“Right here,” his deep voice answers as he walks into the living room. I close the door behind me, walking further into the house, but his eyes are dark. He looks upset, and my gut tightens, knowing I’m the reason.

“Can we talk for a minute?” I ask hopefully, knowing we probably shouldn’t talk about this around Lucy.

He nods once, turning to Lucy. “Can you go play in your room for a bit?”

She looks like she wants to argue but then shrugs. “Okay.” She runs down the hall toward her room, and I walk to Camden, taking his hand in mine, but he pulls it away.

Shit, he’s mad at me.

“Cam, I’m so damn sorry.”

“Look, it’s fine.” He keeps his voice low with his eyes on the hallway, probably making sure Lucy is in her room, and then back at me. “You aren’t gay. I understand why you’d be worried about them thinking you are.”

“What?” I’m confused. “I’m not worried about that.”

“It’s fine. Really. I get it. High school is brutal.”

“Yeah. It is.” I grab his hand and pull him toward the couch, then sit and pull him down to sit next to me, despite his grumpy ass apparently not wanting to. He does it anyway. “That’s why I was so worried. I don’t want your secret to come out without your permission.”

“You didn’t want to sleep over.”

“I thought that would only fuel her bullshit rumors. I was trying to keep the space between us in case we had to deny anything.”

“Right.”

He’s still pissed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kissed you out in the open like that. I shouldn’t have risked exposing your secret, and I feel like shit.”

His eyes search mine carefully, his head cocked to the side. “Well, I feel like shit, like I’ve put you in danger of being a target.”

“Me?” I question. “I don’t give a fuck what they say about me. But you have the right to come out when, and if, you want to. Not to be outed by my hateful ex.”

His shoulders seem to sag slightly. “You were worried about me.” It’s almost like he’s saying this to himself.

“Yeah. Of course. What else would I be worried about?” I know I’m missing something.

He shakes his head, his hand dragging over his face. “I thought you were worried they’d think you’re gay.”

My brows pull together in confusion. “Why would I worry about that? It’s not shameful, Camden.” I brush my hand over his cheek and smile when he subtly leans into it. “Not at all. I just didn’t want you to have to deal with any of that.”