Reaching up, I traced my finger over the flames surrounding the sun on the left side of his chest. “I love this tattoo,” I admitted. “Why did you get it?”

A half-grin appeared. “You really want to know?”

“Yes.”

“It’s pretty lame.”

I followed the sun around his pec. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

“I got it after the fight.” Cam shifted so his knees were against my outer thighs and slid his hands under my shirt. I lifted up, helping him take it off. I have no clue where it ended up. He sort of just tossed it behind him. “I was kind of messed up for a while. Couldn’t go back to school, was stuck in my home, and I’d done that to myself. I was worried that there had been something wrong with me to lose it like I did.”

My hands fell to my sides as he placed one of his on my bare stomach. The tips of his fingers reached the underwire of my bra and the front closure.

“I was depressed,” he admitted. His hair tumbled forward, falling over his forehead as he placed his other hand beside my head. “I was pissed off at myself and the world and all that bullshit.” Pausing, he ran his hand down my belly and then back up, causing me to wiggle. That slight smile was back. “I think I drank just about every liquor my dad had in his bar over the course of a couple of weeks. I knew my parents were worried, but…”

Cam trailed off as he lowered his head, kissing the space between my breasts. I sucked in a sharp breath and he did it again. “Jase came to visit me often. So did Ollie. I probably would’ve lost my fucking mind without them. May I?” He looked up, eyes filled with intent, his fingers on the clasp of my bra.”

My heart jumped. This was a first for us. Mouth dry, I nodded.

“Thank you,” he said, and I thought that was a strange thing to be thankful for. His gaze lowered again, and my breath caught. He unhooked the delicate clasp, but didn’t part the cups. “It was something Jase had said to me while I was drunk off my ass. Don’t know why, but it stuck with me.”

I drew in a ragged breath as he trailed a finger down the center of my chest. “What did… what did he say?”

Cam glanced up through thick lashes. “He said something like things can’t be that bad if the sun is out and shining. Like I said, that stuck with me. Maybe because it’s the truth. As long as the sun’s shining, shit can’t be that bad. So that’s why I got a tattoo of the sun. Sort of a reminder.”

“That’s not lame,” I said.