“You okay?”
“I’m okay. I feel … better. You make me feel better.”
I smiled back and squeezed her hand. “Good. You’ve got nothing to be anxious about.”
“I think it wouldn’t be so hard if I did this all the time,” she said, gesturing to herself, “but I just feel so out of my element, you know? I’m just uncertain of everything.”
I slipped my arm behind her, pulling her close. “Well, then we should make sure you get plenty of practice. Let me take you to dinner when I get back from Nebraska.”
She laughed. “Dinner, huh?”
“Heels required.”
“Only if you wear this suit. Because, yes.”
I smirked and smoothed my tie. “You like my suit?”
She bit her bottom lip and nodded. “Oh, yeah. I think I’d like you out of your suit too.”
I chuckled, not wanting to get my hopes up, though after the other night, I ached for her, knowing enough to taste what it would be like to have her completely. I thought about buttoning the back of her dress, the bare slice of skin that disappeared as I fastened it, her skin so soft, I had to kiss it when I completed the task.
I recited running backs for a second to get a grip on myself.
She smoothed a hand over the skirt of her dress, toying with the end, with her eyes full of adoration. It was strange to see her without her glasses — she was foreign and familiar all at once, and truth be told, I missed them. But she was ever beautiful to me. This was just another shade of her that I hadn’t yet seen.
“Your dress is spectacular.”
She looked up at me, her eyes sparking with joy. “Thank you. It just made me feel so pretty that I had to get it.”
“You did good, Cam. Real good.”
She smiled. “Are they feeding us at this thing?”
“Yeah, dinner and hors d’oeuvres. And an open bar.”
“Hallelujah. What’s it for? I can’t believe I didn’t think to ask. I was too worried about the prospect of applying lipstick.”
I chuckled. “It’s a charity fundraiser for men’s cancers, put on by Gene Holmes.”
“The old quarterback for the Giants?”
“The very one. He throws this every year, always has some of the big names in sports. Jack bought four tables, enough for sixty of us. I think they sold something like a thousand tickets.”
“Wow. How much were tickets?”
“You don’t want to know.”
She made a face. “Well, now you have to tell me.”
I paused, wondering if she wouldn’t freak out worse once she knew. But I also knew that until her curiosity was satisfied, she wouldn’t let it go. “Five grand.”
Her eyes bugged. “Each?”
“Yup. Honestly, it’s not even that much in the way of these kinds of things.”
“That’s five million dollars raised,” she said, gaping.
“It’s a good cause, and Jack writes it off. No one’s kids are starving because we’re here, don’t worry.”
She shook her head. “That’s just crazy. I’m about to eat a five-thousand-dollar meal. I don’t even think I’ve ever had a hundred-dollar meal.”
I smiled down at her. “Don’t think of it that way. Think of it as a free dinner. With me.”
“Well, when you put it that way.” She looked nervous, her eyes shining a little in the dark cab. “Just hold my hand.”
I brushed my knuckles against her cheek. “Always.”
A little while later, we were walking up the stairs inside the hotel lobby, heading for the grand ballroom. Cam was on my arm, taking everything in as we followed a loose crowd of people in cocktail attire. When we reached the ballroom and gave the attendants our name, we headed into the opulent room, and Cam looked around, awestruck.
The space was vast, with high ceilings set with massive chandeliers that twinkled softly. A large dance floor stood at the end of the long room, and tables dotted most of the space, with two bars situated across from each other.
“Wow,” Cam said, her voice full of wonder, her arm, hooked in mine, squeezing gently. Her eyes wandered all over the room like she was soaking in a fantasy, taking it all in, her red lips parted just enough to see a sliver of white teeth behind them.
But I was only looking at her. “You can say that again.”
CRAZY HE CALLS ME
Cam
I STOOD AS STRAIGHT AS I could, hanging onto Tyler like I’d drown if I let him go. It was like something out of another world, like a ballroom in a castle. I supposed in a way that it was like modern royalty, this kind of grand luxury. It looked a little like a theater, with two floors of balconies along the walls where people milled around above us, talking and laughing, the steady hum of people under the music coming from the booth at the far end of the room. Everything was lit up, colors shifting from pinks to reds to purples to blues and around again, reflecting off the massive chandeliers hanging above us.
Tyler and I made our way to the bar to wait in line, and once I had whiskey in my hand, I felt loads better.
I took a sip, feeling the warmth of the whiskey as it moved through me.
Tyler looked like a dream, so tall and handsome, smiling brightly as we wandered through the crowd, stopping occasionally when he came across someone he knew. And he knew a lot of people — football players, baseball and basketball players, agents, sales reps, sportscasters. I did my best to remember everyone’s names, making associations. Jerry loves Derek Jeter: Jeter Jerry. Sam went to Purdue: Sucky Sam.