Down London Road

my boyfriends seriously – whether they were serious or not – yet I knew that in this situation there would be agonizing sympathy if Cam walked away, and I wasn’t sure I could handle that.
    There I was, already imagining the demise of our relationship.
    I needed my head checked.
    With Cam’s strong, slightly callused hand in mine, his body close, his voice full of warmth and affection as we strolled down London Road with Cole, I knew I needed my head checked. This was good. We’d only just started and it was
good
. I wasn’t going to let my mistrust poison this. I wasn’t.
    I squeezed Cam’s hand as we walked into our building, his deep voice echoing up the stairwell as he told me about a couple of jobs he’d seen advertised in the paper.
    ‘You should definitely apply for them,’ I responded, frowning at Cole, who walked upstairs ahead of us, his shoelace flapping against the concrete. He was going to get himself killed. ‘Cole, tie your shoe.’
    ‘We’re nearly at the flat,’ he argued.
    ‘Tie your shoe.’
    We all stopped and waited for him to follow my instruction.
    ‘Happy?’ he grunted, continuing upward.
    ‘When you speak to me like that, baby boy, how can I not be?’
    I could hear Cam choke on his laughter behind me, so when we turned on to his landing I was looking back at him. That’s why I slammed into Cole.
    ‘What the …’ My voice trailed off as I turned sharply to see what the problem was.
    The problem was Becca, standing in front of Cam’s door with a carrier bag in her hand.
    ‘I want my stuff back.’ She thrust the bag out at Cam, who stepped in front of us to approach her. ‘Here’s your shit. You were always careful not to leave much with me,so there’s only a book and your MP3 player.’ Ouch. The hallway fairly echoed with her bitterness.
    Guilt immediately assailed me and I pressed close to Cole, who leaned back into me, his stance almost protective. He’d met Becca only once, but he knew who she was and what this situation meant.
    Cam calmly took the bag from her. ‘What stuff did you leave?’
    She sneered at him. ‘You don’t even care, do you? You broke up with me and then you went home with
her
.’ She pointed at me like I was trash. ‘Yeah, Malcolm filled me in.’ Her eyes glittered now as she turned to face me. ‘Don’t worry, slut. Malcolm and I made each other feel better last night. Hope that lessens the guilt.’
    ‘Enough,’ Cam snapped, stepping into Becca’s space. He bristled with anger and Becca was smart enough to slam her mouth closed. ‘Don’t ever speak to her like that again. Understood?’
    Her eyes narrowed. ‘Just get me my stuff.’
    ‘I’ll look around the flat and whatever I find of yours I’ll send to you.’
    ‘But –’
    ‘I’ll send it, Becca. We’re done here.’
    It was cold of him, but I understood his reaction. I imagined he didn’t want a scene in the hallway where our neighbours could hear and, worse, where Cole could hear. Intimidating her into leaving seemed like the safest option. I moved out of her way as she passed me, but she stopped as she reached me.
    ‘Are you going to fuck every man I fuck?’
    I flinched. ‘Watch your language.’
    Becca looked at me as if I had just crawled out from under a rock. ‘You’re an idiot for walking away from Malcolm Hendry for
him.
Everyone knows Cameron MacCabe only fucks around with a girl for a couple of weeks before moving on. You downgraded big time. But that’s your mistake.’ She shot Cam a snide smile that I knew merely covered her hurt. It had always been clear that Becca was more into Cam than he was into her. ‘I think I’ll upgrade.’ Her nasty smile was just for me as she leaned in to whisper, ‘I might give Malcolm a call.’
    The three of us watched her leave in silence, and finally, trembling a little, I let Cole lead us up to the flat. He shot me a worried look before disappearing into his bedroom, and I felt more than heard Cam follow me into the kitchen.
    The heat of him enveloped me as he pressed against my back, stilling my hand on the kettle before wrapping his arms around my waist. I slid my hands over his and leaned into him. ‘You okay?’ he asked softly, genuine concern in his voice.
    I shrugged, not really sure what I was feeling. ‘I guess. I feel bad.’
    ‘If it makes you feel any better, I never made any promises to Becca. We were very casual.’
    ‘Malcolm and I weren’t.’
    Cam’s arms tightened. ‘Did it