“K. Thank you.” I yawned. His body was like a big blanket, and it comforted me in so many ways. It only took a few minutes for sleep to drag me under.

Beep, beep, beep. What the hell was that noise? Opening one eye I looked at the clock feeling completely discombobulated and stiff. Did the alarm just go off? Rolling on to my back I stretched my limbs and glanced at Camden’s side of the bed. It was empty, but I heard the shower running in the distance. Man I must have been really out, because I didn’t even feel him get up. I had a little over thirty minutes to get ready for work.

A second little beep, beep, beep went off.

Sitting up, I rubbed my tired eyes and looked on Camden’s night stand. His phone was sitting there and the screen was lit. I tried not to look at it, I really did, but curiosity got the best of me. I didn’t know why all the trust conversations that I’d had with Camden and Macie went out the window in that moment, but I needed to look. Something was drawing me to see who it was. Reaching for his phone, I pushed the bottom button on his to light the screen up, and I saw two text messages from Bree. Instantly I felt sick. Why was she texting him? I was able to see partial messages, but I’d never be able to look at them without him knowing that I read them. I looked up at the door and listened for the shower. It was still running so I had a little bit of time. With shaky hands I picked up the phone and lit up the screen again.

Bree: Hey I’m in town. Need 2 talk….

Bree: Meet me @ Fastfreddys @….

That was all that I could see of the messages without actually opening them up. Bile was rising in my throat, and I had to swallow it back down. I put the phone back exactly how it was before and sat on the bed in a shocked state. Why was she texting him? Would he actually go meet her? The bigger question would be would he tell me about it? None of this was sitting well with me. I wasn’t a jealous person, at least I didn’t think I was, but I’d also never dated someone who made me feel jealousy. I always knew without a shadow of a doubt that I was with them, and they were with me. So now brings the question of whether I ask him what it was about, or did I even bother telling him that I saw the texts? I wanted to so bad, but I thought I’d wait to see if he mentioned it.

I heard the water cut off, and Camden came back in the room a few minutes later. He had a towel wrapped around his waist and droplets of water still clung to his skin. He saw me looking at him and a little ghost of a smile appeared on his perfect lips.

“Sleep good?” he asked.

I wanted him. Despite how I had been feeling only a few short seconds ago, I wanted him. I didn’t think I’d ever not want him. “Yeah, I needed a nap. I don’t think I’ve been getting enough sleep at night.”

“I don’t think you have either. You’ve been tossing and turning quite a bit, and you’ve been mumbling.”

“I have? What have I been saying?”

“Yes. But none of it is coherent. You’re just making little noises.”

“Oh. Hmmm…sorry if it’s been keeping you awake.”

He went to the closet and pulled out some clothes. When he dropped the towel, he was faced away from me, and I couldn’t remove my eyes from his toned ass and how the muscles in his back moved. I think I was salivating.

“You aren’t. You settle down a little when I tuck you back into me.”

My heart melted. “You cuddle me closer?”

“Mhmm.” He tugged his gym shorts up over his hips, and I pouted not being able to see all of him any longer.

I covered my mouth to stifle a yawn, and he smiled at me. Walking toward the bed, he bent down and kissed me tenderly on the lips. I wanted to yank him down and have my way with him, but both of us needed to get going. The unease was still flowing through me as I watched him grab his phone from the night stand and check it. I tried to tell if there were any differences in his demeanor or if he’d come out and tell me what was up, but he held it in. There were no changes in his expression, nor did he mention the texts. I felt myself pull away slightly, not wanting to give away that it was killing me not knowing.

“I’m going to head downstairs to get my bag ready, do you want me to make you something before you have to leave?” he offered.

I shook my head. I definitely wasn’t feeling hungry with this pit sitting in my stomach, and I wanted to scream at him to tell me what was going on.

“Nah, I’m good. I think I’ll brush my hair and teeth and take off.”

He looked at me a little funny, but nodded. “Okay.”

He turned and went downstairs. Getting up, I made myself presentable and followed after him to say bye. Everything about our movements was completely normal… until he told me he was going to be working late. Alarms started ringing in my head and I was reeling. I needed to get out of here and get away so I could try and clear my head. Words wouldn’t even form on my lips and I simply nodded at him and made my way to the door. Before I walked out, I looked back at him and saw him staring at me strangely. He said bye, and I had no response, there was nothing. Walking out the front door, I half expected him to follow after me, to question what my problem was, but he didn’t. I think I found that more disturbing that he didn’t. Now who was the one acting differently?

Once I was at work, I couldn’t concentrate. My mind kept playing over and over the text that I’d seen, and this Bree girl who wanted to meet my boyfriend at FastEddy’s. I was only thirty minutes into my shift, and I couldn’t deal with it any longer. Have you ever tried to concentrate on the job when every single thought was being consumed by something else? Not really feeling like I was lying, I went to my boss and said I was sick and needed to go home. She looked at my sympathetically and told me she hoped I felt better. As I walked out of the office, one thought occurred to me. I needed to see for myself. I had no idea what time she told Camden to meet her, but I did know where. There was another small hole in the wall restaurant across the street from FastEddy’s where I could sit inside and not be seen. My mind made up, I made the short drive and parked my car around the corner. I’d only hoped that the person serving me wouldn’t mind that I planned on staying there until I was certain Camden wouldn’t show up at the other diner.

I’d been seated for only ten minutes, and I was sipping my water when it hit me what I was doing. Had I lost that much faith in my relationship with Camden that I felt the need to resort to spying, or had I not had faith in the first place? He’d never given me a reason not to trust him. And at what point did I become this crazy person? I wanted to leave, to prove to myself that I didn’t need to be here and I could put aside my doubts. No scratch that, I needed to leave. Except every time I was going to call the waiter over to me to pay my tab, I stopped myself. My stupid head was spinning in circles and every minute that ticked by I was getting angrier with myself.

Just over an hour into my stalking, I looked across street at the outdoor patio of FastEddy’s and watched as a familiar looking dark-haired girl was seated. How did I know her? I was going through faces in my memory trying to peg exactly where I’ve seen her but nothing was ringing a bell. Hmmm… maybe I knew her from class or something. I was going to shrug it off but then Camden’s car came pulling up to my side of the road and parallel parked. I ducked in my seat as if he could see me, when in actuality the windows were too dark for him to see in. My heart went into my throat, and I was holding my breath as he got out of the car and looked across the street. The girl gave a small wave and that was when it hit me. Holy shit it was the girl from the photograph. The one that was hanging in his parents’ hallway. No, no, no, this wasn’t happening! I felt like my eyes were deceiving me. Dizzily looking from her to him, then him to her. I was going to puke. Camden turned in my direction but was looking at the other side of his vehicle. The passenger side door opened and Dodger stepped out. What the hell was he doing here too? They both made their way across the street and through the restaurant until they stepped out on the patio. The women stood up, and I looked on as she hugged Dodger and kissed his cheek. Oh Macie would have a field day with his balls right about now had she seen him do that. When Camden greeted her, she smiled big, as if she were happier to see him. She went into his open arms, and he held her tightly. He was speaking into her ear, and she nodded as he spoke. When he broke away, she held his hand as they sat down.