Cameron looked taken aback.

"Why would you move out?"

"To live in the dorms," I reminded him. "This is only supposed to be temporary."

"It was only temporary as long as you were just Noah's sister." Cameron gave me a soft, teasing smile. "Did you think I was going to kick you out?"

"No, but… don't you want your place back to yourself?"

Cameron laughed. "I have eighteen bedrooms, remember? If I wanted space, I'd find it." He tugged me against his side. "You can't get rid of me that easily. You're mine."

I threw myself at him, clinging to him.

"I love you," I blurted out desperately.

Cameron stilled under my arms. My heart thumped rapidly. With my head buried in his shoulder, I couldn't see his expression.

All the anxiety I'd felt before returned full force. A different kind of anxiety this time. Why had I said that out loud? I hadn't meant to say it. I shouldn't have said it.

He squeezed me tight. One hand cupped the back of my head, pressing us cheek to cheek. His lips touched my ear.

"I love you, too," he replied softly.

The fireworks I'd felt when he first kissed me were nothing compared to the explosion that went off when he said those words.

I love you.

I hadn't meant to say them first. Hadn't meant to say them at all.

But Cameron returned my feelings.

Cameron said he loved me.

But even before the words had been spoken out loud, Cameron had showed me he loved me. With every thoughtful gesture, with every kind word, he had proven himself.

A few stray tears fell down my cheeks. He clutched me to his chest.

"I hope those are tears of happiness," he teased.

I laughed and sniffled at the same time.

"I love you," he repeated. "I don't want you to go. I want you to stay here." He pulled back, looking uncertain. "If you want to, I mean."

"I do want to." My heart felt light and airy. Cameron loved me. Cameron had officially asked me to move in with him. A small giddy laugh threatened to bubble up inside me.

"I have something I want to show you," Cameron said. His expression was a combination of nerves and excitement. "I hope you don't mind."

"Mind what?"

"Cam, honey?"

A voice called out from the front door.

"Shit, sorry." Cameron cringed. "My parents are here. They said they've got some important stuff to tell me. I got distracted when I heard your car come up, but you didn't come into the house." Cameron gave me a crooked smile. "They want to talk about my mom's whole mayor thing with me."

"That's a good sign, right? They probably want you involved somehow."

"Yeah, maybe. It would be cool if I could help out somehow." There was a hopeful note in his voice. "You should come, too. You're a part of my life now. Anything that affects me will affect you."

"What about that thing you wanted to show me?"

"It can wait."

Cameron took my hand and led me into the mansion, keeping a tight grip the entire time.

Sharon and Grant were waiting in one of the living rooms. They looked overjoyed to see me again. Sharon stood from the sofa and gave me a warm hug in greeting.

"So good to see you again, Lily." Sharon took note of mine and Cameron's clasped hands. She gave Cameron a knowing smile. "I'm glad to see you're still here."

"Lily and I are together," he told them, beaming proudly.

The ecstatic look on their faces made me flush.

"We're so happy for you, dear. And I hope you'll be happy for me," she added.

"Is it official, then?" Cameron asked.

"It is." She straightened her shoulders. Her expression was one of slight nerves underneath a steely sort of resolve. "I've put my name in to run for mayor."

Cameron and I gave his mother a round of congratulations.

"Your father and I are going to be working very hard with my campaign stuff over the next few months," Sharon said. "Unfortunately, that means that we'll be very busy for the foreseeable future."

Cameron nodded. "I get it. No more impromptu dinners."

"There will also be quite a few events to attend, fundraising and such. That's not to mention when we actually start campaigning and doing town hall meetings and debates."

"We've got a fundraising dinner coming up next week," Grant said. "Just for close friends and family."

Cameron brightened.

"You won't be there, of course," Grant continued blithely.

Cameron stilled. The look on his face nearly shattered my heart. He clenched his fist, his eyes going flat, his expression blank.

"But Lily is more than welcome to come," Sharon added, oblivious. She turned to me with a smile. "I'll text you the details, sweetie. Just let me know if you're free."

I was too shocked to answer.

I had thought Cameron was just mistaken when he told me his parents didn't want him anywhere near their colleagues. When he told me Sharon and Grant were ashamed of him and kept him from the public eye.

But they had disinvited him from a family event right in front of me.

His parents talked through a few more details about his mother's campaign. I listened with half an ear. My attention was on Cameron.

He nodded and agreed and chuckled at all the right times, but that emotionless look was still on his face.

Only I caught the pain behind that blank gaze.

Immediately after his parents left, the strained smile left Cameron's face. It was replaced with a twist of his lips. His dark blue eyes turned almost obsidian.

"I'm gonna go work out."

I grabbed for his hand before he could storm off. "Cameron, I'm sorry."

He cast his eyes down to the floor. "I should have known it was coming."

"You should talk to them about it."

"What difference would it make? They clearly don't want me anywhere near this whole political campaign thing." Cameron gave a sort of half-hearted shrug. "I get it. I'm not exactly wholesome-family material."

But the hurt on his expression was heartbreaking. I threw my arms around him, squeezing tight.

"It's wrong of them to treat you this way."

"I've dealt with this my whole life. It's nothing new."

"Still. You don't deserve being treated like that. You're a wonderful son. And a wonderful boyfriend. And a wonderful person in general."

He wrapped his arms around me. He buried his face in my hair. "You're the only one who thinks so."

"No, I'm not. Everyone loves you."

He let out a sick laugh. "Even Noah? That's why you won't tell him about us, right? He thinks the worst of me."

I shook my head. "It has less to do with you, and more to do with me. I don't think he'd take my dating anyone very well."

"I'm just so fucking sick of being everyone's dirty little secret."

I pulled away to meet his eyes. "I'll tell him."

Cameron stilled. "About us?"

"Yes. The next time I see Noah, I'll tell him about us."

The relieved look on Cameron's face eased my worries. Maybe I couldn't make what his parents did feel any better, but I could do this for him.

Then that relieved smile turned into something darker. Something heated.

"If you're going to tell your brother, I guess that means I can do this."

He leaned down and nipped on my neck. I gasped. He placed his lips on my skin and sucked.

I pushed him away. "No hickies!"

"You're no fun."

"At least not anywhere people can see," I conceded.

His eyes held an evil glint. Cameron bit down on my bottom lip.

I gasped, then moaned. He licked a healing path along that lip, tongue seeking entrance to my mouth.

I parted my lips, allowing his tongue to play with mine. The moment I tasted him, a wave of need crashed into me. Any reservations I had flew out of my head. His scent filled my nostrils, warm and sunny and so very Cameron.

I tangled my hands in his hair, pulling him closer. I threw myself at him so fast, our knees and hips bumped together awkwardly. We almost lost our balance. Cameron caught me by the waist. He slowly lowered us onto a nearby sofa, settling me onto his lap. We never broke our kiss as we nipped and licked and crushed our mouths together.

His hands wandered under my shirt. The roughness of his calloused fingers burned deliciously into my soft skin. They skimmed a line down my back to deftly unsnap my bra. They continued tracing a path to my front. His thumb brushed my nipples under thin cotton fabric. He tweaked one, then the other. A jolt of electricity shot through me at each light pinch.

His lips left mine to trail kisses down my neck to my collarbone. I took the moment to peel my shirt off and toss it to the floor, along with my bra. With a hand on my shoulder blades, he leaned me backwards, angling my chest until his lips found my nipples. He latched onto one, a heated suction that shocked me to my core. I tugged on his hair, urging him closer.

As his mouth teased at my breasts, his hands searched beneath my skirt. He ran a path up and down my inner thighs, stopping just before he hit the apex, teasing me. Liquid heat pooled in my center. My inner walls clamped down on nothing, already wet and aching and needing his touch.

I was a shaking, panting mess when he lifted his head. I whined and wriggled at the loss of his lips on my breasts.

"You've got the most fucking beautiful tits," he mumbled against my skin. The cool air of his breath made my nipples tighten even further.

Cameron met my eyes. His fingertips found the elastic of my now damp panties. My breath hitched. Slowly, he hooked his fingers underneath and tugged down. I shifted, helping him draw them down my legs.

I settled back down on his lap, naked except for the skirt pushed to my waist. He was still dressed, still in his t-shirt and jeans. My core pressed against the stiff length still trapped in the thick fabric. I palmed him through the rough material. He stifled a groan. I pulled down the zipper and took him out. He was burning in my hand, silken smooth over a heavy, solid weight.

I brushed my thumb over the weeping tip. He twitched.

My inner walls were throbbing, the emptiness inside me turning into an almost painful ache. I needed to be filled, and I needed to be filled by this man alone. I rolled my hips and said the words that I knew were his undoing.

"Fuck me, Cameron."

His gaze went dark. He gripped my hair in his hand, fisting the strands. He tugged my head back and crushed his lips to mine.

"The things you do to me, Angel…" he murmured into my mouth.

Cameron made a move to reach into his jeans pocket. I knew what he was going for.

"Wait." I put a hand on his wrist.

He paused with a questioning noise.

"I want to feel you," I told him, cheeks burning.

His eyes blazed with heat, understanding my meaning. "You sure? 'Cause I would fucking kill to come inside you. But—"

"I'm on the pill," I reassured. "I mean, as long as you…" I trailed off.

"I'm clean." He ran a soothing hand up and down my hip. The touch sent shivers through my spine. "I made an appointment to get checked right after our first time."

"Then I'm sure. I want to feel you inside me, skin to skin."

I angled him towards my entrance, nestling the tip between my folds.

He cursed, falling forward until his forehead touched mine. "You're so fucking wet."

"It's all for you."

"I don't think I can go slow."

"I don't want you to."

He narrowed his eyes at me. "You want it hard and fast, Angel?"

"God, yes," I breathed.

He nudged my thighs wider. The tip brush my clit. I almost came instantaneously from that touch alone.

With a thrust of his hips, he drove himself into me. My wet walls stretched around him. I let out a choked cry. He captured it with his mouth.

He held himself there, letting me get used to his size. My insides fluttered around him. That sweet ache began building again. I arched my back, trying to take more of him.

Despite his words, he moved slowly at first, with smooth deep strokes. A universe of sensations gathered between my legs. I locked my legs around his hips and writhed shamelessly, urging him to go faster.

Cameron gripped my hips in his hands and lifted me up, until the head had nearly left me. He snapped his hips at the same time as he pushed me down, impaling me on his cock. Then he did it again, and again. I cried out, a continuous series of gasps and moans. He didn't try to quiet me. The look of utter concentration on his face, the trembling of his muscles, told me he was fighting for control.

"More," I urged breathlessly.

His eyes glinted darkly. He lifted me up and shoved me back down again. I moaned. He picked up the rhythm, grinding into me before pulling out and slamming in. My mind was sent reeling. The dig of his fingers in my thighs was going to leave bruises. I relished the thought. I wanted evidence of his passion, of his need for me.

He drove his cock deeper and deeper inside me. I felt it swell even further. The hardening length rammed into me, hitting me in just the right spot. I let out a choked breath as a powerful orgasm rose within me.

Cameron crushed his mouth to mine and pressed a thumb into my clit. He ignited an inferno inside me, fanning the flames higher and higher. I clung to his shoulders and lost myself in him. Those skillful lips and tongue and fingers and cock unraveled me from the inside out.

My mind was still soaring through the clouds when I heard him grunt and felt him pulse inside me. He spent himself into me, twitching and throbbing. His thighs were straining, his jaw clenched.

The pleasure slowly abated. I found myself collapsed against his chest, panting heavily. His arms were wrapped around my waist. His face was buried in my hair. We leaned into each other, catching our breaths.

After long moments, my hips began to ache. I shifted uncomfortably.

"Did I hurt you?" Cameron immediately asked.

"No." I was slightly achy, but in that wonderful, amazing, life-altering way. "This is just an awkward position to be in for too long."

Cameron reached for a box of tissues on the closest end table. He helped me clean up as I gingerly lifted myself from his lap.

When we were clothed, Cameron pulled me in for another kiss. He traced a line down my cleavage, to my breasts.

"See? No visible hickies," he said.

"I'm astounded at your restraint." I traced the lines of his chest through his t-shirt. We hadn't even stripped down completely in our haste.

"What was that thing you wanted to show me?"

"How about I show you tonight? We're doing a small concert. I can show you, and then we can tell Noah."

Clearly that was still weighing on him.

"We'll have the rest of the band around us." Cameron smirked. "He can't kick my ass if we're supposed to go on stage right after."

I paused. I wasn't so sure about that. Tonight was so soon. I'd been hoping to have more time.

I nodded slowly. "We'll tell him tonight before the concert."

Cameron placed a soft kiss on my mouth. "No more secrets. We'll tell him we're dating and that we're going to be living together."

"Right," I said hesitantly. "No more secrets."