Curves in the Road (The Southern Devotion Series Book 2) (4 page)

My grin stretched from ear to ear as her words warmed my heart
. My night with Tristan had been a lot of fun but talking to Katelyn and Derrick is my favorite thing to do. “Hey, Katie-cat! I miss you sweetie.” 

She sighs dramatically, “Me too. Daddy says you work at Disney
World. Can I come out there and ride rides with you?”

I giggled as I heard Derrick in the background say, “She doesn’t ride rides all day long, Katie.”

Katie scoffed, “I know, daddy. I meant she can do that on her day off with me.” She came back to the phone and said, “Men.” 

The tone of voice she used when uttering that one word caused me to break into a small fit of laughter.
“Who taught you that? Uncle Cameron?” Katie giggled letting me know that was indeed her teacher.

Derrick again pipes up, “You need to spend a little less time with Uncle Cam I think. Say goodnight Katelyn, you have school in the morning.”
 

Katie giggled again, “Goodnight Katelyn. And Goodnight MJ, I love you.”
 

Those words always m
ade me smile when she said them. “I love you too, Katie-cat. Sweet dreams.” 

Derrick takes the phone and sighs, “What am I gonna do with that girl?”

I respond, “What would you do without her?”

He chuckles, “Touché.” Then he added, “Where are my manners, Hello beautiful, how was your day?” This man could make my heart swell to the point of bursting with his sweet words.
And to think I almost missed out on this due to a few hundred miles between us.

“It was good, it’s even better now
that I'm talking to you.” 

I could hear the smile in his voice as he asked, “So, what did you do?”
 

“I met someone.”
  His silence spoke volumes as to the assumption he made from that. “Oh wait, no, not like that. I mean it’s a guy, but he’s a friend.” 

He must have been holding his breath because I heard a long outtake of breath before he said, “Don’t give a guy a heart attack like that MJ.”

It made me a little happy that he was worried about it, even daresay jealous. ”You have nothing to worry about, believe me. Though technically, a guy did ask for my number.”

Acting as though he’s frustrated he says, “That’s it, I’m on my way down there now.”
 

All I could do was laugh. “The guy that I hung out with tonight though, his name is Tristan. He’s really sweet, you’d like him.” I
proceeded to tell him all about our evening.

When I filled him in on the little sister part, he sounded as though he had to hold back tears himself. It made sense to me when he said, “I worry about Katelyn being bullied. I’m not sure what I’d do in that situation.”
It made me angry to think about it, so I could only imagine how he felt as her father. Derrick puts Katie above everyone in life, as it should be with a child.

“Well, you wouldn’t have to do anything because I’ll kick anyone’s butt that hurts that little girl. No matter what consequences I faced.”
 

He laughs softly, “I miss you, MJ
.” 

I choked back tears at
those words, and then added, “I miss you too.” 

We said our goodnights and I had arrived home at this point. Once inside, I changed into my pajamas and snuggled into my bed as I put a movie in to lull me to sleep. I was a bit jazzed from the great day I had and really wished I’d gotten Tristan’s number so I could call and talk to him some more.

Chapter Five

**Derrick**

Mary Jane and I had been talking back and forth for weeks now without anyone finding out.  Then one day I called Cameron to talk to him about a business idea and he said he didn't have time to talk because he was packing for Florida.

"Wait, what? You're going to Florida? For what?" I asked.

"I'm headed down to s
pend time with my girl MJ. Ooh…sorry Derrick, I wasn’t thinking about who I'm talking to." Cameron's voice became awkward as he fumbled to change the subject.

"It's cool Cam. Um…can you keep a secret?" I wanted to send something to Mary Jane and this was the perfect opportunity. This probably wasn’t the best person to take care of keeping a secret but I had to hope that he'd come through for me.

"Does my ass look great in everything?" he responds.

"Is that a question or an answer?" I ask, confused.

"Both.  So spill already!"

"Would you stop by before you leave town. I have something for MJ. We've kind of been seeing each other long distance. We don't want to tell anyone though in case it ends up not working out." 

"Shut the front door! I knew it! I told everyone that I figured you two were bumping on the sides and leaving us out of the juicy details!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"There hasn'
t been any bumping. We've been Skyping and talking on the phone."

Cameron made a "pshh" sound, "No bumping? Derrick, baby, that is not a CamWow secret."

"CamWow?" I ask again perplexed.

"Yep, you gotta be able to Wow the Cam with your secrets and I'm not feeling the wow. I feel very disappointed. Do me a favor, once the bumping in secret starts, fill me in. But yes, I'll deliver your package."  He snickers for a moment and says, "Although I'm sure she'd rather you deliver a different package in person."

"Thanks Cameron, I'll see you shortly." I hung up before the conversation took an even more awkward turn. Cameron is a bit over the top, but he means well. Though somehow he has a talent to turn anything you say into something sexual.

An hour later Cameron knocked on the door. I opened it to find him leaning against the frame. He
lowers his sunglasses and winks. "Hey there hot stuff. I came to grab your package." 

Shaking my head, I wave him inside. "Give me a sec and I'll grab it
for you."

"Whew! Honey, I am a married man, you can't talk about stuff like that around me!"  Cameron said, fanning himself.

Taking the steps two at a time I ran to my room to get the gift for Mary Jane. When I came back downstairs I handed it to Cameron who stared at it a moment before asking, "Can I look at it since I'm being the delivery boy?"

"Sure," I said, opening the box for him. Inside was a silver locket that had a photo of Katelyn on one side and a photo of
me on the other. "I thought it would be a way for us to be with her. Is it cheesy?"

"Yeah, a little, but romantic gestures usually are cheesy. I love it and I know she will too. I'm rooting for you guys, Derrick. I really am."  Cameron pulled me close for a hug, patting my back before letting me go again.

"Thanks man, I appreciate it. Remember, don't tell anyone about us, please. We really want to see how this works without any interference and without upsetting Katelyn."

He nods then takes his index finger and makes
an x over his heart, "Cross my heart."

After Cameron left, I ran errands for the day. My first stop, my brother Ashton's house. Ashton and his wife Gracie have been married for a few months and they now have a baby on the way. They went through hell and back to be together and now live practically perfect lives. I envy the ease of th
eir lives now but not the path they took to get there.

Before I could knock on the door, it swung
open and Gracie jumped back with a squeak of surprise. "Derrick! You about gave me a heart attack."

Ashton came running around the corner, "Gracie!"  Even though the threat of her stalker was gone, Ashton still jumped anytime Gracie sounded scared. "Shit, bro, why didn’t you call first?"

Instinctively I lifted my hand to cover my eyes, "Wow, I really wish I had now." When I said Ashton came running around the corner, well he was completely naked at the time.

Gracie shrugged, glancing over Ashton as he turned to go back to their room. "Couldn't have gotten a better view if you ask me." She laughed and waved me inside. "Take a seat. I was on my way out to run some errands for school supplies. It can wait
though; I never get to visit with my favorite brother-in-law. You want something to drink?" Gracie is still in college, working to get her degree in psychology. She'd been undecided on what she wanted to do before her ordeal with an ex-boyfriend. With the help of her friends and therapy, she was able to overcome her fears and put her experience to good use in helping others.

"A Coke would be nice
, thanks Gracie." Their house is always spotless and used to be filled with paintings of scenery that Ashton had drawn. Now it was filled with pictures of their wedding and their life in general. The only painting still on the wall consisted of one Ashton did of their wedding photo. The rest of his paintings went into the man cave; his basement rec room.

"Here you are," Gracie said, handing me the canned drink. "How've you been?" She asked, meaning she wants to know how I'm coping with losing Mary Jane.
My sister-in-law is easy to read even when she's trying to be subtle.

"Good. How's Mary Jane?"
It feel silly asking since I talk to MJ every day, but if we're going to keep this relationship a secret then I have to be careful not to cause suspicion. Truthfully, I wanted to confess everything to Gracie at this moment. The only thing keeping me from doing that is that it could get back to Katelyn and I need to protect my daughter in case things don't go the way I want them to.

She grinned, "Was it that obvious of a question? Sorry. She's good too, I think. She and Angel seem to like their new place. Cameron's on his way down today to spend some time with them. I wanted to go but school gets in the way. I'm going to make a trip before I get too far along to fly though." She rubs her non-existent belly as she talks about the baby on the way.

"Katelyn's going to so excited to have a cousin." Adjusting the subject away from Mary Jane seems the best idea to keep me from saying the wrong thing.  Ashton returns to the room fully dressed. "Glad you could join us in clothes this time." 

Ashton leaned down and kissed Gracie's head, "Hello my beautiful wife," and then leaned over to kiss her stomach, "and my beautiful baby."

Gracie giggled at his greeting, giving him a soft kiss once his face came back up to hers again. "I'll leave you two to talk. I'll be back in a bit."  Ashton and I stood with her, as good gentlemen do. Gracie gave me a hug and whispered, "Call Mary Jane. I know she'd love to hear from you.  I'm still rooting for you guys." 

After she left, I told Ashton, "That girl there is awesome." 

"You don’t have to tell me that, why do you think I married her?" Ashton led the way down to his man cave so we could talk. "So what's the idea you wanted to run by me?"

"Remember when we were younger and talked about running our own club one day?" Ashton nodded so I continued, "What's wrong with doing that now?  Cameron is graduating with his interior design degree, Gavin negotiates commercial real estate, you have the contacts for entertainment, and I have the security contacts. We have the perfect arrangement. The four of us can run it together, as a family."

With his thumb and index finger, Ashton rubbed at his beard, his eyes squinted in thought. I could see the wheels turning as he ran over all the details in his mind. When a smile formed on his face, he said, "I love it. Let's do this." 

We worked for hours mapping out details of what we wanted to do with this nightclub. By the end of the day, we had chosen a general locale to look for a building, the first entertainment we'd want for the opening week, and the type of menu that would be popular, other than alcohol drinks of course.

It really felt like we were getting things on track and I felt like I had something to lose myself in instead of moping about missing MJ.

My phone had gone off several times while we were meeting. Each time, I checked it to be sure it wasn’t Katelyn. Three of the missed texts were from Mary Jane. The first one read
I love my locket, it’s the best gift I've received since the mug you gave me the day I moved. You're amazing.
The second read
My friend Tristan and I are taking Cameron out tonight. It may be late when we get home but I'd love to talk if you feel up to it. I miss you.
The third read
Forgot to say, text me when you go to bed if you haven't heard from me. That way I know it's too late to talk.

Even if I didn’t get a wink of sleep tonight, I wasn’t going to tell MJ it would be too late for her to call me. I wanted, no needed, to hear that voice tonight. I needed to tell her the news about the nightclub. I texted her back
Definitely text me tonight. I want to talk to you. I miss your voice and it helps me sleep to hear it.

Chapter Six

**Mary Jane**

"Where is this hot studly friend you told me about MJ?" Cameron asks the moment we arrived at my apartment.

"He's got to perform tonight and then we're all going out afterwards."

"Perform?  Is that a nice way of saying he's getting freaky?" Cameron wiggled his eyebrows.

"Is everything about sex with you?
Never mind, stupid question.  He's filling in one of the dance numbers for a co-worker."

He claps his hands excitedly, "Let's go watch! I love dance numbers!"

"Really?  OK, let me change and grab my badge to get us in for free."  I slipped on some comfy jeans, a blank tank top with sparkles and slipped on my cowboy boots from back home.

Cameron whistled when I walked out of the bedroom. "Baby girl, you look amazing. Love sure does look good on you."

"Love? No, Tristan and I are simply good friends."

"Not Tristan. I know about you and Derrick. In fact, he asked me to give you this," he says as he reached into his pocket and
pulls out a small jewelry box. Inside was a beautiful silver locket. As I opened it to see the pictures inside I became teary. "Aww, baby girl, you
do
love him don’t you?"

All I could do was nod, though Cameron was elated by that response. He began jumping up and down clapping. "This is so awesome! We're all really going to be family soon.
Since Gavin is his adopted brother, technically you, Gracie, and I will have landed a set of brothers! Now they need to scrounge up one more for Angel and life would be perfect."

"Don’t get ahead of yourself Cameron. This is still new for us and there is a lot to work through.
We do live hundreds of miles away from each other and the successfulness of long distance relationships is not high."

"Don't think so negatively, sweets," Cameron said disappointed in my pessimism.

"I'm not being negative; I'm being realistic is all. So far things are amazing so I'm hopeful. I have to keep my head above water though, so to speak. If I get to deep in to thinking of the future, I could get hurt a lot worse if it doesn't go how I hope."

He dropped the subject for now.  We went to see Tristan perform and both thought the show was pretty fantastic.
It's the first time I'd seen Tristan dance. He had a lot of rhythm and a pretty great singing voice too. Afterwards I sent Tristan a text to meet at my apartment before we go out.

We'd been home for a few minutes where there was a knock on the door. "I'll get it!" Cameron yelled out, rushing to the door. "Hot damn! Hello, you must be Tristud."

Tristan laughed and held his hand out, "It's Tristan."

"Nope I had it right the first time," Cameron said flirting.

"You have to be Cameron. You're exactly as MJ described you," Tristan walked into the room while Cameron shut the door behind him.

"Sexy, funny, perfect in every way, a package of awesome…that's her description right? It's all true, I won't deny it."

"I see you've met Cameron and his ego," I said walking in to greet Tristan.

Tristan lifted me up in a bear hug. "He's
great; I could totally hang with this guy."  He glanced around the room, "Where's Angel tonight?"

Cameron gasped, "Shut up.
You're smitten with mi amiga Angel aren't  you?"

"What? No!" Tristan attempted to deny it. It was something I hadn't noticed until now. He
blushed as Angel's name was mentioned. We had hung out with Angel a few times since Tristan and I became friends. Angel's naturally a flirt so I'd seen her tease him though I'd never noticed if he was interested in her flirting. Now that Cameron pointed it out, it made sense. Tristan would be great for Angel; the problem is that she is not one to settle down. Angel likes to flirt, loves to date, and enjoys sex of course, but relationships have never been her forte.

"You're totally smitten, it's written all over your face. I think you two would be adorable." Cameron started,
and then noticed the look on my face. "Oh, I'm an asshole. She's on a date, isn’t she?"

Nodding slightly I noticed the disappointment on Tristan's face at hearing the news. "Sorry Tristan, I didn’t know you liked her."

He shrugs it off as no big deal. "What did you guys think of the show tonight?"

“Well, you’re no Johnny Castle,” Cam said.
 

“Who is Johnny Castle?” Trista
n asked.

“Dirty Dancing? Patrick Swayze? Ring a bell now?” Cam asked.

Tristan replied, “Nope, never seen the movie.” 

Cam’s mouth dropped open in shock, “Get out.”
 

Trista
n chuckled, “I’m serious, I’ve never seen it.” 

Cam pointed at the door, “No, seriously, Get out!
  No one is allowed in my presence if they haven’t seen Dirty Dancing! Nobody puts baby in a corner either!” Tristan laughed and stood there for a moment watching as Cam crossed his arms and tapped his foot. He gestured dramatically again toward the door. Cameron lifts his hands dramatically into the air, "I can't be in his presence." He storms off to my bedroom and slams the door behind him.

“Is he serious?” he asked me.

Eyes wide, eyebrows raised, I reply, “Deadly. You can come over tomorrow and we'll watch it.”

Trista
n turned to me, “I can’t believe that just happened. Who takes movies so seriously that they base their friends on whether they've seen them or not?”

“That’s
Cameron; he’s serious about his movies. He’s one of the most awesome friends anyone could ask for though, which is how he gets away with that stuff. You’ve seen The Breakfast Club though, right?”

Trista
n shook his head and said, “I know they reference it in Pitch Perfect though. Does that at least win me some points?” 

I wrapped my arm through his and sighed, “Sheesh, man. We’re having a movie night tonight. If he finds out you don’t know who John Bender is, you’ll never be accepted into the group.”
 

Trista
n looked pensive, “I know Judd Nelson, Anthony Michael Hall and Emilio Estevez are in it, I don’t remember anyone named John Bender though. Is he still acting?” 

I rolled my eyes and
pressed my hand over his mouth. “Stop talking Tristan, you’re digging yourself a deeper grave here. John Bender is played by Judd Nelson and he is the all time crush of Cameron's.  Any other work of his can go unnoticed, but when people don't know John Bender, Cameron disowns them.”  There's a reason we call Cameron a drama queen. He says he's a drama princess because his mother is still alive though. It is a bit shocking at first to see how he responds to things such as someone not seeing a movie, but at least he's passionate about something. Well, okay, Cameron's passionate about
a lot
of things.

When Cameron heard the music starting for Dirty Dancing, he ran into the room and plopped onto the couch between us. He turned to Tristan and said, "You're about to have the time of your life."
Tristan, of course, didn't understand the reference to the song made popular by this movie. Every scene where they were dancing, Cameron got up to mimic the moves and tried desperately to get one of us to dance with him. I finally agreed to do a little of the end number with him, minus the lift. As crazy as Cam can be he is still one of the best people to hang out with if you're in the mood to laugh.

We put The Breakfast Club in and settled down for a more relaxed movie. The three of us snuggled in with a bowl of popcorn and a bag of red licorice candy that we passed back and forth until we'd finished an entire bag.
After a night of catching Tristan up on the movies he missed, he decided to crash on the couch instead of driving home. Cameron was still wide awake and happy. "What do you want to do now?" The man could run for three days straight with no rest and still be perky.

Glancing at my watch, it was
well after midnight in Nashville. I checked my phone and there were no texts from Derrick about him going to sleep. "Can we call it a night? I want to call Derrick before I go to bed."

Cameron stood up, grabbed a beer from the fridge and waved to me, "I'm crashing in Angel's room. I know that
girl; she's on a date which means she ain't using that bed tonight. I'm going to call my man too. Tomorrow, you and me babe, right?"

"Absolutely. We're s
pending the entire day together tomorrow. We'll do anything you want to do," I said. Cameron winked at me then went into Angel's room and shut the door. I covered Tristan with a blanket before retreating to my room. I sent a quick text to Derrick and asked,
Skype or Phone?
  He texted back immediately with
Skype, I need to see that beautiful face.

Excitedly I logged on to my laptop
. The cursor spun for what seemed like forever before the connection completed. His handsome face was there on the screen for me when I opened it. I gulped, "You're not wearing a shirt." All I wanted to do is run my fingers across his sculpted chest right now.

He glanced down, "If it makes you self conscious, I can put one on or you can take yours off too." He winked at me. I couldn’t answer because I was
still mesmerized by his muscular form. A smirk came across his face, "Sweetheart, I miss you so much."

"Me too," I finally managed to say. I fingered the necklace he gave me. "I love this, by the way."

"I'm glad." He didn’t say anything else for a moment. "I want to see you. I'm going to figure out a way and soon."

"I'd love it. Just let me know when. I won't have more than a day or two off for a while or I'd come there to you."  My door creaked open, Cameron peaked inside. "Hold on Derrick. Cameron, are you ok?" He shook his head and I turned back to Derrick. "Can we talk
tomorrow? Cameron needs to talk."

"Absolutely." He yells out, "Thanks Cameron for delivering my package man."

"No problem." Cameron didn’t even comment on the word package or make any crude jokes which told me something is very wrong with him right now.

The call ended, I closed my laptop and lifted my comforter from the empty side of the bed. "Come snuggle, Cam." Cameron moped over to the vacant side of the bed, slid in and curled up against me with his head against my chest. "What's wrong sweetie?"

"Everything."

"Did you have a fight with Gavin?" That was the first thought I had since he was supposed to be on the phone with him at this moment.

"No, my husband is as fabulous as ever. It seems nothing fazes him, which is great because he keeps me grounded."  Cameron scooted in closer to me as I began to scratch his back.

"So then why the sad face?" There was nothing sadder than a distraught Cameron. He's always been our comic relief.

Cameron sits up, fidgeting with the comforter as he collects his thoughts. "I'm tired of having to defend who I am. It's exhausting and it's unfair."

"What do you mean?" I ask, taking one of his hands in mine.

"I'm gay, Mary Jane."

In an attempt to make him laugh I gasp dramatically
, "What! NO! It can't be true!" His lips turn up slightly, but it wasn’t the response I wanted.  "I'm sorry; I was trying to make you laugh."

"I love you for it sweetie.
What I mean is I'm tired of my whole life being condensed to the fact that I'm gay. You and Derrick could go get married right now and no one would give you any grief on it. You could kiss in the middle of a park filled with people and they would think it was sweet and romantic. I hold Gavin's hand and get looks of disgust from people I've never spoken to." Cameron takes a deep breath to hold back the tears that I can tell are about to fall. "My marriage isn't even recognized in the state I live in. Do you know how that hurts? I'm no different than anyone else. I want my happily ever after with prince charming, is that too much to ask?"

"Of course not. I can't begin to understand why people are so scared of someone based on who they choose to spend their life with. You and Gavin are one of the most loving couples I've ever witnessed together. You're perfect for each other and while I know it doesn't make it easier you have to forget what those few people think."

"It's more than a few, MJ. This is something we haven't told anyone, not even Gracie. We've been looking into adoption."  The fact that he hadn't told Gracie was shocking to me. Cameron and Gracie have been best friends since they were five. If Cameron wasn't gay, I have no doubt they'd be married now. They tell each other everything.

"What? That's awesome! You and Gavin will make fabulous parents," I exclaim
, truly ecstatic. If anyone is good with kids it was Cameron, he's like a big kid himself.

"You'd think so. We've made appointments and each time we show up they become surprised that I'm a
male
named Cameron. The rest of the time it's an awkward conversation about the difficulty of adopting these days because there is so much demand. In truth, it's difficult because we're two men. Some of them actually came right out and said that to us, which was better than the run around. One said that only married couples can adopt, the requirement is to be married three years. We said we're married and she told us that it isn't recognized therefore it isn't valid and that if it became valid we'd have to wait three years from that date. You have no idea how bad it feels to hear your marriage is a sham to most people."