And then again, maybe it was the slow, undeniable pull I didn’t dare name.
Yet.
Cameron reopened his sketchbook again, this time reaching for his pencils, and the room lapsed into its usual quiet. The only sounds were pencil against paper and the faint hum of my laptop.
I told myself I should be working, but I had a feeling the numbers on the screen would blur again. I could still hear Cameron’s voice, low and curious.
Have you ever been in love?
Saying Luka’s name echoed like an old song I hadn’t meant to play. It had been years since I’d spoken that name out loud.
I hadn’t planned to today.
I rubbed at my temples. I didn’t like talking about the past. It felt too much like breaking open something I’d spent years filing neatly away. But Cameron’s questions hadn’t felt intrusive. They’d felt… genuine, even disarming in their simplicity.
That’s the danger of him.He hadn’t pried. He’d listened.
I leaned back in my chair. The flat was warm, the lamplight low. Cameron was sketching with that easy concentration that always seemed to make the rest of the world disappear.
He looks peaceful.
He looked like something I shouldn’t want but did.
I’d thought telling him about Luka would create distance, that it would lay out the map of why I kept rules, why I stayed careful.
Instead, it had done the opposite. Cameron hadn’t looked at me with pity or judgment. He’d looked at me with…. What? Understanding? Maybe even affection?
And now I felt exposed.
I got up, walked over to the desk, and closed the laptop with a softclick. Then I returned to the armchair. I rubbed the bridge of my nose and let my head fall back against the padded seat.
You don’t have to survive me.
Cameron had said it like a joke, but it had pierced somewhere deep.
It’s exactly what I’ve been doing for years—keeping people at arm’s length and my emotions under control.
Cameron had added a new dimension to my life, something different, and I wasn’t sure what to do about that.
Chapter Ten
Cameron
Theo sethis empty mug in the sink. “I have to start work. And once I get my head down, I only come up for breath. There’s food in the fridge. Please eat something.”
“Yes, Dad,” I said before I could stop myself.
Theo shot me a look over his shoulder, caught somewhere between amusement and exasperation. “Don’t start.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
But when Theo picked up his laptop, I saw the hesitation, the fraction of a pause before he opened the bedroom door, the glance back that lingered a second too long.
“Have a good day,” Theo said quietly.
“Yeah,” I replied, my voice softer now. “You too.”
The door clicked shut. The flat felt smaller again. Too quiet.