Pieces of Us (21 page)

“Huh?”

“A piña colada. I’m making real ones for us and a virgin for Sarah,” she clarified.

“Oh, yeah, sounds good.” I continued watching Cameron carefully, wondering why he didn’t just go home. I couldn’t understand why he wanted to torture himself like this.

“Ugh! Reason number forty-seven!” Sarah huffed from her barstool.

“Reason forty-seven for what?” I asked. Bonnie and Cameron rolled their eyes, and I assumed they were well versed on the other forty-six reasons.

“Reason forty-seven why I can’t wait to
not
be pregnant! I want a
real
cocktail!”

“Only a few more months,” Alex said, coming in with several empty beer bottles. He threw them in the trash as Sarah sighed and took a sip of her mocktail.

“You don’t have to clean up,” I told Alex.

“I like to help out.” He shrugged before placing a kiss on Bonnie’s cheek and taking a fresh armful of beers out of the ice.

“I’ll go make sure Ryan’s not getting into any trouble,” Cameron said, following Alex out.

“Thanks, Cam,” Sarah called, taking another sip of the creamy drink. She grimaced and put down the glass. “It’s not the same without the rum.”

I took a sip of my cocktail and felt the burn on the back of my throat. Normally I wasn’t much of a drinker, but I knew I’d need it today.

“Shall we?” Bonnie asked, picking up the drinks and walking out the door, followed by Sarah.

I grabbed a fruit platter and headed toward the door as Ryan walked in. He gave me another sheepish smile.

“Are you mad at me?” he asked.

“No… but maybe slightly confused and annoyed. Owen, however, might want to hit you.”

“I think I can handle him,” Ryan chuckled. He flexed his large biceps, which caused me to giggle.

“Seriously, though, what were you thinking, Ry?”

“I don’t know. I guess I didn’t really think. Cam told me you guys were going to be friends, so when I heard you were having a barbeque I assumed it would be okay for everyone to come.”

I sighed and punched him lightly on the arm. “Do me a favor, okay? Next time you want to invite people over, can you let me know first?”

“Deal.”

We shook hands and walked out to join everyone in the yard.

“Thanks, Char,” Dad said as I placed the platter in the center of the table.

“I’ll get the grill started in just a second,” Owen said, brushing past me with a meaningful look as he headed toward the door.

I followed him back into the house, and I could feel Cameron’s eyes following me. I hoped he wouldn’t interrupt us again.

“He has to leave,” Owen said as soon as we were alone.

“Let’s not make a fuss. He’s just spending time with his family and some of your work friends. It’s not a big deal. He’s barely even said anything to me. You don’t have to worry.”

“It
is
a big fucking deal! He keeps looking at you,” Owen said, sneering.

I rolled my eyes. “Everyone was looking at me because I was carrying food.”

Owen shook his head and cupped my face with his hands. “He was
looking
at you.”

I knew arguing with him wasn’t going to solve anything, so I freed myself from his grasp and pulled the fridge door open to get the steaks.

“You don’t have anything to worry about. We’re just friends. Why don’t we just relax and enjoy the party, and you can ignore Cameron?”

Owen’s nostrils flared, and he looked furious, but seemed to have lost the will to argue any more.

“Keep him away from me,” he said through gritted teeth before walking back outside with the meat.

I quickly grabbed the oil, barbecue tongs, and some paper towels before following him.

Once the meat was cooking, most of the guys went to stand around the grill and drink beer. I couldn’t believe how cliché it was, and I chuckled to myself when I saw my dad, Ryan, and Owen right in the middle of a male-bonding session.

I sat down at the table where the remaining Harpers were chatting and laughing together. I felt a little like an outsider. They were all family, and I wasn’t a part of that anymore. I downed the rest of my drink before deciding I should probably go and make the rest of the food before the meat was ready.

I walked back into the kitchen and pulled out the ingredients for garlic bread, quickly making a loaf and placing it in the preheated oven. I turned back to the fridge, pulling out vegetables and stacking them on the counter so I could make the salad. I went to the pantry to grab an onion, and when I turned back around Cameron was leaning against the wall.

“Hey,” he said with a smile.

“Hey,” I replied, starting to rip the lettuce into small pieces. I was a little rougher than I normally would have been.

“I just wanted to tell you I’m sorry if I’ve caused any trouble between you and Owen.” He selected a knife from the block on the counter and started slicing one of the tomatoes.

“Oh no, we’re fine.” I could hear the strain in my voice, and when Cameron cocked an eyebrow at me, I knew he’d heard it too. “Okay, well, maybe there’s a little trouble. But it’s fine.”

I washed the lettuce and shook the excess water from it before placing it in a large bowl. Cameron put his sliced tomatoes in and picked up a cucumber.

As I chopped an onion, I could feel my eyes tearing up.

“Sorry about the tears…stupid onion.” I laughed as I wiped my cheek with the back of my hand.

Cameron chuckled softly as he put the sliced cucumbers into the bowl. He washed his hands in the sink as I grabbed a paper towel to wipe my eyes.

“What’s going on?” Owen demanded from the doorway.

Cameron and I spun around to look at him.

“Nothing,” I said. “We’re just making a salad.”

“Nothing? Then why are you crying?” Owen pulled me into a protective hug. “What did he say to you?”

“I didn’t say anything,” Cameron said, looking confused.

“Right, so Charlotte is just crying for no reason?”

I leaned back from him. “I was cutting up an onion for the salad. Really, Cameron didn’t do anything.”

“Right, he’s so innocent,” Owen said sarcastically.

“Is there a problem here?” Cameron asked. He was getting defensive.

“Yes,
you
are the problem here.”

I rolled my eyes and pulled out of Owen’s grasp, taking a step backward and slipping on something. I tried to steady myself, but my arms flailed wildly as I fell backward.

The next thing I knew, a pair of strong arms came around my waist, preventing me from falling flat on my back. Since Owen was in front of me, the warm body behind me could only belong to one other person.

“Are you okay?” Cameron asked.

“Get your hands off her!” Owen roared. He quickly ushered me behind his back before swinging his fist into Cameron’s face.

“
Owen!”
I screamed in a mixture of shock and anger. “What the hell are you doing?”

Before he could answer me, Cameron regained his footing, turned, and with a furious look on his face, pulled his arm back.

“Cam, don’t!” I yelled.

But he swung his arm and hit Owen in the jaw.

Owen grunted and curled over in pain. I thought that was going to be the end of it, but then Owen pushed forward and wrapped his arms around Cameron’s waist, pulling him down to the floor.

“Stop it! Stop it!” I yelled as I watched them roll around, each landing the occasional punch. I reached down to pull Owen off of Cameron, but strong arms clasped around my waist from behind, holding me back.

“You’ll just get hurt by accident,” Alex said as my Dad and Ryan dove in to rip the two men apart.

“What’s going on here?” Dad yelled in his policeman voice.

Owen shrugged off my father’s arms and turned to me. “Are you okay?”

“No, I’m not okay!” I pushed out of Alex’s arms and stomped down the hall to the bedroom. I slammed the door behind me.

I was furious with both Owen and Cameron. I’d never seen Owen be physically violent before, and I never expected him to just attack someone. I’d always considered him one of the calmest, most level-headed people I knew.

As for Cameron, I’d thought of him as a placid person as well. I’d only seen him fight one other time in the ten years I’d known him. It was shortly after we started dating, and he’d done it to protect me…

…The cool wind had blown my hair around my face, and I pulled my coat tighter. Where was Cameron? It wasn’t like him to be late. I looked up and down the street for any sign of him, but there was no one around. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket to see if I’d missed a call from him and found an unread text message flashing on the screen.

Sorry, got held up in class.
I’ll be about 15 minutes late.
See you soon.

I felt myself relax, knowing he was on his way. I searched through the phone’s menu until I got to the games and started a new game of Snake. Lucy and I often challenged each other, and since she usually beat me, I could use this time to practice.

I’d only played for about a minute when I heard footsteps.

“Hey there.”

I glanced up from my game and saw someone I didn’t know. “I’m Craig,” he said pleasantly.

“Hi,” I said before looking back at my phone and directing the small snake around the screen.

Craig’s hand rested on my shoulder, and his index finger brushed my neck. “That was rude.”

“Excuse me?” I stepped away from him.

“I introduced myself, and you didn’t tell me your name. It was rude. Now, let’s try that again. I’m Craig.”

“Ch-Charlotte.” I took another step back as he stepped toward me.

“Charlotte,” he said with a smile. “There, now was that so hard?”

I shook my head and looked back over my shoulder to see if there was anyone else around. Surely someone was about to see the same movie as Cameron and I, but the street in front of the theater was empty. I started to panic.

“Where are you running to?” Craig asked as I started to back away. When I looked at him again he was standing right in front of me. His hands grasped my shoulders firmly. I struggled against him, but he wouldn’t let go.

Up close, he smelled of beer and cigarettes, and I silently prayed Cameron would arrive and Craig would just walk away.

“My boyfriend is coming,” I blurted.

He smiled maliciously. “But he’s not here now, is he?”

He stepped forward, forcing me to stumble backward until I was pressed against the wall.

I opened my mouth to scream, but he clamped his hand over my lips. “Uh-uh, none of that. I don’t want to hurt you,” he whispered into my ear before his moist lips pressed against my neck, and he pushed his body hard against mine.

Hot tears ran down my cheeks, and suddenly he was gone. I opened my eyes and saw Craig and Cameron circling each other, both with furious looks on their faces.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Cameron yelled.

“Just lookin’ after your girl,” Craig taunted.

Cameron launched himself at Craig, and I could only stare as his fist made contact. I heard a loud crack as Craig screamed in pain and blood sprayed on my shoes.

“Cam, be careful!” I yelled. He turned to me, a startled look on his face, as if he’d forgotten I was there. His expression instantly changed from incensed to concerned as he ran over to me.

“Are you okay?” He surrounded me in a hug and stroked his fingers through my hair.

“I’m fine. Can we just go?” I pleaded.

“Yeah.” Cameron looked back over his shoulder at Craig, who was jogging away.

As soon as Craig’s retreating form turned the corner, I relaxed. Once we were safe in Cameron’s car, I ran my fingers gently over his knuckles. I could see the bruise forming.

“Did he hurt you?” Cameron asked.

“No.” I shook my head. “Are
you
hurt?”

“As long as you’re safe, I’m perfectly fine,” Cam said, giving me a smile…

I lay down on the bed and pulled a pillow over my head. I couldn’t believe Owen and Cameron had just been in a physical altercation. It seemed so juvenile and ridiculous.

I could hear talking and the door opening and closing, and I knew people were leaving. I hated being a drama queen, but I didn’t feel like I could face Owen or Cameron right then. Hopefully our guests would understand.

I stood up, walked over to the window, and pulled the curtain back so I could peek outside. Several of the cars were already gone, and I saw Bonnie, Alex, and Cameron walking toward Bonnie’s car. Then Cameron looked back at the house for a moment.

I shook my head as I watched Bonnie’s car pull out of the drive and wondered why I’d yelled at Owen and run away instead of staying and talking to him. I thought for a minute, and I realized it was what I always did when a problem came up. I ran. It seemed to be almost an instinctual reaction to difficulty, but I didn’t want to be afraid to talk with my fiancé. Owen had been trying to teach me to talk through our issues, and it seemed I still had a long way to go.

I walked toward the bedroom door with a newfound determination. Running away from my problems hadn’t helped me in the past, so I’d try to face this issue head on and sort it out before it became any bigger.

I opened the door and walked through the house, surprised to find it completely empty. I headed out into the backyard and found Owen cleaning the grill.

“Hey,” I said.

“Hey, you,” he said with his back to me, continuing to work the brush over the grill.

“What happened in there?” I sat on one of the outdoor chairs and curled my knees up to my chest.

Owen sighed loudly and spun to face me. I could see the beginnings of a black eye, and I shook my head. Cameron probably had a similar bruise on his face.

“I’m sorry — ” Owen began.

“Don’t apologize,” I interrupted. “Just tell me what you were thinking.”

“I don’t know. I walked into the kitchen and you were alone with him, and you were crying, and then he had his arms around you, and I just lost it.”

I was silent for a moment, looking at the sadness and remorse in his eyes. “Are you injured?” I asked.

“A bit of a sore jaw and my knuckles are swollen.”