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Emotion crawled up my throat. Nothing short of amazing happened. Not only was David removed from my fantasy ‘shit list,’ those two words, such simple words, were like a bright beacon in the middle of the night. My fingers trembled around the phone. I squeezed my eyes shut, but a tear snuck out.
“Thank you,” I whispered hoarsely. “Thank you.”
Chapter 23
I was still in a state of shock most of Saturday, so much so that when I met with Jacob and Brit for our study date with coffee, I couldn’t even remember what the hell I had done with them and then after eating a quick dinner of mac n cheese, I realized that I left my bag in my car, along with my phone.
Too distracted and a little bit lazy, I didn’t even put shoes on as I yanked open my door and stepped out into the hallway, drawing up short when I spotted Ollie coming up the stairs with a case of beer in his hands.
“Hey!” He smiled. “What are you doing out here… in your socks?”
“Uh, I was running to my car to get my bag.” I shifted my weight. “Thirsty?”
Ollie laughed. “While I’m always thirsty, this is not for me. There’s a fight tonight and we’ve got a few people over.”
“Sounds like fun.”
“Yeah…” He glanced at his door, switching the case to his other arm. “Why don’t you come over?”
My heart jumped. “Oh, I don’t know about that. Maybe another—”
“Come on, the main fight hasn’t even started yet, so you haven’t missed anything.”
I hesitated. “I don’t know…”
Ollie stuck out his lower lip, and it was so ridiculous, that I laughed. “Cam will be happy to see you.”
“Yeah, I don’t think—”
“Sounds like a plan right there,” he interrupted. “Don’t think about it. Come over. Just for a little while, okay? Maybe we can take Raphael for a walk.”
I laughed again, thinking of Ollie and the poor tortoise as I glanced back at their apartment. Why shouldn’t I stop by? It would be a normal thing to do and Ollie lived there. He could invite me. And if I was honest with myself, I wanted to see Cam.
I… I missed him.
Taking a deep breath, I nodded. “Okay. Just for a little while.”
“Great!” Ollie looped his free arm through mine, and before I could change my mind, he led me down the hall.
“Wait! I don’t have shoes on.”
“Who cares?” He gave me a goofy grin as we crossed the short distance. “Shoes are overrated.”
My heart rate kicked up as Ollie nudged the door open. Immediately the sound of laughter and fighting amplified until for a moment, I was little overwhelmed. Everyone was focused on the TV. Ollie let go of my arm and set the case in the fridge. He picked up two shot glasses off the counter in the kitchen. What in the hell was I doing here?
“Jose welcomes you,” he offered me one of the tiny glasses.
My hand shook a little as I took it. The voice in my head told me no, but God damn it, I was tired of that voice. It was the same voice that had told me to tell Cam to go away. The same voice that told me to listen to my parents. The same voice that told me to let Blaine take me into that room. That voice had done nothing but fuck me over. I downed the shot and immediately my eyes watered as the liquid scorched my throat.
“Holy smokes,” I muttered, blinking rapidly.
Ollie laughed as he replaced the shot with a bottle of beer and then he grabbed my arm, pulling back into the living room. “Look who I found!” he shouted.
Several heads turned, and my fingers tightened around the neck of the beer. I didn’t see anyone except him and the moment I laid eyes on Cam, I knew this was a bad, bad idea.
It seemed like months since I last saw him.
Cam sat on the couch, baseball cap on backward. He was leaning forward, yelling at the two guys on the TV that were beating the crap out of each other. The burgundy hoodie was unzipped, revealing a white shirt underneath. Beside him on the couch was Steph.
