Defamed: Book Three (bxb) ✔️

Chapter Fourteen: Home

Cameron Windsor

Being home was all I wanted...before everything happened. Maybe I was selfish, but spent every single day since Asher's birthday helping him. He was in therapy, and while he still wasn't anywhere near one hundred percent, he was better. But I selfishly wanted to stay because I was starting to know him again.

Neither of us spoke about our past relationship unless it came up in the topic of discussion. And that topic usually revolved around my assault or my attempted suicide. I knew I wasn't good enough to have him back, but I still wanted to know more. He was friends with my brothers.

We could...be friends, too.

I suppose.

"Spill it." Carter was close to my face, pressing his finger into my forehead. "Spill it. Now."

I swatted his hand away and nestled further into my pillow. "I don't want to talk about it."

Cade sat on the edge of my bed. "We talked about what happened today. We talked about everything already. What we haven't talked about was why you seemed very cozy when hugging Asher today."

I tossed the blanket off me and sat up. "Are you two the queens of gossip, or what?" I climbed off the bed and dove for my suitcase. Except when I unzipped the pocket I'd hid the notebook in--it wasn't there. "No. No. No." I'd taken it out a couple of times, but I couldn't remember for the life of me if I'd put it back in here. "Oh, my god." I tore my suitcase apart looking for the damn book, and it wasn't here. "Shit!"

Carter slithered over to me, sitting next to me. "It's alright; we can pick up whatever you left tomorrow." He took out his phone. "Just tell me what it is, and I'll have Asher set it as--"

I grabbed Carter's phone and held it fucking hostage. "Do not call him. You can't call him."

Cade coughed. "Didn't Asher say you could bother him? I think you leaving something over there qualifies as bothering him. He wants you to do it."

Carter tried to take his phone back, but I smacked his hand. "Don't. I'm serious. This isn't funny. It's not a time for jokes. I'm not laughing. I have to go get that book back. I have to get it back before he finds it!" How many panic attacks could one person have in a day before they keeled over? "I have to go get that book."

"Okay, but we can't do that. It's almost eleven, Cameron. Asher is probably asleep." Carter tried to reassure me. "If he'd have found it, he would have--"

"Uh, Cameron?" Alastair asked from behind me in the doorway. "You..."

No, none of this could be happening. If Asher finds that book, I was screwed. It wasn't the book itself that was the problem; it was the fact that I kept it. I kept that damn book. At the time, I swore it was unhealthy, and I thought it was best to do away with it, but I couldn't let it go. I simply couldn't.

I'd lost enough in this lifetime; I couldn't let go of something that I held close. I needed something to remember when my life was good. When there was almost nothing bothering me. A time when I was at my happiest because I couldn't remember what that felt like. Inside of that book lay memories that I wanted to hold onto.

However crazy that sounded.

Carter gasped. "Oh no." He started poking my shoulder. "Cameron, good news. We have the book back."

I looked at him. "What?"

Carter blew out a breath, his eyes glued behind me. "Bad news. It's attached to that attractive CEO that you didn't want to find it."