Chapter 30

Bentley

I was getting impatient by the time Cami finally made it to the bar, even knowing she had much farther to travel than I did. I’d taken the easy way out and gone to the hotel bar. It beat trying to find a place and then worrying about getting back to the hotel if I got a little tipsy.

With my laptop on the table, Cami’s face came into view. The last time, I’d done this with my tablet. It had been easier to carry the tablet around, but I’d knocked it on the floor too many times trying to prop it up. The downside of using my laptop was that I was less likely to embarrass Cami. I still wasn’t certain why I let go more when I was having a virtual girls’ night out with my friend, but it seemed to bring out my wild side.

“I was beginning to wonder if you were going to stand me up,” I told her.

“It was tempting,” she replied, even though I was certain she’d never stand me up.

I flagged down my waitress. “Can I get a drink for my friend?” I asked gesturing to my laptop screen.

My waitress was definitely getting a good tip tonight. She didn’t look at me like I’d lost my mind. Instead, she moved in behind me so her face was visible to Cami. “What can I get you?”

“Scotch,” Cami replied. “Neat.”

“She’ll have a strawberry daiquiri,” I told the waitress.

“Are you sure?” our waitress asked. “We have a great selection of scotch.”

“She’s just being bitchy since I have to drink it,” I explained.

My waitress laughed. “We have a regular whose wife does that to him all the time,” she told us.

“So, I’m not even your first Skype customer?” Cami sounded disappointed.

“Nope,” the waitress replied. “This guy travels a lot, and he misses his wife. They pretend they’re on real dates wherever he goes. I’ll be right back with that drink.”

“That is so romantic,” I said on a sigh.

“You should have one of those with Gage,” Cami suggested.

“I am not dating Gage,” I reminded her.

“Are you planning to see him tomorrow?” she asked.

“Yes,” I replied before quickly adding, “I shouldn’t. It’s a mistake. A huge mistake.”

“Is it as huge as his-?”

I cut her off before she could finish that thought. “Don’t even think about it.”

Cami batted her eyes innocently. “I was going to ask if it’s as huge as his career is going to be.”

“Sure you were,” I replied with a laugh. “We are not talking about Gage tonight.”

“Come on, Bennie,” she crooned, making guppy lips at me. For some reason, my friend always had the strangest facial expressions on Skype. “I’m in a dry spell. We have to talk about your sex life.”

“Sex life?” I asked. “I’ve gone longer without sex than you have.”

“Betcha that changes as soon as you see your man tomorrow,” she told me.

“First, he isn’t my man,” I reminded her. “Second, there will be no sex tomorrow.” It’s sad when you want to argue with yourself. It was time to change the subject. “What happened with the paramedic you just started dating? I figured you’d be inviting him for naked sleepovers by now.”

“I met his mother,” Cami replied.

“And?” I pushed, watching as Cami dipped a chip in a bowl of salsa over and over again. There wouldn’t be any chip left by the time she pulled it out of the bowl.

“Do you remember me telling you how much Charles liked my new haircut?” she asked. Cami had recently cut her long blonde hair into a cute bob that went just past her ears. I’d never seen it that short.

“I also remember he suggested you cut it short,” I began. “Don’t tell me his mom has the same cut.”

“It is so much worse than that,” she muttered, dipping her chip with even more vigor. “Same cut, same color, same build as me! The dress he bought me is exactly like the one she wore when we met for lunch.”

My laughter poured out as I listened to her tirade. “Who could have seen that coming?” I asked around my giggles.

“This isn’t the time to say I told you so,” she insisted.

“This is the perfect time,” I argued. I’d only met Charles once, but that had been enough to pick up on his unhealthy obsession with finding a woman like his mother. He’d told me no less than a dozen times how much Cami reminded him of his mother. “You were learning to make his favorite childhood recipe after your first date.”

“Ugh!” She was looking at the tiny corner of her chip that had survived the assault. “Why do I always do this with men?”

“Do you want the truth?” I asked.

“No,” she replied automatically. “I most certainly do not want to listen to you psychoanalyze me. Just because you took a psychology class in college does not mean you have the training to act as my therapist.”

“I have a master’s degree in psychology,” I pointed out. “Besides, I don’t need a degree to know what’s going on with you. You hate confrontation.”

“Lies!” she insisted, waving a new chip at me. “I argue with you all the time.”

“That doesn’t count because you know I won’t leave you,” I reminded her.

“True,” she agreed. “You’d be completely lost without me.”

“As much as I’d like to argue that point, you’re right,” I agreed. “You’ve never gotten over your parents’ divorce. It messed with your mind. Now, you believe you need to be perfect in any relationship, and you are.”

“I truly am every guy’s dream girl,” she said with a sigh.

I couldn’t argue with that. She had more exes trying to win her back than anyone I’d ever met. They were all lost without her.

“But you aren’t being yourself,” I reminded her.

“We are both going to die old spinster women,” she lamented.

Our waitress set the drink down quietly and left—I was definitely tipping her well.

“I could still find Mr. Right,” I argued.

“You’ve already found him,” Cami began. “You like Gage.”

“He’s a good friend,” I agreed.

Cami snorted. “Whatever. Promise me one thing.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“When we’re both old spinsters, promise me we’ll marry each other,” she began in a serious tone.

“You aren’t my type,” I insisted.

“I’m everyone’s type,” Cami boasted. “I’m the perfect girlfriend.”

I pretended to consider her suggestion. “You do make fantastic cheesecake.”

“Thanks to my time with Derek,” she stated.

“And you know how to change the oil in my car,” I continued.

“I can do more than that,” she boasted. “Jeremy loved a woman who could do auto repairs.”

“I’m still amazed at how well you sew,” I continued.

“Dear lord,” she muttered. “I really have a problem. Can we get back to talking about Gage?”

“I’ll make you a deal,” I began before taking a sip of her daiquiri. “Wow! This is fantastic.”

“As good as the ones at Sancho’s?” she asked, holding up her own drink.

“Better,” I replied.

“Now, I wish I’d gone to Boston with you,” she told me.

“It was a business trip,” I reminded her. “James didn’t offer to let me take a friend.”

“But we’re practically engaged,” she insisted. “So, what’s this deal?”

“I won’t talk about your exes if you don’t talk about Gage,” I replied.

“Fine,” she relented. “Let’s see if we can get drunk enough to have phone sex with each other tonight.”

“Not going to happen,” I insisted.

“You don’t know what you’re missing,” she teased.

By the time Cami got into her UBER that evening, she was in a much better mood. As for me, not talking about Gage hadn’t helped nearly as much as I’d hoped. I climbed into bed, wondering if it would be best to skip his show. Even with my brother going with me, it was going to be hard to keep things light and casual with Gage.

I definitely shouldn’t go to his show. It was time to end things with Gage. Grabbing my phone, I started to type out a message telling him I couldn’t make it. The message was long and went on to tell him how we should stop talking. Had I hit send, it would have likely spanned twenty or more messages. In the end, I deleted it.

“What am I going to do?” I asked the empty room.

It had been months since I’d seen him, but I was falling for Gage Addison.

“I’m so screwed,” I muttered.