The drive home is quiet, Cam's hand held firmly in mine as we travel down the near empty highway. It felt good to let everything out, to share with someone the ache I've harbored for far too long. But letting it out, admitting how badly I still hurt in her absence, doesn't make everything turn to shiny rainbows. It doesn't feel like a weight has been lifted or all my prayers have been answered.

It means I'm hurting. I'm still hurting. And I don't know how to make that kind of pain stop. Because I don't think I'll ever stop missing my mom, or missing the various things that could have been.

"Cam," I say into the dark of the quiet car, the street lights the only luminescent glow as we pull onto my street. He glances my way briefly and squeezes my hand before I continue. "Does it still hurt?"

I don't know what I want him to say. There's a selfish part of me aching to know I'm not alone, but having company means he's feeling the same heart wrenching pull. And no one deserves to feel that. Especially not him.

He pulls his car into my driveway, and I can't help but take note of the fact that my dad isn't here. It's nearly ten o'clock and he's still not home.

"Yeah," he says, turning off the car and shifting to face me. "I don't think we get to let go of a loss like that, Kenze."

I nod, feeling the burn behind my eyes and the pressure in my chest. "I didn't think so."

"But," he jumps back in, reaching his free hand to my cheek to pull my gaze to his. "That doesn't mean we have to let that pain define us. It's a part of us. It will always be a part of us. But it's not all of who we are."

I lean into his hand and let a smile work its way across my lips. "You know, when you first showed up at the community center, it was my job to make sure you didn't feel alone, that you knew things would get better."

His smile reflects my own as he holds me. "I'm so incredibly lucky to have met you and your family, Kenze. Truly. I don't think I'd be in one piece without you all. But I don't think that should have ever been your job to burden. We were just kids."

"That's the thing, Cam. I think I lost the joy of childhood when I lost my mom. The world didn't feel so innocent anymore."

He nods, his hand still firmly in mine. "I know. God, do I know. But I think that's why we were handed each other. To find an ounce of joy again."

My smile widens. "Camden Beck, are you saying our story lies somewhere within the arms of fate?"

He leans in, his forehead dropping to mine. "I'm saying...finding you saved me, Mackenzie Cooper."

Slowly, I lift my head from his and take in the genuine warmth of his eyes. "Cam..."

"I know you and I drifted over the years, that Jare and I became close. But it was you, Kenze. You were the one to show me hope, to make me feel again. And I'm sorry that I never stopped long enough to realize that you needed someone to show you that too."

His hand still clings to my face as I lift my fingers to rest along his forearm. "You didn't know. I made sure no one knew."

"Promise me something, Kenze," he says. "Promise me you'll never hide again, not from me."

I hold onto the honesty of his gaze, to the warmth of his hand along my cheek and the rise and fall of his chest as we get lost in the small space of his car.

"I promise," I whisper. And for the first time, I feel safe to be open, to let the vulnerable pieces of my heart be seen. Because I know that he'll cherish every crumbled piece.

His lips meet mine, the slow and steady rhythm of his mouth moving delicately along my own. The warmth of his touch flutters across my chest as he pulls me closer, the beat of my heart echoing in a symphony of its own.

I feel safe to feel, to fall, to open up to him in ways I never imagined possible. Pushing myself from my seat, I swing my leg over the center console. Cam doesn't miss a beat as he reaches for my thigh and slides me into place across his lap. The strong, sturdy grip of his hands on my hips has me arching into him.

As I shift along his lap, rolling my hips into him, a deep moan leaves his throat. It has me fighting back a smile of victory. Slipping my hands into his hair, his fingers find the heated skin below my shirt, gripping my hips and holding me against the growing bulge in his pants.

I've had my fair share of heated make out sessions, but I've never, not once, felt the rush of desire I do now. The tingle within my gut, the fire between my legs, and the aching need to be wearing far less clothing completely consumes me.

"I get it," I breathe out against his lips.

His breath mimics mine as his forehead rests along my own. "What's that?"

I pause for a moment, a sinister smile pulling at the corner of my mouth. "The whole leaving underwear in your car thing. It's beginning to make a lot more sense."

He laughs, but it's cut short before he's pulling my mouth back to his and rolling his tongue along mine. "Mackenzie Cooper," he whispers between us. "The only underwear I ever want in this car are yours."

"How romantic," I kid. "So, should I just take them off right now?"

"Don't tease me."

"Who's teasing?"

The way his eyes deepen, his breath catching within his throat, has my chest growing all fluttery. I've rendered him speechless, something I've never seen on him before. And it warms a piece of me, knowing that someone as experienced as him can be so caught up with the thought of me taking that step with him.

"Kenze–"

But he doesn't get to finish that thought when a pair of headlights flash into the darkened space of his car. The arrival of my dad being instantly awarded the world's biggest cliché. Impeccable timing, Dad.

"I should probably go," I say, cutting off whatever it is he was about to say.

Cam holds me for a moment longer before he places a kiss along my forehead. He lingers there for a moment, holding on before he lets me go.

I quickly leap back into my own seat and adjust my shirt before wiping at my lips as if it will actually reduce their swollen state. I reach for my door, pushing it open when I feel Cam's hand on my arm. I turn back and look over at him, my dad's car door echoing behind us. "Thank you," he says. "For letting me in."

I smile, reaching to hold his hand in mine. "Thank you for seeing me."