“My kitchen isn’t as exciting as yours.” He put his stuff on the counter and faced me. His hair was damp and curlier than normal. How was it possible for him to look so good when it was obvious he’d just rolled out of bed and showered? There wasn’t even a dusting of morning scruff on his smooth cheeks. And he made sweats and a plain old tee shirt look damn good. “And Ollie is passed out on the living room floor.”
“On the floor?”
“Yep. Face down, snoring and drooling a little. It’s not an appetizing atmosphere.”
“Well, neither is my apartment.” He needed to go. He had no business being here.
Cam leaned against my counter, folding his arms. “Oh, I don’t know about that…” His gaze moved from the top of my disheveled head and all the way down to the tips of my curled toes. It was like a physical touch, causing my breath to catch. “Your kitchen, right this second, is very appetizing.”
A flush crawled across my cheeks. “I’m not going out with you, Cam.”
“I didn’t ask you at this moment, now did I?” One side of his lips curved up. “But you will eventually.”
My eyes narrowed. “You’re delusional.”
“I’m determined.”
“More like annoying.”
“Most would say amazing.”
I rolled my eyes. “Only in your head.”
“In many heads is what you meant,” he replied, turning back to my stove. “I also brought banana nut bread baked in my very own oven.”
Shaking my head, I glared at his back. “I’m allergic to bananas.”
Cam spun around, brows raised in disbelief. “Are you shitting me?”
“No. I’m not. I’m allergic to bananas.”
“Man, that’s a damn shame. You have no idea what you’re missing out on. Bananas make the world a better place.”
“I wouldn’t know.”
He cocked his head to the side. “Anything else you’re allergic to?”
“Besides penicillin and guys who bust up into my apartment? No.”
“Hardy-har-har,” he replied, dipping down as he started opening cabinets. “How many weaker, less assured guys have you slayed with that tongue of yours?”
“Apparently not enough,” I muttered. I went to adjust my bracelet and realized I wasn’t wearing it. My heart dropped. “I’ll be right back.”
Humming to himself, Cam nodded. I darted back to my bedroom and grabbed the bracelet off the nightstand and slipped it on. A shudder of relief went through me. Halfway out of the bedroom, I glanced down and cursed again.
No bra.
The thin material of my shirt stretch taut across my chest and my nipples were poking out, saying hello. “Oh, Jesus.”
Tossing the shirt off, I grabbed a sports bra out of my dresser.
“Hey! Are you hiding back there?” yelled Cam. “Because I will come back there and drag you out.”
Sports bra stuck around my head and breasts bouncing everywhere, I blanched. I yanked it down, smushing my right boob. Ow! “Don’t you dare come in here!”
“Then hurry up. My eggs wait for no one.”
“Oh my God,” I muttered, pulling my shirt back on. I made it to the hallway before I then realized I also hadn’t brushed my teeth. Cam and his eggs were going to have to wait.
When I returned to the kitchen, he had several eggs boiling in water, and a perfect sunny side up egg in the little frying pan he’d brought. He’d found the bag of shredded cheese in my fridge and was sprinkling it across the eggs.
Seeing him in my kitchen, at my stove unnerved me. Knots formed low in my belly as he easily found the plates and silverware. I crossed my arms, shuffling from side to side. “Cam, why are you over here?”
“I already told you.” He slid the eggs onto a plate and then walked them over to the bistro set butted up to the wall. “Do you want toast? Wait. Do you have bread? If not, I can—”
“No. I don’t need toast.” He’d taken complete control of my kitchen! “Don’t you have anyone else to bother?”
“There are a shit ton of people that I could reward with my presence, but I chose you.”
This had to be the most bizarre morning ever. I watched him a moment longer. Giving up on getting him out of my apartment, I sat in the high-rise chair, tucking my legs against my chest. I picked up a fork. “Thanks.”
“I choose to believe that you mean that.”
“I do!”
He flashed a quick grin. “I doubt that for some reason.”
Now I felt like a total bitch. “I do appreciate the eggs. I’m just surprised to see you here… at eight in the morning.”
“Well, to be honest, I was planning to woo you with my banana nut bread, but that shit ain’t happening now. So all I have left is my delicious eggs.”
I took a bite of the cheesy goodness. “It is really good, but you’re not wooing me.”
“Oh, I’m wooing.” He opened up the fridge and grabbed a bottle of OJ. Pouring two glasses, he sat one in front of me. “It’s just all about the stealth. You don’t realize it yet.”
Dropping that no win conversation, I moved on. “Aren’t you eating?”
“I am. I like boiled eggs.” Cam gestured to the stove as he sat in the chair opposite of mine. He popped his chin on his fist, and I focused on my plate. The bastard looked too adorable and cute. “So, Avery Morgansten, I’m all yours.”
I almost choked on the piece of egg. “I don’t want you.”
“Too bad,” he replied, grinning. “Tell me about yourself.”
Oh hell to the no, the bonding shit wasn’t happening. “Do you do this often? Just walk into random girls’ apartments and make eggs?”
“Well, you’re not random, so technically no.” He got up and checked the eggs boiling. “And I might be known to surprise lucky ladies every now and then.”
“Seriously? I mean, you do this normally?”
Cam glanced over his shoulder at me. “With friends, yes, and we’re friends, aren’t we, Avery?”
My mouth opened. Were we friends? I guessed so, but still. Was this normal? Or was Cam just that confident? He did things like this, because he knew he could, that no one would really make him leave. Most people probably wouldn’t want him to leave. And I could’ve made him get the hell out if I’d really wanted to and that was the truth. Cam was the kind of guy who was probably used to getting what he wanted.
Just like Blaine.
That thought turned the eggs in my stomach and I placed my fork down. “Yeah, we’re friends.”
“Finally!” he shouted, making me jump a little. “You’ve finally admitted that we’ve friends. It’s only taken a week.”
“We’ve only known each other for a week.”
“Still took a week,” he replied, poking at the eggs in the water.
I pushed the last remaining chunk of eggs around my plate. “What? Does it normally take you just an hour to have someone declaring best friends forever?”
“No.” He pulled out the eggs, dropping them in a bowl. Coming to the table, he sat again. His eyes met mine, and it was hard to maintain that stare. Those eyes really were a beautiful shade of azure, sharp and clear. The kind of eyes you could easily get lost staring into. “It usually takes me about five minutes before we’ve moved onto best friend status.”
A smile snuck out as I shook my head. “Then I guess I’m just the odd one.”
“Maybe.” His lashes lowered as he started peeling his boiled egg.
I took a drink. “I guess it’s different for you.”
“Hmm?”
“I bet you have girls hanging all over you. Dozens would probably kill to be in my spot and here I am, allergic to your bread.”
He looked up. “Why? Because of my near godlike perfection?”
A laugh burst from me. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
Cam chuckled and then shrugged. “I don’t know. Don’t really think about it.”
“You don’t think about it at all?”
br /> “Nope.” He popped a whole, freaking egg into his mouth. Besides that, he had impeccable table manners. Chewing with his mouth closed, wiping his hands on the napkin he’d pulled from the holder, and not talking with his mouth full. “I only think about it when it matters.”
Our gazes collided, and my cheeks flushed. I ran my finger along the rim of my glass. “So you’re a reformed player?”
He paused, egg halfway to his mouth. “What makes you think that?”
“I heard you were quite the player in high school.”
“Really? Who did you hear that from?”
“None of your business.”
A brow arched. “With that mouth of yours, you don’t have a lot of friends, do you?”
I flinched, because that was a spot-on observation. “No,” I heard myself saying. “I wasn’t really popular in high school.”
Cam dropped his egg on the plate and sat back. “Shit. I’m sorry. That was an asshole thing for me to say.”
I waved it off, but it stung
He watched me through thick lashes. “Hard to believe though that you weren’t. You can be funny and nice when you’re not insulting me and you’re a pretty girl. Actually, you’re really hot.”
“Ah… thanks.” I squirmed, holding my glass close.
“I’m serious. You said your parents were strict. They didn’t let you hang out in high school?” When I nodded, he finished off the egg he’d dropped. “I still can’t imagine you not being popular in high school. You rock the trifietca—smart, funny, and hot.”
“I wasn’t. Okay?” I set my glass down and moved on to tugging at a loose string on the hem of my shorts. “I was like the very opposite of popular.”
Cam started peeling another egg. Wondered how many he’d eat. “I am sorry, Avery. That… that sucks. High school is a big deal.”
“Yeah, it is.” I wetted my lips nervously. “You had a lot of friends?”
He nodded.
“Still talk to them?”
“Some of them. Ollie and I went to high school together, but he spent his first two years at WVU and transferred down here and I see a few around campus and back home.”
Wrapping my arms around my legs to keep from fidgeting, I rested my chin on my knees. “Have any brothers or sisters?”
“A sister,” he replied, picking up the last egg—the fourth one. A genuine smile appeared. “She’s younger than me. Just turned eighteen. She graduates this year.”
“You guys close?” I couldn’t imagine having a brother like Cam.
“Yeah, we’re close.” A dark look crossed his face and vanished quickly, but it left me wondering if they really were that close. “She means a lot to me. How about you? A big brother I have to worry about visiting and kicking my ass for being here?”
“No. I’m an only child. Have a cousin who’s older, but I doubt he’d do that.”
“Ah, good.” Devouring that egg, he sat back and patted his stomach. “Where you from?”
I pressed my lips together, trying to decide if I should lie or not.
“Okay.” He dropped his arm off the back of the metal chair. “You obviously know where I’m from if you’ve heard of my extracurricular actives in high school, but I’ll just confirm it. I’m from the Fort Hill area. Never heard of that? Well, most people haven’t. It’s near Morgantown. Why didn’t I go to WVU? Everyone wants to know that.” He shrugged. “Just wanted to get away, but be somewhat close to my family. And yes, I was… very busy in high school.”
“You’re not anymore?” I asked, not really expecting him to answer, because it wasn’t my business, but hey, if I could keep him talking, I didn’t have to say anything.
And I was… interested in learning more, because Cam, he was fascinating in a way. He was like every uber-popular, sexy guy in high school, but he wasn’t a dick. That alone made him worthy of a scientific study. Also, it was better than sitting around alone and thinking about harassing phone calls and emails.
“Depends on who you ask.” He laughed then. “Yeah, I don’t know. When I was a freshman—those first couple of months, being around all the older girls? I probably put more effort into them than I did my classes.”
I grinned, easily able to picture that. “But not now?”
He shook his head. “So where you from?”
Okay. Obviously what changed his ex-player status was something he didn’t want to talk about. Visions of pregnancy scares danced in my head. “I’m from Texas.”
“Texas?” He leaned forward. “Really? You don’t have an accent.”
“I wasn’t born in Texas. My family was originally from Ohio. We moved to Texas when I was eleven and I never picked up any accent.”
“Texas to West Virginia? That’s a hell of a difference.”
Unfolding my legs, I stood and picked up my plate and his bowl. “Well, I lived in the strip mall hell part of Texas, but besides that, it’s kind of the same here.”
“I should clean up.” He started to stand. “I made the mess.”
“No.” I backed away with his bowl. “You cooked. I clean.”
He relented, opening the foiled bread. It did smell wonderful. “What made you choose here?”
I washed the dishes and his little frying pan before answering that doozy. “I just wanted to get away, like you.”
“Got to be hard though.”
“No.” I picked up the pot he used to boil the eggs. “It was incredibly easy to make the decision.”
He seemed to consider that as he broke the bread in half. “You are an enigma, Avery Morgansten.”
I leaned against the counter, my eyes widening and he proceeded to eat half of the loaf. “Not really. More like you are.”
“How so?”
I gestured at him. “You just ate four hard-boiled egg, you’re eating half of a loaf, and you have abs that look like they belong on a Bowflex ad.”
Cam looked absolutely thrilled to hear that. “You’ve been checking me out, haven’t you? In-between your flaming insults? I feel like man candy.”
I laughed. “Shut up.”
“I’m a growing boy.”
My brows rose, and Cam laughed. As he finished off half of the loaf, he talked a little about his parents. I made my way back to the table and sat, genuinely interested. His father ran his own law firm and his mother was a doctor. That meant the Cam came from money, not the kind that my parents rolled around in, but enough that mostly likely paid his rent. He was obviously close with them too, and I envied that. Growing up, all I wanted was for my parents to want to be around me, but with the benefits, the jet-setting, and all the dinners, they’d never been home. And after everything that had happened, the few instances they were there, neither of them could even look at me.
“So you flying back to Texas for fall break or Thanksgiving?” he asked.
I snorted. “Probably not.”
He cocked his head to the side. “Got other plans?”
I shrugged.
Cam dropped the subject and it was close to noon by the time he left. Stopping at my front door, he turned to me, flipping the tiny skillet in one hand, banana-nut bread in the other. “So, Avery….”
I popped my hip against the back of the couch. “So, Cam…”
“Whatcha you doing Tuesday night?”
“I don’t know.” My brows lowered. “Why?”
“How about you go out with me.”
“Cam,” I sighed.
He leaned against the jam. “That’s not a no.”
“No.”
“Well, that’s a no.”
“Yes, it is.” I pushed off the couch and grabbed the door. “Thanks for the eggs.”
Cam backed up, lopsided grin in place. “How about Wednesday night?”
“Goodbye, Cam.” I closed the door, grinning. He was completely insufferable, but like the night before, being around him did something sort of miraculous. Maybe it was the verbal dueling, but whatever it was, I tended to act… normal. Like I used to.
Heh.
After showering, I piddled around the apartment and debated texting Jacob or Brittany to see what they were up to. Eventually, I tossed my cell on the couch and dragged my laptop out. I couldn’t avoid my email forever.
In my junk folder, there were a few suspicious looking emails. Two with my name as the subject. After receiving the last email, I learned my lesson and clicked delete with a certain amount of glee.
The emails, though, it was strange to get them now. While I’d been in high school, it had been one thing. I’d been surrounded by the kids, but now, after we all left for college? Something just wasn’t right about that. Like did they seriously have nothing better to do? I doubted it could be Blaine, because as twisted as he was, he stayed far away from me. And the phone call? I refused to change my number. Back during the worst of it, when I’d get three to four phone calls a day, I’d go through a series of telephone changes and they always found out what it was anyway.
Shaking my head, I clicked on my inbox and found another email from my cousin. Seriously? I was half tempted to not click on it, but I opened the stupid thing.
Avery,
I really need to talk to you ASAP. Call me whenever. It’s very important. Call me.
David
My finger hovered on the mouse pad.
Delete.
Chapter 8
Over the next couple of weeks and as summer finally loosened its grip, a sort of odd routine started to occur. Monday through Friday, I got up and went to class. With each passing day, I started to look forward to astronomy. Not so much because I never knew what Professor Drage was going to say or what he would wear. A few days ago, he’d been rocking a pair of acid wash jeans and a tie dye shirt. I think I focused on that more than anything else. But crazy pants Professor aside, it was a certain class partner who made the fifty minutes pretty damn entertaining.
Between Cam’s side comments during Drage’s lecture and his surprisingly accurate knowledge of solar systems, running away from astronomy on the first day had really ended up paying off in the long run. With Cam as my partner and seat-mate, there was no way I would fail the class.
I spent lunch three days a week with Jacob and Brittany, and even went to one of the football games with them. Parties were still a no go, something that neither could really understand, but they didn’t abandon me. Twice a week, they hung out at my place. Not a lot of studying got done, but I wasn’t complaining. I liked it when they came over. Okay, like wasn’t a strong enough word. They were great and it had been way too long since I had friends like them who didn’t seem to care when I acted like a spaz, which was quite a bit.