Cameron slid his thumb over the top of my hand before he squeezed it.
“Are you ready?”
“Hell no. No.” I shook my head adamantly. “I’ll just wait back here for you.”
“Nope, we’re doing it,” he said. My whole body trembling with fear, he took the first step onto the glass.
“Oh, shit,” I squeaked out as the line behind us laughed at my outburst. We stepped out onto the glass deck, 1,353 feet in the air, while I kept my eyes tightly shut.
“We’re out,” he said. “Open your eyes, Abbie.”
I cracked one open and took a hesitant peek.
“Okay, that’s good enough, right?” I said, anxious to retreat into the building.
“Nope,” he said as he moved us further out onto the Skydeck, and I reluctantly followed.
We were at the top of the Willis Tower, which everyone still referred to as the Sears Tower. My erratic pulse only intensified as Cameron leaned forward, placing his forehead on the glass to hold all his weight.
“Oh, you’re crazy,” I said as I took a step back. He tugged me forward by our clasped hands.
“If you’re going to do it, might as well do it all the way.”
“I feel sick,” I said, swallowing.
“Come on, witchy woman,” he retorted, cruelly amused.
I braved another glance at the glass between my feet and saw the moving cars beneath us had been reduced to the size of ants from our bird’s eye view.
Snickering ensued from behind us, and I glanced over at the two women who were practically swooning over Cameron and had been the whole time we waited for the elevator to bring us up. I couldn’t blame them. He was beautiful. But at that moment, all I felt was the adrenaline rush of being encased in the glass that sat on the side of the famous skyscraper.
“You’re really going to make me do this?”
“Yep,” he said mercilessly.
I let out a little shriek as I placed my forehead against the glass and let my weight sink behind it. “If I faint,” I said in warning, “it’s on you. This building is moving, I swear it is.”
“It is,” he said without a trace of fear in his voice.
“Jesus.”
“I can’t believe you’ve lived in Chicago this long and never did this,” he said as he smirked at the ground far, far beneath us.
“I avoided it, and for good reason,” I bit out through chattering teeth.
“To be honest, I hadn’t done it, either. My mother brought me up here the first time I came.”
“Brave woman. Did she make you stand like this?”
“No,” he said with a chuckle. “She did a handstand.”
“She what?!” I said with wide eyes as I shook, scared shitless as I observed the sea of skyscrapers dwarfed below us.
“Yeah, I have a picture of it,” he said, glancing over at me. “I was pretty freaked out my first time up here too.” He looked down and let out a breath. “She brought me up here to tell me she was dying.”
Heart sinking, I looked over at him. That time, I squeezed his hand.
“I thought it cruel at the time, but if you think about it, it’s a pretty cool way to tell your kid you’re dying, right? Suspended in a place where you are terrified so the gravity of it doesn’t hit you as hard.” He paused, swallowing evident pain, and I waited. “She said she wanted me to know what it was like.”
“What being sick was like?” I asked softly, my heart breaking for him.
“No, what it was like to leave her son in a world she wasn’t sure was safe. She said she wasn’t afraid of dying. She was just afraid for me, to leave me. And this is what it felt like.”
“Cameron, I’m so sorry.”
He nodded, his beautiful eyes cast down, a shadow covering his features. “She taught yoga six days a week well into her sixties. She treated her body like a temple and it turned on her. I live with it every day, Abbie. Wondering if I could have done more for her. Different doctors or treatments. I didn’t get involved because I was sure she and my dad had it covered. I was selfish with my pain. I was only thinking of me, of how much I needed her, that I couldn’t see past my own fear to make sure we did everything.” He swallowed again, then stopped talking.
“I’m sure they did everything they could.”
We stayed silent for a moment, holding hands and looking at the world beneath us. “Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring it up. I’ve been missing her a lot lately.”
“Hey,” I said as he glanced over at me. “I’m glad you told me.”
He gave me a wink. “I’m glad I came back up here with you.”
“Me too.”
Cameron pulled out his cell phone and aimed it at the two of us from underneath. It was the worst angle imaginable.
“Don’t you dare take that picture,” I warned, forcing a smile anyway.
“Look down,” he said as he aimed it at us. “Done.”
He pushed away from the glass, and I followed suit, mildly distracted by his story but brought into the present as I took in the view of the city and the expanse of Lake Michigan.
He studied the picture as we walked off the deck. “It’s a good one,” he said, holding it out for me to look. I waved it away.
“I’ll take your word for it.”
He grinned. “Not a fan of having your picture taken?”
“Nope. I’m not photogenic, like at all. It’s a curse. Every time I take one, my eyes are closed or close to it because my smile is so wide.”
He inspected the picture, and I could tell that was the case when he chuckled.
“Yep, but it’s still a good one.”
We ended up walking the streets of downtown, getting lost in conversation among the high-rises, talking about everything and nothing. When we sought brief refuge from the brutal wind between buildings, Cameron used the opportunity to warm us up. He kissed me every chance he got, without shame, and I loved every second of it.
I basked in the feel of him, in his tall frame as he surrounded me, the way his hands always seemed to be warm, and his smooth as silk voice—a voice I’d deprived myself of. Though we’d been dating for over a month, all of it was new.
Hovering on a bridge at the Riverwalk, he took another selfie of us, which I reluctantly smiled for. He pressed his lips together when he studied it, and I knew it was another disaster.
Due to the unrelenting wind cresting off the water, my eyes were streaming mascara. Cameron leaned in and cupped my face, wiping away the smudges with his thumbs.
“Come on, let’s get you somewhere warm,” he said after another stolen kiss.
Glued to his side, he shielded me from the cold. After a few minutes of walking in silence—that was anything but empty—we ended up nestled at a cocktail table at Howl at the Moon, a dueling piano bar on West Hubbard.
“Ever been here?” he asked as I shed my coat.
“Nope, another first,” I replied with a smile.
When the waiter came by, Cameron ordered us a bucket of Moscow Mule to share as I perused the bar. Other than the pianos that sat on a spotlit stage, the neon-lit room was dark and intimate. “This is what I love about Chicago. You never know what’s around the corner.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “Most days I’m happy I got my first job coaching here after I graduated.”
“And the other days?”
“The other days aren’t summer, and I’m freezing my ass off,” he said with a wink. “I’ve endured enough winters, so I’m used to it. I don’t see myself living anywhere else.”
“Me either,” I agreed.
“You know, Max goes to Bears games in shorts. In fact, you can’t get him to wear a pair of pants in subzero temperatures.”
“That’s just plain stupid,” I said with an eye roll.
Cameron shrugged. “I used to think he was crazy and did it to show off, but it turns out he’s comfortable that way. He’s from Wisconsin, so . . .”
“That explains everything,” I said as I gave him my own wink.
“Something in your eye, Abbie?”
I deadpanned, “That’s the last time I throw flirt your way tonight, Coach.”
“That was flirting?” he asked with a smirk.
I narrowed my eyes. “I’m going to the bathroom.” I stood and was swept off my feet and into his lap. I had to keep my moan internal when he leaned in and brushed his lips against my neck.
“What was that for?” I asked, my voice raspy.
“An apology kiss is a perfect excuse to cop a feel,” he whispered, reminding me of our earlier conversations at the café.
We were finally hurdling the physical and it felt so good, so natural. I couldn’t believe what a difference a day could make. “What song do you want to hear?” His voice was damned near a groan.
We were bordering on indecent as he sucked on my skin, leaving a trail of goosebumps in the wake of his soft lips.
When I didn’t answer, he asked again, this time with dimples on full display. “Abbie?”
“What was the question?”
He kissed me deeply, then ripped himself away just as I was about to forfeit clothes.
“Surprise me,” I whispered back as he reluctantly let me go.
“I intend to,” he said sincerely as we both licked a fresh promise from our lips.
A little after midnight, Cameron bid me goodnight at my front door. I was panting when he left me, his smile radiant as he closed my gate and glanced back to where I stood. I touched my lips as he crossed the street, his long strides taking him too far away from me.
“I said goddamn,” I whispered before I shut the door and sighed. I instantly missed him. And before I could scold myself for it, I got a text.
Cameron: Any plans for today?