Ride or Die

Chapter One

Two Years Ago
It was a double celebration: Camden Byfield's twenty-seventh birthday and housewarming
party. The night was perfect; it had rained earlier, and the place was significantly cooler now.
A gentle wind was blowing, and she could smell the white roses planted in giant pots on the opposite sides of the patio.
Kenny had excused herself from the joyous occasion inside to take a breather. It wasn’t that it was a bad party or even dull. It was her—she felt off, maybe a little sad. What was wrong
with her? She should be happy for Camden’s successes; this house purchase was a huge deal
for him. One more step toward ‘adulting,’ as he had called it. And she was the one who had
set things in motion. She had casually suggested that Camden buy into the Ridgeview townhouse complex after hearing about it from Richard Tinsdale, the property developer and her client. When Richard decided to dip his toes into the luxury market, he summoned her and Jewel, his app developers, to his office. “I want some changes to the app,” he had told them. “I am going luxury.”
It was Richard’s first high-end development of six townhouses on a bluff overlooking the
sea. He had toyed with several names but eventually settled on Ridgeview.
For the past year, she and Camden had a long-standing date at Freddy's Pier, where they would sit, chat, and unburden on each other about the week. They were the only single ones in their friendship group in Jamaica and their workplaces were quite close. Kent and Moses,
the IT company where she worked, was just a stone's throw away from Byfield and Byfield, the law firm where Camden was a lawyer.
She had excitedly told Camden about the complex, and Camden had been interested. For a few years, he had expressed an interest in leaving his parents' guest house and venturing on his own.
“It’s high time, Kenny,” he had said, looking at her without his characteristic grin. “I’m
ready to make big moves, turn my own key, be the man of my house. Start adulting.”
Kenny had laughed.
“I’m not joking, Kenny.”
“If you’re serious, you should call Richard. He said people were expressing interest in the place before the houses were even finished.”
“Tell me more about them,” Camden had nodded.
“Three bedrooms, three and a half baths, a large land space, and the view is said to be superb,” Kenny said. “Richard used the words premium and luxury. I haven't seen them myself to ascertain what that looks like for him, but he had us design an app for opening
the front door remotely and many other cool home automation features.”
“Is there yard space for kids to play?” Camden asked.
Kenny had looked at Camden, shocked. “Why?”
“Because I may want a kid or two,” Camden said. “I like Rory and Jewel’s kid; he’s cute
and smart.”
“That’s a given,” Kenny said. “Look at his parents. Jewel was reading Algorithms To Live By while she was pregnant with him. She named him Isaac in honor of Isaac Newton.”
Camden nodded. “It got me thinking—most of our friends are parents. Maybe I should be looking in that direction. I want a smart kid, too.”

“It doesn't work like that,” Kenny chuckled. “Besides, don't you need a serious relationship
for that to happen? And you're not going to commit until you're forty, remember? You're not even seeing anyone now.”
“True, but I have someone in mind,” Camden had said mysteriously. “To be honest with you, I’ve always had her in mind. I wanted to get the wildness out of my system first. I think I’m at the stage where I can present myself to her and say, Hey, I’m serious and ready to be
the mature, non-goofy person you’ve always wanted me to be.”
Kenny shook her head. “I can’t imagine you being non-goofy. Which girl would want that?
You’re handsome, but your personality is what’s most attractive about you. There is never a dull day with you around.”
“Okay, then, I'll be my same old goofy self around her,” Camden smiled. “But I'll never be goofy about my feelings.”
That was eight months ago; she had never asked him who the mystery girl he had in mind was. She hadn't wanted to seem too interested in his love life. As close as they were, they never really spoke about his various relationships. He was certainly interested in hers, but she usually didn't have much to report. She had one serious relationship, but they broke up around the time she and Camden started hanging out on the weekends.
She looked at him now through the patio doors, holding court in his tastefully furnished
luxury home, laughing at a joke and being his adorable, handsome self. For a moment, she slipped. She wished she was by his side, with her hand around his neck, her body pressed to his side, entertaining their guests together.
She turned her back to Camden and looked out at the view. The sea was supposed to be uninteresting at night, but the moon cast a silvery glow over the water, turning it into a shimmering, black glass with sparkles.
She was slipping a lot lately. Camden was her friend, her bestie, her ride-or-die. They had known each other since prep school. In fact, he had been her first crush. For a brief time in
high school, they had even considered themselves in a relationship, which had fizzled out almost as soon as it began. They had quarreled about Camden liking the new girl in their third-form class a bit too much.
“I can't be tied down now,” Camden had told her in no uncertain terms. “There are so many pretty girls in this school to have relationships with, not just you. I think that having a girlfriend every week would be a perfect solution to my problem."
Kenny had kicked him in the shin and slapped him on the head with her Geography textbook for his little breakup speech.
He had howled with anger. “That’s it! We are done! We are no longer boyfriend and
girlfriend or even ordinary friends. We will not even talk to each other again!”
Kenny had stomped on his foot for good measure. She knew it would hurt; he had football practice later in the evening, and she wanted him to suffer.
But when she saw that he had left his water bottle in the classroom after their last class, she had taken it to him at practice.
He had approached her cautiously and taken the bottle from her. “About earlier today, I take it back.”
“What are you taking back?” Kenny snarled.
“I’ll always be your friend,” Camden grinned. “I solemnly swear.”
“Save it,” Kenny had growled. “You're thirteen years old; you can't solemnly swear anything.”
“But I do,” Camden corrected her. “And you'll have to swear, too. Solemnly swear that you'll be my friend forever.”

“I won’t,” Kenny had grimaced. “We won’t even speak to each other after high school. I’ll pass you in the streets in my luxury vehicle and deliberately drive in a puddle so that I can splash you from head to toe.”
Camden laughed. “Kenny, you won't always be mad at me. One day, you'll forget all this, and then we'll be friends again. And tell you what, when we are old, we'll try the boyfriend and girlfriend thing again.”
“How old are we talking?” Kenny frowned.
“Twenty-six, that seems ancient enough,” Camden said. “Give me thirteen more years.”
“By twenty-six, I’ll be married and have at least two children,” Kenny had snickered. “So sorry you’ll miss out on all of this.” She indicated to her body.
Camden laughed and ran back to his game.
Next month, November, would be her twenty-seventh birthday. She had been so wrong then
about her future, but Camden seemed on track with his—except it was not with her. There was the mystery woman—the one who had always been on his mind, the one he was finally ready to pursue. It made her stomach tighten, a feeling she didn't understand and didn't want to explore too deeply. Why was she so reluctant to hear who it was? She didn't know.
Camden was her closest friend at the moment; they told each other everything. He was even closer to her than her girlfriends, Jewel and Audra. Jewel was busy with her young family and rarely had time to do girly stuff these days, and Audra was pursuing her residency at
medical school in the States. She only returned to Jamaica for brief visits, and usually, she had her son with her. They couldn’t talk about adult stuff with an inquisitive four-year-old constantly around.
Kenny inhaled deeply. She was leaving, back to her lonely apartment, her confused feelings, and her convoluted thoughts about Camden.
She spun around just as Camden was coming onto the patio.
“Kenny, I wondered where you had disappeared to.”
“I didn't know you would have noticed I was gone,” Kenny said hoarsely. She cleared her throat.
“But of course, I always notice where you are in a room,” Camden said ruefully. “It’s a habit of mine.”
“I was thinking of going home.”
“It’s early,” Camden said, walking closer to her. “And I wanted to say something to you after everybody left.”
“I’m not staying behind to help you clean up,” Kenny frowned.
Camden chuckled. “I have a housekeeping service for that. I scheduled them to come by at seven tomorrow.”
“Oh, well then,” Kenny inhaled. “Can we talk tomorrow?”
“Nope,” Camden said. “Stay right there. Give me ten minutes, and I’ll end this party.”
Kenny nodded. “Okay.”
It took him closer to twenty minutes.
Kenny had stretched out on the lounger and closed her eyes when she felt him beside her.
“Scoot over,” Camden said.
She moved over, and he sank down beside her.
“You smell so good,” Kenny inhaled. “Has anybody ever told you that you wear the best colognes?”
Camden chuckled. “I hear that all the time, thanks to you. You buy my colognes.”
“So, what do you want to talk about?” Kenny asked.
“Do you ever think about the future?” Camden asked, his tone unusually serious.
Kenny nodded. Their faces were close to each other. “Sometimes. I mean, who doesn’t?”
“I’m not talking about just any future. I’m talking about... our future.”

“Our future?” Kenny’s heart skipped a beat. What was he getting at?
Camden caressed her cheek. “We’ve been friends for so long, and I’ve been thinking...
maybe it’s time we tried something more.”
The words hung in the air, heavy and unexpected. Kenny stared at him, her mind racing.
She was his mystery girl?
“I can't keep pretending I don't feel something more for you than friendship,” Camden
whispered. “I've been falling for you for a long time, and I'm ready to see where this could go.”
Kenny looked into his eyes, searching for any hint of the old Camden she knew—the one who always had a joke ready and was never serious about anything except his work. But all she saw was sincerity. And maybe, just maybe, that was what scared her the most.
“I don’t know what to say,” she whispered. “I thought you were going to tell me about your
mystery girl.”
“The mystery girl is you,” Camden said. “I've been giving you broad hints about my changing feelings and intentions for months, and you’ve ignored them.”
“But...” Kenny whispered.
“We’ve been hanging out for the past year, spending every moment together,” Camden said. “I hated going home without you after our Friday night dates. I think you should move in with me.”
“Move in?” Kenny chuckled. “We’ve never even kissed.”
Camden pulled her toward him and placed his lips on hers.
Kenny froze momentarily, her mind racing to catch up with the sudden shift in their relationship. But as Camden's lips moved gently against hers, all her doubts began to melt away. She felt a warmth spreading through her, a sense of rightness she didn't expect. She
leaned into the kiss, letting herself fall into the moment.
When they finally pulled apart, they were breathing heavily.
“Wow,” Kenny murmured. “I had no idea you were such a good kisser.”
“If you move in with me, we’ll kiss every day. I’ll get to be an even better kisser,” Camden
murmured.
“Okay,” she whispered, her voice trembling slightly. “I’ll do it. No, what am I saying? My mother will have a heart attack over this. There’s no proposal here...”
"I'll propose," Camden said, "but only after we've lived together for two years. Then, we'll
assess the state of our relationship. Those are the terms. Will you agree to them?"