Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 98264 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98264 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
“Thanks,” he said with a smile, patting himself dry and then toeing his shoes off.
I studied his gaze shifting around the living room as we walked to my bedroom together. The only thing his eyes lingered on was a baby picture of me and Ramsey that my mother had hung on the wall before she’d left.
My room was nothing fancy, but I was proud of it. The window was cloaked with hot-pink curtains I’d made myself, and a gray-and-white-striped comforter I’d found at a yard sale stretched across my double bed. A lot of my odds-and-ends arts and crafts decorated the walls, including an earring tree I’d made from an old picture frame and a piece of mesh.
As we stepped inside, he said, “Nice room.” It wasn’t a comparison to the rest of the house. Just a statement. Kind and sweet. Pure Camden Cole.
“Thanks.” I pointed to the wooden chair that sat at a small vanity in the corner. “You can sit over there. Your wet clothes won’t mess it up. You hungry?”
“I’m almost certain my stomach has eaten my backbone at this point. But yeah, I’m still starved.”
I grabbed one of the sandwiches from the cooler I kept hidden in the back of my closet so my dad couldn’t find our food. I’d made a bunch of ham and cheese in advance so I didn’t have to leave my room and chance a run-in with my brother. He would have lost his mind if he found out about Josh. My stomach rolled at the very thought of him.
Unaware, Camden was still quick to the rescue. “You have a cooler in your closet? That’s awesome. Why haven’t I ever thought to do that?”
“Yeah.” I laughed awkwardly and sat on the edge of my bed.
He scarfed down the sandwich in four bites, and I handed him what was left of the Coke he’d brought me. That was drained within a few seconds too.
I wiggled my way farther onto my mattress, crossed my legs, and searched the room for something—anything—to talk about to avoid the black-and-blue elephant in the room.
“I was offered a job babysitting this summer,” I blurted.
“You were?”
Picking at the frayed hem of my sweatshirt sleeve, I shrugged, feeling a few of the splinters snag on the inside of my shirt. “It didn’t pan out though. So I’ll still be dealing worms, but maybe next year. I couldn’t get my certificate.”
His blue eyes were intently on me, paying close attention as I spoke.
“I didn’t have the money or a way to get to Thomaston to take the Red Cross test.”
I almost laughed at the confusion on his face.
“The mom and the dad are both nurses. I guess that’s why they’re so big on their babysitter being certified.”
“I didn’t even know that was a thing.” He looked down at his feet and then scratched the back of his neck. “I hate that you didn’t get a better job this summer, but truthfully, the creek wouldn’t be the same without you.”
Boy, did I know all about that. Nothing had been the same without Camden over the school year.
“Oh, well. I probably wouldn’t be any good at it anyway.”
“Watch how you talk about my friend. I bet kids would love hanging out with you. You’re patient. I’m no fool—you couldn’t care less about the books I read, but you listen. You’re reliable. I never had to worry about you not showing up. You’re funny when you want to be.” He wadded up the plastic wrap I’d had the sandwich in and tossed it at my wastepaper basket and missed. “You make a killer ham and cheese too.”
It wasn’t often people said nice things to me, let alone about me. So I was kind of speechless.
“Heck, when you grow up, you’d probably make a pretty great teacher.”
Wasn’t that a fairytale? Kids like me didn’t make it to college, but I didn’t want to say anything negative back since he was being so nice.
Kindness was in short supply in Clovert.
“Yeah, maybe I will.”
His face split into a winning smile, and after that, we just talked. For a few hours, everything was almost easy. Well, until the sleeve on my hoodie rode up, revealing yet another bruise.
His jaw got hard. “So, when’s your dad supposed to be home again?”
I closed my eyes and sighed. “It wasn’t my dad, Cam. At least not this time.”
He inched to the edge of his chair. “Then who was it?”
I couldn’t tell him. He wasn’t from Clovert, but it was a small town. I couldn’t risk that word would get out and Josh would share those pictures or, God, the video. But if Camden was still sitting there, wearing his hero cape, thinking he could fix even one of my problems, he had to know that it was an impossible pursuit.
And the sooner he realized it, the better off he’d be.