The Goodbye Boyfriend (The Boyfriend Series Book 3)

by Christina Benjamin

  Nate couldn’t imagine what that was like for her. She must’ve felt like she’d lost both her sons—only seeing the son who died, while trying to see the living son.

  It was different for Nate. He liked that he looked like his brother. It was like always having a piece of Ty with him. It brought Nate comfort and he sought it out at every opportunity. Like now, staring into his locker mirror, Nate examined his reflection seeking out Ty’s resemblance. His eyes were browner than Ty’s. Where Nate’s leaned toward gold, Tyler’s had held a hint of green. And Tyler had a natural crooked smile that always made it look like he was up to something. Nate grinned. His smile was wide, or trustworthy, as Ty always pointed out.

  Nate gave his reflection a wink, channeling the strength he got from seeing even the tiniest hint of Tyler in himself. Nate needed all the bravery he could get, because his goal for today was to spend more time with Camille. He closed his locker to go in search of her. But halfway down the hall, three blondes corralled him.

  Cami

  Camille was about to slam her locker closed when she heard Ashley Dupree’s high-pitched laughter float down the hall. Camille had trained her ears to pick up on Ashley’s specific brand of evil so it could be avoided at all costs. Hiding behind her locker door, Camille watched as Ashley and her clones caged Nathan in. Poor guy. She should’ve warned him about the Ashleys—Ashley Banks, Ashley Calhoune and their ringleader, Ashley Dupree. They were NOAH’s crème de la crème when it came to high school hierarchy. And they could smell hot new boys like blood in the water.

  Camille couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed that she hadn’t seen Nate all day. She’d secretly been hoping she’d have at least one class with him. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, there was something charming about his forward flirtation and endless smile.

  She watched him introduce himself to the perfect Ashleys as unreasonable jealously flared in her chest. Camille hated that she was wasting her time straining to listen to what the popular blonde girls were saying. But years of childhood teasing couldn’t be erased, even if the Ashleys weren’t mean to her anymore. Well, at least by their standards they weren’t.

  They didn’t pick on Camille for wearing a wig like they had in fifth grade. But now they ignored her completely, which somehow felt worse. Camille already felt like she didn’t belong, but the Ashleys made sure she knew it. And it wasn’t just them. Camille was never invited to hang with the in crowd. She was never invited to hang with any crowd. But then again, ‘cancer friend’ wasn’t exactly a demographic most cliques were looking to fill.

  Camille knew she shouldn’t take it personally. There were plenty other perfectly healthy kids that the Ashleys and the Antes ignored. The Antes was what the cool clique at NOAH called themselves. It was short for Antebellum, because they all lived in the old Antebellum homes of the wealthy garden district, and pretty much preserved the elitist ways of their pre-civil war ancestors.

  The name was appropriate on many levels. It sounded like anti and the Ashleys and their wannabes were pretty much anti-anyone who wasn’t them or threatened them. And normally, Camille would say it was impossible to infiltrate the Antes. No amount of money or kiss-assery could get you in. You had to be born into it. And we’re talkin like fifth generation born into it. But as Camille watched the Ashleys bat their eyelashes and giggle at Nathan, she felt her stomach drop. Maybe you only had to be the right amount of hot?

  “So, have you met anyone yet?” Ashley Banks was asking.

  “Yeah. I hung out with Camille, yesterday. She’s cool.” Nate said, his token smile glowing.

  All three of the Ashleys let their pretty pink faces sour. “Camille LaRue?” Ashley Calhoune asked.

  Nate nodded. “Yeah. She makes a badass donut.”

  “Listen, Nathan,” Ashley Dupree purred. “You’re new here, so I’m gonna do you a favor. Camille’s not really . . . I don’t even know how to put it. She’s . . .”

  Camille squeezed her eyes shut. Don’t say it. Don’t say I’m the cancer girl.

  “She’s different,” Ashley Banks interjected.

  Nate shrugged. “I’m different, too.”

  Ashley Dupree’s smile dripped saccharine. “No silly, not good-different. She’s weird-different.”

  “Well, whatever she is, sign me up for the fan club, because that girl is awesome.”

  Camille couldn’t help the flush of pride that washed over her. Take that Ashleys! New guy thinks I’m awesome! She was practically glowing. Maybe she should give Nate a chance after all?

  The Ashleys passed a knowing look between each other, trying to suppress their giggles. “Bless your heart,” Ashley Dupree crooned. “Nathan, sweetie. Take our word for it. You can do better.”

  He flashed his giant toothy grin. “I plan to. I’m hoping to get another date with her tonight.” He gave the stunned blondes a double thumps up and turned, making a beeline toward Camille’s locker.

  Shit! Did Nathan really just tell the Ashleys he and Camille went on a date? And there was going to be another one?

  Camille didn’t know whether to cheer or hide. The shock on the Ashleys faces was priceless, but Camille also didn’t need any Ante drama in her life. She was perfectly happy with her invisible status at NOAH. It meant she was safe and could stick to her plan—sixty-five days until graduation. Sixty-five days until freedom.

  Unfortunately for Camille, Nathan didn’t know she preferred to stay invisible. He sidled up to her locker, his grin near blinding. She turned her back, pretending not to see him, but watched his reflection approaching in her locker mirror. She examined the white slice of his smile as it ate up the space between them.

  Suddenly, his warmth surrounded Camille.

  “Hello,” he greeted as he dipped his head into her hair, inhaling deeply.

  “Hey!” she whirled around, scanning the hall to see if anyone was watching them. They weren’t. “No more hair smelling!” she hissed.

  Nate grinned with only half his mouth. “But it’s silver today.”

  “So?”

  “So, I haven’t smelled silver hair.”

  Camille sighed, making a mental note to wear only purple or silver wigs for the next few days until she could shake Nathan and his strange hair-sniffing habits.

  “Can we go get more donuts?” he asked.

  “What?”

  “From that place you work at. That chocolate bacon Cap’n Crunch one was seriously like the best thing I’ve ever had in my life! I must have another one.”

  Camille glowed at the praise since that specific donut was on of her own creations. She tamed her pride long enough to give him a tired look. “They’re just donuts, Nate.”

  He looked appalled. “How dare you speak ill of my new favorite dessert.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Do they not have donuts in California, or are you just this ridiculous about all normal things?”

  He smirked. “The latter.”

  Nate was keeping pace with Camille as she walked down the hall trying to escape him. This time she waited until she was outside the building and far away from any stairs when she came to an abrupt stop. “Look, Nate, we’re not friends. You should really listen to the Ashleys and find someone like them to flatter.”

  He wrinkled his nose. “The Barbie clones? No thanks. By the way, are they really all named Ashley, or did they have to change their names as part of initiation or something?”

  Camille snorted a laugh. “No, they’re actually all Ashleys. I think their parents must’ve read Gone With the Wind one too many times.”

  It was Nate’s turn to laugh. Camille liked the sound of it. It was deep and rumbled through her. “You were just kidding about the friend thing, right?” he asked.

  She gave her best ‘sorry’ face and shrugged, but it just made Nate smile more. What the hell was wrong with this guy?

  “I see what’s going on here,” he retorted.

  “You do?” Cami certainly didn’t.

  He gave her
a crooked boy smile. “You’re trying to tell me we’re more than friends.”

  “What? No! I—”

  “Shhhh . . .” Nate put a finger to her lips, silencing Camille immediately. A boy had never touched her lips before. “I mean I knew you’d fall for me. But I have to say this is much faster than I’d even hoped for.”

  “I’m not falling for you,” she grumbled.

  “It’s okay. We can play the game. So how ‘bout those donuts?”

  Camille made a growling sound in the back of her throat. It was all starting to make sense. Nathan Hawthorne was insane. Cute, but insane. Why else would he be hitting on her? She didn’t have the energy to waste arguing with him, and decided there wasn’t much else she could do but wait for the next shiny object to catch his eye.

  “Sorry, Nate. No donuts today.”

  “What? Why not?”

  “I’m not working.”

  “Even better! So whatcha wanna do?”

  “I want to go home.”

  “Camille! Are you inviting me over? I like you, but this is so sudden,” he teased.

  She rolled her eyes at his mocking tone, honestly wondering where he got his energy from. Maybe all he ate was sugar? It would explain the donut obsession, which he was still droning on about.

  “Maybe we could stop and get some donuts on the way to your house?”

  “Nate! Enough with the donuts.”

  “But they were legitimately the best donuts I’ve ever had! Is New Orleans famous for them? Because if not, they absolutely should be.”

  Camille cocked her head at him. “You really thought they were that good?”

  “My mom’s a health freak. I don’t get a lot of sweets. Or at least I didn’t. I’m sorta on my own now at my dad’s. It’s overwhelming. There’s so many choices when it comes to what to eat.”

  But Nate looked more excited than overwhelmed. Camille’s heart softened a bit. She knew what it was like living on a strict health food diet. Sometimes she craved sugar like it was a drug. For that reason she kept a secret stash of PEZ in her backpack at all times.

  “Are you sure I can’t convince you to stop for one teeny, tiny donut? I don’t want you getting the sugar shakes again,” he teased.

  Camille grinned. “I think I know a place you’ll like even better than Sweet Thang’s.”

  6

  Nate

  Nate followed Camille to a small café on Royal Street. It had a green and white striped awning and the words Café Beignet spelled out in tiny black and white tiles on the checkered floor.

  “What is this place?” Nate asked as they walked inside.

  “Only my favorite place in the French Quarter.”

  Nate could see why. It was like he’d walked into a dreamscape. The low ceiling was curved and narrow like the inside of a school bus. Someone had painted it to resemble a blue sky, complete with fluffy white clouds and tropical palm fronds. The white bistro dining sets and sparkling chandeliers made him think of Paris. At least, how he imagined Paris.

  He followed Camille to the counter, listening carefully to the hint of French accent flavoring her voice as she ordered beignets and two café au laits. They snagged a table in the outdoor courtyard, listening to a charm of finches sing in the trees overhead.

  “So this is your place, huh?” Nate asked.

  “Kinda. I like to come here and just escape. Especially when I need a sugar fix,” she said, dumping six packets of sugar into her coffee and stirring.

  “I knew you were a sugar fiend like me.”

  She laughed. “You have no idea. But my mom won’t even let it in the house.”

  “I bet I do. My mom’s a PNS.”

  “Yikes! That is rough. Were you allowed to eat anything she didn’t grow herself?”

  Nate’s brows knitted together. “You’re the first person I’ve ever met who I didn’t have to explain PNS to.”

  Camille flushed. “I was kinda interested in it for a while.”

  “I don’t think you can be a sugar freak and a doctor who specializes in diets that prevent illness,” Nate added.

  “Yeah, I sorta figured that out. But my mother still makes my father and I eat like we’re training for a triathlon.”

  Nate took a sip of his coffee. It was strong and had a bit of tree bark bite. He tried not to make a face, but Camille’s smirk told him he didn’t succeed.

  “It’s the chicory. It takes a bit to get used to,” she added. “But once you do, you’ll never go back to regular old coffee.”

  Truthfully, Nate wasn’t much of a coffee guy. He had enough energy as it was. Plus, with his addiction to all things sugary, he didn’t need the extra high. But he did enjoy wrapping his long fingers around the foam cup. There was a chill in the swampy air even though it was almost April. He wasn’t used to the humidity, yet. It made everything feel clingy and heavy. He was about to ask Camille if she was cold when a waiter arrived carrying two plates of powered pastries.

  “What are these?” Nate asked, examining the pillow-shaped dough. There had to be half a pound of powdered sugar coating them.

  “These, are the best donuts in town,” she said. “But we call them beignets in N’awlins,” she added with a playful grin.

  Christ her grin was adorable. It made the apples of her cheeks curve into perfect circles that he literally wanted to bite.

  “This is the best way to eat them,” she remarked dumping the excess sugar from one of the beignets into her coffee before taking a bite.

  Nate was mesmerized for a moment as he watched the powered sugar float down in a shimmering cloud from Camille’s lips. Specks clung to her porcelain face and he wanted to lick them off. So he did.

  Nate licked his thumb and reached across the table to press it to the sugar near the corner of Camille’s mouth. She gasped, but he’d already sucked the sugar from his thumb, swearing it was sweeter having touched her skin.

  “Um, okay, that goes into the same category as hair sniffing.”

  “Not approved?” Nate asked.

  “Definitely not approved.”

  “Noted,” Nate said, though if he was honest, he wasn’t one bit sorry. He was trying to rein in his attraction to Camille, but Nate wasn’t used to denying himself the things he wanted. It was sort of his new life motto. No Regrets.

  But it was a bit different now that he found himself wanting a person. He knew he should restrain himself. Camille wasn’t giving him the come hither stare that invited such advances. But he couldn’t help himself. With her silver hair, shimmering pale skin, and gray-blue eyes, Camille had an otherworldly glow that drew him in. She was a flame and Nate was just another hopeless moth.

  To distract himself, Nate bit into his beignet and moaned. “Shit!”

  Camille almost gave him a full smile. “I know. Good, right?”

  “Good doesn’t even begin to describe these.” He took another bite, savoring the warm fluffy pastry. It was buttery and soft, and combined with the powdered sugar it tasted like love in food form. “These are like heavenly pillows!”

  He shoved the rest of the beignet into his mouth and started on the second one. Before he knew it he was holding up his third and final pastry. “Damn!” Nate exclaimed, staring down the delicious dessert. “Where have you been all my life?”

  Cami

  Camille was looking at Nate, wondering the same thing. Where had this incredibly adorable, quirky boy been all her life? And why did she have to meet him now? When she was so close to the end?

  She couldn’t help but wonder what her life might have been like if she’d met Nathan Hawthorne sooner. Like maybe in sixth grade so she would’ve had someone to sit with at lunch every day when students were still calling her Sleeping Baldy. Or maybe in ninth grade when she’d finally gotten boobs and felt like a girl, even though no boys seemed to notice. Or tenth grade when she’d wanted to go to the school dance but no one had asked her. Why now? When everything was over.

  Camille knew it was stupid to feel loss
for someone she’d just met. Sure, Nate was interested in her now, but it was just for the moment. Once he found out she had cancer it would all be over.

  But as he smiled at her, a tiny seed of doubt bubbled in her chest. She felt a real connection when it was just the two of them together. Nate was easy to talk to, and his damn smile made something inside her sizzle to the point that it was hard to think. Each time he grinned or laughed it was like live wire struck her heart. The feeling was unexpected and strange, but in a refreshing way she enjoyed it.

  She also liked how odd Nate was. He dressed like a skater, played the violin like Mozart, and smiled like a child who didn’t know better. It was safe to say Camille hadn’t ever met anyone like Nate before. He had a quality about him—like he truly didn’t care what anyone thought about him. He was who he was, unapologetically. It made Camille feel like she was the normal one for a change. And that was something she’d given up on.

  It was stupid, but now more than ever, Camille wanted to keep her cancer a secret. It was nice to talk to Nate about normal teenage things. At least, that’s what she thought they were doing. She wouldn’t really know. Her usual conversations were about how she was feeling, test results and treatment plans. She couldn’t believe she’d almost screwed it up by failing to realize most teenagers didn’t know what a PNS was. But Camille had her own Physician Nutrition Specialist since she was diagnosed—which was the reason she’d developed a love for all things non-health food related.

  “So,” Nate said, eyeing her plate of half eaten beignets. “You gonna eat those?”

  “Knock yourself out,” she said sliding her plate toward him. They came three to an order and she could never eat more than one. Plus, she didn’t want to push it. She’d felt like crap after the donut at Sweet Thang’s yesterday and didn’t want to risk the wrath of a blood sugar roller coaster.