"The whole first year?" Mom whispers.

I can't breathe.

Tom nods.

Mom drops her head in her hands. "I'm sorry," she sobs, getting up from her seat. "Excuse me."

And then she's gone.

"Babe." Lucy gets my attention.

"Did you know?" I ask her, still unable to breathe.

She shakes her head. "I swear it. This is the first I'm hearing about it."

I pass Lachlan to her and leave the restaurant. I need fresh air. I need to think. I need to clear my head.

"Cameron," Mom says. I didn't even know she was out here. She throws her arms around my neck and pulls me down to her.

She cries.

And I let her.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

-CAMERON-

"Dammit, Lucy, I've wanted to get you out of this stupid prom dress ever since I saw you in it.”

"You think it's stupid?" she asks, unlocking the door to the cabin.

It only takes a second before I have her up against the wall and I'm inside her.

"I like this dress," she moans, her head throwing back against the wall.

I grab her ass and lift her so I can slide in better.

We're both buzzed. No. Beyond buzzed. We're drunk, and having sloppy sex. It's one of my favorite types of sex, because with her, there are types of sex.

Some nights, she wakes me after reading something and wants to try it.

I swear to God I'm the luckiest asshole in the world.

"I think there's too much of this dress," I tell her, my mouth sucking hard on her neck.

She rips my shirt open, and buttons fly everywhere. One hits her in the eye. "Ow!" she winces, holding her hand to it.

"You're too rough, Lucy. You need to learn to control yourself."

She scoffs. "I'm rough? What about that time you tried to shove it in the wrong hole?"

I laugh onto her nipple, now in my mouth. "You were begging for it!"

"Not in my ass."

"One day."

"Why did you tell everyone I take it there?" she moans. I don't know how she can talk with me slamming into her like this.

"Because I'm drunk."

"Valid. I read about it though, you have to start with your pinky finger or something. And then two, and then you can probably do it. Wait. For your sized cock, maybe three or four fingers."

I stop and straighten up so I can look at her. "Are you trying to make me come early?"

She laughs and nods.

"I'll do it right now, Luce," I warn.

She laughs harder. "We gotta be quick, they're all out there waiting. They're gonna know what we're doing."

I carry her to the bed and throw her down, then remove the rest of my clothes.

"I'm sure they already know what we're doing, babe."

She struggles to slip her dress off. I wait impatiently. When she's done, she lies on her back, her legs already spread.

I climb on top of her and enter her with ease. "You're getting loose," I joke.

"Maybe your dick's getting smaller."

We laugh. "We must be wasted," she adds.

"Speak for yourself, I can go all night with this shit."

"Cameron?"

I look down at her face, her eyelids heavy from the alcohol. "Yeah, babe?"

"I know I'm drunk, but thank you for never cheating on me. That Mikayla girl must be a mess. And Jake's good people for taking her in like that. I'm just glad I've never experienced that."

"Um..." I pause mid thrust. "You're welcome?"

"She's cute... Mikayla... if we ever have a threesome with another girl, I'd want her to look like that."

I start thrusting again. "Keep talking shit like that and I won't be able to take care of you, Luce."

Her hands run slowly down my back. "I'm your girl, Cameron. It's your job to take care of me. Always."

-LUCY-

Cam and I make everyone breakfast the next morning, everyone but Jake. He wanted to make sure that Mikayla got home safe.

We sit in the living room and eat, talking shit about the night before. Logan looks around the cabin. We've spent a few nights here the last year, drinking and being stupid. Out of all the things I'm thankful for about Cameron, his friends are one of them. When Claudia left, just after my mom passed away, I struggled with the idea of having no friends. But his friends took me in, made me part of the group. Now, I don't remember a time where they weren't part of my life. Even Logan, who I thought was a dick, has become one of my best friends. "What are you guys going to do when we get to UNC?" he asks.

"What do you mean?" Cam says.

"I mean you won't be rooming together. You guys basically lived with each other the last year or so. What happens there?"

Cam and I glance at each other quickly. We've spoken about it, but try not to think too much. We know we'll miss each other, but we also know that we'll do absolutely everything we can to spend every spare second together. "We'll make it work," Cam says, kissing my temple.

Logan's phone rings, breaking the tension. "Waddup?" he answers. Then his eyebrows bunch. "Yeah, bro. Hang on..." He places his phone on the coffee table and sets it to speakerphone. "Okay," Logan says.

"Umm..." Jake's deep voice comes through the speakers. He sighs heavily into the phone. "It's about Mikayla..."