Page 52 of Made to Be

“She loved you,” I told him emphatically with another kiss, this time to the back of his hand. “Sorry she said that stuff, though.” I didn’t specify what exactly because honestly, I was apologizing for most of what she’d said. “She can be a bit much, but she means well.”

“I don’t mind.” Cam’s reply was quick, and I found he was staring at where my lips hovered over the back of his hand. I watched his throat bob in a swallow. “I want to know more. About you. Everything.”

My breath whooshed out of my lungs in a rush and Cam visibly shivered.

“I do to,” I admitted in a whisper. “I want to know you, Cam. I want to know what makes you smile, what makes you laugh and cry, what makes you angry.”I lifted our hands to nuzzle his chilled palm against my cheek. “The basic stuff too, like your favorite foods and what books you enjoy reading, any movies you like and don’t like. I just want to knowyou.”

The emotion swimming in Cam’s clear blue eyes made my heart flutter as if there were actual butterflies flittering around in there. It was a ticklish sensation, but one that didn’t bother me in the slightest. I already knew what these blooming feelings were taking life in this hopeless romantic’s beating heart.

That was when the idea struck me. Today was the day. I would do it. I was officially going to ask Cam to be my boyfriend.

Entirely oblivious to the thoughts and feelings flooding me, he let out a little chuckle before saying, “I don’t think I want to use her haunted plates, though.”

I shuddered, “Me either.”

“But,” he added, leaning toward me as his eyes never left mine, “I would risk it if it meant getting to know you.”

Pure, undiluted happiness washed over me. It was warm and bright. It smelled like the shampoo Cam used just this morning, tasted like his lips which I hadn’t kissed nearly enough, and sounded like his musical laugh. One I wanted to hear every day for the rest of my life.

***

“Scoot over a little bit more. Just about... Right there!” I urged Cam as I held up my phone like some enthusiastic mom. I had it aimed on him where he was leaning against the winning pumpkin of the Biggest Bumpkin award. Its obnoxiously large blue ribbon was fluttering in the breeze, the tails flapping close to Cam’s face. The damn thing was nearly as tall as him.

Cam smiled for me without me needing to ask, and I quickly snapped a few pictures like some cliché tourist.

I basically was today. I’d only lived in Briarwood for little over a year, but I hadn’t come to this event last October. And although I normally didn’t enjoy participating in activities that involved being around many people, or people in general, I was simply ecstatic to be here with Cam.

“Would you two like one together?” a woman asked next to me.

I jumped, startled. When I turned, I saw a petite blonde with two young kids clinging to her legs, their faces covered in face paint.

I gave her a kind smile that I hoped didn’t appear too forced; I was awkward by nature.

“Sure, that’d be great,” I told her. “Thank you.”

She grinned back as I handed my phone over to her with the camera feature open. I bounded over to Cam, ecstatic to finally get actual pictures with him. These would be the first of many. It was a cause for celebration, a step further in our relationship. Cutecouple’s photos. In front of a giant-ass pumpkin. Could we be any cornier?

When I reached Cam’s side, I grabbed his hand and tangled our fingers together. Smiling up at him like a fool, he mirrored me with a broad grin stretching over his own face, dimples deepening and eyes crinkling at the corners.

“Ready?” the woman asked.

After snapping several pictures for us, I danced onto my tiptoes to plant a smacking kiss on Cam’s cheek. I heard the camera click and my cheeks turned warm.

“Now that’s a keeper,” she announced as we strode closer so she could hand me back my phone. I slid it safely into my pocket, planning to safeguard the photos with my life. I was definitely getting them printed. I was going to make an entire album of me and Cam. Maybe a scrapbook too.

“Thank you again!” I called with a wave as she made for the hay wagon.

They were doing haunted hayrides and were loading up for the next round. Her kids were beyond excited, bouncing jumping beans and practically dragging her behind them by each hand.

“You like kids.”

I turned my attention back to Cam. He was watching me with the softest expression. One I hadn’t seen on him before. It made his handsome face transform into something gentle. I had the strong urgeto pull my phone back out and take another picture of him, just to immortalize that unique look forever.

His words weren’t a question, but at the same time, sounded like one.

“Yeah, I’ve always wanted to have kids someday,” I admitted to him.

In the past, I would have been cautious to reveal that secret want to someone I was pursuing so early on in the relationship. Any time I had brought it up, that was about the point when the “romance” would fizzle out. But, like most things with Cam, I wasn’t afraid to tell him. It just came out naturally. He'd said he wanted to know everything about me, just as I did him.