Days had turned into weeks as summer finally slipped into the past and the leaves on all the oaks turned gold and red. The skies had started to grow darker each day a minute earlier, and the clouds that rolled in and the wind that came off the Potomac warned that winter was right around the corner.
I asked Avery out at least twice a week. Each time, she said no and each time, I became even more determined. At some point in the middle of astronomy, as she hastily took notes, and I sketched the Winchesters’ Chevy Impala, I recognized that the whole challenge aspect of this chase was no longer really in the equation.
Glancing over at her as she watched Drage float from one side of the raised platform to the other in his acid-wash jeans, a fond smile split my lips.
The more time I spent around Avery, the more I wanted to be around her, and all we ever did was talk. Hanging out with a chick, just chilling without any physical fun, was uncharted territory for me. While I’d be down for more, lots more, I was content just being with her. And that was so new to me.
Each Sunday I showed up at her apartment with eggs and a different type of baked goods, learning pretty quickly that anything chocolate was a win with her. The second time I went over, she was as happy to see me as she had been the first time, but she quickly dropped the act. And it was an act, because the way her brown eyes warmed when she saw me told me what she wasn’t willing to say vocally.
She was always wary, every single time we were together, but after a little while, she would begin to relax and that was when the real Avery poked her head out.
Professor Drage paused in his lecture and Shortcake stopped, twisting her right hand at the wrist like she was trying to work a kink out of it.
Dropping my pen in my lap, I didn’t think about what I was doing. When it came to Shortcake, I rarely did think. Maybe that was a problem.
Shortcake gasped as I snatched the pen from between her fingers and placed it on her notebook. Her head swung sharply toward me, brows raised. “What are you doing?” she asked in a low voice.
“Nothing,” I murmured, shifting toward her.
Avery’s chest rose as I curved my hands around her right one. “You’re doing something.”
“Shh.” I pressed my thumbs into her hand, gently running them up the side, over her pinky finger and between.
Her eyes widened as they darted from our hands to my face. “What . . . what are you doing?”
“What does it look like?” I whispered, moving my thumbs to her ring finger and then the middle, following the path of delicate bones. “Your hand looked like it was cramped. I’m doing my good deed of the day.”
“But—”
“Shush it.” My finger slipped into the fleshy part between her pointer and thumb, and Avery gasped. “You’re going to get us in trouble.”
A pink stain bled across her cheeks. “You’re the one touching me.”
“And you’re the one making noise.”
She snapped her mouth shut as I turned her hand over, working her palm. She took a deep breath and then eased back in the seat, her arm and body not so rigid. I watched her from under my lashes and when she sucked her bottom lip between her teeth, the action sent a jolt straight through me. My cock jumped, and I suddenly realized what I was doing wasn’t a very good idea. Nothing more awkward than having a hard-on during class.
But her skin warmed under mine, smooth and soft as satin, and David Beckham could kick a soccer ball off the side of my head, and I wouldn’t be able to stop.
My hands wandered up to her wrist, slipping under the sleeve of her light sweater. Her skin was even softer there, the thin blue vein forming a delicate line I wanted to trace with my lips and then my tongue.
God, I wanted to taste her skin. My jeans felt like they had shrunk about three sizes in the crotch. There was no mistaking that I was attracted to her, but sometimes, like right now, it was almost painful. I wondered if I could kiss her—if anyone would notice if I brought her hand to my lips? We were far enough in the back that Drage would have no clue what we were doing, even if I did kiss her . . . or slipped a hand between those pretty thighs.
But something . . . that fucking prickling sensation along the nape of my neck held me back. Having no idea where I developed this level of self-control, I made myself put her hand down and lean back before I did anything stupid. And right now, I was capable of a whole lot of stupid. Several seconds passed as I forced my breathing to slow and before I could look at her.
Shortcake was staring at me, her eyes a wealth of secrets. Our gazes locked and something infinite passed between us, a spark I swore I could almost see with my eyes.
God, I sounded like a vagina.
“Thank you,” she said, a bit breathlessly as she picked up her pen.
Sliding down in my seat, I spread my thighs, hoping to ease the ache, but I imagined I’d be walking over to the Butcher Center with a major hard-on. “Avery?” I whispered.
“Cam?” she responded back, equally low.
“Go out with me.”
Her throat worked on a swallow and her lips twitched into a small smile. “No.”
Tipping my head against the back of the seat, I grinned.
On Wednesday, I was supposed to be in Principles of Sports Nutrition, along with Ollie and Jase, but I didn’t feel like walking my ass all the way over to the Butcher Center. If I drove, I’d lose my parking spot and that would be a real bitch.
And I was outside of the Den, which coincidentally was around the time Avery ate lunch with her friends. Not that my presence had anything to do with Shortcake.
Oh, who the fuck was I kidding? I knew exactly why my lily-white ass was standing out in front of the Den. I started up the stairs when the doors to the bookstore opened.
“Cam!”
I started at the shrill cry, turning to see Susan and Sally. Or were they Molly and Mary? I had no idea. The two looked identical to me. One had platinum-blonde hair, the other light brown with platinum streaks. Both were tan. Both had rocking tight bodies, and I think I might have made out with one of them at some point.
Or both.
“Hey,” I said, smiling. “What are you two up to?”
“Nothing,” replied the überblonde. She bounced up the stairs, closely followed by her friend. It was then when I realized she was Susan, which meant the other had to be Sally. “I haven’t seen you in forever.”
“Like for-ever,” Sally reiterated. “You haven’t been at any of the parties recently.”
That much was true. It had been weeks, if not months, since I’d attended any of the parties being thrown at the frats. I started back up the stairs. “I’ve been busy.”
Susan pouted as she flicked her hair over her shoulder. “That’s no fun. Everyone misses you.”
I wondered who everyone was as I crossed the balcony and opened the blue-and-gold double doors, heading into the Den. “Have I been missing a lot of fun?”
“A lot.” Susan somehow ended up in front of me, and we were stopped in front of the couches crowding the TV. She placed her hand on my chest as my gaze moved beyond her, flickering over the rows of tables. “I’m sure we could get you caught up, Sally and I.”
“Is that so?” The top of a coppery head came into view, and I recognized the dark-skinned boy sitting across from her. The girls said something else, but I wasn’t paying attention. Stepping back, I smiled at the girls. “Look, I’ve got to run. See you guys later.”
I didn’t wait for a response, slipping away and cutting in front of a group of people heading out into the autumn sun. A wide smile broke out across Jacob’s face as he spotted me. He said something to Shortcake, and her shoulders tensed. I wasn’t surprised. I expected this. Every time we got together, we had to start over. Even I was amazed by my patience when it came to her.
“Hey, Cameron!” Jacob said, awfully cheerful. “How’
s it going?”
“Hey, Jacob. Brittany.” I took the seat next to Shortcake and nudged her arm. “Avery.”
She murmured hello and then asked, “What are you up to?”
“Oh, you know, mischief and mayhem.”
“That so reminds me of Harry Potter,” Brit said, smiling faintly. “I need a reread.”
All eyes turned on her.
Red bloomed across her cheeks as she ran her hand through her hair. I didn’t know Brittany very well, but knew she had gone to my high school and seemed pretty cool. “What?” she said. “I’m not ashamed to admit that random things remind me of Harry Potter.”
“That guy over there reminds me of Snape.” I tipped my chin at the table behind us. “So I understand.”
A thankful smile crossed Brittany’s face.
“Anyway, what are you guys doing?” I shifted so that my leg pressed against Shortcake’s. “Playing with M&M’s and Skittles?”
“Yes, that and we’re studying for our history midterm next week. We have to map out Europe,” Jacob explained.
“Ouch.” I knocked my leg into hers.
She returned the favor.
“But Avery, wonderful, Avery . . .” Jacob’s grin spread as Shortcake’s glare increased. “She’s been helping us study.”
“That she has.” Brittany exchanged a look with Jacob, and my interest peaked.
Jacob leaned forward, resting his chin in his hand. “Before we started studying, I was telling Avery that she should wear the color green more often. It makes her sexy with that hair of hers.”
“Do you like the color green on her, Cam?” Brit asked.
I hadn’t noticed what she was wearing, but I turned to her, my gaze slipping over the green sweater. “The color looks great on her, but she looks beautiful every day.”
Shortcake flushed as she exhaled.
“Beautiful?” Brit sighed.
“Beautiful,” I repeated, nudging her knee again. “So did you guys learn anything from studying?”
Shortcake said, “I think we got it.”
“Because of you.” Jacob shared another look with Brittany. “Avery came up with this song to help me remember where the countries were.”
“Sing him your song.” Brittany elbowed her, causing her to bounce into me.
“What song?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I am not singing that song again.”
Jacob smiled. “It’s the Croatia song.”
The look on Avery’s face could kill.
I laughed. “The Croatia song? What?”
“No,” she said. “I am not singing again. That is so not my talent.”
“What kind of talents do you have?” I asked, and she looked at me, her eyes impossibly large. “Avery?”
“Do tell,” Jacob coaxed.
Brit jumped. “Talents are fun.”
“They can be.” I was thinking about all the talents I had that I was more than willing to share with her as I bent my head. There was only a mere inch or two between our mouths, and her soft sigh trilled through my blood. “Tell me what your talents are, sweetheart.”
“Sweetheart,” Jacob murmured, sighing.
“Dancing,” she said. “I danced. I used to dance.”
Curiosity poured into me. What were the chances? “What kind of dancing?”
“I don’t know.” She grabbed the package of Skittles, dumping them into her palm. “Ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary—that kind of stuff.”
“No shit?” Jacob’s brows shot up. “I did tap when I was like six, for about a month, and then decided I wanted to be a fireman or something like that. That shit was hard.”
Brit snickered. “I tried dance and discovered I had no coordination or grace beyond shaking my ass. Were you any good at it?”
Shortcake shrugged, her gaze fastened to the pieces of candy. “I took classes for about ten years, did some competitions and a lot of recitals.”
“Then you were good!” Brit exclaimed. “I bet you did all those crazy turns and tricks.”
I couldn’t believe it as I stared at her. She was a dancer. I never would’ve thought it, because all the dancers I knew were overflowing with confidence, but it explained the lean muscle I had spied in her legs, the kind of tone that never really went away.
“My sister did dance since she was around five,” I told her, somewhat amazed. “Still does. I think she’d cut someone if they made her stop.”
She finished off the Skittles, nodding. “Dancing can be addictive if you like it.”
“Or are good at it,” Brit interjected.
I bumped her shoulder with mine, drawing her attention. For her to be dancing for that many years, I was surprised that she talked about it in the past tense. “Why’d you stop?”
A far-off look appeared in her stare, and I knew that where she was at that moment, it wasn’t in the present. I’d seen that look creep over her a lot and I always wondered where she went in those moments.
Finally, she shrugged again as she went for the M&M’s. “I guess I got tired of it. Does your sister do competitions?”
I didn’t believe her. Not one bit. Dancing was in the blood, but I didn’t press it. Not right now. “She’s traveled all over and spent the summer at the Joffrey Ballet School on a scholarship.”
“Holy shit!” Her mouth dropped. “She must be damn good.”
Full of pride, I smiled. “She is.”
Avery smiled up at me, but as the minutes ticked by, that smile faded as her gaze drifted to the empty pack of candy. She really didn’t say anything after that, no matter how hard her friends and I tried to lull her into conversation. Something was up with her and I knew it had to do with where she went when she got quiet.
When she got up to leave, I said good-bye and followed her out into the cool breeze and bright sun. I was quiet as we headed up the hill, unsure of how to approach her. Although there was a lot I had discovered about Avery, there was still so much I didn’t know. She kept her past and her thoughts close to her.
Someone yelled my name over by the Byrd Center, and I waved absently as we crossed the street.
We stopped by the empty benches in front of Knutti, and I took a deep breath. “Are you okay?”
Tipping her chin up, she squinted. “Yeah, I’m fine. Are you?”
Not feeling the smile on my face, I nodded. “We still on for tomorrow night?”
“Tomorrow night? Oh! The astronomy assignment. Yeah, it works for me.”
“Good.” I backed away, knowing I needed to get my ass to class. “See you then.”
Shortcake turned and then pivoted back to me. “Cam?”
The knot pulsed in my chest. “Yeah?”
She fiddled with her bracelet as her gaze flicked away before settling back on me. “What were you doing in the Den? Don’t you normally have class, like right now?”
I smiled as I held her gaze. “Yeah, I normally have class right now, but I wanted to see you.”
Shock splashed over her face, and then I saw the smile light up her eyes before it even hit her lips. Feeling that knot do a funny, twisting thing, I pivoted around before I grabbed her and kissed her.
Because I was really close to doing that.
I made it across the street before a low whistle caught my attention. Looking toward the left, I saw Jase standing under a tree, cell phone in hand. Damn. He must’ve hightailed his ass from West Campus.
“Skipping class without me?” he asked as I made my way over to him, his eyes obscured by the aviator shades he was wearing. Very few people could pull off those sunglasses without looking like a douche. I was not one of them.
I shrugged as my attention drifted beyond Jase’s shoulder, across the street, catching one last glimpse of Shortcake disappearing through the doors of Knutti Hall.
Jase sighed. “You’re obsessed.”
“Huh?”
He nodded toward Knutti. “I don’t think you’ve ever skipped a class to hang out with a girl before.”
I frowned. “How do you know I skipped a class to hang out with Avery?”
His brows rose above the sunglasses. “I’m not stupid.”
“That’s up for debate.”
Jase flipped me off. “Well, let’s see. Class let out early, so I came over here just in time to see you walking along like a good little boy. I called your name. You waved at me and kept going—or staring at her.”
My brows lifted as I wheeled around, heading for the doors. “That was you yelling my name?”
“Exactly,” he said, sighing. He looked at me, and all I saw was my face in his sunglasses. “Has she agreed to go out with you yet?”
“Nope.”
Jase shook his head. “Man, you are so fucked when it comes to this girl.”
Nine
“Apple pie for you.” I handed the small treat over to Avery and then dug the other one out of the McDonald’s bag. “And apple pie for me.”
Shortcake peeled open the box. “Do you think they use real apples?”
“God, I don’t really want to know.” I bit into the crust, groaning at the sweetness. “Ah, this shit is so good.”
Her eyes settled on me. “I swear. Every time you eat something, you sound like you’re about to have an orgasm.” She flushed as she said that. “Or whatever.”
“Well, now you know what I sound like when I come.”
She wrinkled her nose as she picked a section of the crust off. “That is something I’ve been dying to know.”
“Knew it.”
Shortcake laughed and then popped the crust in her mouth. “You are terrible.”
“I’m perfect.” I fixed my gaze out the windshield. We were sitting in the parking lot behind the science building. The dark blue of the sky was quickly turning to night, but the thick clouds rolling in looked ominous. “We should’ve probably picked a different night to do this.”
She picked up the bag and scraped off all the sliced apples into it, leaving the bottom crust cleared.