He turned to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and kissing me on the cheek. "It's great, Melina. And don't sweat it."
I wrapped my arm around him and squeezed, enjoying my hunk on my arm. "Sounds great. Uhm, before dinner, do you mind if we just go for a walk around the neighborhood? I'm feeling a bit of cabin fever, not knowing the town or anything."
"Sure, let me change my shoes."
Five minutes later we were walking down the street, holding hands like any other couple.
We walked in a soothing silence, just enjoying the time with one another. Reaching the turn off to the river, Cam glanced over. “Try the river again? This time, we could go all the way down to it if you want."
I nodded. "Sure. It has to be better than the main road."
We walked down to the river before having a seat on a large, flat piece of sandstone. "The river will swell again in the spring," Cam said contemplatively. "When the snows melt and fill the Elephant Butte reservoir. Melina, this may sound a little deep and out of nowhere, but have you ever done something you really regret?"
What a strange question. "Well, of course. Hasn't everyone?"
Cam looked over at me, nodding. "Yeah, I guess. What’d you do?"
I looked out at the river and smiled, thinking of the incident. "Well, back in High School, I did happen to go out one time with a friend of mine. It was a party, I'm sure you know the type."
"Of course. House party?"
Shaking my head, I laughed lightly. "No, a field party. We'd get everyone together at one of these big fields, usually either a corn field or vegetable patch, during the non-planting season of course. But, what went on was pretty much what you'd expect from your typical teenage party. Half-rave, half orgy, lots of alcohol."
"Ha, I know the type. So what was his name?" Cam asked, looking at me knowingly. "Most people regret a who, not a what in these types of situations."
"Hey, I'm the one telling the story, okay? And yes, it was a who. Peter Givens was his name actually. He was insistent on only being called Pete, and never last name first. He wasn't the most popular guy in school, but he was certainly with the in crowd. I got more than a little drunk, and so I was more receptive to his advances than I should have been.”
“Well, it could be worse,” he said, sobering again. "I guess mine is a little more grave.”
“Whatever you want to tell me, I’m willing to listen. I’m not one to judge. You’re an amazing man and nothing you can say will make me think otherwise.”
Cam squeezed my hand, looking into my eyes. “I don’t know about that.”
"I've spent the past few days with images of my future running through my head, the far future even. And you've been there in each of them."
"I'm not as amazing as you think I am," Cam said quietly. I felt strange, like he’d suddenly become a different person.
"You saved me from a life of boredom and unhappiness. Now I have a chance at a new life that few women get. About the only thing that makes me sure that this is reality and not a drug-induced fantasy is the fact that our daily life is rather dull. No offense, but most girls don't fantasize about living in a town of eight thousand and being married to a high school English teacher."
I blushed and shrugged. "Sorry, a slip of tongue. I don't want to sound like I'm going too fast."
Cam pulled me into a hug and kissing me. "Who says you're going too fast? There’s no other woman I’d like to spend the rest of my life with.”
His words made me blush again. “Well, let's take things one step at a time. And right now, the next step is dinner, then hitting up Netflix. You're treating me to an episode of Jessica Jones."
"Then Daredevil," Cam added. "If we're going superheroes, we're going all the way."
Chapter 20
Cam
Interstate 25 is a north-south road, and the biggest artery for travel in New Mexico. Starting in El Paso on the New Mexico border, it runs practically through the middle of the state, up through Colorado and eventually all the way to Wyoming. However, if you want to go anywhere or do anything in New Mexico, you were most likely going to use I-25. It connected Las Cruces to Albuquerque and Santa Fe to the north.
"And I thought the drive down from Ohio was dull," Melina said as she watched the miles of desert pass on either side. "How in the hell do people live out there?"
"To be honest, they don't," I replied. "The people who do try to make a living out here, they tend to be rather intense types. You see those mountains to the left? On the other side of those is White Sands Missile Range. It's the biggest chunk of military property in the country. A lot, and I mean a lot of New Mexico is owned by the Pentagon."
"I see. And what sort of games does the military play over there?"