I tapped on my keyboard and studied the words on the page. Everything was blurring together. I rubbed my eyes and spun around in my chair. I leaned back a little and gazed out of my office window, taking in the sights of the city. The thoughts drifted and like always, I found myself thinking about my tattooed roommate. 

Since our date at the bar had gone so well, we had been on a few more dates. He took me to lunch on Wednesday, showing up at my office and surprising me. Last night, he picked me up for dinner and we spent the whole night talking. Yes, just talking.

After I dropped the bomb on him about wanting to see other people, Chance suddenly became the guy who loves to go on dates. Who knew? While I appreciated his enthusiasm, I held steadfast to my own rule about staying out of each other's beds.

Each date we had ended with us kissing, but going to bed alone. Chance always protested, insisting that he just loved sleeping next to me and would keep his hands to himself, but I didn't give in. Our bedroom doors were as far as we went.

And I refrained from walking into the bathroom while he showered too. As much as I hated these restrictions, I had to lay down the law with him. I was already sort of bending the rules by letting him take me out, but I was enjoying seeing this side of him. He was attentive and sweet, going out of his way to spend time with me, even if it meant neither one of us was getting off.

I hated that part. Although we hadn't had sex, Chance always found a way to keep my body sated. I missed his mouth on me, even though his kisses were amazing. I missed his fingers too...fuck. This was harder than I thought it would be. 

I swung around in my office chair and stared at the screen once more. My articles were going great. It seemed that the readers were hooked on the adventures of a slightly overweight girl and the sexy, tattooed personal trainer she hired to help her get fit. My story was a slow burn that had the readers invested and the girls in the office begging for the advanced copy.

I was stuck at this point of my story and it was too late to work through it, so I began saving my work and shutting down my laptop. 

"Are you ready for the weekend?"

I glanced up to find Jared leaning against the doorframe, smiling at me. "Yep," I replied brightly. "Hello weekend, right?"

I gathered everything up and strolled over to shut my light off. Jared fell in step beside me as we wove our way through the hallway and over to the elevators. "Some of us are going out for drinks. Do you wanna go too?"

We shuffled into the crowded silver box and I sighed. "I don't know."

Jared scoffed, "Do you have some hot date? Is that why you can't come with us?" He was teasing of course. He had seen Chance popping in and whisking me off to lunch this week.

"No," I insisted. "No plans tonight."

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't anxious to get home and see Chance. He had been very busy working at the gym and overseeing the renovations at all three locations. Chance was working hard and loving his new position, working directly under Mr. Charles. He had even done a print ad for some new gym equipment that his boss couldn't wait to unveil. 

"So come with us!" Jared replied excitedly. "I've been asking you for a while and you always say no."

I rolled my eyes and nodded. "Okay, okay!"

A half hour later, we sauntered into The Wharf. Jared had run me by the apartment so I could leave my work bag there, as well as change my clothes. I slipped into a pair of slim fitting light blue jeans and a purple cold shoulder top with sequined straps. Jared grabbed my hand when we walked in and guided us to the bar where our work friends were already drinking.

"You two better have a shot and catch up," Meg ordered us, raising her hand and calling the bartender over.

I asked for a shot of Jack and Jared got a shot of Seagram's gin. "I guess we better do what the boss says," I shrugged and then carefully sipped my shot. 

"Oh come on, Cami! That's not how you do a shot!" Jared teased me.

"This is how I do it," I laughed. "And unless you want this liquor all coming back up on you, I suggest you let me do it my way."

Jared held his hands up and gave up trying to tell me what to do. We each ordered a mixed drink with the alcohol we had just consumed. I glanced around the room and sipped my drink. Jared followed my gaze and leaned into me. 

"Please tell me there are some cute guys in here."

I laughed and shrugged. "I didn't realize you were looking."

"Oh, honey, I'm always looking. And besides, straight bars are a great place to find men."

"It would've been so fun to go to a gay bar tonight."

"It would have," Jared agreed, smiling. "But those uptight girls from advertising would have never agreed to that."

I tipped my head to look down the bar at them, noticing they were both nursing a glass of white wine. "I think you're right," I nodded, making a face. 

Jared stifled a laugh. "I like you like this," Jared retorted, motioning to me with his hand.

"You mean my clothes?"

Jared nodded. "Yeah, it's good to see you relaxed too and cutting loose. It suits you."

"Well, dear Jared, I am nothing if not fun. But just to make sure, let's have another drink."

Jared motioned for the bartender to come over and he ordered us both another drink. I finished off my first drink and noticed that I was starting to feel warm all over. I asked the bartender to place an order for some food that Jared and I could share. I was starting to enjoy the tipsy feeling, but these were work friends and they didn't need to meet Drunk Cami just yet.

When I heard laughing coming from the opposite corner of the room, the group of people sitting there caught my attention. I saw Kyle smiling, his head full of dark curls bouncing as he animatedly told a story. I recognized a few of the other guys too as personal trainers who worked with Chance. There were also two women seated on either side of Kyle, one I recognized as the receptionist and the other I didn't know.

"Isn't that your sexy muse?" Jared asked.

I gave him a strange look but when the waitress walked away, I noticed that Chance was sitting there as well. My stomach twisted when I saw the blonde next to him, running her fingers up his arm. They were talking and she was leaning in close to him.

I twirled back to the bar and swallowed down the rest of my drink. Jared dipped his head to catch my eyes and asked, "Is something wrong?"

"No," I retorted quickly. "I'm fine."

"Aren't you going over there to say hi?"

I scoffed. "No way. That's the last place I wanna be."

The bartender brought me a refill and smiled at me. "The gentleman in the corner sent this over."

"Oh, God," I sighed. "Tattoos or dark, curly hair?"

"Tattoos," he grinned before moving on down the bar to serve someone else.

"Please tell me 'dark, curly hair' is gay," Jared asked with his eyebrows raised hopefully. 

I laughed. "No, he's not."

Jared sighed dramatically. "Did you date him too?"

"Once," I gulped. "He's a good kisser though."

"Girl! Tell me everything!" He paused and glanced back that way, "Is he why you don't want to go over there?"

I shrugged and picked at the appetizer placed in front of us. "Sort of."

Jared gave me another look and I excused myself to go to the restroom. I snaked my way past the other groups of people here to celebrate the beginning of the weekend. I ducked my head and hoped Kyle and his friends didn't see me. I didn't dare to hope that Chance might make an appearance at some point, since he sent me the drink, he obviously wanted me to know he was watching.

When I exited the restroom, I saw Kyle coming out of the men's. He smiled brightly at me and he seemed to be fighting the urge to hug me. "Cami! Wow, you look great."

"Hi, Kyle," I replied, my arm coming up and doing some sort of half-assed wave thing. Ugh, quit being lame.

Kyle and I stood in the narrow hallway staring at each other. Until he said, "I was hoping you'd call me when you got back from your trip. It's been a week since we talked."

I shrugged and nodded. "Yeah, I know. My new job has kept me busy."

A few people passed between us as we stood there. I felt terribly guilty for not calling Kyle when we got home. I knew from that last conversation we had before I left town, he was pretty hung up on me. I felt like it was wrong to encourage that considering I only had eyes for one guy. 

"Hey, Kyle."

I didn't look to see who was calling him, I already knew by the sound of his voice. Kyle stepped closer and touched my bare shoulder. "It was great seeing you, Cami. Gimme a call sometime. We can go bowling again."

I nodded and smiled at Kyle, acknowledging how cute and sweet he was, but knowing he wasn't the right guy for me.

"We're starting a game of pool if you wanna join," Chance told Kyle as he walked away from me. 

The two spoke quietly for a moment before they glanced at me. Kyle gave me one last wave and walked off. Chance just stared and then turned around to join him.

"Thanks for the drink," I called after him while walking in his direction.

Chance stopped abruptly, nearly causing me to collide into him. He whirled around and gave me a hard look. "If you were so grateful, I would've expected you to come by my table and thank me. Not slink off to the restrooms to meet up with Kyle."

"I didn't," I argued. "I wasn't trying to talk to him at all."

Chance looked surprised and he didn't hide it. "You two haven't been talking?"

I shook my head. "No. I haven't talked to him since before we left for Seattle."

I watched Chance run his hand down his face and sigh deeply. "When you said you wanted to see other people…"

"You assumed I meant him?"

Chance nodded. "So...you're not seeing him?"

"No."

Chance ran his eyes over me and smiled. "You look good. Did you go home and change?"

I held my breath when Chance slipped a finger under the strap of my shirt and smoothed his knuckle over my bare shoulder. "I did. I wanted to drop off my laptop and get into something more comfortable."

Chance pulled on my bra strap and smiled. "No stickers on your tits tonight?"

I laughed. "No, not tonight."

He nodded as his eyes roamed over my body. "So the guy you're sitting with? Is he your date?"

"Jared?" I scoffed. "No. You met him. I'm just meeting up with my work friends, like you are."

"Did he take you by the apartment?"

"Yes."

"Is he taking you home?"

I shrugged. "We haven't gotten that far, but I'm sure he would if I asked him."

Chance scowled as he glanced back at the bar. "Nah. I'll drive you home, baby."

"No. I'm sure I'd be in the way. Especially if you're going home with Blondie."

Chance furrowed his brow and then chuckled. "Alicia? You're jealous of her?"

"I'm not jealous," I countered, shoving past him on my way back to the bar.

Halfway there, I was stopped by a muscular, tattooed arm around my waist. "I think it's cute how jealous you get."

Chance's warm breath on my ear and the familiar smell of scotch on his breath had me tingling. He pulled my back tightly to his chest and let his fingers roam under my shirt, smoothing gently over the skin just above my jeans. "I'm not jealous. Now let me go."

I spun around to face him, pressing my hands to his chest. "I need to go. Jared is probably wondering where I am."

"Tough," he grunted, gripping my hips. "Dance with me."

We were surrounded by grinding bodies. This was nothing like when we were here on Monday. The bar was fuller and they even had a deejay playing dance tunes. Chance lowered his head, pressing his forehead to mine. "You look so fucking good."

I laced my fingers behind his head and smiled. "Oh do I? Well, I think you look sexy, so we're quite the pair, I'd say."

We swayed to the music as Chance's hands held me tightly to him. "I should get back. And it looks like your friends are waiting on you."

Chance looked over his shoulder at his friends as they waved a pool cue around. He laughed. "I guess it's my turn to shoot. You be good," he hummed softly in my ear.

"And if I'm not?" I teased.

"I'll be watching," he threatened playfully, pointing to his own eyes and then to me.

I turned to find Jared nearby with our drinks in hand. "I wanna dance!" he declared. "You thirsty?"

I nodded and finished my jack and diet, placing the empty glass on a nearby table as Jared and I sung loudly and moved to the music. "I thought you fell in!" he shouted. 

"No," I chuckled. "Just ran into someone."

"I saw you with Chance. How's that going?" Jared asked before spinning me around once. 

"It's complicated!" 

We danced for two more songs before I convinced him to come back to the bar with me. "So Chance has some hot friends," Jared mused as he glanced over to their group.

I gave Jared a playful scowl. "Which one do you like?"

"The red head with the stubble is adorable. I think he looks familiar. Could we go over there and find out?"

I scrunched up my nose at him and shook my head. "Please?" he begged, giving me the puppy dog eyes. 

I groaned and threw back the rest of my drink. "Fine, let's go."

Jared excitedly clapped before grabbing my hand and pulling me over to the pool tables. I stepped up next to Kyle, smiling at him nervously. "Do you care if we watch?"

Kyle beamed and shook his head. "Who's your friend?" he asked, nodding toward Jared.

"Oh! This is Jared. We work together."

Kyle leaned over me and held out his hand for Jared to shake. "Nice to meet you," Jared sighed. I gave Jared a friendly elbow to the ribs when he didn't let go of Kyle. 

Kyle began introducing us to everyone. "This is Oliver, Jackson, Wendy, Alicia and Chance," Kyle told us, pointing everyone out as he went. Then he pointed out the guy Jared was interested in and said his name was Jordan. 

Jordan walked right over and smiled at Jared. "Have I met you somewhere before?"

Jared nodded. "I think so. Do you ever go to Flashbacks?"

"That must be where I've seen you," Jordan grinned. "Wanna go get a drink with me?"

Jared could barely contain himself. "Wanna come with us?"

"I'm fine," I assured him, squeezing his hand. I gave him an excited look and shooed him along. 

Chance was leaning against the wall, talking to Alicia and suddenly I wanted to be anywhere but here. Kyle approached with a sweet smile and handed me a pool cue. "Wanna shoot?"

"Oh, I don't know. I never played before."

"Come on. I'll show you," Kyle insisted, hooking his arm around my waist and guiding me to the pool table. "It's not that hard."

Kyle helped me line up the cue, urging me to lean over the table and showing me the hand positioning. He held my hip gently and talked me through it while whispering in my ear. I looked up to find Chance standing at the opposite end of the table with his arms crossed over his chest. 

Kyle took a step back and let me take the shot. I sunk the ball on the first try and turned to Kyle to see his reaction. "You're a great teacher," I beamed at him.

"You're an amazing student," he replied, pulling me close and folding me into his arms.

I wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him back until I saw Chance standing behind Kyle. "Nice job, baby," Chance clapped. 

Kyle pulled away slowly and glanced between us. "Baby?" Kyle echoed. "Why is he calling you that?"

Chance grinned devilishly, hooking his arm around my neck. "Didn't Cami tell you the good news, Kyle?"

Kyle looked at me with sad eyes and I hated it. "What didn't you tell me?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but Chance beat me to it. "Oh Cami won't be calling you for anymore bowling dates. Or any type of date."

Kyle just stared as I scowled. "Chance, don't do this."

"Yeah, sorry, man. Cami is my girlfriend now, so...sorry about that."

Chance's tone was condescending and rude and the look of Kyle's face broke my heart. Chance pulled me around to face him, holding the sides of my neck as he kissed me...hard. I squirmed in his arms until he released me. "You're such a dick!" I whisper-shouted.

I shoved my way through the crowd, arriving back at the spot we were sitting in and finding Jordan in my spot. I called the bartender over and asked for the total of my tab. Jared was trying to get me to tell him what happened, but all I wanted was to escape and forget this night. I settled up my bill and declined Jared's offer to drive me home. I didn't want to mess up his night with Jordan. I hugged them both and told them to be careful getting home. 

I made my way out the front door and found a quiet spot to call for a ride. I felt fingers on my elbow guiding me down the sidewalk. "Just let me go," I growled at Chance. "I'll find my own way home."

Chance guided me to the passenger side of his car and opened the door. "Get in. I told you I'd take you home."

I stepped up to him and poked him in the center of his chest. "That was before you acted like a total dick. There was no reason to be so cruel to Kyle!"

"He needed to know!"

I crossed my arms over my chest and narrowed my gaze. "Oh he knows. He knows you're a dick! Why did you lie?"

"I didn't," Chance insisted.

"You said I was your girlfriend!"

"I want you to be my girlfriend! Fuck, Cami. I thought this was what you wanted. You asked for a fucking label, so I gave you one," he exclaimed, pulling on his hair as he paced in front of me.

"Not like this," I countered. "You said it out of jealousy. You might as well have pissed all over me and screamed, 'she's mine' with the way you acted."

Chance sighed deeply. "I did...I thought you wanted this."

"I wanted you to ask me. And not because you're pissed and jealous over Kyle hugging me, which is stupid by he way. But you didn't ask! You declared it like I was your property or something." Just thinking about the way he acted left a bad taste in my mouth. "I can't believe you did this."

Chance shook his head and groaned. "I don't know what to do here, Cami. Yeah, I was jealous, but it doesn't mean I don't want you to be my girl. You really don't want this?"

His voice was cracking and I knew he was hurting, but this was more than I could take. As I stood there glaring at Chance, I felt a soft touch on my shoulder. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine," Chance piped up.

I turned to see the concerned look in Kyle's eyes. "I'm okay, but…"

Kyle froze and turned back to face me. "Can you give me a ride home?"

Kyle nodded and guided me to his car. I could hear Chance shouting behind me as I got in and Kyle joined me. "Where to?" he asked, glancing in his rear view mirror as Chance pouted behind us. 

"Your place?" I asked hopefully.

.....

A/N: I know, I know. I'm terrible. Chance misbehaved...again. Cami shouldn't have run away. These two, amiright? I know I didn't reply to all the comments from the last chapter, but I will. Thank you all so much for the love ❤❤❤