Down London Road

his grip on me tightened. ‘It winded me. No, it floored me. I think I’ve been in love with you since that moment in the kitchen, but last Saturday was the first time I realized how crazy I was about you. What I feel for you …’ Cam sucked in a breath and I found myself reaching a hand up to his face, my heart pounding as I watched this man – this strong, irreverent man – overcome with emotion … emotion for me. ‘It’s all-consuming,’ he breathed, leaning his forehead against mine again. ‘It’s almost debilitating. It’s too much. It’s … I can’t even describe it, but being with you is … there’s this intensity inside me all the time, this … constant pull, desperation … it’s like you’re branded on me or something. And it bloody well burns.’
    ‘I know,’ I whispered soothingly, my tears falling faster. ‘I know. I feel it, too.’
    ‘You never told me that, though,’ he answered a little harshly. ‘You always kept something of yourself hidden from me, and I didn’t know. I couldn’t tell if you felt the same way. That’s why I got drunk on Saturday night. That’s why Nate came around the next morning to talk to me. He convinced me you felt the same way.’
    ‘How did he do that?’
    ‘I asked for his opinion about you and he said, “You’ve nothing to worry about, mate. That girl thinks you’re ‘it’ and I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t think it.” ’
    I suddenly remembered Cam’s attitude once Nate had left. It was like someone had flipped a switch inside him. Gone was the quiet, subdued, moody man from the night before. In his place had been a seducer. The rough sex against his desk … I remember thinking at the time that it had felt like a claiming. Now I didn’t think I’d been too far off the mark.
    Relief, intense relief, washed through me and I rested my head against his warm chest. ‘You told Blair this?’ I murmured against his skin.
    ‘I told her I was in love with you and that I didn’t think it was a good idea to renew our friendship.’
    Another tear fell, splashing his skin.
    ‘I hope those are happy tears.’
    I sobbed now, the well of emotion inside me too much to contain after everything I’d been through. ‘I love you,’ I cried, holding him tighter. ‘So much I want to kill you sometimes.’ I hiccupped attractively.
    Cam laughed softly. ‘The feeling is definitely mutual, baby.’
    ‘So what now?’ I sniffled.
    ‘Now? I endure the agonizing wait for those ribs to heal up so I can have my wicked way with you and show you just how much I fucking love you.’
    I grinned through my tears. ‘I feel your pain.’
    Cam grunted in response.
    We lay there in silence for a moment and then I pulled back to look up into his gorgeous face. ‘I think I have to leave Mum, Cam. I don’t know how I’m going to bring myself to do it.’
    Another soft kiss grazed my lips and I tugged him back to me, ignoring the pain so I could kiss him, long, hard and deep. We finally broke apart, panting.
    God damn these stupid ribs.
    ‘We’ll worry about all that later,’ Cam said. ‘For now, let’s just get you on the mend.’
    ‘Can I tell you I love you again?’
    He nodded slowly, his expression earnest. ‘I’ll never get tired of hearing it.’



31
    ‘So any word from the mysterious Marco?’ I asked Hannah, leaning against her bedroom wall, watching as she taped a poster of the lead singer of one of the biggest indie rock bands in the world to her wall. My girl had good taste.
    Hannah blew air out between her lips, stepping back from the wall to analyse the poster. ‘I’m helping him with a paper for school, so I’ve seen him quite a bit.’
    ‘I detect from the tone that nothing of import has happened?’
    She looked at me over her shoulder. ‘I think there might be some sexual tension between us.’
    The matter-of-fact reply caused no small amount of snort choking on my part. ‘Sexual tension?’
    Turning fully towards me now, Hannah stared at me with the nonplussed expression of an academic facing a theory she found baffling. ‘Well, I fancy him, so I don’t know if it’s me projecting those feelings into the situation or if the tension between us is due to the fact that the feelings are mutual.’
    I thought of the tension between me and Cam before we started dating and then studied Hannah. The girl was stunning and way too built for a fifteen-year-old. A teenage boy’s Kryptonite. I smirked. ‘He’s feeling it