Page 74 of Bad Boy Bachelor Christmas
He shook his head and looked down at his plate. “Nope. Don’t look at me. I tried to save you from yourself but you told me to stick it where the sun don’t shine. Now she’s on the other side of the country.”
“Probably crying into her pillow,” Cami added.
“Or throwing darts at your picture,” Justin said.
“Are you two done?”
“I won’t be done until you admit you were wrong,” Cami said.
Justin pointed at her. “What she said.”
I fixed him with a glare.
He backed down. “Sort of.”
Cami sighed and rolled her eyes. “Coward.”
“Listen,” I grated, “everything that happened between Winter and me was just that. Between Winter and I. Not the pair of you. I know you had feelings invested because you cared about her as well, but in the end, I had to cut her loose. If you don’t understand that, it isn’t my problem. As soon as I realized I was in love with her I knew I couldn’t stand between her and finishing her degree. She has too much potential to squander the remainder of her studies for a place like Maple Hill. This is a town you come to when your dreams are established. When you have a foundation. Not when you’re starting out. She deserves to have the world at her feet.”
Cami blinked rapidly.
“I don’t care if you agree with me or not,” I said. “Do your worst.”
“Did you say you were in love with her?” Cami cocked her head to the side.
Justin nodded eagerly and pointed his fork at me. “Awesome, right?”
She worked to unglue her tongue from the roof of her mouth. “I didn’t see that coming. You’re in love with her, but you let her go? North, for once in four years, don’t you think you deserve to have something good?”
“At the expense of her future?” I shook my head. “No.”
“But why do you get to choose that future for her? You saw Winter in action.” Cami looked around as if suddenly remembering she was at work. She hurried off to top off coffees and take a few orders before returning while Justin and I shoveled the last bits of breakfast into our mouths. “Winter gets shit done. Whatever it is, however big the obstacle, she sees that it is removed from her path and she exceeds any and all expectations placed upon her. Do you really think Maple Hill would hold her down that much? Do you really think she wouldn’t make long distance work with you? She has one year of school left, North.One year.That’s nothing in the grand scheme of things!”
I reached into my pocket, pulled out my wallet, and dropped cash on the counter. “Thanks for breakfast.”
Justin hurried to his feet to follow suit, struggling to get his wallet out of his particularly tight jeans.
Cami took the cash with a scowl. “Typical. You’re turning your back and walking away right when things get good.”
“At least I’m consistent,” I said.
Justin threw his cash down, too. “Are you two done? How long am I going to have to listen to this? Because honestly, it’s already getting old.”
“Shut up, Justin,” Cami and I said in unison.
He shrugged into his coat and wrapped his plaid navy and green scarf around his neck. “Assholes.”
Cami called after us that she’d see us at the tree lighting ceremony the day after tomorrow as we ducked under the diner door. A small bell chimed above our heads just as a blast of cold air hit our bare faces. Justin clapped his hands and rubbed them together vigorously as we walked to our parked cars in the lot. He was heading to his realty office, and I was heading back to the estate to fell more trees for this evening’s shoppers.
The tree farm had been seeing upward of fifty people a night coming to buy trees, many of them not local to Maple Hill, who had seen pictures on social media. We hadn’t even done any of our own marketing this year. It amazed me to think how big this event could be next year with the right advertising platform.
“I’ll see you around, man,” Justin said, leaning on the roof of his Lexus. “Don’t be too hard on yourself after all that shit Cami said in there, all right? She’s her friend. It’s her job to pick Winter’s side.”
“It’s the only side to pick.” I opened the door to my Land Rover. “She didn’t do anything wrong.”
Justin shrugged. “Maybe you two will find your way back to each other. A Christmas miracle or something. Those still happen you know.”
Not in my world.
