Only You by Kaleigh James Page B

the air mattress with his head. His hands were still twined with hers, and she felt his grip tighten as his cheeks flushed in embarrassment. Camden’s eyes widened.
    “What about…” He cut her off.
    “You weren’t the only one who had waited.”
    “You mean Heather? At my graduation party? Nothing…”
    He interrupted once again. “NOTHING happened with her, or any of the girls in high school.” Shane’s stomach was in knots. Inexperience was not something guys tended to brag about.
    “And last night?” Camden asked. Shane looked utterly confused. “Stella?” she prompted. Shane choked for a moment.
    “Uhhh,” he started awkwardly. “That wasn’t me.” Camden raised a skeptical brow. “That was Brody,” Shane confessed.
    “What?!” Camden squealed. “But I thought he was with Tiffany???”
    Shane rubbed his hand on the back of his neck in discomfort. “Yeah….about that. You see, hespnlsntwthbthgrls,” he mumbled.
    “What?” Camden prompted.
    “He spent last night with both girls,” Shane choked out.
    Camden was thoroughly mortified by the new visual forever implanted in her head. NO sister should ever have those kinds of mental pictures involving her brother. But as nauseated as the thought of Brody having sex with Tiffany and Stella made her, the overriding feeling in her heart was relief.
    Releasing one of Camden’s hands, Shane used his now free hand to tip her chin towards him. He wanted her to see the sincerity in his eyes.
    “I knew I made a mistake the moment you left your party with Rob. I wanted to fix it, but I thought the damage was done. Once I got to the sandbox, I felt your absence even more." His eyes begged her to understand. "You don’t know how much I looked forward to your care packages during my first tour, Sunshine. To know you were healthy and happy back home…that made it all worthwhile. During my second tour, I was constantly worrying about you. No one knew where you were or how you were doing.” Shane tugged Camden into his chest and hugged her as tightly as possible. Releasing her, his hand returned to her chin.
    “When I came home on my first leave, you still weren’t back. I didn’t tell Brody, but I went searching for you. He thought I was visiting my cousin, but I drove all over the state. Any place you ever mentioned with fondness, I was there with your picture trying to track you down.” Shane could see the shock in Camden’s eyes.
    “When my two weeks were up, I headed back to Afghanistan empty inside. I knew I’d lost you, but I didn’t give up. Every leave, I searched for you. After two years, your family still had no idea where you were, and I was trying to come to terms with the fact that I had made the biggest mistake of my life. I had just made it back to Afghanistan for the last part of my service when I met a girl on our base that reminded me of you.” Shane swallowed uncomfortably as he saw understanding dawn slowly in Camden’s moist green gaze.
    “I figured, if I couldn’t have you, maybe I could have the next best thing. It took me getting completely and totally wasted, and even then I called her your name. She was more understanding than I expected. Guess she’d lost someone special before, too.” Shane stopped and searched Camden’s guarded expression. Even her eyes were now shuttered, so he couldn’t tell how she was taking his story.
    Camden, on the other hand was doing her very best to hide her devastation. She thought she’d never had him to begin with, but knowing he waited for her….that he searched for her…made her feel like she had lost him all over again.
    “She and I…we dated for a while. Pretty much until I came back stateside. Daphne is still in Afghanistan, and we parted as friends, but we never got around to sleeping together again. I guess she didn’t mind that I was a twenty-two year old virgin, or that I called her the wrong name that first night, but she knew if we slept together again, I’d still be