3. Cal

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Chapter Song: Play This When I'm Gone- Machine Gun Kelly 

"Hold on you really don't want a bachelor party?" I grunted between bench pressing as Liam stood over me.

"Nah. It's not really a big deal to me, and Riley would much rather do something with our friends than go party." He explained.

I racked the weights before sitting up. I wiped the sweat from my brow and grabbed a drink of water. "So instead of a separate bachelor or bachelorette party, you want a joint one? That your sister and I have to plan?"

Your sister. 

He winced as soon as I said it. It was weird for him too. But he didn't make the comment on it.

"Yeah, I guess that's exactly what we want. We were thinking of the cabin. You think your mom would let us?"

"Yeah, I'll text her about it and see what she says. I'm sure it'll be yes, just get the weekend you want so I can see."

We traded spots so now I was spotting him. I didn't get how he could lift that much and still managed to ask as many questions as he did.

"Where's Ty?" He grunted lowering the bar.

"Uh, he said he had a meeting or something." I don't remember if he told me about it or just mentioned it. He usually had meetings during the days so it was more of a question of which one.

"Has the roommate situation gotten any better?"

"Oh god no," I laughed. "He's the worst. He brings home a new girl every week." Even thinking about Ty and his mistresses birthed a new headache.

"At least it's not every night," Liam countered.

"I don't doubt it is. I stopped paying attention to him. I keep trying to ask who he's bringing to the wedding but he wants to keep it a surprise," I rolled my eyes. Ty and his antics were something to never mess with.

I will admit Ty was a nice roommate to have. He was unusually clean. I guess he started to rub off on me when I noticed getting upset about a single fork being left in the sink. The one thing he was a positive influence for me.

"Have you seen anyone since Camilla?" He asked between drinking water and motioning for us to switch again.

"Nah. I think I need a break. Sort some things out before jumping into anything too serious."

"Like finally getting over Kennedy?" I felt my mouth form an o without me trying.

"If I was still into her would I have dated Camilla?"

"Yes."

"You're such an asshole," I chuckled playing it off. "It didn't work out with Camilla because it just didn't. Neither of us was happy."

Don't get me wrong, Camilla was great. She was everything you could want in a girl. But something just kept nagging me. It was almost too easy with her. I think we were both so afraid of not being perfect that it felt like we were walking on eggshells around each other. We weren't really being ourselves. 

But I already told Liam that one night at his house. It was the night we broke it off. I went over there to vent with Ty and Mason. We had a good night together actually. 

"Yeah because you're still in love with someone else," he slapped the back of my head.

"Hey!" I yelled rubbing where it stung. 

"You guys didn't even give it a real chance," he said in between bicep curls. We had moved on from the bench press and lingered in the free weight section now.

"You were the one that pressured me into asking her out anyway. We lasted almost two years. I'd say it was a fair shot," I rolled my eyes.

"No, because you only went into it to get over Ken, and you didn't. You practically drooled over seeing her last night."

"So what if I'm not over her? We have history." I grunted grabbing a new set of weights. "Let's not forget who complained about Riley not texting you back the first year of college."

"I'm not saying you need to be over her. I'm just saying it's been long enough you should have your shit figured out by now. You played this game long enough." He huffed. "I don't blame you, my sister is great. I just think you owe it to yourself and to her to decide to be together or not."

"You know she was the one that broke it off right?" I mumbled. 

"No, I didn't. What happened anyway?" He stopped to look at me. "That's the one thing you never bring up. You went into detail about your breakup with Camilla, but not Ken. Is it because she's my sister?"

"Uh," I paused. I didn't want to get into it, but I never told him. He was my best friend and yeah it was weird that it was his sister but clearly she hadn't told him either. "She told me she wasn't coming back. We both said some things we probably didn't mean and then she walked out. I didn't follow her. And yesterday was the first time I'd seen or heard from her since the only time she came back."

"Shit."

"Yeah," I gritted my teeth. It was a memory I tried to block out of my head.

"You know if you need to talk about it I'm here for you right?" He was genuinely looking at me now. I knew he meant it, and fuck I appreciated Liam. It had to be really fucking weird to be in his shoes, but he's a great friend. 

"Thanks, man." 

He didn't know what else to say and neither did I. I always thought Ken would have told him at least the basics of our breakup. My mind began to wonder if she told Riley at all. How much did anyone actually know?

We finished our workout in silence. Liam was probably feeling guilty for bringing it up but I didn't care. We were bound to talk about it sooner or later. I was just hoping for later.

Once we stretched enough we grabbed our stuff to head to the front desk. We joked around with Natalie who worked here part-time while finishing her degree.

After she got over her initial crush on me we actually bonded like siblings. I guess that was a perk to having our parents have a kid together. Still weird to me, but it is what it is.

"Thanks again KP, I really appreciate you doing this." Ty's voice interrupted our conversation about the work gossip Natalie was explaining.

I turned my head in Ty's direction to see him smiling at Kenny who was smiling back. Not a full smile but a small polite one. She was holding a clunky camera in her hands.

"Yeah anytime. Just let me know what time and day works best for the team. And whenever you want me to get some photos here just call me. I'm available whenever," she chuckled.

And to my surprise, she pulled the camera away from her to give Ty a hug. If I thought hell had frozen over last night it was definitely a blizzard now. Those two who usually fought fire with fire being warm and cozy together? How much of her life did I actually miss out on?

"What were you doing with Ty?" Liam asked after we both said hi to him. He mentioned that he had to grab some papers but he'd be right back.

"He called me asking that if I had a time when I came to town to meet with him. He wanted to see if I could take pictures of the club team he's coaching and of the gym. He said he wanted to update the website and Instagram." She quickly explained as she put her camera away stopping to say hi to Natalie.

"Then I told him that I was in town now and I could meet whenever," she shrugged.

"How'd it go?" I heard myself ask. She raised her eyebrows as if surprised.

"I think it went well. I'll go to the club later this week and get some photos of them practicing before I take the official team photos."

"Oh, that's good."

That's good? That was all I could say? God. I felt like I was thirteen and didn't know how to talk to girls anymore. But I guess she wasn't just a girl. Not since that summer.

I don't know why I couldn't stop thinking about the time we came home from lacrosse camp the summer before our junior year. I guess it was the summer that changed everything between us.

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A late-night upload! But here is another chapter for you! I hope you enjoy :) 

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