Storm Warning (23 page)

Despite her best efforts to make a mad dash across the patio, by the time Cami slid the glass door open and stepped in, the drenched turquoise sundress she’d picked out especially for Kyle clung to her skin. As she attempted to detangle her rain-soaked hair, Kyle stepped through the door behind her.

“What’s all this?” he asked, running his hand through his wet, sandy-colored hair. The low platform bed in the center of the room was surrounded by dozens of glowing candles.

“I didn’t want our date to be a total waste because of the rain.” Cami pulled a towel from the shelf next to her and wrapped it around her shoulders before tossing one to Kyle. “I thought maybe we could move our picnic inside,” she added, walking over to the bed and opening a picnic basket that was waiting in the middle.

Before Cami could retrieve the items from the basket, Kyle stepped up behind her, closing the basket lid.

“Not hungry?” Cami asked, turning to face him. “I cooked all day for you,” she said, trying to fight back a smile. “And by me I mean Sophie.”

She expected Kyle to give her some grief about being a stereotypical spoiled, rich girl who couldn’t cook, but his eyes said that whatever he was about to say was serious.

“It can wait.” Reaching for the towel Cami held snugly around her, he tugged her toward him. “There’s something I need to do first,” he stated.

Cami felt her heartbeat speed up as Kyle removed the towel from her shoulders and tossed it aside. She thought about the first day they met and how she was quick to reveal what she had under her towel. But now, something had changed. Despite the fact that she was fully clothed under that towel, she felt ten times more vulnerable than that first day.

Maybe it was the fact that she knew what was about to happen in that candle-lit pool house, or maybe it was the fact that, unlike that first day, she was in love with the boy standing in front of her. But she was pretty certain that it was because she knew, without a doubt, that no one was ever going to love her the way Kyle Mason did.

T
HIS
was it. The moment he’d thought about pretty much every hour on the hour since he’d first laid eyes on her. Kyle felt his hand tremble as he brushed a piece of hair from her face and hoped that she couldn’t sense how nervous he really was. He’d never told a girl he loved her before, and as much as he wanted to shout it from the rooftops, a small part of him was worried she’d reject him. She was champagne and caviar and he was beer and corndogs.

Cami pursed her lips the way she always did when things started to get intense. He would have bet money that she was racking her brain for some sarcastic remark to detour the palpable tension that had thickened the air in the room. But as Kyle ran his hand down her arms, helping her fight the chill of the air conditioner against her wet skin, he watched her pull in a breath and let her eyes fall shut at his touch.

“I haven’t told you just how pretty you look tonight,” he said, placing his lips on her bare shoulder. Her hands found his chest and fisted the damp gray T-shirt he was wearing, pulling him closer. “I mean it, Cami.” His lips hovered above her skin as he moved his mouth up to her ear. “You’re amazing. I, um, I…” Kyle nervously stumbled over his words while trying to read her expression.

He remembered one of their lounge chair conversations. The one where she confessed that she had never been in love. Hell, the girl had told him that she’d never even said those words to her parents, and sadder yet, they’d never said it to her. He couldn’t imagine growing up in a house where he didn’t hear those words. His mom told him and his sister that she loved them all the time.

Back then, it was easy for him to give her a flirty response “Let’s see what we can do about that then.” But that was two months ago, and he knew now that they were beyond a summer fling. He loved this girl and he wanted a future with her. He wanted to be the one to say
I love you
to her every day.

Just as he’d finally mustered up the courage to tell her how he felt, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. The urgency of her mouth against his led him to believe she was done talking.

Her hands moved down to tug at the hem of his shirt. He lifted his arms, allowing her to pull it over his head. A questioning smile appeared on his face as she tossed the shirt to the floor. A questioning smile that silently asked if she was sure she wanted to continue. He had never pressured her to do anything with him. In fact, he was the one who had set the pace for their physical relationship.

Cami may have been reluctant to get to know Kyle back in the beginning. She’d made it pretty clear that day they met that if he’d wanted to hit it and forget it he could have. As he looked down in her brown eyes, he was glad he’d suggested they take it slow. Sure, it might have resulted in more than one cold shower on his part, but he’d known the moment he saw her that she was something special.

Every Sunday they’d spent together in that lounge chair
—the
sweet kisses in the pool, the late night phone calls and texts, the sharing of secrets and dreams. They had all led here. To this moment. A moment that would change the rest of their lives.

His body moved to hers and he slipped one strap of her dress down her shoulder. As if to confirm her desire to be with him, she reached her hand up and pushed the other strap down, sending her dress to the floor.

The heat of their damp skin against one another’s seemed to only intensify their bodies’ reactions as their lips collided. Cami smoothed her hands up Kyle’s back as his moved down hers, locking his wrists behind her back. He slowly lifted her up onto the tips of her toes, their lips never parting, and walked her backwards to the bed. Where they spent the rest of the evening, completely tangled together.

“U
M,
Hayden? I think the roses are good,” Ella Jane said softly, cutting off the water before he drowned her mama’s garden. Hayden was out of it today. In fact, he’d been out of it all week. She was trying extremely hard to convince herself it wasn’t because summer was ending and he was blowing her off.

“What?” He turned to her with a blank stare. “Oh shit. Sorry,” he said, shaking his head as he wound the hose around his arm.

“You okay?”

He grinned at her, but it wasn’t his usual grin. The cocky one she loved and couldn’t resist kissing off his face. This one was fake. Forced. “I’m great.”

She tried to ignore the fact that he hadn’t called her angel face. Or babe. Or even by her actual name. “Gran doing okay?”

His eyes widened for a split second but then he shrugged. “Oh you know. Same old same old.”

“All right. Well I’m going to head over to my friend Lynlee’s house in a little while. She’s been in California all summer. She’s only back to visit for a few nights so I want to hang out with her while I can. You could join us tonight if you want. We’re thinking of going to a movie or something.” She bit her lip, knowing he probably wouldn’t want to go with them to some chick flick. “Or we could meet up at The Ridge later. Watch the night train. Just me and you.”

“Uh, no. I’ll take a rain check.” He gave a quick glance at the sky, since it looked like actual rain was coming. “I’ve got some stuff to do for Pops. But you two have fun.”

She tried to get him to look her in the eyes but he busied himself putting the hose away.

Her stomach twisted. This was it. The brush-off she’d prayed wouldn’t come but kind of assumed would. Summer was almost over, and her brother had been right. Maybe it was just a fling for Hayden. Maybe he really was an asshole who was just toying with her for lack of anything better to do.

It hurt. It was hurt on top of hurt.

Angrily, she stormed around the property, picking up discarded tools and tossing them roughly into the shed. With every step, she cursed herself internally. Even though it had seemed too good to be true, she’d fallen for his “And that’s when I fell in love with you” BS.

She’d let herself fall in love with someone who didn’t feel the same way. Again. At least with Hayden she wouldn’t have to see him all the time. And in a way, she couldn’t even bring herself to regret what they’d had because he’d helped her get over her silly crush on Coop. But now she was barely fighting off a broken heart and it was sucking up all the energy she had left.

She’d been strong for her mom when her dad moved out, had put on a brave face as Kyle prepared to move away for college. She’d even slapped on a smile when Coop blathered on about some new girl he was dating who was apparently his “favorite.”

But this
—
Hayden totally ignoring her and not even having the decency to say “Hey, it’s been real and it’s been fun, but it ain’t been real fun, so peace out”
—
stung like nothing she’d ever felt.

After she practically threw the last armful of hedge clippers, sprinkler heads, and shovels into the shed, she whirled around and slammed right into the object of her frustration.

“Whoa. Sorry,” Hayden said, gripping her by her upper arms to steady her.

“My bad,” she said, jerking out of his grasp. “I’ll try to stay out of your way from now on.”

“Hey,” he called out as she marched away from him. “Ella Jane, hang on a damn second.”

She heard him coming up behind her but she kept walking. She wasn’t going to beg him to give her some big goodbye. All that crap about weekends and real dates had obviously been just that. Crap. She didn’t need to hear any more of it.

Somehow in just a few short months, the city boy who drove her crazy had become precious to her. He’d carved out a spot on her heart and now he was leaving it empty. Vacating it without any explanation as to why. Well she wasn’t going to hand him a knife to carve any more holes. Her dad had already done enough damage.

“Stop,” Hayden commanded, grabbing her and yanking her back toward him. “Talk to me. What’s going on with you?”

She looked everywhere but at him. Heart pounding against her ribs and chest heaving with every breath, she willed herself not to cry. “Me,” she snorted out. “What’s going on with
me?
I’m not the one blowing you off like it’s my job.”

“What are you talking about? I’m not blowing you off.” His eyes were dark and stormy, a swirl of green and gray that reminded her of the sky just before a massive downpour.

“Sure feels like it,” she said softly, hating how weak she sounded.

He sighed and tilted his head to the side. “I’m sorry, angel face. It wasn’t intentional. Promise.” He used the pad of his thumb to brush the side of her face. The wind kicked up and he tucked the swirling strands of her hair behind her ear.

Still tingling from his touch, she searched his face for any trace of evidence that he was lying, playing her. “Tell me then. Tell me what’s really going on. I’m not stupid, Hayden. I can tell something’s up with you.”

The sound of a truck pulling into the driveway distracted them both. Reluctantly, Ella Jane pulled her eyes from Hayden. His grandfather looked exhausted behind the wheel of the truck.

“I guess I need to go.”

“He looks tired. Maybe you should drive home.”

“Yeah, maybe. Not that his stubborn old ass would let me.” A flash of something dark and sad flickered in Hayden’s gaze.

“Hayden? Tell me. Tell me what’s going on,” Ella Jane prompted.

“Nothing you need to worry about.” He shook his head and released her as they turned to walk toward the truck. With each step he seemed to get farther away, even though she was keeping pace with him.