Defamed: Book Three (bxb) ✔️

Chapter Eighteen: Want

Asher Adair

Why was I nervous? I shouldn't be nervous about Cameron staying with me tonight. I've known him for nine years, and while eight of those years were not well spent, I still loved him with everything I had. But we were still on a bit of unstable ground. Sometimes we didn't know where to step. It was going to take time, and I knew that.

Additionally, I haven't seen him in a few days aside from the time he showed up at the convention. And I truly wished we weren't in a public setting, so I could have told the triplet's mother even more about what I thought of her.

She stalked me around the venue until I tried to escape her in the VIP lounge. She found me. I hated remaining professional because I wanted to be anything but. I wasn't scared about her going to the media about any part of that conversation because I would ruin them even more than they already were.

And that was a fucking promise.

Dismissing the thoughts, I cut into the pizza I made. Cameron was running a little late, so I had to make myself busy. I already made sure every square inch of my apartment was clean. I made dinner. I was clearly doing too much, but I needed today to go by faster. I didn't have much to do for work today because of the convention ending, so I was left to think about tonight all day.

Again, that was insane also considering I'd spent two nights with Cameron since he returned home, but only one of them was after we decided to do our best to get on track. I just wanted him to feel comfortable, and I was afraid to overstep.

The moment I heard the elevator ding, my heart jumped into my throat. I shoved the pizza away slightly and set down the pizza cutter. It was going to be fine. We spent plenty of nights together. And this didn't need to be any different.

"Where's the welcoming committee in this house?" Cameron sang as he walked down the entrance hallway. "I'm docking half a star in my stay review for this!"

I instantly smiled as he walked around the corner. "Apologies, but I was cutting pizza."

His green eyes flickered to the food and back to me. "Okay, you can have your half of a star back." He dropped his backpack to the floor beside the stool. "Because that looks delicious, and I know damn well you made it."

I slid the pizza across the counter. "I did."

"Mm, boyfriend material." He grabbed a piece and took a bite. "How was your day? Because mine involved helping my brother prepare to start his brand. I didn't realize how many different designs his brain could come up with."

"Yeah, Carter has a very massive creative brain. I believe he was supposed to implement some of them in Alastair's game. I'm unsure if they did or not." I shrugged. "I didn't do much today."

Cameron glanced around with an arched brow. "Is that why it smells like lemon in here?" He caught me red-handed. "Because you didn't have much to do today?"

"I wanted to make sure everything was up to standard."

"Up to standard for your broke overnight visitor?" He laughed softly. "Oh, how the tables have turned. Though, you've always been a clean person, so I can't fault you there. But I can assure you, I don't care if I see a speck of dust somewhere."

I frowned. "I know."

Cameron finished off his slice of pizza and hopped off the barstool. "Is someone nervous?" He seemed to be entertained by this bit of information as he rounded the counter toward me. "You know, you didn't seem that nervous when you had me pressed against the wall." He stopped in front of me, and I let go of a breath. "Can we, perhaps, revisit that moment?"