“Where will you go?” I asked quietly. “Have you somewhere to go?”
“I have a friend who will put me up for a while,” she replied.
“I’m going to miss you, Cam,” I muttered.
Cam stopped packing and came towards me.
Wrapping me in a massive hug, she squeezed me tightly.
“I love you,” she whispered. “And I am so terribly sorry for how I have treated you, these past few months. I’ve been a terrible friend to you, but I promise, from now on, I’ll have your back.”
“You’ve always had my back, Cam,” I replied, squeezing her hard.
“Will you be okay here, with him?”
I nodded slowly. “I hope so.”
“He loves you,” she whispered.
I sighed. “He thinks he does.”
*****
Lee
I walked around aimlessly for half the day, trying to rid myself of the strange swell of guilt, loneliness and neediness inside of my heart since Bruno’s memorial.
I found myself sitting on a bench in the campus of C.U, watching Kyle as he strolled across the quad, alone, and with a deep frown creasing his forehead.
Even in my depressed state, I was aware of his beauty. He made casual, look mouthwateringly sexy.
His blue over-washed jeans, hung low on his hips, and his long-sleeved, black t-shirt clung to him, pressing against every sculpted muscle on his stomach.
When his eyes found me, his frown disappeared, replaced by a nervous smile.
He prowled towards me and I remained perched on the bench, not trusting my legs to be steady enough for walking. Kyle claimed the space between us in a few brisk strides.
“Hey, princess,” he said quietly.
Kissing my cheek, he dropped his bag on the bench and sat.
“Hey,” I mumbled awkwardly.
We hadn’t spoken since the morning we’d found out about Bruno, and I wasn’t sure what to say now.
Maybe I was a glutton for heartbreak, but I needed to speak to him. I needed to find a common ground.
My due date was in three weeks, and I was terrified. I needed…Him.
“So, what do I owe the pleasure?”
Kyle was smiling. His dimple widened in his cheek.
I shook my head, to clear my thoughts.
“I was hoping we could take a walk?” I asked, returning his smile with a small one of my own.
“Sure,” he said.
Standing, he offered me his hand. I took it.
We walked for a few minutes before he spoke.
“How has your day been?”
“Okay,” I said quietly, strolling across the quad, trying to calm my soaring heart rate, as the feel of Kyle’s hand covering mine thrilled me. “Kyle, I need to talk to you.”
Kyle tightened his hold on my hand. “I thought we were talking.”
“You know, that’s not what I mean.”
Kyle sighed, and pulled me closer to him.
“Can we pretend?” he whispered, as his hand slipped from mine, only to find my waist and squeeze me tighter. “Just for a little while, can we pretend that the past two weeks haven’t happened, and we’re deliriously happy?
“That you love me and I love you. And we are just two human beings, carefree and desperately in love with one another?”
“Kyle,” I choked out, overwhelmed by his words.
His eyes searched mine, almost pleadingly. “Please, baby, just for a little while?”
His arms came around my waist, holding me close to his body.
Against my better judgment, I nodded, and stepped closer.
Kyle smiled in relief.
Taking my hands, he placed them around his neck.
My heart thrashed against my ribs as Kyle tucked my hair behind my ears, trailing his fingertips over my cheekbone, before cupping my cheek.
“You burn me,” he whispered. “I close my eyes you’re there. I open them you’re everywhere, surrounding me, possessing me. I scorch for you. I breathe for you. I’m drowning so deep in you, that I never want to come up for air.”
“Kyle, I…”
“I can’t cope with the thought of losing you…I can’t, baby, it makes my chest squeeze so fucking tight, I can’t breathe.”
Kissing my neck, my jaw, my cheek, he whispered, “Let me back in. Let me love you and I will, forever.”
I was drowning in his words, suffocating in the ecstasy of his presence.
“I love you,” I breathed, as I claimed his mouth.
“I love you so much,” I said against his lips, before his tongue slipped inside. “I’ve missed you so much.”
My tears soaked both our cheeks as we clung to each other.
“Don’t leave me again,” he murmured against my lips. “I won’t survive you twice.”
I shook my head. “I won’t, I’m yours.”