Page 23 of Harboring Shantae

This was a horrible wedding reception discussion, but maybe that just fit in with the theme of the whole event. Although, she had to admit Ash did an amazing job considering she was given less than twenty-four hours’ notice and the laughing she heard from the patio meant everyone was having a good time.

"Your father's an asshole and doesn't know a good thing when he has it. I wish you would've told me sooner how bad things were. I would've gotten you out when I left the Marines."

"You were busy saving the world and traveling around Mexico. Having me around only would've complicated that for you."

Shantae watched the way his smile slipped away at her careless words.

"That's not how I meant for that to come out. I just meant that you were doing a good thing and you didn't need my drama on top of it."

Shit. Talk about helping him add another few layers of brick to that ever-present wall Camron had around him.

"No, you're right. My job doesn't exactly make it easy to have a family. It's a good thing this isn't a conventional marriage."

"Yeah, a good thing."

She tried for a smile, but she couldn't quite give it her all. Camron's words broke another piece off her already fragile heart. This time, she had no one to blame but herself. It was her big mouth that ruined the only real smile she had seen on his face since they met.

"Are you hungry? Leah is a fantastic chef, and if you don't get food early, these guys are likely to eat everything."

"Starving." She plastered on her best smile and let Camron lead her back to the party.

She was glad for the change of subject, even if it was something as mundane as food. She doubted what Camron said was true. Not about the food being fantastic. She already knew that was true. Leah had catered lunch while they were getting ready and there wasn't a single thing she tried that she didn't love. No, she doubted that there would be enough food. One glance at the buffet and Shantae had wondered how many extra people they were feeding. Leah had outdone herself and could easily feed one hundred or more people.

No one stopped them to offer congratulations, but she hadn't expected them to. Everyone in attendance knew the reason behind this wedding. They fully supported the decision and swore up and down they would do everything they could to ensure she was safe. For the first time in her life, she truly felt like maybe things would be okay.

But that didn't stop them from having fun and including her in. There was music and dancing, and tons of kids running or waddling around. There was so much love and happiness surrounding them that Shantae couldn't understand how Camron could still think that a family wasn't possible in his line of work. It made her that much angrier at Samantha for destroying the man.

Shantae used the overcrowded backyard to observe how Camron interacted with his team. To someone who didn't know the dynamic, they would think that he was fully submerged in the conversations, but to her—a person he spilled every secret to—Shantae recognized how he listened but never provided input. Or how he shifted from foot to foot every so often like he was one second away from bolting. She wondered if his team even realized it.

"Sorry to interrupt." Ray slipped up next to her.

The technical analyst was nothing as she expected. She was embarrassed to admit she had pictured him as a nerd with glasses and dorky clothes. That was not Ray at all. Sure, he wore glasses, but it was more like Clark Kent than Steve Urkel. It was a shame that he didn't do anything for her. She was betting there were women lining up to hop into bed with him, and she was sure he left each of them satisfied. She couldn't remember the last time a man even made her come.

She kept the sigh to herself and answered. "No need to be sorry. I was just zoning out." She brought the water glass up to her lips.

"Looking at your man. I get it."

She used the excuse of taking a drink to steady her voice before answering. "Myfriend." She put a heavy emphasis on the last word. "And yes, or well, observing I guess is more accurate. He's told me so much about himself and his team that I was taking the time to just watch them together."

Just then, Camron swung his gaze in her direction. Her lungs seized to work, his stare was so intense.

"Pretty sure Panther has never looked at any of his friends the way he looks at you. And if looks could kill, I would be dead right now," Ray chuckled.

Sure enough, Camron's brows were furrowed and aimed directly at Ray.

"Wanna bet I can make him jealous?" Ray sounded so confident, but she would easily win this one. For Camron to be jealous, he would actually have to have feelings for her. And she knew that wasn't possible for him. She was so confident that she raised her eyebrows in challenge as she took another sip of water. Big mistake.

"Justin Bieber is the greatest singer of all time and I would completely bang him in a heartbeat."

Water sprayed out of her mouth in the most unladylike manner. She tried to force air into her lungs but she was too busy laughing at Ray's absurd comment that she couldn't catch her breath. Ray laughed right along with her, but he was gentlemanly enough to help her out with a solid pound on the back.

"Having a good time over here?"

Shantae was so caught up in the situation that she hadn't noticed Camron moving in their direction until he was standing in front of her and Ray.

"Ray ..." She tried to explain, but just thinking about what Ray said to her caused another fit of laughter to overtake her body. Tears leaked from her eyes the harder her body shook. Shantae had never laughed so hard and she couldn't be sure through the blurry vision but she thought several of Camron's teammates were looking at her funny.

"I confided one of my deepest secrets with her and this is how she responded."