Page 72 of Challenge
The more I stew on it, the angrier I get. Camden veered completely off my course. He went rogue and didn’t give a damn what I wanted.
The worst part of all is that…I let him.
Just for a moment…I let go.
Guilt consumes me as I recall how I let him hold me—how I let the warmth of his body comfort me instead of terrify me. I allowed myself to feel him, skin against skin, inside of me, and it didn’t send me into a panic like I thought it should have. It felt…right. He whispered those words in my ears, and I closed my eyes and let myself believe them. I let myself be a different person. I thought, just for the night, I could play the part. I could feel cared for. Protected. Treasured.
Just for the night.
Then reality crept in with the morning sun.
It was as if I turned back into a pumpkin.
Ilostit.
Like, completely lost it. I turned back into the self that craves space because she doesn’t know any different. The self that didn’t grow up cuddling with a mum in a rocking chair, or even holding her gran’s hand when she crossed the street.
I had to put a stop to what Camden and I were doing and give us both a strong dose of reality. He knew I had a plan, yet he tried to bulldoze himself right past it without a thought about what I needed. I wouldn’t be taken advantage of like that.
So now, here I sit, at the hospital—the place where it all began—trying to convince myself that what happened with Camden in my flat was nothing.
Maybe it was all a scheme. He’s a player after all. He probably just wanted more sex. He hasn’t called or texted. That has to mean something. Not to mention, there’s no way a man like Camden Harris—a football-playing, lady-chasing, vagina-ruining bloke—could fall for the awkward, introvert with intimacy issues.
End of.
This MRI today will be a piece of cake.
“Hiya there, Doc,” Tanner says brightly as I round the corner to the waiting room where the nurse told me Camden Harris is currently waiting.
I thought my stomach was going to drop when the nurse paged to tell me he arrived. But seeing him in the flesh, sitting right next to his grizzly bear of a brother, is a thousand times worse.
His blonde undercut is longer than the last time I saw him, but he has it lazily swept off to the side and it looks perfect in that unkempt sort of way. He’s dressed in jersey shorts that reveal an ample amount of his muscular legs, black trainers, and a fitted blue T-shirt that makes his dark, smouldering blue eyes look positively dirty. But there’s a hardness around the edges as he looks at me.
I swallow and adjust my canary-yellow glasses. “Hello, Tanner, nice to see you again. Camden,” I add, looking back at him and trying not to let my insides turn into pudding.
“Dr. Porter.” His voice is low and flat. Emotionless. And extremely formal.
Tanner leaps up out of his chair. “You’d be proud of our boy, Doc. He’s been doing two-a-day workouts all week.”
My brows lift as I watch Camden stand up slowly from his own chair, clearly much less enthusiastic than his brother.
Seeing the look of surprise in my eyes, Tanner adds quickly, “They’re all physical therapist approved exercises, don’t worry. He’s just a machine ready to get back out on the pitch. He’s probably worried I’ll steal his spot with the Gunners if he’s not careful.”
My jaw drops and I turn my wide eyes to Camden. “You got an offer from Arsenal?” I want to reach out and grab his arm, but I resist…barely.
His eyes narrow and he grinds through clenched teeth. “No.”
Tanner laughs. “I just meant his spot that’s coming to him. It’s only a matter of time.” He pats Camden’s stiff shoulder, frowning inquisitively at him.
“Just shut it, Tanner, will you?” Camden mutters.
Tanner looks even more confused.
“Well, I’m glad to hear you’re doing well,” I add, trying to break the tension and gain control of the emotional torment I feel inside of me.Time to be a doctor, Indie.“Erm…if you’ll follow me, I can take you to radiology. Tanner, you can wait here if you’d like.”
“Sounds great. I’m sure I’ll find something to occupy myself with.” He winks at me playfully and flops back down in his chair.
I turn on my heel and grip the stethoscope around my neck so hard I think I’ll leave bruises. I hate that I reacted the way I did at the mention of the Gunners wanting Camden. If he did get an offer, it has nothing to do with me. I shouldn’t have to remind myself of that.
