TRUE LOVE 3 [Chapter 2: Pills and Potions]

I woke up to a silent apartment. I looked over at the clock and saw that it was 4:22pm. I slept the entire day. Cloud was fast asleep at the foot of our bed. I got myself out of bed and took a shower. I felt so much better after sleeping and showering. After getting dressed, I walked downstairs and picked up my phone. I noticed that I had a missed call from Cameron. I clicked on the call button and waited for him to answer.

“Hello?” he answered

“Hey.” I said

“You’re up finally.” He said

“Yeah. Where are you?” I asked

“At the pharmacy. I’ll be home in twenty minutes.” He said

“Oh. Okay.” I said

We said bye and hung up. What was he doing at the pharmacy? He must be picking up some meds for me. He’s so sweet. I decided to play with Cloud for a while, as I waited for Cameron to arrive. He finally walked through the door with a small pharmacy bag in his hand, but he was followed by Natalie, Phillip and Larissa.

“Hey guys. What’s up?” I asked somewhat confused

“Hi.” Natalie said smiling

“You guys all went with Cameron to the pharmacy?” I laughed

Phillip nodded his head as a response.

“Well what’s wrong with you guys? You all look sad.” I asked, “Oh my God. Did someone…die?”

“No babe, not at all.” Cameron said calming me down, “Just sit down, we want to talk to you.”

I did as I was told. Cameron sat next to me, while Phillip and Natalie sat across from me and Larissa sat at the breakfast bar on a stool.

“You guys are freaking me out.” I admitted

“Listen…I went to the pharmacy because I need to check something.” Cameron began, “A pill.”

“What kind of pill?”

“You don’t know?” Natalie asked

“No…I don’t have any idea what is going on.”

“See, Cameron…I told you. Just drop it.” Natalie said to Cameron

“Baby…did anyone give you anything…last night at the club?” he asked

“No…just the drinks.” I honestly said

“But do you remember the whole night?” Phillip asked

“Not entirely.”

“But before then, did anyone give you anything…drug related?” Cameron asked

“You guys are scaring me.”

“Just ask him straight out, Cam.” Larissa pushed him

“Fine. When you fell back asleep this morning, I began to pick up our clothes and a small bag of pills fell out of your pocket.” He said holding up the baggie with four white pills he pulled out of the pharmacy bag

“What the fuck?” I said in a low voice

“Do you remember getting these?” he asked

“No…no, of course not.” I said

“Baby…I want to help…please tell me the truth.” He pleaded

“I am…wait…what do you mean help?” I asked

They all looked at one another.

“Wait a minute. Is this a fucking intervention? Are you kidding me? I’m not on drugs!” I shouted

“Then why did you take a pill?” Cameron asked

“I didn’t!” I snapped

“Sweetie…a pill is missing from the bag.” Natalie said

“How would you even know that? Unless you counted them before hand? Maybe they’re one of your guys’ and you just don’t want to own up to it.” I said with anger

“Babe.” Cameron stopped me placing a hand on my shoulder; he then moved the bag in front of my face and pointed at the writing on it. It read, X (5ct).

“Bullshit. I didn’t take any pills!” I said

“Can you prove it?” Cameron asked

“How the fuck am I supposed to do that? You guys are my friends, my boyfriend. You should be able to trust me.”

“Here.” Cameron pulled out another item from the bag. It was a home drug test.

“Fuck you.” I said in a low voice and getting up

I was completely hurt. Why were they treating me this way? I had never taken an illegal drug in my life.

“I can’t believe this shit. No offense, Larissa, but I wish I never went out in the first fucking place.” I said as I ran up the stairs

I heard everyone quickly get up and follow me. I sat down on the foot of the bed completely appalled by what was going on.

“If you truly didn’t take the pills, then just prove us all wrong.” Larissa said

Cameron handed me the drug test kit. I grabbed it and stood up.

“Gladly…don’t expect me to accept any of your apologies after this.” I walked towards the bathroom, but before I entered, I turned around and looked at them in disgust, “Some friends.”

I was about the close the door when it was forced back open. I turned around to see Cameron holding it open.

“Are you shitting me?” I said, “You are treating me like a criminal!”

“I just want to be sure.” He said, “That you are giving us your urine.”

“Where the fuck am I going to get someone else’s urine from? The glove compartment up my ass?”

I heard Phillip give a slight chuckle, followed by Natalie smacking his arm.

“For me, please.” Cameron said calmly

“Fine.” I said pulling out my penis and urinating into the cup.

I gave the cup to Cameron and washed my hands. Cameron grabbed the stick that came with the kit and placed it inside the cup and sealed it. He then read off the instructions.

“Okay. It says if the strip turns green, it equals clean. If it turns red, it means signs of drugs.”

“So fucking stupid.” I said

We waited for five minutes and noticed the stick begin to change colors. I stood up and looked at everyone’s face.

“Told you fuckers! Green!” I said looking down at the green stick

“Wait.” Larissa said still looking at it, “It’s still changing colors.”

“What?” I said looking back down into the cup

The green eventually turned brown, then into a bright red.

“Holy shit.” I said to myself

I looked at everyone’s face and they didn’t seem surprised at all.

“Wait…no. I didn’t…I swear…” I tried to defend myself

“Baby, baby…wait.” Cameron said grabbing onto me

“I promise…I fucking swear…I didn’t take any drugs. I didn’t.” I said as my eyes began to water

“Cameron! Wait.” Natalie snapped, “Look at his face…he’s telling the truth.”

“I know, Nat.” he said

“What? You know?” I asked

“I can tell.” He said

“But, how would there be drugs in my system?” I asked

“Because you were drugged.” Larissa said

“Who the fuck would drug me?” I asked

“I think I know who.” Cameron said with anger

Cameron stormed out of the bedroom and downstairs. We all followed him.

“Cameron don’t!” Natalie shouted

“He’s fucking dead.” Cameron said

“Who?” I asked

“Teddy.” Phillip said

“No…oh fuck. No…he didn’t do this. He offered me only a joint, not pills!” I said as I ran after Cameron. Larissa, Phillip and Natalie followed me outside.

“Wait.” I shouted to Cameron

“Stay here.” He snapped
“No. Don’t do anything stupid, please.” I said

“Who else would do this to you?” he asked

“I don’t know…” I honestly said

We got in his car and peeled out as we sped off.

“Where are we going?” I asked

“To his hotel.”

“In Newport?” I asked

“No, here in Depoe…oh fuck…I forgot, you don’t remember. Phillip gave him a ride to the hotel near downtown last night. That’s where he’s staying until his family gets back from out of town in a few days.”

“Oh.”

We pulled up the hotel, walked up the exterior stairs to the second floor. I followed Cameron as he led me to the room Teddy was staying in. He reached room 204 and Cameron pounded like a police officer.

“Teddy!” he shouted which made me jump

There was no answer.

“Teddy! Open the door!” he yelled again

Suddenly we could hear the sound of the locks unlocking and the door knob jiggling. Teddy answered only in shorts, squinting his eyes as if he had just woken up.

“What’s up man? What time is it?” he asked

Cameron pushed him back into the room.

“What the fuck, man?” Teddy said in shock

“Did you give this to Joey?” he said holding up the bag of pills

Teddy stared at the pills directly in his face, almost cross eyed.

“What? Fuck no, dude.” He said swiping Cameron’s hand out of his face

“How was Joey drugged then?” he asked

“How the fuck should I know?” Teddy replied

“He was only out of my sight once the entire night and during that time, he was with you!” Cameron made his point

“I know…but I didn’t give him any drugs. I mean, I offered him a hit off my joint, but that’s it I swear.” He said

Cameron clenching down on his jaw, eyes bulging and veins popping. He was ready to beat up his childhood friend for me. I was scared…but I was also slightly turned on.

“Fine.” Cameron said

“What?” I asked in shock out loud

“I’ve never known this guy to do hard drugs like this. Just weed.”

“Well maybe he graduated to doing adult drugs!” I said

“What the fuck, man?!” Teddy said in offense

“Sorry. I mean…it’s just I’m trying to figure out how this ended up in my system.” I said

“Well, it is a club. People do drugs all the time in clubs. I’m sure one of those go-go dancers was coke’d up and probably slipped one in your drink and your pants.” He said

Cameron and I looked at each other. He had a point. Cameron apologized to Teddy and of course to me. We headed back down to Cameron’s car and drove back to the apartment where Natalie, Phillip and Larissa were waiting for us inside. We filled them in on what happened. Larissa still didn’t fully believe the story and thinks Teddy was the one who spiked my drink. At the end of the evening, I was in the bedroom changing the bedsheets while Cameron took a shower. I dropped the TV remote off my nightstand. I bent down to pick it up and noticed my wallet under the bed. I grabbed it and saw a piece of white paper hanging out of the money slot. I opened my wallet to find a note which read, “Live a little…I promise it will change your life.” There was a piece of tape over the top which was folded over; I flipped over the small note to find a tiny bag with one pill. On the bag it read, “X (1ct)”.

© 2016 Copyright J.M. Casas Jr. of Royalty Novels / The True Love Saga. All Rights Reserved.

All characters and likeness are pure fiction. Any resemblance is pure coincidence. Models and Actors used in marketing material for the True Love Saga were used as inspiration and to provide readers with an image of what the characters may look like.

TRUE LOVE 3 [Chapter 1: Nightlife]

It’s been a year since Cameron and I fixed the issue’s we were experiencing. Since then, Nick had moved to the east coast, last I spoke to his brother, Brad. Jasmine, who had returned to Depoe Bay for a few days during Natalie’s engagement party, had returned to Los Angeles to peruse her career in modelling and acting. Natalie and Phillip were enjoying the engaged life and were not in a rush to get married just yet. Cloud was now a fully grown frumpy white cat, with the soul of a one pound kitten. Cameron and I were still very much in love and resolved any underlying problems. He was happy with his new position and recently received a raise. I was still working at the bank, now an assistant manager, got a slight pay raise as well. Things were still the same with my parents. My mother was super attentive and my dad was still an asshole.

Cameron and I had both gotten new cars with our new raises. Cameron got a Lexus RC convertible, while I got a new Mazda 3. It felt nice to have my own car finally. Being without a car really sucked. The last car I had was the Jeep Wrangler my dad gave me, but I had stupidly given it back to him when we stopped talking. I just didn’t feel right having it. My mother offered to help me with a down payment on a car, but I couldn’t accept.

It was Saturday, Larissa, Natalie and Phillip all met us at our place as we got ready to go out. It was Larissa’s 21^st birthday. She was thrilled to be able to legally drink now. Natalie and Phillip were the only two left underage, with Phillip being 20 and Natalie being 19. Cameron’s birthday had just passed, now being 22; he was the grandpa of our group.

“Let’s get a move on fuckers.” Larissa said, tossing back a pre-game shot

“I’m ready.” I said

“Let’s roll out.” Phillip said as we walked out and headed to his Explorer

We got to the club which was down south in Newport, only a twenty minute drive. As we entered the club, we found ourselves surrounded by drunken girls making out in corners, a few slutty go-go dancers on top of boxes and a stripper pole on one end of the dance floor.

“This is my kind of club.” Larissa said loudly trying to over talk the music

“Let’s go get your birthday girl drink.” I said tugging her along

We all walked single-filed, hand in hand to the bar, led by Cameron.

“Two long islands and whatever the birthday girl wants.” Cameron told the bartender

“I’ll take a wet pussy.” She said confidently

“Of course you will.” Natalie laughed

Larissa turned around, splitting her index finger and middle finger creating a “V” and wiggled her tongue at Natalie.

“Ewe, get that thing away from me.” Natalie yelped

“You don’t know what you are missing.” Larissa joked

“Um…I’d like to think I know what I’m doing in that department.” Phillip laughed

“Only a girl knows how to lick another girl’s pussy.” Larissa winked at him

Phillip just shrugged.

When we got our drinks, we all took a sip and headed towards an area of the dance floor. Hit after hit of our favorite songs came on as we danced non-stop. About an hour into dancing and two long islands, Cameron stopped dancing.

“Oh my God.” He said

“What is it?” I asked

“Is that?” He said to Natalie and pointing through the crowd

“It is!” she said as her face lit up

“Come on babe.” He said grabbing my hand as he led us through the crowd, leaving Natalie behind with Phillip

We came up to a guy who looked our age. He was tall, dark, handsome, very fit, ethnic and clean cut. Cameron immediately hugged him as they patted each other on the back during the embrace. Natalie practically jumped into his arms when she hugged him.

“It’s so good seeing you!” Natalie shouted

“Ted, this is my boyfriend, Joey.” He said introducing me as I smiled

“Babe, this is Teddy, one of my childhood friends.”

I stuck out my arm to shake his waiting hand.

“Nice to meet you.” He smiled at me

“You too.” I responded

“God damn, Cam. You did good. He’s hot.” He said loudly, I guess he was expecting me to blush and twirl my fingers in my hair, but just smiled and looked at Natalie

“What about you? You ain't got a man, or men?” Cameron asked laughing

“Nah. Staying single for a while. Enjoying life to much by myself.” He stated

“I didn’t know you moved to Newport?” Cameron asked

“No, I didn’t. I’m moving back to D.B.” he said while I deciphered D.B. as being Depoe Bay, “I just stopped here to meet up with my cousin. She wanted to hit up the club. She’s a big’ol Lez.” He laughed

“Oh cool. We got one of those. She’s the one dancing at the other end.” Cameron said pointing at Larissa

“Yeah, that’s Larissa. We took her out for her birthday. And that’s my fiancé Phillip.” Natalie said

“Fiancé? Natalie! Congrats!” Teddy said picking her up while hugging her

“Thank you.” She said muffled into his shoulder

“Well we have to celebrate. Come on, drinks on me.” He said leading us to the bar

Natalie walked back to grab Phillip and Larissa. When she returned to the bar with us, she introduced them to Teddy. He hugged Larissa, wishing her a happy birthday and proceeded to take our drink order.

After grabbing our drinks we all headed back to the dance floor. Teddy and his cousin joined us. We were all having a really good time, more importantly, Larissa was having a blast. It was getting extremely hot, so I told Cameron that I was going to step outside for a moment.

“Want me to come?” he asked

“No babe, I’ll be right back.” I said kissing him before I turned around and headed for the door

As I emerged from the overstuffed club, I felt the relief of cool coastal air rush upon me. I stared up into the sky full of stars. As I admired the beauty of it, I was interrupted by a voice behind me.

“Beautiful night isn’t it?”

I turned around to find Teddy staring up at the sky as well.

“Oh, yeah it is.” I said looking back up at the sky

“So how long you and Cam been together? He asked

“Four years.” I said

“Wow.” He said

“Wow?” I asked

“It’s a long time. Longest, I’ve ever been in was a year.” He admitted

“Relationships take work and commitment.” I said confidently

“Very true.” He said walking in front of me and facing me

He stuck out his hand holding a joint. I looked at it, then at him. He blew the smoke out of the side of his mouth.

“No thanks.” I said

He shrugged and took another hit.

“How about another drink?” he asked

“I shouldn’t…I’ve already had four.”

“Really? Are you even feeling it?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t think so.” I said

“Come on.” He said grabbing my hand

I quickly yanked my hand out of his grip.

“Woah.” He said putting both hands up as if being arrested, “Sorry.”

“No…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…I’m a jerk.” I said flatly

“No…no you aren’t. It’s a very natural instinct.” He said rubbing my shoulders now

“I’ll take that drink now.” I smiled

“Okay. Come on…” he said nudging his head, “Keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times.”

I laughed at his commentary as we headed inside through the crowd and back to the bar. He ordered two drinks; both were Mai-Tai’s. He handed me one.

“One for now and one for later.” He winked at me

“Oh, just one is good…” I said

“Come on. Gotta live a little.” He said

Through the crowd I could see my friends dancing. Cameron looked over and smiled at me. By the time I knew it, I had finished the first drink. Teddy handed me the second and I tossed it back like a fresh glass of lemonade. I definitely felt these drinks. I headed back out to the dance floor. I spun around with Cameron as we kissed and danced around the entire floor having a good time. We even got to dance on top of the go-go dancers’ boxes and…

            An alarm screeched scaring me out of my sleep. I jolted out of bed. I planted my feet on the ground and felt the entire room spinning.

“Morning babe.” Cameron said sitting up in bed

“Morning.” I said rubbing my face hunched over, “Why did the alarm go off?” I asked

“We’re going to breakfast with my Mom, remember?” he said

“Oh…that’s right.” I said

“Are you okay?” he asked rubbing my back

“Yeah...” I lied, “okay, no.”

“Shit, you’re hungover.” He said getting up out of bed and heading to the bathroom

Cameron came back to my side of the bed with a glass of water and two alke-seltzers.

“Drink this.” He said placing it in my hand

I looked up with my eyes squinted, trying to peel them back. I noticed the floor was littered with our clothes.

“Why are our clothes everywhere?” I asked

“You don’t remember?” he asked

“No.”

“How much do you remember last night?” he asked

“I’m not sure. Dancing on the go-go boxes?”

“That’s it? Babe…there was so much more that happened after that. I can’t believe you blacked out?”

“But why are our clothes everywhere?” I asked again

“Baby, when we got home, you tore off my clothes and we had sex.”

“That must be why my legs are sore.” I said

“Okay, I’m going to cancel breakfast with my mom.” He said walking over to his cell phone still naked

“No…don’t do that. She looks forward to us coming over.” I said

“But you can’t go like this.”

“I’ll just take a shower and I’m sure I’ll feel better.”

“No way. You are staying here. I’ll just postpone our breakfast for next Sunday.”

I didn’t have the strength to disagree with him. I just lied back down and closed my eyes.

© 2016 Copyright J.M. Casas Jr. of Royalty Novels / The True Love Saga. All Rights Reserved.

All characters and likeness are pure fiction. Any resemblance is pure coincidence. Models and Actors used in marketing material for the True Love Saga were used as inspiration and to provide readers with an image of what the characters may look like.

TRUE LOVE 3 Official Cover

True Love 3 Character Posters

True Love 3 Teaser Poster

TRUE LOVE 2 [Chapter 12: Second Chance]

We reached the apartment after what I could only think of being a magical experience. This didn’t mean that things would pick up plain and simple. We had to work on things.

“What now?” Cameron asked

“Well. I need to talk to Nick.” I said

Cameron didn’t seem happy about it. But he was understanding

“Why not just a phone call?” he suggested

“You know I can’t do that.” I said

“I know.”

I walked past him towards the balcony. The air was filled with the cool ocean breeze. Cameron joined me as he stood behind me, wrapping his arms around my stomach.

“I have a confession to make.” He said

“Oh.” I said turning around

“Remember that card you found in my pocket?”

“Yes.” I said preparing myself

“I wasn’t being completely honest.” He hesitated, “I had used it once…just once…to call a phone sex operator.” He looked down in shame

“Promise?” I asked

“I swear it.” He looked up at me

“Thank you for being honest with me.” I said releasing myself from his grip and walking back inside the apartment

“Please don’t be angry.” He said

“I’m not angry…” I said honestly, “But I do have a confession to make as well.”

“What is it?” he asked

“While we were still together…I jacked-off in the shower…” I began

“That’s okay. I do it too.” He smiled

“But…I did it while fantasizing about Nick.” I confessed

“Oh.” He said displeased

“But it was that one time.”

“That’s okay.” He said

“But can I ask you…why did you call the phone sex operator?” I asked

“Before our trip to Seattle, our sex hadn’t been the same. Sometimes I felt like I had to force you, or you didn’t seem to enjoy yourself.” He admitted

“I’m sorry. I was holding back. I guess because I was unhappy with how you handled things. I felt that our sex turned into a way of fixing things, instead of doing it because we craved one another.” I said

He looked down at his feet.

“I’m sorry.” He said

“Don’t be. We just need to communicate better.” I suggested

“We do…and we will.” Cameron smiled walking towards me

We kissed.

“Will you move back in with me?” he asked

“Of course I will.” I smiled at him

            Just as we began to kiss again, my phone began to ring. I looked at the screen to see Nick’s face.

“Ugh.” Cameron uttered

“Baby, stop. I’ll handle this right now.” I said

I gestured to Cameron to keep quiet.

“Hello?” I answered

“Hey. Um…what’s this note about? Is this your way of dumping me?” he asked frantically

“Nick. We need to talk. I’ll be over in ten minutes.” I said hanging up

I called a taxi to take me over to Nick’s house. Cameron said he would go to Larissa’s to pick up my things. When I arrived at Nick’s he was waiting for me on the front steps.

“Hi.” I said after paying the taxi fare

“Hi.” He said plain faced

“I’m sorry about the note.” I said sitting next to him

“I thought we were happy?” he asked

“I am…I was.” I corrected myself

“What happened?”

“I happened.” I said

“What do you mean?” he said frustrated

“I realized that I wasn’t being honest with myself.”

“Just be honest with me. I can handle it.” He said with anger

“I was using you as a rebound…okay? You filled a void…a void that no one can fulfill in me…except…” I stopped myself

“Cameron.” Nick said

I looked over at Nick. His face looking down at his hands resting on his knees. A tear began to roll down his cheek.

“Nick…Please don’t. I’m so sorry.” I said putting my arm around him

“Why is he so special to you? I was good to you.” He said

“Yes…you were good to me. But that’s all you were.” I said honestly

“What?” he asked

“Nick. You are…were an amazing boyfriend. Tentative, respectful, caring and even loving.”

“So why then?” he asked again

“Because that’s all you were to me only. But when it didn’t come to me…you were still Nick…the bully.” I said in a low voice

He didn’t respond. He just nodded his head understanding where I was coming from and the topic at hand.

“I just wanted to protect you from getting hurt again.” He said

“You can’t do things like that though, Nick.”

“But I love you. I’m in love with you. It’s all I ever wanted.” He said with another tear coming down his face

“When you love someone, you love all of them…including those who they care about. You don’t hurt others someone cares about…it only hurts them and can eventually hurt the relationship.”

“I should have been brave like Cameron in high school…and just asked you out then.”

“We can’t dwell on the past and what could have been. Things happen for a reason.” I said plainly

“Yeah.” He said, not wanting to hear it

“Nick.” I said grabbing his chin, His eyes filled with tears fixed on my eyes, “I do love you…but as a new friend. This side of you is something that I truly admire and respect. This is who you are. Don’t hide it by trying to be tough. One day, you will meet someone way better than me and much better for you, and your happiness will be fulfilled.” I smiled

“You think so?” he asked

“I know so.”

He leaned over, kissed me on my lips and hugged me.

“I’m going to miss you.” He said

“I’ll miss you too. But I’ll only be a phone call away. I believe in you to better your ways, Nick. I’ll always be here for you, your friend. I will always care for you.” I admitted

“I’ll always love you.” He confessed

I didn’t respond. Nick needed time to accept this. I simply got up and walked inside to collect my things. Brad was in the kitchen.

“Hey, you staying for lunch?” he asked

“Oh…no. Sorry. I’m just getting my things.” I said

“Oh.” He said flatly and yet somewhat concerned

I continued to Nick’s room and put all my things in my bag. I heard someone coming to the room. It was Brad.

“Did Nick do something to you?” he asked

“What? No…not at all.” I said

“Oh…well…I’m sorry things didn’t work.” He said

“Thanks. But this is for the best.” I said

“Well…thank you for coming into his life.” He smiled

“What do you mean?” I asked

“You changed Nick.” He said

“No…he’s always been this way…” explained

“Well, you released this Nick. It was you that made him open his eyes.”

I simply smiled.

“Don’t worry. He’ll be fine. I’ll keep an eye on him.” He said

Brad walked over and gave me a friendly hug. After gathering my things, I walked back outside. Nick was still sitting on the steps.

“I’ll check up on you in a few days…if that’s okay?” I asked

He looked up at me with his green eyes. Gave me a crooked smile and nodded. I leaned down and kissed him on his forehead and began to walk down the street back home. It was a 45 minute walk, but I didn’t want to stand there a wait for the taxi. I called Cameron once I was a block away. He arrived within ten minutes. He ran around the car and opened the door for me.

“I gotta put in my bags.” I laughed

“Get in.” he smiled

I complied as he shut the door. He grabbed my things and placed them in the trunk of his car. I looked straight ahead through the windshield and noticed something flying around the car. It was a blue butterfly. Perhaps the same one from the beach? Maybe another one escaped? Regardless, this had to be a sign. It landed on the windshield, as if telling me that our love was going to evolve…a rare love like ours…would make it. This wasn’t just any love…this was true love.

© 2015/2016 Copyright J.M. Casas Jr. of Royalty Novels / The True Love Saga. All Rights Reserved.

All characters and likeness are pure fiction. Any resemblance is pure coincidence. Models and Actors used in marketing material for the True Love Saga were used as inspiration and to provide readers with an image of what the characters may look like.

TRUE LOVE 2 [Chapter 11: The Secret Garden]

The day of staying with Larissa, turned into five days. It gave me time to cool down. Nick had been surprisingly understanding. I knew that I had to handle the situation delicately. I was going to act as if nothing was wrong. I didn’t want to break up with Nick…I just wanted to confront him of his childish actions. But tonight was not the night. As previously arranged, I had plans to go out with Natalie. I headed back to Brad’s house and got ready there, since most of my nice clothes were hanging in Nick’s closet. He gave me a tight hug and kissed me.

“I missed you baby.” He said with a smile…oh that smile and his eyes…Stop it Joey.

“I missed you too.” I lied…okay…it was sort of a lie. I did miss him…but I was still angry and the time away did some good

“What are you doing?” he asked as I looked through the closet

“Getting ready.”

“You’re leaving again?” he asked

“Yeah, remember I told you last week that I made plans with Natalie.”

I looked over at Nick who didn’t seem too enthused about me leaving.

“You mind if I come?” he asked giving me sad puppy dog eyes

Damn it. If I told him no, he would just continue to harass me the entire time I was out with her.

“Sure, babe.” I said

He smiled and walked over to me, wrapping his arms around my lower back and pulled me in. My hands were smashed up between my chest and his. His hard pecs were such a turn on. He leaned in to kiss me and I obliged. Fuck. He was an amazing kisser.

Nick wanted to have sex, but I told him we were already running late, so we skipped it unfortunately and finished getting ready. We drove to Phillip’s and picked up Natalie. She didn’t seem too thrilled that Nick was coming with us. She was however polite as always. We arrived at the club, which was 18 and over, so there were a lot of kids we recognized from high school. A few of them greeted us, others thought they were too good for us and just ignored us as we strolled through the crowd.

“Who are you looking for?” I asked Natalie as she held onto my hand pulling me through the crowded dance floor

We finally emerged from the mosh pit and walked over to a crowd of some familiar faces again from high school.

“Oh my God!” screamed the girl as she jumped up and latched onto both Natalie and me

“Jasmine! Holy shit!” I squeezed her completely shocked

“I missed you guys so much!” she said finally releasing us

“Thank you so much for coming.” Natalie said

“Of course, when you told me you had some important news, I’m like...oh…this is going to be good.” She laughed, “Oh…hi…Nick.” She stumbled over her words

“Hello.” He smiled politely

“I’ll fill you in later.” I whispered into her ear pretending to hug her again

We sat down in the lounge area that seemed to be reserved for our group. A few minutes after we had arrived, Larissa came and hugged us all, including Nick, which surprised me. Natalie introduced her to Jasmine and they seemed to be getting along. After catching up with everyone, Natalie finally prepared to give her announcement.

“Okay everyone. I just wanted to thank you all for coming. I know some of you came out of town and it means the world to me that you traveled all this way, but I wouldn’t have it any other way than to tell you in person that…I’m getting married!”

Nick and I clapped as the girls screamed and ran over to Natalie to hug her. After the girls let her go, I walked in to hug Natalie and congratulated her. Nick then followed, slightly picking up Natalie off the ground. She laughed and pointed at him, “Thanks Nick…but you better take care of my Joey. He’s an amazing guy.”

“I promise. He’s the light of my life.” He smiled at me

It was responses like this that made me smile and melt inside. Damn it, Nick. Natalie gave out a mild “awe”. Nick headed back over to join the conversation with Larissa and Jasmine.

“Hey. Do you have a couple minutes?” Natalie asked me

“Yeah, what’s up?” I asked

“Let’s head to the bar area.” She said

I looked over to Nick who was smiling at me. I gestured that I would be right back. He nodded. We got to the bar, sitting at the very far side of the club opposite of where our group was, secure and hidden.

“Phillip told me that he asked you to be his best man.” She started

“Yeah. I was in total shock.” I smiled

“He loves you like a brother. I’m glad he didn’t chose anyone else.” She said

“I know. He is like a brother and I’d do anything for him.”

“Well, there is something you can do for him…more for me though.” She continued

“And, what is that?”

“Cameron is going to be in the wedding as well.” She said

“I figured as much.” I smirked

“He really does miss you.”

“Natalie.” I tried to stop her

“No, listen please. He would be so upset if I told you…he’s fallen into a depression.” She stated

“What? Are you serious?” I asked concerned

“Really. He stopped shaving, he hasn’t really been out of the house, except to work and that one time that he went to the golf course with Phillip.”

“Jesus.” I responded

“Did Phillip tell you about what Nick did?” she said looking up at her surroundings to make sure we were still alone

“Yes. I’m so furious about that.”

“We’re all convinced that Nick is still the same old Nick. The only difference here is…you.”

“What do you mean?” I asked

“He’s only sweet and kind, when he’s around you.” She clarified

“Are you sure you aren’t just trying to protect Cameron?” I asked

“What? Joey…get real.” She laughed, “You know I wouldn’t be so immature about this. Besides, I’m not taking sides and if I were to take sides…it would be yours. What Cameron did was unacceptable; arguing over money, making you seem to be some sort of gold digger and unappreciative person, blaming you for everything. He knows that what he did was wrong…” she said

“It was wrong…and it hurt me.” I interjected

“Yeah…but we’re human. We make mistakes. I’ve made mistakes with Phillip, he has with me. But we know in the end of the day, we’re meant for each other.” She smiled at me

“Nick is a good man to me. He makes me happy.” I explained to her

“All the time?” she asked

“Well…not recently…but yeah.”

“How often do you guys have sex?” she asked bluntly

“Natalie.” I laughed

“Seriously…how often?”

“I don’t know. Every day?”

“How many times a day?” she asked

“Usually once, but on occasion, twice.”

“When is the last time you had sex?” she continued to ask

“About a week ago.” I confessed

“Which is when you found out how Nick has been acting when he isn’t around you…right?”

My God. She was right.

“Don’t you get it? You are only happy when you guys screw. When you snap out of it and face reality, you see the person he can truly be. I don’t doubt, Nick is a good boyfriend to you. He may be great boyfriend material, but when he’s without you by his side…he’s still Nick from High School.”

She was completely right. I had been so lost in this lust I’ve had with Nick, that I forgot what was important…and opening my eyes to the word around me. I didn’t love Nick…I loved having sex with Nick…I loved having that touch of someone who loved me…but it wasn’t supposed to be with Nick, it was supposed to be with Cameron.

“So what are you going to do about?” she asked

“I know what I gotta do. But I have to play this out right.” I said

“I’m glad you came to your senses.” She smiled at me

We stood up and hugged.

“Thank you. You have always looked out for me.” I told her

“You’re like my brother. I love you.” She said releasing me

We headed back to our friends, enjoyed the rest of the night. Nick and I returned to his brother’s place. Again, Nick wanted to have sex, but I told him that I wasn’t feeling well. He stayed by my side, like a good boyfriend. I pretended to fall asleep in his arms. A few minutes after, I felt Nick look over to see if I was asleep. He kissed me on my forehead and whispered in my ear, “I love you.” I felt my eyes begin to water as they remained shut. Damn you, Nick. Why couldn’t you be better? Why did you have to show your true colors? Why couldn’t you be more like Cameron? Wait…that was the problem. Nobody could be like Cameron. He was my one true love…my forever. I needed to fix this.

            The next morning, I got up early, slipping out of Nick’s arms. He laid naked in bed. Before I left, I stood over him, admiring him in all his glory. I was torn. I would miss Nick. I wish things did work. I wish I did love him back. I leaned over and gently kissed his cheek. I wrote on a piece of paper, “My heart still belongs to another…Please forgive me. – Joey” and placed it on the pillow next to him. I left Brad’s apartment and began to run down the path, down the street and passed the bay where Nick and I first had sex. It’s the fastest I ever ran. Within what seemed to only take ten minutes, I reached our apartment. I walked up the door and was about to knock. I stood there for a few seconds and reached into my pocket for my keys. I unlocked the door and turned the knob quietly entering the door. I walked in looking around for any sign of Cameron. Cloud came running to me. He looked like he had gotten so much bigger. I picked him up and kissed him. He seemed so happy to see me.

“Where’s daddy, Cloud?”

As I walked in a bit further I noticed a small note with a cherry blossom resting on it on the countertop of the kitchen. I picked up the cherry blossom and a flood of memories hit me like a semi-truck. The cliff, our first kiss, our prom, our first time, the helicopter ride, but what it made me really think of…was the tattoo Cameron got. It was something very symbolic to us both. I was such an idiot. Why would I make such a big deal out of the tattoo? The note read, Joey. Natalie told me that you may possibly come over to talk. I didn’t want to look like a mess when you get here, so I left early to get a haircut and be more presentable. Please meet me at the Butterfly Garden at 10am. I hope to see you soon. – Cameron

10am; that left me about two hours to kill. I knew exactly what I wanted to do within that timeframe. I headed upstairs to change my clothes and ran out the front door.

After taking care of what I had planned, I called for a taxi and had it drop me off at the park centralized in Depoe Bay. It was 10:02am. Shit. I was late. I ran across the grassy knoll towards the newly constructed garden. The sign read, “The Secret Garden: A Butterfly Experience”. It looked deserted. The sign on the door even said “Closed”. What happened? Did I read the note wrong? Was this really happening? Just as I was about to rummage through my phone to call Cameron, Natalie appeared out of nowhere.

“Nat? What are you doing here?” I asked confused

“I knew you would come.” She said with a smile

“Am I too late? Where’s Cameron?” I asked frantically

“No. You aren’t late. Let me unlock the door for you.” She said pulling out keys.

“How do you have keys?” I asked

“I work here.” She smiled

“What? Really?” I asked confused

“Yeah. I applied, and I got the job. Today was my shift.” She said letting me in and closing the door behind me

I turned around, bewildered at what was happening. I was standing in an empty halfway area between the outside and the garden. I guess this was used in case butterflies almost escaped, like the one that actually did escape the day I saw one at the beach. I took a deep breath, adjusted my jacket and hair and grabbed a hold of the door knob. I turned it and walked in. The garden was beautiful. Tropical plants, flowers, trees. A small waterfall in the distance. I didn’t see any butterflies though, nor did I see Cameron. I walked into the garden, releasing the open door. As it shut, a cloud of butterflies shot out from the trees and bushes all around me. The vibration must have alarmed them. Every butterfly in the room was blue, just as the one I had seen before. They were beautiful. They cluttered the air around me and I was so intrigued by them that I had almost forgot who I was looking for. In the corner of my eye, I saw someone standing at the other end of the garden. I looked through the cloud of blue butterflies and saw Cameron. He was in a pair of black slacks and a blue buttoned up long-sleeve shirt. In his hand, was a white rose. He began to walk towards me, as did I. We finally were within arm’s length of each other.

“You came.” He said softly

“Of course.” I smiled

He extended his arm handing me the rose, on the top of the rose, a blue butterfly had landed. We both smiled.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He said

“You look very nice.” I said

“Thanks.”

“Can I ask you something?” I asked

“Yeah, of course.”

“What if…” I began

“You didn’t show up?” he finished my sentence

“Yeah.”

“I would have looked like a total idiot standing here surrounded by a bunch of butterflies, and the money I put down to rent the place, would have been a total loss…but I was hopeful.” He smiled

“You rented the entire garden?” I asked

“Yes.” He smiled

“How could you…” I stopped myself

“Afford it?” he laughed, I nodded, “Well, that’s something I wanted to tell you. I got a promotion at work.”
“Cameron…congratulations! I’m so proud of you.” I said excitingly

“Thanks. I’m the new Senior Executive Staff Recruiter.”

“That’s great.” I smiled

We stood there for a few seconds not saying anything.

“I’m sorry.” I finally said

“No, I’m sorry. I fucked up.” He said shaking his head and looking down

“Can I make this fair?” I asked

He shrugged.

“We both messed up.”

“It’s okay. It doesn’t matter anymore. I mean, you’re with Nick.” He said gulping down the lump in his throat

“Well…technically yes…but my happiness is with you.” I admitted

“He told me that you loved him.” He said with a flatness

“That’s not true. I never said I loved him.” I confessed

“Really?” he said with relief, “That fucker.”

“I’m not sure what his motives were, but I promise you, what he said wasn’t true.”

“He said that you told him he was the best sex you ever had.” Cameron clenched his teeth.

“Also not true.” I shook my head in distaste

“Good.”

Another few moments of silence fell between us.

“I miss you.” We both said at the same time

“You do?” he asked

“Yes.” I responded

“Do you still love me?” he asked

I didn’t answer right away as I looked down at the white rose, then looking up at him into his beautiful hazel eyes, “Forever.”

He smiled and grabbed me, pulling me into a passionate kiss. I dropped the rose as I held onto Cameron, feeling his soft lips against mine again was the most sensational thing. My body quivered in chills and I melted right into his arms. I felt light as if I were flying into the clouds with him. Only Cameron was able to make me feel this way. As our eyes remained closed while we kissed, I could hear something fluttering wildly around us. The butterflies were flying over us with excitement, as if cheering for us. Was this a sign? Cameron pulled off my jacket and began to unbuckle my pants. I began unbuttoning his shirt and before we knew it we were completely naked. He shuffled off the main path of the garden and into a flower bed near the waterfall. He sat up perched against a large boulder, his erection calling for me. We used our saliva to lube ourselves up and I kneeled down and lowered myself onto him. His body flawless and Greek god-like. Quickly comparing his penis, I realized that Cameron was almost if not just as endowed as Nick. Stop thinking about Nick. I looked into Cameron’s eyes, his mouth slightly open wanting me, waiting for me, in love with me. His penis slowly entered me, feeling the fullness of the head of his penis go in first, then the veiny length of his shaft. His hands cradled my ass. I began to ride him like it was our last time ever making love. The butterflies still fluttering around us added to the serenity of our love. I threw back my head as I arched my back, moaning with pleasure. Cameron ran his hands from my neck down my chest and back around to my ass. With his other hand, he push my back up allowing him to kiss my chest and my nipple. I tilted my head low enough to taste him. His tongue massaging my mouth as I sucked his bottom lip. Using my hips, I thrusted hard on him, gyrating in a circular motion, which drove him off the wall with pleasure. His moans turned into heavy grunts, which was a sign he was about to come. I looked down at him, grabbed his head, my forehead and nose touching his. I locked eyes as we continued to grunt and moan. As if synchronized, we both came, giving out heavy breathes of satisfaction. I came onto his stomach, while he came inside me. We sat there momentarily, eyes still fixed on one another. I kissed him.

“I love you…so much.” I said

“I love you so much.” He responded

I lifted myself off him and lied down next to him.

“Ouch.” I said in pain

“What is it?” he asked concerned

“I forgot about this.” I said turning my back towards him

“What happened?” he said looking at the bandaged spot on my shoulder

“Take it off.” I said

He began to remove the bandage and gave out a slight sigh.

“Babe.” He said

He stared at the matching tattoo that we now both had.

“It’s the reason I was a little late. It’s something I should have done a long time ago.” I admitted

He leaned over and kissed me with a smile. I wanted to stay in the garden with him all day, just holding one another naked. But he reminded me that he had only rented the garden for an hour. That time was almost up. We gathered our things and began to walk out the garden. Cameron stopped me.

“What is it?” I asked

He pointed at my shoulder. It was a butterfly resting on my jacket. Cameron reached up and stuck out his index finger. The butterfly, as if trained, crawled onto his finger. We walked over to a bush and placed it gently on a branch. We smiled at one another, and walked out hand in hand.

© 2015/2016 Copyright J.M. Casas Jr. of Royalty Novels / The True Love Saga. All Rights Reserved.

All characters and likeness are pure fiction. Any resemblance is pure coincidence. Models and Actors used in marketing material for the True Love Saga were used as inspiration and to provide readers with an image of what the characters may look like.