And Roan was right about one thing, Cam hadn’t been around much lately. He should’ve asked about her more often, offered to go with Roan to see her even though Roan had shot him down the first time.

“Yeah,” Roan said gruffly, getting to his feet, turning his back on Cam.

“Then what’s wrong?” Cam asked, placing his hands on his hips and watching Roan closely.

“Nothin’.” Roan moved toward the opposite wall, messing with one of the life jackets hanging there.

Cam studied him momentarily. As he saw it, he had two choices. He could either walk away, accept that Roan was pissed at him, and leave this thing between them unsettled, or he could confront Roan by pissing him off and forcing him to address the issue.

Cam decided to go with option two. “Bullshit. If nothin’s wrong, then why are you hidin’ in here?”

Roan’s body twisted around, his golden eyes pausing on Cam’s face. “I’m not hiding.”

“Sure looks like it to me.” And now that he’d gotten Roan’s attention, Cam didn’t want to argue. Lowering his voice, he added, “Talk to me, man. What’s bothering you?”

He fucking hated this silent treatment.

“Something’s obviously wrong, Roan. And I’m pretty sure you’re pissed at me. I deserve to know why.”

“Nothin’ to talk about,” Roan said and Cam knew he was lying.

“So you’re in here having a breakdown for no fucking reason?”

“Fuck you,” Roan bit out.

Cam held his ground when Roan moved toward him, hands balled into fists. Maybe he was a little masochistic, but he definitely preferred Roan pissed than seeing him falling apart. That was so unlike him Cam didn’t even know how to approach the issue.

“Talk to me,” Cam said, keeping his voice low, even.

Roan’s gaze remained locked on Cam’s face, and he fought the urge to squirm. Something was definitely up, but he couldn’t, for the life of him, figure it out.

“Where’s Burgess?” Roan asked.

“His name’s Gannon,” Cam corrected. Again. No matter how many times he did, Roan still insisted on calling Gannon by his last name.

“Where is he?”

Cam shrugged. He figured Gannon was at work. He hadn’t talked to him all day. Since he hadn’t charged his phone all weekend, the damn thing had died on him, and he’d hooked it up in his apartment earlier, figuring he wouldn’t need it.

“He back from his trip?”

Roan already knew the answer to that. Cam wouldn’t have been gone all weekend otherwise. Still, he answered, “Yeah. He got back on Friday.”

“Is that where you were all weekend?”

Cam nodded.

“I thought y’all broke up.”

Cam didn’t want to go into the details of his relationship with Gannon. “We worked things out.”

“So you’re not gonna freak the next time he goes on a trip?”

Cam narrowed his eyes at his friend. Roan was baiting him, he could tell. And he didn’t fucking like it one bit. Roan knew Cam better than anyone. He knew how hard it was for Cam. Hell, when Holly and Keith had gone on their honeymoon, Cam had been a basket case. His father had had to sedate him to keep him under control.

And that same terrifying panic had returned when Gannon had left.

But they were working through it. Because Cam loved Gannon.

Cam met Roan’s eyes, confused by the antagonizing tone. Frowning, he tried to figure out if Roan wanted that to be the case, for Cam not to be able to deal with Gannon traveling. “Why would you ask that?”

Roan shrugged. “It just seems like he doesn’t care that it bothers you.”

“It’s his job,” Cam countered.

“Yeah? And his job’s more important than you are?” Roan rolled his eyes. “Doesn’t sound like a stable relationship to me.”

Cam took a deep breath, trying to contain the anger that threatened to erupt. Before he could say anything, Roan spoke again.

“Look, I’m sorry.” Roan’s tone had softened, his eyes pleading.

Cam took a step back, baffled by Roan’s complete one-eighty. One second he’d been provoking Cam, the next he was apologizing.

None of it made sense. His best friend was acting really strange.

“Cam…”

The hair on the back of his neck stood up in warning. That tone of voice… He’d never heard Roan talk like that, and if he wasn’t mistaken…

“I need to tell you something.”

Cam lifted an eyebrow, forced himself to stand in place when Roan took another step closer.

“Ever since you and Gannon started goin’ out…”

Cam waited, not breathing. Praying that Dare wasn’t right. That Roan wasn’t going to say something now that could alter their friendship forever.

“It’s been hard for me.”

“What?” Cam asked, confused. “What’s been hard for you?”

When Roan’s eyes dropped to Cam’s mouth, it all became very, very clear. The uncomfortable silence thickened, making it impossible to breathe. His best friend could not possibly be saying…

“I’m in love with you.”

Someone cleared their throat, and Cam’s head snapped over to see Gannon standing in the doorway, his eyes wide as he stared between Cam and Roan.

Holy fuck. Had he heard Roan’s admission?

Roan took a step back instantly and Cam did, too. It was as though they’d been busted doing something they shouldn’t have been doing. And the heartbreaking look on Gannon’s face made Cam’s stomach churn.

“Sorry,” Gannon said softly as he turned to walk away. “Didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“No, wait,” Cam called after him, starting toward the door to follow. He would’ve given chase except Roan grabbed his arm.

“Cam. Don’t leave me hangin’ here.”

Cam stared at Roan. “I… I don’t…” Glancing at the door, Cam realized he needed to go after Gannon. He had to settle that first, then he could talk to Roan.

Maybe.

“I have to talk to Gannon,” he blurted, pulling out of Roan’s grasp and lunging for the door, not bothering to look back at his friend.

His best friend had just told him he was in love with him. How could that be? And if that was the case, why the fuck hadn’t Roan said something before now? Not that it would’ve made a damn bit of difference. Cam didn’t have those feelings for Roan. He never had. Sure, they were friends, and Cam would do anything for Roan, but there was no chemistry there. As far as Cam was concerned, Roan was like his brother.

“Gannon, wait!” Cam called after him when he reached the pier, but Gannon seemed to pick up the pace.

When Gannon practically broke into a jog across the parking lot, Cam took off after him, running full out. He didn’t stop until he nearly tackled Gannon against his car.

“When’d you get here?” Cam asked, winded from the short run.

Gannon’s eyes widened as he stared back at Cam, but he didn’t say anything.

“I didn’t know you were coming,” he added.

“Obviously.” Gannon’s eyes narrowed; the pain Cam saw there broke his heart all over again. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“You didn’t,” Cam told him, reaching out for Gannon’s hand, unable to help himself.

But Gannon pulled back from him instantly.

When he reached for the door handle, Cam put a hand out to stop him. “Don’t leave. We need to talk.”

Gannon shook his head, not bothering to look at Cam.

Cam tried to see the situation from Gannon’s point of view. He could understand why he was upset, but he definitely didn’t want Gannon to get the wrong impression. “It wasn’t what it looked like.”

The hurt look on Gannon’s face disappeared, replaced by something Cam had never seen before.

Anger.

Disappointment.

And the strange pinch in his chest made it hard to breathe.

Just when he’d thought they were making progress. Working through their issues. It looked as though they’d only circled back to where they’d been before, back to when they’d been guarding themselves from one another, fearing the worst.

Now, it looked as though that tension had the chance to escalate into something Cam wasn’t sure he could handle.