Camden's Redemption (Gloves Off #4)(17)

I reached up to touch him and faltered when he jerked away. “Stop, Cam. Please let me do this.” Breathing hard, he stood there, clenching his teeth, while I traced the scar on his face. “If I can see past your scars, I know those close to you can too. If you’d let them, that is.”

He closed his eyes and leaned into my touch. “My brother will never forgive me for what I did. Just like your mother will never stop being angry for losing her daughter.”

“It’s possible, but you know what helps me through it?”

He opened his eyes. “What?”

“Hope. And I will continue to hope for as long as I live. All is not lost.” Stepping back, I took a deep breath and kept my eyes on him. “Thank you for opening up to me. I didn’t realize how deep your scars actually went.” My hands shook as I brought them down to the hem of my shirt. He showed me his scars and now it was time for me to reciprocate.

Camden’s eyes went wide. “What are you doing?”

“You showed me who you are, now I’m showing you who I am.” In one quick move, I lifted my T-shirt and let it fall to the floor, my breaths coming out in pants. Closing my eyes, I twirled around slowly so he could see the melted skin on my back. No one had seen it except me.

With my back to him, I didn’t know what was written on his face. Disgust? Pity? What I didn’t expect was to feel his fingers gliding across my mangled skin. My body trembled and a tear slid down my cheek. It wasn’t easy exposing myself.

“Why didn’t it work out with Blake?” he asked.

By the tone in his voice, he already knew. “I was still grieving over my sister,” I told him.

“And?”

I sighed. “And I didn’t want him to see my body. I thought it would turn him off. So I pushed him away until I could come to terms with what happened. I guess I can’t blame him for cheating. This is the first time anyone’s seen the damage.”

“If he really cared about you he wouldn’t have stuck his dick somewhere he shouldn’t have.”

“Would you have been able to wait?” He started to say something and then stopped. The silence was deafening. “I didn’t think so.”

Placing his hands on my shoulders, he turned me around, roughly. “Look at me.” He waited until my eyes met his. “I wouldn’t have waited on you because I didn’t give a damn about anyone other than myself. I’m not the kind of guy to fall in love.”

“What about now? What if you were in love with me?”

His blue eyes searched mine. “If I was in love with you, I wouldn’t just wait, I’d be by your side doing everything I could to bring you back to me.”

My breath hitched and my heart thundered so achingly hard in my chest. I was falling too fast and there was no way I’d get out if I didn’t turn back. With the way Camden looked at me, it was already too late. I placed my hands over his and lifted up on my toes.

“I thought you didn’t want this,” he murmured, his breath fanning across my lips.

“I shouldn’t, but I do.” I closed my lips over his and wrapped my arms around his neck.

He gave in and deepened the kiss, holding me tight against his hard body, but then he pulled back. “Fuck me,” he growled. “We can’t do this.”

“What’s wrong?”

Sighing, he picked my shirt up off the floor and handed it to me. “The last thing I want is for tomorrow to come and you regret every minute of it. It doesn’t need to be on a whim.”

For the longest time, I stood there and stared at my shirt. What the hell just happened? Did he really just turn me down?

“Are you okay?” he murmured, tracing a finger down my cheek.

Nodding quickly, I took my shirt and held it to my chest. Who would’ve thought Camden Jameson would be the voice of reason. “Yeah, I’m fine. I understand. I’m an idiot. I shouldn’t have done it.” Holy shit, I felt so f*cking stupid.

I tried to walk away, but he blocked my path. “Yes, you should have. Because tomorrow, if you still want to do this, there’s nothing that’s going to keep me from f*cking you senseless.”

He tried to pull me to him, but I backed away, clenching my shirt tighter. “No, it’s okay. I let the moment get to me. It’s not going to happen again.” I was afraid to look at him because I was embarrassed.

“If that’s what you want,” he said, stepping out of the way. Being the coward I was, I kept my attention on the floor and bolted to get my bag and rush off to the bathroom. It was over. I couldn’t do it anymore. For his sake and mine, I needed to get out before things really got complicated. In my bag, I grabbed my phone and found Mason’s number.



Me: I did something bad.

Mason: What the f*ck happened?

Me: I’d prefer not going into details. Let’s just say I f*cked up and did something I shouldn’t have.

Mason: What the hell, B?

Me: Sorry.



The last thing I wanted to do was tell him that I was the one who made the first move. I had no doubt Camden would once Mason called him to check up. I could only imagine what he was going to say about me.

Getting involved with Camden was a mistake. Sighing, I turned on the water, washed my face and brushed my teeth. Everywhere I went I could smell him, taste him on my lips. I needed to get out of there.