The Bet

34) Pinky Swear

Sam's POV

  The very next morning, I went straight to Camila's house after dropping Mickey off at school. I pounded on her door until she opened it with her hair tied in a messy bun and a murderous glare, but the moment she saw it was me, it dropped. 

  Mine didn't.

  "Why the hell wouldn't you tell me I was being hunted by a maniac?!" I screamed in her face, dying to hear the explanation she promised for why she would put Mickey in danger like that and not tell me.

  Her somewhat relieved expression she gained at the sight of me dropped into a look of shame. "So, Darion told you?" She questioned dejectedly.

  It was actually Roy, but it doesn't matter who told me. "That's irrelevant. Now, please give me one good reason why I shouldn't lose your number, take Mikey, and hightail it to Mexico so we never have to be around you and your gang drama every again."

  Please.

  Thankfully, after a wide-eyed look of alarm, she started off strong. "Because I am so, so, so sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. I was afraid, afraid of losing you, and I haven't been afraid in so long that I lost it and made a terrible decision. I swear, ask me anything you want to know, and I will tell you." She grabbed my hand and held it to her chest.

  I let her because the feeling of her heartbeat is soothing, even if it is pounding far quicker than usual.

  "I've seen what it's like keeping things from you, and I hate it," she explained.

  I swallowed thickly. Staying mad at her is proving to be a harder task than I thought, but I dug deep because she still has more to answer for. 

  Stepping into the threshold of her house, I narrowed my eyes at her and pulled my hand back to my side. "You've made promises before, and they turned out to be lies."

  That appeared to cut deep as a new wave of regret seemed to wash over her. She opened her mouth to speak but no words came out.

  It's probably because there is no excuse.

  She thinks she was scared? The only person other than Mikey and my mom that I've ever said 'I love you' to appears mysteriously at my house bearing half eaten Mcdonalds and obvious lies. Not to mention, she seemed so unnerved and anxious. 

  Camila, the crime princes and domme that I've only ever seen levelheaded, was anxious. Anxious and lying about something.

  What was I supposed to think? How was I not supposed to be immediately filled with suspicion and fear?

  She finally found words, even though they most likely won't hold answers. "That was stupid of me. The truth is, I lie to people every day in order to get things done. It's like, an embracingly large part of my job."

  I was shocked with the amount of disgust I felt towards her in that moment, and apparently, it showed on my face because she had to look away before continuing.

  "But I never should have lied to you. My goal is to take care of you. That's honestly all I want from you, Sam, to be allowed to do that." She slowly looked back at me, reaching a hesitant hand to swipe a piece of hair out of my face.

  She always lays the cheesiness on so thick.

  I don't know what it says about me that it works every time.

  "But lying to you is never going to help me accomplish that. I realized too late that it only made things worse, and I'm sorry."

  I fought to keep my glare in place, I really did, because a part of me still feels like she doesn't deserve to be forgiven until she fulfills her promise and tells me everything I need to know to keep Mickey safe from this Adam character. . . But a bigger part of me, the stupid and in love part, already has faith that she'll fulfill her promise and earn my trust back.

  She doesn't need to know that, though.

  My glare softened, but I crossed my arms and raised my brow like I would at 'The Cave' to maintain a somewhat hard exterior. "Fine, I'll give you another chance to be honest, but if you mess this one up, or anything happens to Mickey, it's over, for real." God, that felt like a punch in the gut to say out loud.

  Camila seemed to only hear the first part though, because she beamed one of her gorgeous smiles.

  Seriously, how the hell am I supposed to stay mad at this woman?

  To make matters worse for my conflicted emotions, she then wrapped her toned arms around me and spun me around excitedly before planting a firm kiss on my lips. "Thank you, my love." She took hold of my hand, once again. "What would you like to know?"

  Okay, if she keeps this up, I'm going to melt back into our old, comfortable ways, and I won't have the boldness I need built up to hold her accountable if she goes back on her promise, something that I would like to think is unlikely but is clearly not impossible.

  I immediately created some space between us, removing my hand from hers and making her face fall just like it did last time. This time though, I was the one that had to look away before I could continue. "I'm sorry, but you're cut off. No more touchy-feely cuteness until further notice." Until I know Mickey is safe with you in my life. "You're limited to high fives and fists bumps."

  When I was finished with my conditions for our arrangement, I worked up the courage to look back at her, and the sight was a little bit, I hate to say it, comical.

  Her eyebrows were creased kind of like a puppy's when you tell it no, and a half forced, half relieved smile sat awkwardly on her lips.

  I coughed into my elbow to hide my guilty giggle.

  A moment passed as I gave her a chance to come to terms with my rules, and in that time, her eyes brightened with an idea. "Got it. High fives and fist bumps, but what about pinky swears?"

  The small grin she forced to my face fell in confusion. "What?"

  Her grin replaced mine as she reached for my hand a third time, making me nervous, because I don't know if I'll have the strength to pull away again. 

  "Here, I'll show you." Oddly, she didn't hold my hand normally. She wrapped her pinky around mine and struck me with a gaze so sincere I almost broke my own rules and leaned in for a kiss. Almost. "I pinky swear that I will never hurt you like I did ever again, and I will do everything in my power to keep you and your family safe."

  I felt silly tears prickling at the back of my eyes at her display -- No one has ever tried to protect me like she swears she is -- and forced them down by closing my eyes tight. When I opened them, her eyes were scouring my face with nothing but love.

  I sighed. "God, you're so cheesy."

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Author's Note

  Some of you asked for fluff, and isn't emo fluff the next best thing? Reluctant fluff also seems very on brand for this genre, lol.

  On the other hand, if Camila doesn't keep her pinky swear, no one's going to be getting any kind of fluff any time soon. Maybe some hate sex, but no fluff.

  So, what do you think she'll do? What do you deviants want her to do, lol?

  Leave it in the comments and have a nice last few days of pride month <3

  Thank you for reading!

~ Pepper