Page 6 of The Forever Vault

“I wish you could stay with me.”

“I do too, but Coach is relying on me to help the new guys. They’re pretty green.”

“I know. I just needed to say it.” Cam paused. “I guess I’ll see you when I see you.”

“It won’t be more than a few days.”

That would be the longest we hadn’t seen each other in years.

Cam bit his lip and nodded. “O-okay.” His body slammed into mine and his arms wrapped around my torso, squeezing me as hard as he could. “I miss you already,” he whispered into my ear.

“I know. I’ll miss you too, handsome.”

He pulled back, grabbed my face, and gave me a kiss. There was tongue, there was need. It said everything he needed to say.

“I love you.”

“I love you more,” I replied.

Without a second glance, Cam slammed the door and the car pulled away, leaving me at the curb, watching his blond waves recede into the distance.

2

Camden

As the car pulled away, I fought back tears and lost. They streamed down both cheeks and I let them. The driver knew where he was going, and seemed to have the sense to not say anything.

God damn it.

I knew being an alternate would be hard, but for fuck’s sake, it was worse now that I was here. I kept it together for Luke. I didn’t want him to feel any worse for me than he already did, and I wasn’t going to ruin this for him. For a moment on the sidewalk, I had the thought that I shouldn't have come, but Luke needed my support. I knew he’d be there for me if our positions were reversed. As tough as it was, I knew I made the right decision. I’d just have to make the best of it.

Luke had certainly humored my attempt at distracting myself. The aforementioned fuckfest, and he hadn’t even said anything when I ordered a drink for breakfast, which was followed by our mile high fun. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I was never going to turn down sex with Luke, but I purposely went out of my way to ask for it the night before.

Well, it was less of an ask, and more like an advertisement? I bent over naked in front of Luke and he got the message. He knew what I needed, anyway. He always seemed to. A combination of my transparent emotional status and Luke’s intuition. Spending four years attached at the hip had helped him become proficient.

I pulled out my phone.

Cam: When do you get here?

While I waited for his reply, I texted my mom to let her know we made it, and Noah as well, to see if he and Shane had arrived yet.

“We’re here, sir.”

I didn’t notice the car had stopped. I felt a wave of embarrassment at my tears and my obliviousness, so it was a miracle I was able to say thank you to the driver at all. He had been nice enough to retrieve my suitcase from the trunk.

My phone vibrated, but it was just a notification from Uber about the trip with the total, asking if I wanted to leave a tip. Normally, I’d have smirked at the mention of tip but I sighed. Right now was not normal. It felt like anything but.

I looked up at the boutique hotel he had picked out. It was right in the heart of the Castro. An enormous rainbow flag hung in the front window. I glanced towards each end of the street and rainbow banners adorned each light post as well. He picked it because he said we needed the distraction. I wasn’t sure what he meant, but at least there was eye candy on the street. Two taller-than-me bare-chested jocks with their shirts tucked into their waistbands passed by me, drawing my attention. I even got a wink.

Well, that makes me feel a little better.

I walked up the stairs to open the front door, but was caught by surprise by a black-and-white, completely professional-looking sticker on the door that read: ‘Be prepared for cock.’

What the fuck?

The lobby was dimly lit and it took a few moments for my eyes to adjust. The front desk was to the left with what looked like a dining area beyond. There were two hallways to the right, and directly in front of me were three large windows overlooking a pool surrounded by vegetation. It reminded me of the pool in the Maldives, especially because of the naked men in and around it.

“Hi, welcome to The Cock and Bull. Are you checking in?”