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"Harper."
"Cameron."
"It's Cam."
"Cameron suits you better. Very formal, remember? Very serious." I was definitely drunk. Definitely saying things I shouldn't say. "Very sexy."
The car jerked slightly as Cam pulled out of the driveway. "What?"
"Nothing. Forget I said that."
"You just called me sexy."
"I was talking about your name. Your name is sexy. The word Cameron. Very authoritative. Very..." I made a vague hand gesture that probably didn't mean anything. "You know."
"I really don't."
"That's probably for the best."
We drove in silence for a moment. I stared out the window, watching lights blur past, trying to remember why getting drunk at game night had seemed like a good idea.
"My friends call me Cam," she said quietly.
My head whipped to her. "Are we friends?"
She glanced at me, then back at the road. "I don't know. What are we?"
The question hung between us, heavy with implication. I looked at her profile, sharp in the passing streetlights. The scar on her temple. The strong line of her jaw. The way her hands gripped the steering wheel just a little too tight.
"We're people who can't figure out if we like or hate each other," I said finally.
Her hands tightened on the steering wheel. “I don't hate you."
"You said that already."
"I'm reinforcing it."
"Why? What changed?"
Cam was quiet for a long moment, navigating through traffic with the kind of focus she probably brought to the court. "You're not what I thought you were."
"What did you think I was?"
"Shallow. Vapid. Performative."
"Wow. Tell me how you really feel.”
"You asked."
"I was being sarcastic,” I said, mildly amused.
"I know. But you wanted the truth." Cam stopped at a red light, turned to look at me fully. Her eyes were dark in the dim car, intense. "You're quick. You're funny. You care about people, even when you pretend you don't. You made those kids laugh at the clinic. You were good with them."
My chest constricted. "I was terrible at basketball.”
"But you tried. You showed up, you helped, you didn't complain even though Mia basically forced you."
"I complained a lot, actually."