Page 16 of Harboring Shantae

The thought of being alone with Camron had her stomach twisted in knots.

"Trista will do whatever the fuck she feels like," Camron chuckled as his hand rested on her lower back, sending shivers through her body. "We should probably take our seats. Falcon will want to get in the air soon."

She let Camron lead her to a seat, not because he told her to, but because she wanted to be out of Washington, D.C., just as badly as the rest of them. This was no longer her home. It never was, no matter how hard her parents tried to make it.

The first thirty minutes in the air was nothing but awkward silence. Shantae didn't know what to say now that they were finally meeting in person. It was easy to hold a conversation through letters because she had time to think out her responses and questions. She also didn't have to worry about seeing how he responded if she said something stupid. The anonymity made her comfortable. Sitting on a plane, just a few feet away from him, did not.

"Regretting the choice to come with us already?"

She physically jumped in her seat at the sound of Camron's deep voice. There were so many times she wondered what it would sound like, and if she were being honest, she wasn't disappointed. He was everything she’d dreamed of, and so much more.

"Why would you think that?"

Shantae watched Camron move closer until he was sitting right across from her. He leaned forward and reached his arm out, but stopped just before touching her.

"May I?"

All she could do was nod. No one had ever asked her opinion before. She had no idea what he intended to do, but she knew in her soul she could trust this man. It was insane on so many levels.

"The way your brows furrowed." His fingers brushed across her skin, causing her to relax the muscles in question. "You don't seem happy, and it made me think you were questioning your decision to join us."

She met his copper-colored eyes. There was no mistaking the worry she could see. She wondered what that was all about. She was coming along. What was there for him to worry about?

"Not so much questioning it," she answered. "Just trying to wrap my head around everything that's happened. This feels strange, right?" She gestured between the two of them.

"How so?"

Ugh, he was going to make her explain. Talk about awkward. And she wasn't even referring to the conversation. No, that award solely went to the person talking—her.

"Because we don't actuallyknoweach other." Shantae flopped back into her seat and barely avoided using air quotes.

Camron chuckled. He mirrored her posture before saying, "I mean, I guess that depends on how you define the word. Sixteen years of writing letters would suggest otherwise. You know more about me than most people do, and that includes my team."

That made the butterflies in her stomach flutter that much more. And she didn't know if it was a good thing or not.

"Same," she hiccupped. "Well, not team because I don't have a team, but there are things I shared with you that I never told anyone else."

"So why do you think we don't know each other?"

Yup, he was making this so much harder than it needed to be. Damn Camron for not just letting her get away with simple answers. It was the same when they wrote to each other, but for some reason, she thought he wouldn't be as bold in person.

"I don't know." She tossed her hands up in frustration. "Maybe because when I told you all those things, it was because I never thought I would actually see you, so there wasn't any pressure. Now here we are, on our way to Texas, I assume"—at least she hoped that's where she was going—"and I'm feeling the pressure. Are you the same person I wrote to or are you different? I know I'm different. I'm a hell of a lot shyer. When I would write you, I could erase or reword things. Now I just blurt shit out and hope I don't sound like an idiot."

Which was exactly how she sounded with the ramble she just went on. Argh, this man flustered her.

"I can assure you, I'm exactly as I was when we wrote. What you see is what you get."

Okay, well, that was hot. There could be something said for a man who just laid it all out there and was confident. It also made her feel slightly like a fraud.

"So you mean to tell me you never erased or reworded anything you sent me? No changing it up just so you sounded better?"

Shantae liked the way his eyes crinkled right before he tossed his head back and laughed. The deep baritone of his rumble washed over her. She wanted to soak up every sound she could get.

"Of course, I changed things. There were times I wanted to share something but wasn't ready to dive that deep. Eventually, it came out, but yeah, I did a lot of chucking letters before I actually sent them."

"That makes me feel less like a crazy person," she laughed.

"You're definitely not a crazy person."