"It's a funeral...not a GD fashion show." Damion Cross, aka Claire Cross' bitchy older brother, aka my best friend huffed from my bedroom doorway. My same childhood bedroom I'd grown up in, with some fresh paint and bedding mixed in, and definitely a different vibe. A vibe that screamed sexually fucking frustrated. Despite Dr. Parker's frequent house calls. Sigh.
Dr. Todd Parker was one of two emergency room physicians in Vertie, born and raised in Dallas, and lured here with the promise of a pretty paycheck. That was the thing about working in a small town. It wasn't everyone's cup of tea, so applicants weren't beating down the hospital doors. A fact that culminated in a higher paycheck, and a lot of down time.
Downtime I usually spent watching television, or eating Dominos, or pretending to have an orgasm as Todd ate me. He was always considerate in that way...and clumsy. His wavy blonde hair and dimples apparently had made him a little too confident in his performance as a physician...and as a lover.
Sure, he was pretty to look at, intelligent to converse with, but boring as fuck in the bedroom. Not that I had much to compare him to. He was only my third partner since high school. Since...Hudson.
"Earth to Fucking Bailey!" Damion clapped his hands dramatically in front of my face and it took everything in me not to snap his wrists. He couldn't help his flamboyant tendencies anymore than he could help his need to breathe. Still, sometimes his extraness was just so damn...extra.
"I'm not trying to dress up for a fashion show, D. I'm trying not to look like a complete disaster." The part about him being there wasn't included, but it was pretty obvious. Father's funeral and all.
Regardless, Damion had graduated a year ahead of me, but being from such a small town, everyone still knew everyone's business. I thought I'd been better at covering up my crush, but Damion could see through anyone like a window. One of his many charms.
"Whatever you say, Miss Gothic Runway." I whacked at him with my conservative black cross body purse. On my nurses budget I lived comfortably, but still had to buy the target knockoff of whatever was currently 'in season'.
"What about you? You're looking nice today..." I carefully selected a rosy hued lipstick from the five million haphazardly thrown in my bathroom drawer. I was a sucker for a good lip color. Even if I wore a mask most days at work.
"I always look good, babe." Damion pouted, checking out his toned ass over one shoulder in my mirror. His vanity wasn't misplaced. With his 6'0 stature, ebony skin, and bright honey eyes, he was everyone's idea of a leading man. If only he wasn't so in love with himself to find someone else. At least that was how it had always been - until last year.
"You're gorgeous." I deadpanned, capping the lipstick before wiping any excess from my teeth. "I hear that Camden Carter and the girls are going to be there today..."
A flurry of emotions crossed my best friend's face before his cocky indifference found it's place again. I wasn't certain, but I could make a damn educated guess that Camden Carter was Damion's first real love. Hell, probably his only real love. The problem was, Camden wasn't exactly upfront about a lot of things. His sexuality included.
"Why should I care?" Damion reached for nonchalance, but there was too much bitterness to his tone.
"No reason." I adverted my green eyes, checking my lipstick again.
Camden Carter was a year younger, and a head taller than Damion. He'd always been co-captain of the football team and Bryce Hall's best friend. He was popular, and kind, and straight. Or at least that was the part he'd played in high school. And for a while after high school ended with Kenzi Carter, formerly Kenzi Williams - former Trinity member and bitch.
Their wedding announcement in The Vertie Gazette didn't mention any of that, or the fact that she was four months pregnant. Camden followed the West Texas example and married his pregnant girl, squeezed out a college degree, and another kid before she up and left his ass with a rodeo rider passing through.
Her sticky note and subsequent departure fed the Vertie gossip machine for months. Months that poor Camden spent struggling. Trying to juggle his job as a Vertie High history teacher and single dad to ten and seven year old daughters.
Damion had also taken notice, but instead of feeding the fodder, he helped. He used his clout as an entrepreneur around town to get Camden's girls into sold out summer camps, and free after hours meals at his local restaurant. He was caring, and kind, and showed an unselfish compassion that Camden had valued.
Damion became a kind of second father figure to the girls and Camden fell hard. Damion wouldn't tell me much, aside from that perfect night. The one where he dropped off Cora and Kennedy and stayed for dinner...and drinks...and a nightcap. The kind where Camden kissed him, before locking the front door for the night.
Things become serious after that. Damion stayed practically every night, sharing Camden's bed and his family. Over the span of a couple weeks they became copacetic, cohesive. Up until Mini Stanton noticed Damion's car early one morning outside of the Carter house while on her prayer power walk. That was how the rumors started, and they didn't stop until Camden publicly refuted them.
He stopped answering Damion's phone calls, icing him out, and ignoring his own happiness for the benefit of a group of judgmental people. The same people who pushed him into a marriage that made no sense. Kenzi Williams was a bad person, but it turned out Camden Carter wasn't much better. I wanted to kill him for the hurt he put Damion through....only he was just as hurt.
The circles under his eyes, and the heartache that surrounded him just made me...sad. I prayed most nights that he would learn to love himself so he could love my best friend. They had both been through so much and deserved their happily ever after.
"Unless you want to create a fashionably late entrance, diva, you should probably quit fussing with your lipstick and get in the car." Damion whispered in my ear and I jumped a little before turning on him.
"You want to get that close to me again, you're going to have to take me to dinner first." I joked straightening his tie. His smile was bright, but his eyes still looked somber.
"I think there is a different kind of tall, dark, and handsome you'd rather take you to dinner."
I patted his chest a few times, before turning from my bedroom and Hudson's ghost that lingered there. No matter how many layers of paint I painted, or throw pillows I bought, he was always here. Stuck in my stupid heart. Damion and I sure knew what it was like to have loved and lost...
"I'm certain I have no idea who you're talking about." I lied, vowing to not let Hudson Kincaid break my heart any worse than he already had.
YOU ARE READING
The Impact of Intimacy
Romance***ONGOING*** Being the only virgin left in small town, Texas was a major fucking buzz kill. Bailey Sawyers didn't get invited to parties, she didn't get to gossip with the girls, and Bryce Hall certainly never looked in her direction. Which was wh...
