Page 27 of Endurance
Just a game? What? Is he nuts?
“Why are you being weird right now?”
“I’m not being weird,” he defends. “I just don’t think we have to talk about football all the time.”
“What the hell else would we talk about?” I honestly haven’t a clue. We used to talk about women, but now that he’s wifed up and I’ve got a ball and chain attached to my neck, that pretty much just leaves football for discussion.
“We could talk about how you’re doing. Maybe…your…feelings.” He looks like he regrets the words as soon as they spill out of his mouth. “Just forget it,” he rushes.
I roar with laughter, my stomach tightening with each exhale. “There’s no way I’m forgetting that. Did you just ask me to talk about my feelings?” I chuckle some more, completely disturbed by this entire exchange. I squint down at his groin. “Oh fuck, Cam! Your vagina is showing!”
He shoves me so hard I nearly fall backwards off the counter.
“My balls are right where they belong,” he seethes. “And they were emptied last night. How about yours?”
My good humour is lost at his low blow. “Mine are blue and likely to shrivel up and die before this month is over.”
Cam gives me a knowing nod, crossing his arms and leaning back against the wall. “I’m genuinely curious how you’re going to handle this.”
“I don’t know. Fuck me, I wasn’t ready for Deep Talk this early in the morning.” I moan, tucking my hair behind one of my ears and taking a sip of hot coffee. “Santino emailed me the list of events we have to attend and the more I read, the more it felt like a bloody noose tightening around my neck.”
“But you said you like Belle.”
“I do, but not for anything long-term. So I can’t go there. I won’t hurt Indie like that.”
He frowns. “What does Indie have to do with it?”
“She’s your girlfriend. You’re in fucking love from what I and the rest of the world can see. I’m not going to fuck over her best friend and make life complicated for everyone. I like Indie too much to do that.”
He shakes his head. “Indie wouldn’t give a toss! She’s always moaning about how you two can’t get along. Maybe this would fix that?”
“Well, it wouldn’t be a long-term fix. Therein lies the problem.”
He scoffs, “It sounds to me like you’re searching for excuses. Belle’s not some young, innocent bird you’re taking advantage of. The first night I started things with Indie, I picked her up at a club and she left Belle there with some random bloke like it was a normal weekly occurrence.”
I set down my coffee, trying to hide my level of shock. “Really?”
“Yeah, Indie says Belle isn’t into commitment. I think she’s a bit of a party girl, Tan.” He moves back over to his stool near where my legs are dangling. “They’re married to their careers. Indie was resistant to me at first, too, but it’s partly why we work so well together. We both travel a lot. Our careers are important and we respect that about each other.”
I’m not sure what to make of all of this. When I think back to the night Belle and I flirted so heavily at Old George, I will admit that’s the vibe I got from her. I’m quite accustomed to sussing out the birds who see me as husband material and the ones who see me as shagging material. But I’m always wary of going back for seconds because women will say they want casual and then change their minds after a few shags. Their vaginas are directly wired to their hearts. My dick is directly wired to my dick, like an infinity sign with a constant revolving movement.Shag and bag. Shag and bag.
However, Belle is a doctor. She’s crazy fucking smart and loads more mature than the women I’m used to. Maybe she is some female anomaly I’ve been mistakenly turning away from.
“Well, none of this matters,” I reply. “She bloody well hates me. She’s pretty clear, especially when she says those exact words to my face.”
Camden laughs. “She’s not overly subtle, is she? But can you blame her? You gave her the impression you didn’t want a shag and then started fucking anything with legs.”
I glower at him. “You were right there beside me not long ago.”
He smiles and shakes his head, slapping a hand on my shoulder. “I know I was. But you’d be surprised how great regular sex with the same person is. It gives you a chance to…fine-tune things. Find brand new buttons.” He winks and shoots me a dirty look that has me holding back the vomit climbing up my throat.
“You can’t talk to me about Indie like that. Ever. She’s…like a sister to me now. Just…no.” He continues leering at me like a creep. “I’m not kidding. We can’t talk girls anymore. Ever.” I lean down and grab him by the shirt collar, hitching my voice to be wildly dramatic. “Promise me, Cam. Promise me right now!”
He laughs. “I promise you, drama queen. Just promise me you’ll consider it. Maybe by the time I get back from my match this weekend you and Belle will have found a way to make some fun out of this arrangement.”
It’s the first time I’ve seen a tiny glimmer of hope since the dark storm of Belle clouded my life.
Typically, my showers after work are consumed by thoughts about the cases we have going on at the hospital. I use the quiet time in my bathroom to mentally decompress from the day’s challenges. Right now, we’re preparing for a mother who’s coming in next week for selective laser ablation. It’s a treatment used to treat twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, or as Dr. Miller likes to affectionately call them, The Thief and The Giver. Essentially, one baby absorbs more blood than its sibling. With this technique, we go into the uterus using a tiny camera and are able to separate the blood flow between the two babies to help them both get an equal share. It’s a fascinating procedure that I should be consumed by.
