Run, Girl (If You Can)

Chapter 106: Not What He Expected

Cameron didn't get to introduce himself to Keeley until the party was over and everyone from her group congregated in a bar down the street that was serving special Halloween-themed drinks.

"Who is this?" a short Hispanic girl with a bright smile asked, elbowing Jennica.

"Wow, I'm dumb. I forgot to introduce you. Everyone, this is Cameron; his friends are lame and ditched him so he's hanging out with us."

He waved with a somewhat awkward smile on his face. It's always weird being introduced to a group by someone else.

His boss' woman smiled brightly at him. "I saw you guys dancing earlier; it was super impressive! I'm Keeley, by the way."

"Oh, that was you?" Keeley's couples skate partner asked. "Nice to meet you, I'm Ryan."

Ryan, huh? Based on what little he had seen, he couldn't be certain whether or not this guy was legitimate competition for Aaron or not. He would have to observe further.

Everyone else went around the booth and introduced themselves before ordering their drinks.

Jennica ordered a margarita with gummy worms in it and Keeley got a poison apple cocktail but he didn't pay attention to anyone else's drink orders.

He chose a vampire cocktail made with vanilla ice cream, two types of booze, and grenadine syrup to look like blood. This bar was really going all out on the Halloween theme.

Valentina took a sip of her drink and announced, "We should play Two Truths and a Lie."

Keeley groaned. "Come on Val, you're too good at that game. If we play you have to be disqualified from guessing on Jen and me."

"I'll accept that. Anyone else have a problem?"

A chorus of 'no's went around the table and she gave everyone three minutes to think of something.

Two Truths and a Lie…Cameron hadn't played this get-to-know-you game since summer camp in middle school. He needed to think of good ones so Jennica's positive impression of him wouldn't change.

"I'll go first," Valentina said with a smile. "And my roommates aren't allowed to guess on me either."

Keeley and Jennica shrugged; it was only fair.

"I wash all of my dishes by hand, my favorite actor is Fernando de la Cruz, and I'm in my second year of medical school."

"The one about the dishes is the lie," Ryan's friend Evan said confidently. Murmurs of agreement rose from around the table.

Valentina shook her head with a wicked grin. "No. My favorite actor is—"

"Hector Garza," Keeley finished for her. "The one you think should play the male lead in my telenovela."

Cameron scrunched up his face in confusion, about to ask what she meant, but Ryan beat him to the punch. "Your telenovela?"

She blushed. "Valentina may or may not have convinced me to submit a proposal I came up with as a joke to her cousin who works in Peruvian television. They're actually planning to use it. My name will be in the credits somewhere."

"Dude, you should have saved that for one of your truths! Nobody would have believed you," Ryan's friend Vinnie said in disbelief.

"I totally should have," she said, smacking a hand against her forehead. "I'm not good at this game."

Cameron could not believe his boss would ever fall in love with a woman who watched telenovelas, let alone enough to come up with her own. Did Aaron know about this? He'd have to ask.

"Hang on, you wash all your dishes by hand?" Evan asked. "Don't you guys have a dishwasher?"

"Yes, but Valentina doesn't think it works," Keeley said, relieved the topic was off of her.

"My mama always washed her dishes by hand; if it's good enough for her, it's good enough for me!"

Jennica jumped in before a fight broke out. "Okay it's my turn! Let's see…I have never gotten a ticket of any kind, I once dyed my hair hot pink, and I used to be deathly afraid of elevators."

"These are all ridiculous; I can't tell!" Vinnie complained.

"You've gotten a ticket," Ryan said smugly. "You were complaining about it six months ago because you didn't have time to go to traffic court to contest it."

"I didn't!" she protested. "It was all the way in Ohio!"

"Why did you get a ticket in Ohio?"

She waved her hand dismissively. "I'm from there. I was driving my grandma to the dentist while visiting my family."

"She was going 55 in a 45 zone," Keeley contributed helpfully.

"I hadn't been home in a while; they changed the speed limit on that road and there weren't any signs anywhere!"

Cameron stifled a laugh seeing how passionate she still was about an incident that passed months ago.

The argument continued for another three minutes before Ryan took his turn. Nobody managed to guess that his lie was about going to Disneyworld rather than having a fake tooth.

All of Ryan's friends went before it was Cameron's turn. He had been thinking about what to say the entire time, trying to use the examples of those who went before him.

"I have never tasted honey, I own three dogs, and I hold the current title of World Champion of Poker."

Everyone gawked at him, unsure which was the lie.

"There's no way you're the World Champion of Poker," Jennica said, narrowing her eyes at him. "That's too random."

"How can you never have tasted honey?!"

Cameron smiled, ignoring the question. His mother was allergic so it was never in the house growing up; later, he never got around to it. "I only own one dog."

"No way! You're seriously World Champion?!"

"Three years running," he said with a shrug.

Jennica's jaw dropped. "That's insane. I've heard about that contest. The prize money is through the roof! You're a millionaire?!"

Technically yes but it wasn't what she thought. He was playing with Aaron's money on the clock so he had to give it back to him but was allowed to keep a small portion of each grand prize for his trouble.

He didn't let it get to his head though; he lived normally and helped pay off his parents' mortgage and for his younger siblings' education. Actual rich people like Aaron were an unfathomable mystery to him.

"Well yeah, but most of the prize money went to my family back in Pennsylvania or to charity. I still work a normal 9-5 job."

Ryan's friends seemed shocked he still bothered having a job when he was supposed to be a multimillionaire but the girls seemed impressed.

"Aww that's so sweet! What a good son," Valentina praised.

"I'd probably do the same thing," Keeley admitted. "I love my work."

Jennica looked thoughtful. "You just got a lot more interesting, Cameron Singleton."

He was pretty sure that was a good thing. Feeling pleased, he gestured for Keeley to take her turn.

She drummed her fingers on the table before speaking. "I'm allergic to bananas, I've never been outside of New York, and I never want to get married."

"You never want to get married," Cameron said confidently. Every girl he'd ever met wanted to get married someday.

Murmurs of agreement went around the booth but Keeley shook her head, surprising everyone but her roommates. "I've been to Massachusetts and the Caribbean."

This was bad. This was very, very bad. Aaron's pursuit had been doomed from the start.

"For real?" Ryan asked skeptically. "Is this because of your ex?"

Hang on; she had talked to this guy about previous relationships? They must be closer than Cameron originally thought. This was looking worse and worse for his boss.

Keeley nodded. "Pretty much. Even if he wasn't a part of the equation, I'm far too busy for any sort of relationship. This is only my third night not working on my dissertation all month. Careers are stable; relationships are not."

As the argument about work vs relationships continued, Cameron tuned it all out because his thoughts were going a mile a minute. Keeley Hall was not quite what he expected.

Her cheerful nature and easy banter with her friends matched what Aiden told him, as did her fiery side when she dragged Ryan around the roller rink. But he certainly hadn't imagined her as a staunch career woman with no interest in love.

Where did that leave Aaron, who was hopelessly obsessed with being with her?