said with a grimace and released her.“What do you need my help with?”he asked.He was willing to focus on something other than his misery now that he knew he would get another chance with his mate.
“Vic has a sweet setup in her bathroom and we want to copy it,” Zoe informed him.“A container is attached to the wall above her shower.She’s going to fill it with hot water so she can wash her hair,” she explained.
Camriel grasped the concept immediately and stepped into the large stone room.Perfectly square, it was devoid of windows and had a small hole in the middle of the floor.“Amaros and I can definitely rig up something like that in here,” he mused.
“How?”his boss asked, willing to let him take the lead on their projects.
“We can dismantle one of the showers in the resort and attach it to the wall,” Cam said, pointing at the far wall that ran along the back of the main wing.“All we need is a large container to stand in and another one to attach to the wall above the showerhead.”
The girls were nodding in excitement, picturing it in their heads.“We won’t have to worry about water ruining the foundation if we catch it all in a container,” Grace said.
“How soon can you get that up and running?”Zoe asked.
“We’ll set it up while you girls are scavenging for books tomorrow,” Amaros promised.“We’ll also use a similar setup for an indoor toilet,” he decided, hoping his second in command could figure that out as well.
“It can work,” Camriel agreed with a nod.
“I love you guys,” Grace said affectionately and gave them both a quick hug.
“Me, too,” Zoe agreed.Amaros frowned when she hugged his knight, but smiled when she gave him a much longer hug.
Glad to have another project to tackle, Cam tried not to think about his disastrous date.His purple suit and ruffled blue shirt were soaked.The colors had run together, ruining them completely when he checked the picnic basket he’d left in his room.He wasn’t in the mood to hang out in the great room with the others.Instead, he grabbed one of the books about plumbing and lay down on his bed to read it with a flashlight.
He'd almost dozed off a few hours later.The others had gone to bed and he decided to turn in.Standing up to return the book to the library, his eyes unfocussed and Victoria was suddenly standing in front of him.He knew she was dreaming and that she wasn’t really there.He lifted his hand to cup her cheek.“I’m sorry,” he whispered.Saying nothing, she allowed him to touch her, but his fingers passed through her as if she was a ghost.
She vanished a few seconds later, leaving him hopeful that she didn’t hate him as much as he’d thought.Clearly, she was dreaming about him if she’d appeared in front of him.Victoria had been wearing the same outfit from their date.Her jacket had been zipped shut, so he wasn’t sure if it was before or after he’d ruined her shirt.
“I was such a fool,” he scolded himself quietly as he returned the book to the shelf.He should have checked with Zoe and Grace before making a move like that.Everything changed so fast with humans that he hadn’t thought about how trends could change.He’d never had to worry about dating before.His only focus had been to win their wars, not to try to make a life for himself.How could he, when the knights were always sent back to the Void after their wars concluded?
They all finally had a chance to live a semblance of a normal life with their perfect partners and he was blowing it.Cam hoped his fellow warriors had better luck when they courted their mates.He didn’t feel qualified to give any of them any tips, that was for damn sure.
“I can’t screw up again,” he murmured when he returned to his bed.He lay down and stared up at the ceiling, cataloging all of his failures.Being in the middle of a battle with foes trying to dismember and kill him was less harrowing than dating.One wrong move wouldn’t kill him, but it could end his chances of ever being truly happy.
For now, he would have to let Victoria take the lead.He would leave it up to her to make the next move.It went against his instincts, but it would be the wisest path to take.His friends had all told him to be patient, but it wasn’t his strong suit.Not when it came to something he truly wanted.Cam had never wanted anyone or anything as much as he longed for Victoria Tudor.He wished he could find a way to convey that to her that wouldn’t end in disaster.
“She didn’t reject me completely,” he reminded himself.“I still have a chance to win her over.”Waiting for her to come to him was going to be agonizing, but it would hopefully be worth it in the end.
