Not Just One Night

Chapter 38

Camila's POV

Lauren expelled a heavy sigh as she crawled into the bed, next to me. I was already half-asleep but I stretched out my arm across her pillow to allow her to curl into my side.

She hummed as she pressed her body against my ribs as if she were finally at ease.

"Rough day?" I asked sarcastically and her soft laugh vibrated against me as she nodded her head.

Her long spills of hair drifted out across my neck and shoulder.

"That's an understatement," she whispered and I pulled her tighter.

In response she curtained her arm across my stomach and as if it was instinct, her hand immediately dipped beneath the hem of my t-shirt and her fingertips effortlessly danced across my skin.

And lying there, I tried to remember what it used to feel like to be touched by anyone but her.

Did it create an unsteadiness of my heart? Did fingertips that weren't hers raise chills that spread like fire once the flame had kissed gasoline? Or were my reactions to something as simple as skin against skin, happen only because I was unapologetically obsessed with the girl touching me?

I didn't have an answer but all that I know is that I crave it.

I crave her and I can never imagine walking away from Lauren.

Because I'm in love with her.

Which leaves me confused as to how it was so easy for Chris to leave Jade, just an hour earlier.

No tears, no hesitation as he packed his black duffel bag hectically. He simply left.

No matter how much she begged. No matter that her shrill sobs rang out in Lauren's apartment, as she pleaded with him not to go.

He just walked away; seemingly unfazed and since Lauren had taken him to the airport, I had tried to put myself in his shoes because I wanted to understand her brother. I wanted to side with him instead of his girlfriend that he left in a shattered mess on the couch.

So I tried to imagine how I would react if I had just found out that I had been cheated on and the baby I had already grown attached to, wasn't mine. Not that it was even a feasible possibility, but I tried to relate; show some empathy but I couldn't drum up even an ounce.

Because I saw how heartbroken Jade was, and I heard her choke on her words as she admitted why she slept with someone other than Chris. And I saw how physically shaken she was, knowing that she had lost him.

That, I could feel empathy towards. Because I know what it's like to make a mistake that can threaten the very thing you can't live without. And I know how it feels to look in the eyes of the person you're in love with and see them disappointed. I could relate to Jade. I could see her side of the story and it was easy to support her.

But I couldn't find it in me to do that for Chris. And I guess that's because the moment that Simon revealed the results of the paternity test, he changed.

He wasn't that lovable guy that had promised to do anything for Jade and the baby. He was no longer the guy that had stayed up Friday night after the movie on campus talking to Lauren and I about finding a good job, and finishing school at night, and getting a good apartment in Miami for them to live in until they could afford something better.

No. The version of Chris that showed himself once he learned the baby wasn't his, was a disappointment.

He stormed off from my lawyer's office. Lauren had to chase him through the crowded city at least six blocks before catching up.