“I’m right there with her.” I yawn. “This has been the most exhausting day I’ve ever had. I can only imagine how tired you are.”
“I’m running on fumes. I don’t even know how I made it into this room.”
“Because you’re a strong person.”
“Not true.” He shakes his head. “The only reason I’ve been able to hold it together is because you’re here with me.”
We fold ourselves up in each other’s arms, holding tightly. “Don’t let me go, Cam.”
His mouth nudges into the spot where my neck and shoulder meet, kissing softly and sucking gently. When he pulls away, I can barely hear him.
“Never letting you go, Nat. Never.”
CHAPTERNINETEEN
Natalie
“You got it bad girl.”Mia laughs as she starts making herself a sandwich. It always amazes me how quickly her hands fly. It’s almost as if her creations are works of art. People come from all over the area just to get one of them. “I’ve never seen you smile as you’re making pastries.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, laughing back at her. “I’m always happy to be here.”
“You might be happy to be here every day, but there’s a huge difference in you being happy and wearing the look of a woman who’s found the man of her dreams.”
The fact she knows I’m feeling that way by looking at my face is disconcerting to me.
“If that love bite on the side of your neck means anything, then you definitely had a good time last night.”
Reaching over to the side of my neck, I gasp. “Are you serious? Shit!”
She giggles, biting her bottom lip. “No, was just seeing if you’d react to it. There’s something about the way you’re acting today. You’re glowing.”
“And normally I’m dull?”
“No.” She shakes her head. “You just always seem to be reaching for something you can never quite grab hold of. Today, it feels as if you’ve gotten it.”
Little does she know exactly how right she is. I wish I didn’t wear my heart so blatantly on my sleeve, but it’s obvious I do if she’s able to see right through me like this. Last night was a turning point for Cam and I, though, to be worried about Trin together; it brought us together in a way I hadn’t ever considered. At the same time, it’s got me thinking that maybe I’m looking too deeply into what we shared. Like I want it more than I should. “I’d say it’s true,” I admit. “I don’t wanna speak before I’m sure of anything.”
“The thing is, you don’t have to be sure of anything because I heard all about Trinity calling you Mom yesterday.”
My stomach drops as I think about what happened. “It was so scary, Mia, and I had no idea she was going to call me Mom. All of it was so intense.”
She raises her eyebrows in a slightly judging way. “I’m assuming you went home with him last night?”
“Of course, especially after what happened with Trin. Like I said, it was scary.”
“How is she?” Mia asks, clicking her tongue. “I haven’t seen her around here in a while and I can’t imagine how that must have felt. That had to be hard to watch.”
“It was. Seriously one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to see. I can only imagine what it was like for Cam.”
Going back to that moment, goosebumps appear on my forearms. When I’d heard Cam scream, my gaze had immediately gone to where he’d been standing at the dugout. But he wasn’t there anymore, he was running toward Trinity, arms pumping.
“I can’t begin to think what it would’ve been like.”
Before that moment, I hadn’t been able to either. I’d learned quick, though, that things don’t always go the way we plan them. And maybe that’s the way life is supposed to go. We aren’t supposed to have set plans. Instead, we deal with whatever is thrown at us. Which is why I’d made the decision I had, although I’d worried about what people were going to think. “So I went with them to the hospital and then went home with them when Trinity asked me to.”
“How do you feel about her calling you Mom?” She asks, taking a bite of her sandwich.
I shrug, letting out a deep breath. “It’s scary to know she feels that way about me. A lot of responsibility. Not that I’m not up for it and I wasn’t sure how Cam would feel about it, but he was cool with it.”