Teasing Hands (18 page)

The phone beside me rang. It was his song.
Camden’s.

A hundred and sixty eight hours had come and gone since that night at Rage. I should’ve felt angry, hurt, but I didn’t. I was numb. Not even his persistence made me smile, nor did the butterflies flutter anymore.

Camden called me every day. At all hours. I ignored them all, just like I’d turned away the two flower arrangements he’d sent over, trying to make amends. The girls all think I should’ve given him a chance to explain before I broke his face, that rearranging his beautiful mug would have been therapeutic.

I knew the truth. Nothing would help me—nothing but time.

Then, there was Hunter. The same man that put me in a cab last week with the girls and promised to quit pushing the topic of us. That lasted all of twenty-four hours. No matter how I spelled it out for him, he refused to understand.

“Baby girl,” my mother called from the bottom of the stairs. She’d been so persistent on getting any information she could on my relationship with Camden, dropping his name in to conversation for no apparent reason. “You have another delivery.”

“Great,” I muttered under my breath and swung my legs over the bed’s edge. The last few days I’ve been on a binge of sorts, watching nothing but zombie gore. This last one took disgusting to a whole other level. I’d never seen so much guts and blood in one movie.

“Mandi, what do I do? Are you accepting them this time?” The impatience in her tone told me just who they were from.

“I’m coming!” Stumbling, I put on a pair of sweatpants over my boy-shorts and rushed out of the room. Taking the stairs two at a time, I made it just in time to hear as she gave the person on the other side of the door a snide remark.

“You should find someone your own age, and leave my little girl alone.” Her words were dripping with disdain. Why would she talk like that to a delivery man?

“Mom, what the…shit!” Camden’s eyes were the first thing I noticed as I made it to the door. A flash of heat ran through my body at the sight of him. Dear God. His mere presence soothed the open wound he’d opened with his carelessness. “What are you doing here?”

“He was just leaving, baby.” Mom interjected, while she made a move to close the door. Her mouth opened, but the annoyed look on my face cut her off. What ever happened to not meddling anymore?

With my hand on my hip, I faced her head on. “Move.”

“Amanda!” I was in no mood for one of her dramatic spiels.

“Mother.” I leveled her with an icy glare. “This isn’t any of your business. We've had this conversation, and you promised.”

“That was before he,” she pointed an acrylic nail at him, “did what he did. No man breaks my daughter’s heart and gets away with it.”

At this I laughed, and hard. “Really?” Mom nodded, a smug smile on her face like she’d won this argument. “Bullshit. What about Hunter?”

The smile vanished, and she looked down. “He loves you, Mandi.”

My eyes snapped to Camden’s at her admission to watch his reaction. For a second, I took sick pleasure in watching as the emotions crossed his face. Sadness. Hopelessness. Even jealousy for the briefest of seconds.

“Hunter loves himself and only worries about pleasing Mommy. Did you think me so stupid? Huh?” Mom shook her head, her eyes cutting to Camden’s and narrowing. “His motives aren't a secret, Mother.”

“That because he’s filling your head with lies.” Dear God, would she ever quit?

“Hunter and me will never happen, Mom.
Jesus…get it through your head already!” Her eyes widened, and her lips trembled a tiny bit. This was the second time in as many months that I had snapped at her, but it was her fault. She needed to learn and accept that I was an adult.

“You will respect me while living in my house.” Was this her attempt to one-up me?

“Then I’ll move out. I think it’s time.” With that, I pushed past her and out the door. Camden followed me silently as we walked to his car. I leaned against the trunk and eyed his appearance. Low-slung jeans, plain white tank top, and sneakers. His face was unshaven—a few days’ worth of stubble on his angular jaw. He still looked like sex and my destroyer.

Letting out a long sigh, I met his eyes and waited on him to talk.

“You weren't answering my calls,” he said, lips pursed. Camden was uncomfortable—I could tell by the way he fidgeted. How he shifted his weight from foot to foot. How he avoided my eyes as he talked.

“And it didn't occur to you that maybe…I don’t know…I wasn't ready to talk. Or that I no longer want to hear what you have to say?” With my arms crossed over my chest, I stared him down. “Camden, look at me.”

Those stormy orbs looked at me with so much desperation, my heart clenched. His body was angled toward me, and his scent hit me full force. I’d missed him. Everything I had tried so hard to push away and close off crashed into me. Memories of what he made me feel with each touch and kiss.

One direct hit made my knees go weak, and he saw this. Rushed to me and held me close against him.

“I’m—” he began, but I shook my head. I couldn’t deal with his abrasive words now. Time and time again, he had told me that he was not the settling down type. That he belonged to no one.

“Please don’t.”

“
Gatita
, I need to explain. Just let me explain.” Shaking my head again, I pulled myself out of his arms and away from him. His face crumbled, the look of anguish back inside his intense gaze.

“Not now.” Never.

With that said, I ran back into the house and never looked back. If I did, he would see what was in plain sight. My love for him was open—innocent, and the last thing I needed at this moment was to have it thrown back in my face.

“Is he gone?” Mom asked the moment I closed the front door. She was sitting down with a cup of coffee in our living room, her face serene as if nothing happened.

“He is.” She smiled and patted the seat next to her, but I ignored her and walked toward the stairs. I stopped at the landing and turned to face her. “I’m leaving for a few days to go to the Keys. When I come back, I’ll pack my belongings and be out by the start of next semester.”

“You aren’t serious? He isn’t worth it, Amanda.”

“Maybe not to you, but to me he was.”

“What about Hunter?” She tried again, grasping at straws to bend me to her will.

“What about him?” I hissed and marched back over to where she sat. “I don’t love him!”

“But you did once…he’s changed—”

“Dammit Mom! What part don’t you understand? The ‘don’t love’ seems pretty clear to me.” Before I realized it, I was pacing the floor in front of her and pulling at my hair in anger. “This,” I hissed, “is why it’s time for me to go. You don’t seem to grasp the concept that I am not a little girl anymore. That you don’t get to make decisions for me.” Stopping in front of her, I kneeled and grasped her hands in mine. “I love you, but enough is enough.”

It was time to make some changes in my life, and I think getting away for a few days was the way to start. I needed to let him go. To not love him anymore and show her that I could make it on my own.

We were all quiet on the drive down to Islamorada in the Florida Keys. The open road and the wind blowing through my hair made things slightly better. Not perfect by any means, but the farther from home I was, the pain seemed to lessen. It was easier out here to pretend that my heart wasn’t broken in two with such a beautiful view in front of me.

Looking over at the girls, I noticed that Courtney’s face was pinched tight and her posture stiff. She noticed my questioning gaze and mouthed the words, “not now” to me, and I nodded. Seemed I wasn’t not the only one with problems that morning.

The need to leave the house yesterday was unbearable, so much so, that I made frantic plans for a little getaway with the girls within the hour of Camden leaving. They were ecstatic about getting in one last vacation before school started back up in a few weeks. No questions were asked, which was just what I needed at the moment.

“We’re here,” Steph called out, bringing me back to the present. Putting the car in park, she turned off the ignition and jumped out of the SUV she insisted we would need. Looking back toward the full trunk, I was glad we agreed.

“Fuck, it smells amazing.” Jennifer groaned as she stretched her long legs. We were at my family’s private villa off the warm waters of the Atlantic. No one for miles to witness my misery.

Stepping out, I took in a deep inhale and forced a small smile. “Yes, it does.”

“Come on.” Jenn walked over and took my hand. “Lets dump these bags in our rooms and head out to eat. I’m starving.” A small chuckle to my right made me look at Steph.

“What?” she asked. “Jennifer’s always hungry.”

“Bite me,” Jennifer grumbled before picking up her bag on the way into the house. She turned just before reaching the door and called out. “Hey, Steph?”

“Yeah?”

I knew what was coming next. For the first time since yesterday, I laughed while Jennifer flipped her the bird and ran in.

“How mature.” Steph yelled back and stomped her way past me and into the house. I could hear them yelling from where I stood. Could
n’t take them anywhere without them acting like idiots.

“So.” Courtney saddled up next to me by the open trunk. In her hand, she held the small duffle bag she’d brought with her. Raising my brow, I gestured with my hand for her to continue. She was beating around the bush, and in the mood I was in, it quite frankly was annoying me. “How bad is it?”

Taking in a deep breath, I let the smell of my surroundings calm me. Or so I thought they would. Instead, I breathed him in. His scent surrounded me. Nautical ambrosia so powerful for a moment I swayed.

“You okay there, Mandi?” Courtney asked in a panic.

“Which question do you want me to answer first?” Her hand reached out to steady me, and I held on as if it were a life line. “What happened? Or how am I doing?”

“Is it bad enough that one word sums up both?” I let out a small, humorless chuckle and nodded. “Fuck.”

“Exactly.”

For some reason, Mom thought that cornering me this morning would work to her advantage. She was hoping for a change of heart on my behalf
; she was shit out of luck. Not happening.

Surprisingly enough, Dad understood and supported my decision to move out after hearing everything that happened. Was he happy about me getting involved with an older man? No, but he respected my right to chose my own happiness.

“Susana, she is an adult. Enough already with the meddling. She will learn, as we all have from our past mistakes. You’ve never been perfect. Keep that in mind.”

  He made me a promise before leaving for work—much to my mom’s ire—to help me locate an apartment close to school. To support any decision I made now or in the future
, so long as I was content in life. The question then became: was I happy?

With Camden
, I had been. Having the truth smack me across the face that we would never be hurt more than Hunter’s leaving ever did. Camden made me feel comfortable in my own skin. Wanted.

Now, I was left wondering if what he’d made me feel was all a lie, a fake act to reach his goal of fucking me.

And then I thought of Mom. Why couldn't she do the same as Dad? Everything she’d pulled made me question her motives all along. Was her entire spiel at the steak house just her way to manipulate me? Did she not mean a word?

“I went to see him, you know?” Courtney whispered, and I turned to look at her. Who the hell is
him
?

“Who?”
I reached down to grab my bag, my jaw locked tight to keep all the emotions boiling inside at bay.

“Amanda, stop.” Courtney pulled the small suitcase out of my hands. “Please listen, and don’t get mad.” She tugged on my arm and pulled me behind her toward the back of the house. The oceans waves crashed upon the shore, the sound lulling me into a false sense of security, and I sat down on the dampened sand
.

“I promise, now tell me.” My eyes closed for a second, the stress of the last few days beginning to fade.