"Are you ready?" Matias turned to her with one of his heart-melting smiles; a twinkle in his eyes; his handsome face lit perfectly by the full moon that was out tonight.

Not that Cammy was noticing all this... wink, wink.

If they weren't standing in the middle of her backyard, holding hands and about to fly off to destinations known—Becca and Reggie—Cammy might have thought it was all very romantic. Her heart was definitely not hammering in her chest, and there was no way she was hyperaware of the firm grip holding her clammy hand.

And she sure wasn't daydreaming that this might have been the moment where Matias—if he were interested in her—would swoop down and kiss her for the first time. A kiss warm and sweet, and it would make the rest of the world fade away in the background, all glowy—like those cheesy informatics Mr Sultan had shown her.

But this wasn't one of Mr Sultan's reels, and Matias wasn't a guy who could be interested in a simple girl like Cammy. Could he?

"Are you okay? You look a little nervous, Cam." Matias shook her hand to get her attention. She obviously was far off in dreamlands.

Cammy tried to smile, but all she could think about was the tiles she'd broken on the way to Becca's that morning. Ready was a goal post miles away and out of sight...

How many more tiles am I gonna break? Oh, my god, what if I can't make it all the way there? What if I land on my ass like a nincompoop again? And all in front of him!

Cammy absently swiped her bottom with her free hand as if dusting herself preemptively.

Matias's hand squeezed hers. "Hey, look at me."

Cammy did. Oh boy. She shouldn't have. His eyes, a warm hazelnut with flecks of gold about them, were as deep as the ocean and she got lost.

"I can understand you're nervous about the flight distance, but I'm here, right by your side, all the way. Okay? You get tired, you get nervous, we can take breaks and walk a bit. You can do this, Cammy. Just gotta believe."

Matias nodded towards her house, where her parents weren't obviously watching them from the inside. Cammy saw the curtain fall into place and almost rolled her eyes. What were they so excited about? Her imminent mortality? Or her epic failure?

"You know they mean well, but they are parents. They are always going to worry about their little girl—"

The words 'little girl' burned a hole in Cammy's heart. Matias definitely wasn't interested, not in her mind. She tried not to show her emotions and simply stared at his hand holding hers.

"Look at me, Cam."

I don't want to. She met his gaze reluctantly.

He took her other hand and gripped them both firmly. He peered into her soul—at least that's what it felt like to her—and he said, "They believe in you. I believe in you. You can do this. You're a Cupid, love, and don't let anybody tell you otherwise. A Kamdev. You're better than most of us and you don't even know it."

"I'm not!"

Matias laughed, a soft laugh that patched that hole in her heart. "Are you kidding me? You made Enzo throw in a dress for your friend, free, and you didn't even have to say anything. Enzo does nothing for free. There's always a favor he wants in return."

Cammy shook her head. "What do you mean?"

Matias laughed again, his smile allowing that one dimple to show again. The dimple Cammy had come to love over the weeks and couldn't wait to see it. "You bewitched him, and—" me, is what the boy had actually wanted to say. Instead, he looked at her again and smiled.

"Enzo doesn't even remember giving you the dress. The next day he was yelling at the assistants—where is the Vani dress? You did that. You—what's the word you like to use often?—you Cupided him. You Cupided Enzo. The guy that can usually charm other cupids. Now tell me that's not awesome?"

Cammy shrugged, feeling an immensely heated blush creep up her neck and settle on her cheeks. "I'm sure you can do that too."

"No, Cam. Not every Cupid can cupid other cupids!" Matias shook his head.

Cammy laughed, finally. "That's a lot of cupids, Matias!"

"It is, 'cause you are a lot more than us, Cammy Kamdev. So, believe. And let's go get you an A-plus on this one so we can move to the next one. You're gonna love it."

Cammy pulled in a deep breath, feeling her nervous nerves settle a bit. Matias was right. It was going to be okay. It was going to be fine. Becca and Reggie already were in love. They just need to seal the deal with the words, 'I love you,' and that'd be easy. Super easy, barely an inconvenience, she supposed, what with Becca already ready to use those said words.

"You're right! I can do this."

"That's my girl!" Matias had grinned, giving her hand another squeeze, and flexed his wings free. Within a moment, he was up in the air, like an expert; his wings, dark ebony with hints of gold feathers, whooshed quietly. "Come on, let's do this."

As Cammy allowed her wings to unfurl and stretch, Matias's words echoed in her mind like a melody. 'That's my girl.'

You could hardly blame the girl for thinking it. Could it be? Could he also like me?

With a swift flap of her wings, she joined him up in the air, their invisibility charm already up. To the world, they did not exist. To Cammy, he felt like the only one in hers as they fluttered gracefully towards her destiny—well, him graceful, her more a learner driver. But it was a good thing Matias was next to her. Whenever she faltered, whenever she nearly took out a tile or two, he'd hold out his hand and pull her up.

"I suck at this!"

"For someone who's only had her wings for three months, you're not doing too badly. Cut yourself some slack!"

They arrived at their destination in the middle of the night, and this time, Cammy did not land on her arse. Perhaps having Matias next to her on this trip hadn't been a bad idea. At least, in her attempt to impress him—or at least not embarrass herself—she'd stuck her landing perfectly. A feat that would have normally had her whooping like a cowgirl if her oh-so-not-obvious crush wasn't with her. Reggie who, right? The new name in town was Matias, folks.

"What do we do now?" She peered out at the resort along the beach.

"Let's see if we can charm ourselves a room, aye?" Matias headed up the sand dunes towards the buildings. "It's past midnight and your targets are asleep, so not much action to intervene on. I say, we check-in, see if the kitchen is open and grab some food. I'm starving. And then we talk about the game plan."

Cammy followed, trying to quell the tankful of butterflies that had suddenly unleashed themselves in her stomach. Had he said a room? Just one room? As in share, together?

Her mind was suddenly a little preoccupied, trying not to imagine Matias in all his glory.

"And what if the kitchen is closed?" She struggled up the dune.

"Then we make ourselves feel at home. Just warning you already, I'm a mean cook." He gave her a wink as he pulled her up.

Those dang butterflies fluttered to every part of her inside.

To be continued...

WC: 1280               TWC: 23,303

[A/N: This chapter isn't done yet! It was getting a little long so I had to split it up. Sorry about that.

But I have to ask, what do you think of Matias and Cammy's reaction towards him? 😁]