North to You by Tif Marcelo

Author:Tif Marcelo
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pocket Star

22

DREW

Fuck.

This can’t be happening. Camille cannot be Lucianna. Of all the jobs she could have, of all the food trucks she could run, of all the streets she could have picked, of all the spaces she could have parked in. Why, why, why?

Why her? Why True North?

While I’m saying, “I want you,” my conscience wages a battle against itself. Before now, Camille’s and my obstacles were deployment and time—not minuscule by any means. It would have meant months of not seeing one another and a concerted effort to keep in touch. It would have meant trust and eventually a decision about the future.

But all that is far less disastrous than what’s been detonated in front of me. Finding out Camille is Lucianna, the target of my father’s focus, his direct competition, eclipses the crisis of convincing Camille to trust me. Now I’ve got to take a defensive posture, too, to find a way to remove her from my father’s crosshairs.

What was simply between her and me is now all about family and loyalty.

It’s a lose-lose situation.

I open my mouth, committed to tell Camille the truth. To say how much my parents have struggled to make ends meet. That her truck is fueling my father’s fire. That the zone she picked is jutting against a business that considers her an enemy, not an ally.

But the words don’t come. I can’t say a thing, because Camille’s pulled me down gently by the neck and pressed her lips to mine.

This kiss isn’t hurried. Not like others we’ve had, when we’ve clawed at each other’s clothing, resisting the need for oxygen. This one halts time. It mutes noise. My focus narrows to where I’m intimately connected to Camille, tongue against tongue, pelvis pressed against her stomach, hands exploring her lower back where it meets the curve of her ass.

Slow as this kiss is, it sears, leaving me parched for more.

“Get a room,” someone yells from across the street. All at once the sounds of the city rush in. The cable car, the foot traffic, the car engines.

Camille smiles into my mouth. “Looks like you got what you wanted.” Her face is flushed.

I groan, taking my gaze to the ground as I willfully separate myself from her body. It’s just as well. My brain is mush. Somehow, between now and dinnertime when I meet up with my father, I’ve got to devise a plan. I’ve got to make this right somehow, or at least attempt to, before I mention it to Camille. “If you only knew how it pains me to not strip your clothes off right now.”

She bites her lip. God, I wish I could bite it for her. But there’s a fire raging at the city Planning Department, and I’ve got to put it out. Pronto.

“But . . . I need to get downtown this morning. Some work for my dad.” I stare at the space between her eyes to hide my omission. For all the times I’ve tried to coax her to get into specifics, I’m a gem for not being straight up with her.

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