Before You (Before You #1)(8)

“No. I’m doing it because she likes you better than me. She didn’t even care when I moved to LA because she still had you.”

“That’s not true.”

“It is. You’re my better half, so I don’t blame her for it. I totally understand.”

“Oh, please. Now you’re being cheesy.”

Walking into the apartment, Bre surveyed the small one bedroom residence. In typical Cam style, the place was a total mess. Plates were stacked haphazardly in the sink. An open pizza box was on the coffee table along with a couple empty beer bottles.

“Wow, Cam! I really do think I should call your mom now. I would say I’m shocked you didn’t bother to straighten your place before I came, but I’m not.” Bre plopped down on the sofa and sniffed. “What the heck is that smell?” Finding some discarded socks, she flung them at Cam, hitting him in the chest. “You do realize this place is gross, don’t you? I can’t believe you didn’t bother to clean for me. You’re supposed to be trying to impress me, not make me run away.”

“What?” Cam shrugged. “You should have seen it yesterday. This is clean in comparison.”

“If you think this is clean, you need to hire someone to come in and do it for you. Your definition of clean is seriously twisted.”

“Fine. I’ll ask Jax who cleans his place tomorrow. Just pretend like it’s not there.” Cam sat down on the sofa next to Bre, stretching his arm out behind her along the back of the sofa.

“Thanks.” Bre leaned in and kissed Cam on the cheek.

“So what did you think about the band? We’re good, right?”

“Goodness. Where did you lose your modesty?” Bre started looking around, moving pillows on the sofa. “It has to be here somewhere, maybe next to your dirty socks or under the pizza box.”

Cam chuckled, shaking his head. “I get it. You think my place is disgusting, but tell me what you thought about the band.”

“Cam, you guys were awesome, beyond awesome. I’m impressed.”

“Really? You’re not just saying that to make me feel better?” Cam’s face beamed, and she returned his enthusiastic smile.

“Since when am I one to parse words? I told you your high school band was frighteningly bad.”

Cam pushed Bre’s hair from her face. “We were, weren’t we? I didn’t have much to work with growing up in a small mountain town.”

“No, you didn’t. Brian’s drum playing skills were atrocious. Lacking rhythm is a fatal flaw in a drum player.”

Cam burst out laughing. “I can’t say much for Sam’s singing, either. He sounded like a mix between opera and heavy metal, if that’s even possible.”

“He needed to stick to the church choir, where his voice was drowned out by others,” Bre said, holding her hands over her ears and shivering at the memory of Cam’s performance at his high school graduation party.

“God, I missed you, Bre,” Cam said, pulling her into an embrace. “So what did you think about the guys?”

“I only met Jax, but he seemed nice?” Bre framed her answer as a question, not entirely certain how she wanted to describe Jax. Nice didn’t seem accurate, but explaining her impression of Jax wasn’t at the top of her list of things she wanted share with Cam.

“Nice, huh, I don’t think he’s ever been called nice. I’ll have to share that with him. He’ll think it’s funny.”

Bre got up and grabbed the empty pizza box to dump it in the trash. Looking at day-old congealed cheese made her nauseous. “How did you meet Jax?”

“Through some mutual friends. Jax, Alec and Marc were already playing together, and their guitarist quit to join some other band. The guys said they had a falling out, or a mortal personality conflict as they refer to it. We met for a trial run at Jax’s place and we clicked. It doesn’t hurt that Jax knows all these people in the industry, and even though he refuses to use his connections, I’m not too proud to drop his family connections in the right circumstance.”

“What connections?” Bre asked as she opened the dishwasher.

“His dad is some bigwig in the movie industry.” Cam followed her into the kitchen, watching her load the dishwasher. “I think he and his dad had a major blowout, but he got a sweet trust fund and loft in West Hollywood out of the whole thing, so I don’t think it bothers him too much.”

“Money isn’t a replacement for a parent.”

“Sure, Bre, if you say so.”

Bre tossed a dishtowel at him. “You can be so shallow sometimes.”

Cam wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her onto the kitchen counter. “I know, but you love me anyway.” He leaned in to kiss her, and she curled her arms around his neck. “Mmm… I can’t believe you’re finally here.”

His hands drifted under the hem of her shirt while he nuzzled her neck, making her shiver with anticipation. With his hands brushing her skin, she melted into him, completely absorbed by the moment. He shifted away from her momentarily to pull her shirt over her head and unzip her skinny jeans. Pulling them down her legs, he slowly trailed kisses in their wake.

“As cute as you look in your shirt and those jeans, I definitely prefer you like this.”