High school swim coach arrested for stalking girls on team.
Electric storms expected early tomorrow morning. Anticipate possible power outages.
Camille woke up to find himself in Rowan's bed with Aiden curled up on the blanket beside him. An automatic smile came to his face, and he gently pulled the baby closer, admiring the way the soft red lashes rested on the flushed chubby cheeks. It made him feel warm and comfy inside until he remembered Aiden was Rowan's, not his. He blinked back the sting and brushed a gentle kiss across Aiden's small forehead.
The bed sank down behind him, and then Rowan's chin settled on his shoulder. "Hey."
Camille glanced up at his friend. "Hey. I thought you were supposed to leave Aiden's care to Gabriela."
Rowan smiled. "Yeah, but she agreed that you seemed more relaxed around Aiden, so we let you stay in here. And I can't let my best friend wake up without someone to talk to."
Camille let out a breathy laugh. "You're impossible." He sat up slowly, checking constantly to make sure Aiden was still sound asleep, and followed Rowan out of the bedroom. "So, judging by your Insta pics, you've been bored out of your mind."
Rowan ran his hand across the top of the banister as they headed downstairs. "Gabriela makes me rest whenever she sees me. She says I look like I missed a month's worth of sleep, which honestly isn't too far off from the truth. But I'm sleeping now, I promise. Between Darius and his mom, I'll catch up on sleep in no time."
"Good." Camille plopped down on one of the couches in the Holt living room. He looked at the other current resident of the living room out of the corner of his eye.
Rowan sank down next to Camille and bumped their shoulders together. "Stop glaring. That's Sario, Darius' little brother."
Sario's eyes shot up from whatever problem he was working out in his notebook. He looked nothing like his red-headed brother, all dark and curls where Darius was light and slick. He had definitely gotten their mother Gabriela's genes. He raised an eyebrow at Rowan. "Excuse me, I am not little, my dear soon-to-be brother-in-law. I am a fully grown adult."
Camille crossed his arms. "How old are you?"
Sario's gaze slid over to him. "20."
Camille scoffed. "Your brain isn't fully developed until you're 25."
Sario's jaw dropped. "What the–"
"My boyfriend's a doctor," Camille interrupted. "He tells me this sort of thing."
Beaten, Sario returned his attention to his textbook, but he did glance up every once in a while like he was curious to see what other random facts Camille had picked up from Noah.
With the sound of graphite scratching softly against paper as background noise, Camille put his arms around Rowan and asked about every mundane thing featuring in Rowan's house-bound life.
Throughout the conversation, Rowan unconsciously rested his hand on his stomach and slid his fingers over its swell. Despite initially losing his mind over this sudden new pregnancy, he seemed at peace with it now. Rowan caught where Camille was staring and smiled, reaching out to pinch Camille's nose. "I know I'm fat again now. You don't have to stare."
Camille's hand snapped out and grabbed Rowan's nose in retaliation. "You're not fat," he retorted, his voice sounding funny thanks to the pressure of Rowan's pointer finger and thumb. "You're pregnant. There's a difference, and you know it."
Sario snickered from across the room. "He's got you there."
Rowan glared, his sweet eyes taking on the sharpness Camille had only seen when they first met. "Do you have to comment on everything you hear?"
Sario shrugged. "Dunno. But don't mind me. I'm just your resident eavesdropper."
Camille rolled his eyes. "I already get plenty of that from Noah. This morning, I was on a phone call with Zay and he listened to the whole thing."
"Must run in the family," Sario commented.
Rowan's glare soured. "Noah's not in the family, Sario! He's Darius' friend, not our cousin!"
Sario whistled under his breath. "Someone's in a bad mood," he stage-whispered.
"I will pull down those curtains and strangle you," Rowan threatened with a dangerous spark in his eye, starting to get up.
Camille held him down. "I don't condone murder, and I doubt Darius would appreciate coming back to find his younger brother dead in the living room."
"No," Sario agreed, adopting a fake cute tone, "he wouldn't like that at all."
Camille leveled a glare at Sario. "You shut up unless you want me to let him loose on you. And don't test me. I'm diagnosed bipolar."
Sario's eyes went huge, and he quickly made himself small, curling around his homework and textbook like they were grenades. "Sorry." The one-word apology was barely audible.
Rowan sank back onto the couch, relaxing again now that the problem had been handled. He turned and laid his head down on Camille's shoulder. "Don't move," he mumbled.
Camille blinked, stunned by the sudden transition. When had angry, murderous Rowan been replaced by sleepy, cuddly Rowan? Despite the fact that he had just had a nap, Camille found himself drifting off to sleep as well.
It was at least an hour later when Camille woke up again.
Rowan had shifted away, head resting on top of the couch cushion as he continued to sleep soundly.
Sario gave a little wave from across the room with the hand holding his pencil. A different textbook was open in his lap, and he returned to his homework the moment Camille gave a small wave back.
Camille got up, stretching his fingers toward the ceiling before slowly walking out of the living room to look out the back door leading to the patio. Craving a breath of fresh air, he flipped up the lock on the door and slid it open. He stuck his head out and then stepped outside. He closed his eyes, tipped his face up to the cloudy sky, and took a deep breath in. As he was exhaling through pursed lips, he heard the door slide shut behind him. Sure he would see Rowan grinning on the other side of the glass, he turned around.
It was not Rowan who Camille turned to face. A man dressed all in black stood there, his hand falling from the door handle. A leather-covered hand. A lock of slippery blond hair had slipped out of his knit hat, and a black medical mask obscured the rest of his face that the hat did not cover, except a pair of blue eyes that had the same ice Camille had last seen in a room full of fire.
Camille tried to scream, but those hands were as fast as ever and stuffed a gag in his mouth and then blindfolded him. It was barely half a minute before he was both mute and blind. But it would not matter even if he could call for help or see what was going on.
Blaise never got anything other than what he wanted.