Page 45 of The Best I Never Had

She’s right. God, I hate it when Cami’s right. As the business has grown, I’ve been more and more overwhelmed with work. I spend a week up here every year, but don’t feel comfortable stepping away fully when there’s so much pressure to maintain the success.

But my relationship with Camila is more than a few distracted visits. It’s a lifetime of secrets, and she’s never broken my trust when I needed her.

“Remember when we were fifteen and you told me you were gay before you were ready to tell everyone?” I ask, and her eyes narrow, knowing where this is going. “You told me that if I ever had a secret the family couldn’t know, I could come to you and you’d take it to the grave.”

“That’s not fair! You can’t use things I said against me when I was a baby.”

“You can’t tell any—”

“Except Mira,” she says with pleading eyes.

“Fine, yes, except your wife. But no one else. Swear it on the future of this hotel.” She rolls her eyes, but I push. “I’m serious, Cami. This isn’t just about me. I need to know I can trust you with this.”

Camila whines, shaking her arms a bit. “Fine, I swear on the future of the hotel.”

“Thea and I…” I suck in a breath as I glance up and down the hallway one last time, and Cami leans forward like the pause is a black hole sucking her in. “We never dated.”

Her eyes flutter so quickly that she probably just blinked more in three seconds than I do in a whole day. “I’m sorry, what?”

I shrug. “It was fake.”

“But … why?”

I run a hand down my face. “Why do you think? Don’t you remember the list my mom asked you to make of eligible women invited to your wedding? I just needed a break.”

She groans, her body collapsing back against the wall. “Fuck, Owen, this is the best gossip this family’s had in forever, and you want me to keep it secret?”

“I swear, Cami, if you tell anyone but Mira, I’ll kill you. Thea’s worried about the fallout affecting Addy. God only knows how my mom would react.”

Camila’s face pales a bit, and I wonder which of my mom’s dramatics she’s playing out in her head.

“Please,” I beg, throwing myself on her mercy. “Please don’t tell anyone.”

“But…” she starts with a little whine in her voice. “Fine.”

I hold her phone out, a show of trust, and she takes it back with a sigh. She types something, then holds it up. Another dozen texts have come through asking Camila where she went, but at the bottom of the chain is a new message from Camila that says, Harrison and Addy, going at it in the hallway like they were teenagers trying to get in one last grope before curfew.

I grimace at the image presented. “Really, Camila?”

She shrugs, a self-satisfied smile playing over her lips. “I’ve gotta get my fun somehow.”

I shake my head, but my body sags in relief. “How are you both the worst and the best?”

The sound of my mother’s voice from down the hall makes me jump. “It’s been too long since I’ve seen you two getting up to mischief.”

Camila looks at me frantically, then to my mother, then back two more times before either of us speak.

“Yeah, we’re just having a grand old time,” she says, rolling the r like a leprechaun.

Real smooth, Camila.

The upward curve of Mom’s lips is paired with a confused furrow of her brows as she looks between us. “What are y’all chatting about?”

“Work,” I shout.

Camila’s eyes brighten, clinging to the topic. “Yes! Work! I was just telling Owen I’m taking over the inn after my maternity leave so Dad and Mom can retire.”

Mom clutches Cami’s hand. “Oh, darling, that’s wonderful. You’ll do such incredible work, and it’s so rewarding carrying on the legacy.”