“Bre, I’m glad you finally decided to answer my call. I was starting to wonder if you were avoiding me.”
Bre cleared her throat, still thick from sleep. “Of course not. The gallery opening monopolized my day.”
“Oh, right. I forgot. How did your little party go?”
Gritting her teeth, Bre responded. “Great. We exceeded our sales goal.”
“Nice. Hold on a second.”
Hearing muffled voices in the background, Bre was curious who was in his apartment so early in the morning. “Cam, who’s there?”
“Nobody… just the cleaning lady.”
“Oh, okay.”
“Look, I don’t have time to talk, I just wanted to make sure Jax gave you the plane ticket.”
“Yes, thanks. That was really thoughtful,” Bre said, throwing the sheets off her body.
“Right,” he cleared his throat. “So I’ll see you Thursday.”
“I’m really busy at the gallery. Maybe we can push it off another week.”
He groaned. “You’re still mad at me.”
“No, what do you mean?”
“Bre, I hear it in your voice. Something’s wrong. You can pretend like you’re fine, but we’ve known each other a long time. I can tell you’re still pouting that I cancelled my visit.”
“No. Really Cam, I’m over it. Sure, you shocked me when you cancelled the same day you planned to visit. I wish I had more notice, but I’m over it. I understand.”
“So this means we’re back together, right? I can’t believe you tried to dump me over the phone. Not cool, Bre.”
“Look, I’ll come visit you, and we’ll figure out what to do about us. I think we need to work through some things, so it’s probably a good idea for us to see each other, but I’m not promising anything.”
“Great,” Cam said, clearly preoccupied. “I’ll see you Thursday, and Bre, everything is fine between us. Don’t try to psychoanalyze everything.”
“We’ll see,” Bre responded noncommittally. She didn’t feel right making any decisions about her relationship with Cam right now.
“Listen, I have to work late on Thursday, so I’ll get Jax to pick you up at the airport.”
“No,” she protested a little to fiercely. “I mean, please don’t bother Jax. I’ll take a cab, or better yet, I’ll rent a car so I can do my own thing when you’re busy.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” she replied, relief pouring out of her one word answer. Maybe she had to see Cam in a couple days, but she would do everything in her power to avoid Jax while she was in LA. She wasn’t ready for that encounter yet, if ever. Every thought or mention of Jax made her feel raw and exposed.
Hearing the muffled voices in the background again, she seized the opportunity to end the conversation before Cam further inquired about her mood. “It sounds like you’re busy, so… I’ll see you soon.”
“Right. Bye, Bre. Love you.”
Cam hung up the phone before she could say anything. He’d been so preoccupied lately, causing her to feel neglected and unwanted. She couldn’t remember the last time they had a conversation of substance. He shared some highlights of his life, and she tried to share some information with him. While she always made sure to ask about every little event in his life, Cam seemed to have less and less interest in anything happening in her life. He hadn’t asked about the gallery in months. In fact, she wasn’t sure he could even tell her the name of her gallery if she questioned him.
While none of that was unanticipated, given the realities of a long-distance relationship, it did concern her that nothing improved when they spent time together. Even in person, Cam seemed preoccupied; almost as if there were a million things he would prefer to be doing rather than spending time with her. Their conversation was stilted, and Cam rarely detached from his phone for more than ten minutes at a time.
Quite frankly, it surprised her that Cam didn’t notice or care how much time she spent with Jax. He even encouraged her to do things with Jax. Though she hadn’t shared her fears with any of her friends, in her mind, regularly putting Jax in her path was just one more piece of evidence that he took her for granted, that he didn’t love her like he used to. The sad part of that statement was that she didn’t know if she cared, and that scared her even more than the depressing state of her relationship with Cam.
Chapter Twenty
Three days and seven hours after he walked out of Bre’s house, not that he had been counting, Jax sat at a dark, overly loud bar after Chasing Ruin’s latest performance, holding a glass of whiskey in his hand. His dark sunglasses allowed him to ignore the women waiting for him to signal his interest. It wouldn’t happen tonight or anytime soon.