Cameron shrugged. “People usually want to be understood. So I let them.” I stared at him, and he tilted his head. “Does that surprise you?”
I swallowed. “No. Yes. I don’t know.”
He reached across the table, touching my hand lightly. “We don’t have to rush this. This doesn’t have to be anything huge tonight. It can just be… us. Sitting. Talking. Being together.”
My voice came out raw. “I don’t know how to do this.”
Cameron smiled, soft and bright. “Good. Then we’ll learn together.”
I let out a slow exhale, and the pressure in my chest eased.
“Okay.”
Cameron’s thumb brushed my knuckles. “Okay,” he echoed.
Our first date. No fireworks, no chaos, not even perfection, just two men sitting across next to each other, deciding to try.
The night air was cool enough to sober me, but not enough to quiet the heat under my skin.
Cameron walked beside me, his hands tucked into his coat pockets, his shoulder brushing mine every few steps—accidentally or intentionally, I couldn’t tell.
Every time we touched, something low in my stomach tightened.
We’re not rushing. We’re just… together.
It felt fragile and somehow inevitable.
At the door to the flat, Cameron paused, watching me with that same devastating focus he’d had all evening.
“Tonight was good.”
I had to agree. “Yes.”
“You don’t have to look so shocked,” he teased.
“I’m not shocked.” Then I grimaced. “Okay, maybe a little.” I unlocked the door and he followed me inside. The moment the door shut, the air changed.
Cameron was in my space, the way he always managed to be without pushing too far.
He cupped my jaw gently and kissed me, an intimate connection full of quiet hunger.
A kiss that wasn’t about urgency, but about knowing.
I slid my hands to Cameron’s hips, pulling him closer without thinking. He threaded his fingers into my hair, and the kiss deepened.
Cameron murmured against my mouth, “You make me feel warm.”
I shuddered. “You make me feel everything.”
He kissed me again, longer, sweeter—hotter. When he finally broke away, both of us breathing hard, he rested his forehead against mine. “Bedroom?”
I smiled. “You read my mind.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Cameron
Theo had goneto meet with a client, for which I was thankful. I’d finally started work on my exhibition piece. Right now, it was under the couch, hidden from sight, radiating electricity, dangerous and holy. I’d begun the sketches for it the previous night, the moment Theo fell asleep after I’d worn him out. The faint lines of tension had gone from his face, his lips were parted slightly, and one hand was still curled where my fingers had been minutes earlier.