Page 30 of Love On Time

“Here’s her bag,” Christian says, tossing my purse to Drew. He pats him firmly on the shoulder. “Good luck, Romeo. She’s all yours.” The second they walk away, I try to escape his hold and stumble as I do.

“Easy,” Drew murmurs, swiftly catching me and pulling me back into the safety of his chest.

“I’m fine,” I lie, my voice muffled against his jacket.

“Cami, you almost face-planted into the pavement.” Drew chuckles softly.

“I hate you.”

“No, you don't." He says, his voice low.

I let out a heavy sigh, deflating against him. “I know.”

We make it back to the estate, still feeling the dizzying buzz of the alcohol, but I'm sober enough to walk in a relatively straight line. Drew swipes his keycard to our room, throwing the door open. I collapse onto the edge of my mattress, clumsily wrestling with the laces of my Converse. Drew kneels down on the floor before me. He gently takes over, unties the laces, and helps me slip out of them. I reach for a pair of pajamas, lying at the top of my open suitcase. His dark eyes track the movement of my fingers as I reach for the zipper of my dress. He swallows hard, suddenly rising to his feet and spinning around to face the opposite wall, giving me privacy to change.

“You don't have to turn around,” I whisper in the dim amber light of the small lamp on Drew's nightstand.

He pauses, his shoulders rigid. “Yes, I do.” He takes a slow breath. “You're still drunk, Cami.”

A sharp tug pulls tightly in my chest. He only turned around because I'm drunk. He thinks I want a barrier between us, which is so far from the truth.

Fully dressed, I walk over to the mini fridge and pull out a cold bottle of water. Losing my balance on my way back to my bed, I start to tumble toward the ground when Drew lunges to catch me, but the quick movement carries us both down. We crash onto the mattress together.

Suddenly, he is hovering over me. As our eyes meet in the dim light, the air is sucked straight out of the room. I swallow hard, my chest rising and falling from the adrenaline coursing through my body. He is dangerously close to my face.

“Why do you still look at me like that?”

His jaw tightens, but he doesn't move a muscle, his weight still hovering above mine. “Like what?”

“Like you want to kiss me?” I breathe.

“Because I do.”

My eyes fall to his lips, wanting to eliminate the small gap between us. I can hear my heartbeat pounding in my ears. Unable to take the agony of the distance any longer, I lean up, tilting my mouth closer to his to let him close the final gap. But he doesn't.

“Cami.” He whispers, voice torn and ragged. “Not like this.”

I freeze, pulling back slowly with pure embarrassment from the rejection.

“I don't want you to regret it in the morning.” He lets out a heavy breath, staring into my eyes. “I’ve waited too long for this moment. I’m not going to let it happen while you're drunk.”

He slowly pulls himself off me. The cold chill of the air conditioning hits my flushed skin the moment his body leaves mine. He thinks about kissing me? For how long?

Before I can process the weight of this realization, he slips into the bathroom to get ready for bed. I crawl beneath the warm covers, my head spinning in circles as I lie completely still in the dark. My chest tightens, tears threatening to fall. A few minutes later, the bathroom light cuts out. I hear his mattress creak as he climbs into his own bed across the room.

For the second night in a row, a silence stretches between us, unbearable and agonizing.

“Drew?” I call out softly.

“Yeah?”

“You should have fought for me,” I whisper, my voice finally cracking under the weight of the confession.

There is a long pause in the darkness. The pain of our past fills the space of this small suite. Maybe he’s fallen asleep. I’m about to turn away when his reply cuts through the room.

“Trust me, Cami… I know.”

CHAPTER 12