“No lie,” Milly insisted, her eyes locked on Cam. “I was racing down the hill and ran smack into the tree.”

Gannon frowned. “That’s not the way you told the story to me.”

Milly glared at him in a way that told him to be quiet.

Gannon laughed; so did Cam.

“Fine,” Milly said with a huff. “I didn’t so much ski down the hill. I kind of walked. And I didn’t run into the tree. I hugged it to keep on my feet. But I was ten. Sue me.”

Cam roared with laughter, making Gannon smile and Milly blush.

Going into this, Gannon hadn’t known how it would go, but truth was, Gannon wanted Milly and Cam to get along. She was the closest thing to family he had, and over the past couple of weeks, Cam had become important to him, as well. Looked as though he wasn’t going to have to worry about the two of them getting along.

“Thanks for putting up with me tonight,” Milly told Cam as they walked down the sidewalk toward the parking lot behind the restaurant.

“Thanks for sharing all of Gannon’s deep dark secrets with me,” Cam replied, smiling down at her.

“Okay, I’m gonna hug you now,” Milly said right before she walked up to Cam and put her arms around him.

Gannon grinned, watching Cam’s surprise flitter across his face as he hesitantly embraced her.

“And now, I’m gonna go sit in the car”—Milly snagged the car keys from Gannon’s hand—“while the two of you say good night.”

With a small wave, she headed across the lot to Gannon’s Lexus while he stood with Cam beside his truck.

When he turned back to face Cam, those dark blue eyes were locked on him. Thankfully, it was dark out and the single light post was on the other side of the lot, the yellow glow not making it to their part, which left them in the shadows. It afforded them a small measure of privacy, so Gannon urged Cam between his truck and the one beside it, backing him up against the driver’s door.

“I had fun tonight,” Gannon whispered. “But I can’t walk away without kissing you.”

Cam nodded but didn’t say anything.

“Is that gonna bother you? Me kissing you in public?”

“Will it bother you?” Cam countered.

Gannon answered that question by leaning in and pressing his mouth to Cam’s, placing his hand on the truck door on the side of Cam’s head. He licked Cam’s lips first, then urged him to open. A soft moan escaped Cam seconds before Gannon was crushing Cam’s body against the door, his hips pressing against Cam’s while their tongues explored.

Had they been anywhere else, Gannon would’ve pursued it further, but being in a public place, he knew he couldn’t let it get too far. As it was, his cock was rock hard by the time he pulled back, breaking the kiss and pressing his forehead to Cam’s.

“I want to see you again,” Gannon whispered.

“When?”

Pulling back, Gannon moved back enough so he could see Cam’s face fully. “I’m leaving for California in the morning.”

And just like that, it was as though Gannon had poured a bucket of ice water over Cam’s head rather than telling him that he had to go out of town for a couple of days. The heat he’d seen in Cam’s eyes turned glacial in an instant.

“What?” Gannon asked, taking a step back when Cam turned to open his truck door. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Cam declared, his tone icy.

Gannon watched as Cam climbed into his truck, confused.

“I need to get home,” Cam told him, turning his head toward Gannon but not meeting his eyes.

“Okay.” Gannon didn’t even know how to plead his case, because he had no clue what had just happened. One second Cam was melting in his arms, the next he was … Antarctica. “I’ll call you?”

Cam nodded, then waited for Gannon to move out of the way before closing the door and starting his engine. Still trying to figure out where things had gone wrong, Gannon didn’t move as Cam backed out of the parking space, then headed for the road.

When he finally made it back to the car, Milly was waiting for him, the radio turned up. Since he had no idea what had happened, or how he was supposed to explain it to her, he forced a smile as he slid into the driver’s seat.

“That was fun,” she told him, briefly looking at him before returning her attention to her cell phone.

“Yeah,” he said, putting his hand on the gear shift. “Fun.”

Eighteen

Friday night

“Where’s your man?” Dare asked, pointing his beer bottle at Cam, clearly letting him know he was talking to him.

Cam didn’t say anything, preoccupying himself by drinking his own beer.

“Uh-oh,” Teague offered. “Trouble in paradise?”

Cam’s gaze slid to Roan. He found his best friend studying him intently.

“No trouble,” Cam said, merely to get them off his case.

“He’s in Cali, right?” Dare asked.

Cam nodded.

He did not want to think about Gannon at the moment. Didn’t want to think about him several states away, where Cam couldn’t see him. Didn’t want to let his fears get the best of him.

Last night, when Gannon had reminded him that he was going to California, something had broken inside him. One minute his switch had been on, the next … off. He’d driven home in a fog, numb from the information. And most of the day, he’d attempted to process it, to no avail.

He knew he owed Gannon an apology. His abrupt turnabout had been unfair. He couldn’t deny that. But he couldn’t bring himself to answer his phone or return any of Gannon’s texts, either.

No one said he was acting rationally, but the only thing he could think about was Gannon in Florida. No. Not Florida. California.

Cam took a long pull on his beer, trying to dislodge the knot of emotion from his throat. He’d been choking on it all damn day while endless questions ran through his head.

What if something happened to Gannon?

What if he was sick?

What if he had a brain aneurysm and died while alone in his hotel room?

His throat was dry, his palms sweaty. He was choking on the hot ball of fear that seemed to be permanently lodged in his throat. Cam drained what was left of his beer, then grabbed another.

No, he wasn’t going to think about any of that.

Hell, it was bad enough that he’d had a nightmare last night, waking up in a cold sweat. He’d dreamed that someone had called him to let him know that Gannon’s body had been found in a hotel room. He’d died of a brain aneurysm.

The same way Cam’s mother had died. Hundreds of miles away. Alone.

“When’s he comin’ back?” Teague asked.

“Tomorrow,” Roan offered, meeting Cam’s gaze.

“Can we talk about somethin’ else? Seriously?” Cam didn’t want to dwell on this anymore.

Sure, he’d missed a call from Gannon earlier, and he’d received a few texts, but at the moment, he wasn’t in the right frame of mind to talk to him or about him. Shitty as it was.

“Dude,” Dare began with a smile, “did y’all see that hot guy who came to talk to Hudson today?”

Grateful for the change of subject, Cam watched Teague’s head snap over to Dare and had the urge to rub his own neck. That had to hurt.

“When?” Roan asked the question Teague clearly wanted to ask but didn’t.

“This mornin’ sometime. Holy fuck.” Dare let out a long, low whistle. “Not sure what they were talkin’ about, but Hudson looked happy.”

Cam couldn’t help but notice that Teague did not. Look happy. Not at all.

“Looks like the dry spell might be over,” Dare added. “At least for some of us.”

Cam looked away when Dare pinned him with his hazel gaze. He wasn’t going to confirm or deny that. At this point, he didn’t know how things stood between him and Gannon.

Sure, they’d rocketed out of the gate, hot and heavy, and he’d enjoyed the hell out of the time he’d spent with Gannon. But now … his fears had gotten the best of him.

As he’d always known they would.

And though he’d traveled himself, that didn’t bother him. It was when the people he cared about ventured out on their own, leaving Cam at home to worry whether they’d ever come back again.