Nate

“Do you want to talk about it?” Nate asked after a while.

They’d been driving for about thirty minutes. In that time Camille teetered between crying and collected about half a dozen times.

“I got in a fight with my parents.”

Nate was surprised she answered. “About what?”

“Stuff.”

“Stuff you wanna share with me?”

“I can’t,” she whispered.

“That’s okay. But if you do wanna share, I’m here for you, alright?”

She nodded, and Nate reached over to take her hand. They drove like that for a while—filling the silence with all sorts of heavy things left unsaid. Nate wasn’t sure what was going on with Camille, but he was pretty sure it was more than just a fight with her folks. He’d met them both. They seemed like good people. And Camille wasn’t a problem child. She didn’t skip school or get bad grades. This was definitely something more.

He knew he was a new addition to her life and he prayed he wasn’t the reason for whatever this was. The last thing Nate wanted was to get Cami in trouble.

He knew it was no use worrying. Camille wasn’t going to tell him until she was ready and he wasn’t going to push her. The best thing he could do for her, was just be there. That was something Ty had always been good at.

Nate pulled off the road onto a dirt path, squinting for any signs of recognition. He’d only been here once before with his dad. It was years ago and during daylight. Nate prayed his memory served him.

“Where are we going?” Camille asked when they’d bumped down the dirt road quite a ways.

“My dad took me out here once. And I remember thinking it was a really nice place to just be. And if I’m right . . . Ah ha!”

Just as they rounded the bend, the road opened up into a dirt parking lot with a fence marking the mouth of the bayou. The headlights made the water glow green, like an alien planet.

Nate parked and turned off the lights. He cracked the windows a bit to let the night sounds in. Crickets, cicadas and bullfrogs picked up their songs, and after a while even the lightning bugs returned, floating across the lagoon like stars over the ocean. The moon was bright, but the thick trees filtered the light so it dappled the forest with thousands of tiny rays of light. When the wind blew, the shafts of light danced through the trees like a disco ball made of moonlight.

Nate turned to look at Camille. Her large eyes were illuminated by a moonbeam as she stared toward the water, looking utterly beautiful. She took his breath away. He didn’t know when it started, but his love for her stretched farther than he could see—like moonlight on water.

He wanted to reach out and touch her, but sometimes Nate felt like Camille wasn’t real. Like touching her would shatter her perfection. And tonight when they’d kissed, he’d felt like the luckiest guy in the world.

Nate offered Camille his hand and she surprised him by moving closer. She perched on the large center console so she could rest her head on his shoulder. She reminded him of a tiny bird trying to get warm. She didn’t look comfortable at all. Nate pushed his seat back and tucked her into his side. It felt like heaven to have her next to him. He could’ve stayed like that forever, just listening to Cami breathe against him.

Cami

Camille soaked up the peace she felt being so close to Nate. He was kind and patient. She loved that he didn’t push her to talk or make her feel bad for acting like a hot mess in front of him.

“Thank you for taking me here tonight, Nate.”

“You’re welcome. I want you to know you can always come to me. With anything, Cami. I mean it.”

She nodded.

“And I don’t know what your fight with your parents is about, but just give it time. Time makes most things better.”

She squeezed her eyes closed. Time was the one thing she didn’t have.

Thunder rumbled in the distance and heat lightning lit up the sky.

“Do you want to head back?” Nate asked.

“Not yet.”

Rain began to splash down and Camille watched Nate roll up the windows. When he looked back at her, a huge mischievous grin had replaced his normal smile.

“Come on,” he said opening the door, pulling her behind him.

“Nate! Are you crazy, it’s starting to rain.”

“Exactly!”

Camille stared at him through shielded eyes. She had no idea what he was talking about and her look told him so.

“Dancing in the rain!” Nate called over the thunder as the rain picked up. “It was on your Before I Die wall!”

“Yes, and I’ve already done it.”

Nate only grinned wider. “Not with me, you haven’t.” He pulled her toward him and dipped her so suddenly that she shrieked. Before she had time to recover, he was spinning her around the muddy forest.

They danced among the lightning bugs and rain until Camille was dizzy with laughter. Nate hollered into the storm, coaxing her to do the same.

“No, I feel silly.”

“It is silly, but it makes you feel better. Come on, Cami. Show me what you’re made of.”

She yelled, but the rain gobbled up the sound.

“You can do better that that,” Nate teased.

Camille screamed again. This time she filled it with her anger at her parents.

“That’s it! Let it out!”

She screamed again, for the cancer she hated and all the things it stole from her. She screamed until her voice was cracked and raw and her screams turned into sobs. Nate pulled her to him again, holding her tight, while she shook. He bent closer, brushing her wet hair from her cheeks as he kissed her tears away.

Soon he was kissing her lips and she pulled him closer, never wanting to stop. Being with Nate made everything else fade away. The warmth of him seared her soul. She could see steam rising from their drenched clothes. And suddenly she couldn’t get enough of him. Nate was air and her lungs were starving. She ran her hands under his shirt. He was all lean muscles and tension. Camille gave the wet fabric clinging to him the slightest tug and Nate did the rest, pulling his shirt over his head.

His body in the moonlight was dizzying. She’d never seen such perfection up close. She couldn’t think, and for once, that was a blessing. She let her body take control, kissing Nate like he was her salvation. He lifted her up like she weighed nothing. Camille wrapped her legs around his waist while Nate kissed her throat. She let out a moan of pleasure and Nate whispered her name like a prayer.

“Camille . . .”

Her hands were in his hair, pulling his face to look up at her. His eyes were ablaze and she couldn’t remember ever wanting anything more. “Nate,” she whispered. “I want you.”

It was all the encouragement he needed. Nate quickly carried her back to the car. They stripped off the rest of their soaked clothes in the back seat steaming up the windows as their passion escalated.

Camille’s hands explored Nate’s body like it was a map to freedom. Their bodies molded together desperately—swells and hollows, muscles and softness. Nate’s mouth roamed over hers, his tongue running teasingly along the seam of her lips. He ran his hands down her chilled skin and over her hips, drawing her firmly against him. Nate made a hungry wanting sound low in his throat, and anguish washed over Camille. Her body responded to his like they’d been made for each other.

Nate crushed her against him as if they could fit into each other’s emptiness. “Cami.” He panted her name between kisses, letting frantic words spill from his lips. “You make me feel alive . . . for once . . . I’m living . . . and I can stop running.”

Her heart swelled. She wanted to say, you make me want to stay alive. But she couldn’t. So she drew him closer still until there was nowhere to go but beyond. Camille shivered at the sensation of Nate pressing against her.

“Is this okay?” he whispered.

“Yes. Don’t stop.”

“Cami, we don’t have to do this.”

“I want to, Nate. I want it to be you.”

He stilled, his eyes like molten amber. “Is this your first time?”

She swallowed hard but nodded.

“Are you sure?”

She nodded again. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”

Nate

Nate held Cami tight until they both caught their breath. His body was trembling with exertion and emotion. This wasn’t his first time, but Nate had never felt anything like this before. Being with Camille was indescribable. It was as if someone had lassoed his heart and tethered it to hers. Every beat of her heart echoed in his chest. And every time she touched him, she left a ghost of sensation behind.

Camille’s cheek rested on his chest, her eyelashes fluttering against him. He kissed the top of her head drinking in her lavender scent. Nate twined his fingers through hers and whispered into the darkness. “You’re beautiful.”

Camille propped herself up to look at him, a shy smile playing at her face.

“I have to tell you something,” he whispered.

“What?”

“I think I’m falling for you.”

The biggest smile he’d seen yet, traveled across her delicate features. She tried hiding by burying herself in his chest but Nate wouldn’t let her. Camille squeezed her eyes shut and bit her smiling lips.

Nate groaned. “Oh no, none of that.”

“What?”

“No lip biting.”

“Why not?”

“Because it makes me want to bite them.”

She giggled.

Nate kissed her nose. “Come on, it’s getting cold. Let me take you home.”

“I don’t think I’m ready to go home.”

“My house then?”

“Okay.”

* * *

Nate managed to get his boxers back on and found a blanket in the back for Camille. Once they were on the road again, he asked a question he was dreading.

“Do your parents know where you are?”

“No.”

“Would you let me text your dad so he knows you’re safe?”

Camille didn’t reply.

“It’s not good to worry them, Cami. I know from experience.”

“Okay, but I’ll do it.”

Nate watched her tap out a message on her phone. Satisfied he dropped the subject. Their night had been too perfect to push things. He drove the rest of the way home while Camille fell asleep. She was still passed out when he pulled into his driveway. Rather than wake her, Nate carried her into his house. She rousted when he set her on his bed.

“Where are we?” she asked her voice sleepy and soft.

“My room.”

“Can I stay with you?”

Nate pulled her tight, still snuggled in her blanket. “Always, Cami. Always.”