“I know what I want. It’s Bre. She’s the girl I’m going to marry.”
“If you know you want to marry her, why are you wasting your time with other women? It’s not fair to Bre. Do you really expect her to sit around waiting for you until you decide it’s the right time to marry her?”
“She’s not sitting around waiting for me. She’s doing her own thing, and I’m doing mine. We both have our own goals. Eventually, it will all come together, and we’ll get married. Sounds fair to me.”
“Get real. She doesn’t have any idea what you mean by doing your own thing. I’m positive that she doesn’t think that includes doing groupies or going on trips with Anna.”
“What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her. I’m following my dream and everything that entails, and she’s exploring her art hobby. Once we’re done doing those things, we’ll have each other, and we’ll both be happy and satisfied, not bitter because we sacrificed opportunities to be with each other.”
“Wow. I don’t want to touch that comment. That’s some seriously fucked up logic.”
“Whatever,” Cam shrugged. “Why do you care? You’re not a saint. It’s not like you haven’t indulged in your share of groupies.”
“Right, but I don’t pretend to be in a committed monogamous relationship with someone.”
“Tell that to Katie. I think she’d disagree,” Cam snapped.
“Katie is delusional. What happened between Katie and me doesn’t compare to your relationship with Bre. I never lied to Katie about what I wanted from her. She chooses to believe she can change my mind.”
“I’m not lying to Bre, either. She knows I’m going to marry her. Hooking up with other women is just a phase. It’s not going to last forever. All this could be gone tomorrow, and I don’t want to have any regrets or resentment toward Bre for holding me back.”
“Then let her go. You can be friends, and when you’re ready to be committed to her, you get her back.”
“I can’t do that. What if she found someone else?” Cam ran his hand through his hair. “Shit, I can’t even imagine what I would do if she were ever with anyone else. It’s not an option. She’s mine.”
“You talk about her as if she’s some sort of possession,” Jax said.
“You don’t understand. Bre needs me. I’ve been taking care of her since we were kids, so she’s mine. I’ve earned her.”
“What if she found out about the other women? What would she do?” Jax asked, his anger escalating with every minute the conversation continued. He used to consider Cam a friend, but he didn’t respect him anymore. Cam lost more of himself with every incremental success of Chasing Ruin. He didn’t even know if he would recognize Cam if they actually signed a record deal.
“She won’t find out, so there’s no point talking about what Bre would do. Like you said, she trusts me and no one’s going to tell her otherwise.”
Jax ran his finger along the rim of his drink and took a long swallow. “What about that crazy chick from home that always comes to our shows? Isn’t she the reason you keep cancelling on Bre?”
“I talked to Mia a couple days ago, and she won’t say a damn thing to Bre. Besides, she knows Bre would never believe a word out of her mouth.”
Jax laughed. “If you say so. Do what you want, but to be clear, I’m done being used as a buffer in this fucked up mess. Don’t call me to hang out with Bre while you make a booty call or because you’re off on some cozy weekend with another of your bimbos.”
“I know you don’t want to babysit her, and you’re probably mentally counting down the seconds until you can get rid of her, but you’re the only person I can trust. Marc or Alec probably would slip up and say something stupid or worse. You won’t.”
“Jesus, Cam. That’s all kinds of fucked up. Being with Bre isn’t a chore. I’m just done being an accomplice to your lies. I don’t want to run interference anymore when some girl you discarded shows up when Bre’s around.”
“Okay. Just help me this weekend while she’s here and I won’t ask you again,” Cam pleaded.
“Absolutely not,” Jax snapped, slamming his drink on the bar counter.
“Don’t leave me hanging. Bre tried to break up with me, and I need everything to go smoothly while she’s here. I need to win her back. This is the last time. I promise I’ll figure out something.”
“What? You can’t bring yourself to spend four days with her without running off with some other woman?” Cheating on Bre had become a way of life for Cam. It was who he was, so ingrained in his nature that Jax actually wondered whether Cam believed he was doing anything wrong. Everyone else could see Cam for who he was. It was a shame that Bre refused to see the truth. Disgusted, Jax abruptly stood up, shoving his barstool back with enough force to knock it over.