Page 57 of See You Again

Until what? This wasn’t a real relationship, and he had no right to be jealous. In a month, this would be over, and they would say good-bye. His mood soured further.

Her attention was back on his tattoo, her tongue sneaking out to sweep over her lower lip. “I can come Friday night.”

“I’ll text you the address.”

Cami’s eyes fell to her plate as she toyed with her food, the mood between them suddenly tense. James knew it was his fault.

“How long have you and Madison been friends?”

Her hand loosened its death grip on her fork. “We met in grad school. I needed a roommate, and she was looking for someone, too. We were both in the psychology department, so we thought it was a perfect fit.” Cami’s lips lifted slightly. “In a lot of ways, we are complete opposites, but somehow it worked. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

“Why?”

She lifted one shoulder. “Mads is very loyal. Smart… funny. She's tougher than I am, but you would never know it by looking at her. She looks like a freaking angel. People always underestimate her. I kind of like that.”

James thought about the photo he had seen of Cami’s podcast partner. The woman was stunning. But she was too perfect. Nothing like the warm chocolate eyes and swathes of dark curls and delectable curves seated across from him.

“How did the two of you go from psychology to podcasting?”

“After grad school, we both ended up in social work. Neither one of us wanted to go into research, and to be a psychologist, we would have needed a lot more school. We were both already in over our heads with student loans, so…”

“Social work. That must have been difficult.”

“It was. Like I told you the other night, the show started as a hobby. After we started getting followers and attention, it became something more. Fortunately for us, we enjoyed doing it.”

Her eyebrows met in the middle as her lips turned down. “Social work is tough, really tough. And we both had stuff going on in our personal lives. We were burnt out, and the show gave us the escape we needed. It might not be as impactful as what we were doing, but it’s a lot easier to sleep at night.”

James wanted to ask her what the personal stuff had been. “You’re still helping people.”

Cami looked surprised by his gruff tone. She inhaled a quick breath through her nose, and then in a blithe voice, as if it wasn’t obvious she wanted to change the subject, she asked, “What about you? What's the most surprising thing you've done since we graduated? Other than joining the Navy,” she added. “I had no idea you were even interested in the military. You never mentioned it before.”

James stiffened, and her face fell.

“I’m sorry.” Cami worried her lip. “It’s just… I didn't even know you’d enlisted until later. When Justin told me, I was shocked.”

Again Justin.

“What's he doing these days?” James was proud that he didn’t snarl the words. “Married?”

“He’s had a serious girlfriend for years. Layla. She's nice.”

James felt his shoulders relax and didn't choose to examine why the news that Justin was attached was a relief.

“Did you like the Navy?”

The abrupt change of subject threw him. She’d asked him the same question the other night but he hadn’t really given her an answer. James thought for a moment. “I did. It was a challenge. Radically different from the life I’d led up to that point, but I liked the order they insist upon. It gave me the opportunity to find out who I really was, what I was capable of, without all the bullshit that goes with being a Bloom.”

“You got out as soon as your first tour was up?”

James stared at her. Cami had done her homework, and for some reason, that lessened the tightness in his chest. “Keeping track of me?”

Color tinted her cheekbones, and she reached for her glass. “Not keeping track. But when things popped up, I read them. I was curious. Why didn’t you re-enlist?” Her hands came up to twist her hair over her shoulder, and James fought to hide his grin.

The nervous gesture relaxed him, and he answered honestly. “I wasn't great with the authority aspect of the service. I like giving orders a lot more than I like taking them.”

“I can see that. You were pretty cocky back then.”

“I wasn’t cocky,” James objected.