Path of Destruction (Broken Heartland, #2)(44)

Her pretty little mouth twisted into a scowl at her words being thrown back at her, but there was genuine hurt in her eyes.

Cooper swallowed thickly. “Cameron, I didn’t—”

“Prescription ready for Cameron Nickelson,” Jenny called out from the other end of the counter.

Cameron stalked away from him and paid for her prescription. Setting the condoms aside, Cooper followed her like a puppy eager to make amends for chewing up her favorite shoes. Damn, the things this girl did to him. He’d rather punch himself in the face than have to see that wounded look darken her eyes again. Knowing he’d put it there was killing him.

“Cameron,” he said, practically growling her name and letting his good hand catch her upper arm as she walked past. “We should talk.”

“Now there’s one thing that definitely isn’t part of our arrangement.” With that, she jerked free of his grasp just as Callie called his name.

“She’s pretty,” Jen said, handing him his white bag of medicine. “She your girlfriend?”

Cooper signed his name where she indicated and handed her the cash he owed. “She’s something,” was all he said.

Carrying his meds, he exited the pharmacy. Because the universe was clearly against him, he stepped outside just in time to see Cameron climbing into Hayden Prescott’s Jeep.

“Christ,” he muttered under his breath as Prescott closed her door and glanced over at him. His face made it clear he wasn’t expecting to see him.

“What are you doing here?”

Cooper sneered. “I live here, remember?” You’re on my side of the line, jackass. “What you’re doing here might be a better question.”

“I’m working on the rebuild with the church.”

Cooper noticed that Prescott was drenched in sweat. Cameron didn’t seem to mind. She sat in her seat staring straight ahead as if deaf to the conversation happening right beside her. He wondered if he were all sweaty if she’d let him that close to her.

“Rebuilding Hope’s Grove won’t make Ella Jane Mason forgive you. Or give you another chance or whatever the hell you’re thinking.”

Hayden regarded him silently for a moment. Cooper held his ground, wondering what Hayden’s motives were exactly.

“I know you don’t think much of me. And honestly, I don’t care much about what you think, but I care about this town because my granddad cared about it.” They stared each other down for what seemed like an hour before Hayden added, “And I care about her.”

Cooper’s eyes narrowed and he lifted his chin toward where Cameron sat still avoiding them. “What about her? You care about her?”

Hayden glanced over his shoulder. “Cameron? I’ve known her my whole life. Of course I care about her.” His eyes brightened with interest. “You got a crush on Cami, Joe? I gotta tell you, she’s pretty far out of your league.”

No shit.

Cooper recognized the relief Hayden tried to hide. Coop knew that he was probably glad that Cooper liked Cameron, most likely because that meant he wasn’t involved with Ella Jane. Cooper recognized that twisted, confusing look of relief because he knew he had worn it when he’d realized Hayden wasn’t pursuing Cameron.

“Believe me, I know this.” Hayden had the decency to look surprised that Cooper agreed with him. “Whatever. Look, talk to her about what’s in that bag. I think she…” Every cuss word he knew flitted through his head. How many girls was Cooper just going to hand over to Hayden Prescott before he took a stand? Two, at least, from the looks of it. “She needs someone. And it isn’t me.”

Done with the sharing portion of the evening, Cooper turned and made his way to his truck. No, Cameron didn’t need him.

It was time he stopped trying to get her to admit that she did.





“What time is Hayden picking you up?” Cami’s mother asked as she hung up a garment bag on the back of her daughter’s bedroom door. “You have a hair appointment at three thirty. Oh, and I told the Prescotts they could come over at around six to snap a couple pictures out back.”

“Of what?” She shook her head. “Hayden isn’t picking me up because we aren’t going together,” she informed her mother.

“What do you mean? This is your senior prom, Cameron. Of course he’s picking you up.”

“No. Actually, he’s not even going. And I have to help decorate, so I’ll just do my own hair,” she said as she walked over and unzipped the garment bag.

As she slipped the vinyl cover off her dress, the memory of picking it out came back to her. It was a couple of days after her call to Kyle’s phone was answered by Ella Jane. She was in such a fog that week that when her mother had shown her a selection of dresses, she’d basically just pointed and nodded.

Lucky for her, even in a haze of depression and worry that Ella Jane was going to tell the whole world about her summer, she had managed to blindly choose a dress that was flattering. A little part of her reveled in the fact that Raquel would at least be jealous at how fantastic Cami would look—the silky, red fabric clinging to her curves with its backless design. A bigger part of her wondered if Kyle would have liked it. The air quickly left her lungs when she realized she didn’t even know what his favorite color was. They’d shared so many things, but there were still so many more she would never know about him.