Path of Destruction (Broken Heartland, #2)(34)

After stomping back to the villa she was sharing with her mother, Cami was greeted by nothing but the cold tile floors. It sure beat walking in on her mother engaged in some sort of romp with the bartender. Neither of her parents was faithful to the other, but it wasn’t until Cami had fallen in love for the first time that she’d seen just how odd it was.

To each, his own, and all that, but she couldn’t stand the thought of someone she truly loved cheating on her or vice versa. The image of Brantley Cooper wrapped up with Ella Jane overtook her imagination and she felt her stomach twist.

“You don’t even know him,” she reminded herself.

Somehow, during her pathetic suicide attempt, she’d let herself keep thinking about the boy whose voice she’d heard in the water. Not the voice she’d anticipated. Not Kyle, the one person she wanted to save her even though she knew he couldn’t.

She felt a rush of anger fall on her. Why in the world was she letting herself think about Brantley Cooper? How dare he try and take Kyle’s place. Sure, he reminded her of what she lost with his dirt road ways and small town charm, but he wasn’t Kyle. She knew that and she didn’t want him to be. All he was was a distraction. Someone to pass the time with when she couldn’t see straight. That’s it.

Her subconscious didn’t seem to think so, letting a phantom farm boy pull her from the water. Pull her back to the reality she was trying to escape. What in hell was happening? She stripped out of her wet clothes and pulled on one of the bathrobes the resort had provided.

Grabbing her phone to dial a familiar number, she fell onto the bed. She needed some kind of clarity that she was going crazy.

“Hey, Cami-girl. How’s the beach treating you?” His voice calmed her nerves when he finally answered her phone call.

“It’s okay,” she told him. “Nothing like a forced family vacation to help put this superficial life into perspective.”

“I’ll see your forced family fun,” Hayden chuckled, “and your self-righteous parents and raise you one delusional grandma.”

“You got me,” she giggled. It was nice to talk to someone who actually understood how she felt. Even if Hayden didn’t know everything that she’d been through—a secret she purposefully kept to herself—he always seemed to make her feel better. Or at least normal. “You could have come to the beach with me,” she reminded him. “Would have thrilled my mother to have another underage guy to flirt with.”

“Theresa’s still up to her old tricks, huh?”

“Oh yeah. She’s in rare form today. I actually saw her let a guy do a body shot off her the other night. One of her finer moments.”

“Well, damn. I’m a little sad I missed that.”

“Don’t be,” Cami insisted. “It was mortifying.”

“Your mom’s hot. Can’t blame her for wanting to show off what the good Lord gave her.”

The good Lord hadn’t had anything to do with her mom’s assets. More like the good doctor.

“Seriously?” she deadpanned. “I called you because I thought we were friends.”

“I’m just giving you shit, Cami.” His laughter echoed through the phone. “You can always call me. You know that.”

“I know.” And she did.

Part of her had hoped she and Hayden could pick up their romantic relationship where they’d left off last school year, as they always had before, but the summer had changed everything. Being friends was much more in their wheelhouse. Not just friends. Best friends. They understood each other in a way no one else could.

“So what did you want to talk about?”

So many things ran through her mind. Should she tell him how sad she was? Tell him that she considered literally drowning her sorrows? Tell him about Kyle Mason?

She couldn’t. He had so much stuff to worry about with his own life and family that she knew burdening him with hers wouldn’t be fair.

“I just needed to hear a familiar voice,” she finally said. She pulled the phone away from her face just incase a small sob broke loose. “It’s lonely here.”

“Cami.” His voice was heavy with concern and she knew he could tell something was up. “You sure you’re okay?

“I’m fine. I promise.”

“If there’s something you need to say, you should say it now.”

“There’s not,” she lied. “Really, I’m fine. This trip has just been overwhelming.”

“I’m serious. You can’t keep it all bottled up. I know that you’re strong, but it takes a lot of strength to ask for help too. Doesn’t make you weak. I promise.”

“I know,” she said, wondering if she really did. “So what else is happening back in the Bluffs?” she asked, needing to change the subject.

“Same old shit,” he said, masking his distain with a chuckle. “My parents are still pushing for Gran to be put in a home. They actually thought buying me a jet ski would make me change my mind on sending her away. They are literally the most pretentious *s on the planet.”

“Join the club,” she agreed. Sadly, she could remember a time when Hayden would’ve happily taken them up on their offer and she would have been thrilled to be spending Christmas break in St. Tropez. Her and Hayden’s parents were shameless, and before the storm, their kids were products of their environment. But now, everything was…different. She was different. Hayden was different.