Authors: J. Lynn
“Can we go on a date?”
“Good God, you don’t give up.”
“Nope.”
I laughed, couldn’t help it, and his smile spread in response to the sound. “I’m sure there are plenty of girls who want to go out on a date with you.”
“There are.”
“Wow. Modest aren’t you?”
“Why should I be?” he shot back. “And I want to go out on a date with you. Not them.”
“I don’t understand why.”
His dark brows rose. “I can think of a few reasons. You’re not like most girls. That interests me. You’re awkward in this really… adorable way. You’re smart. Want me to list more?”
“No. Not at all,” I told him quickly. I needed to nip this in the bud. Reputation aside, he was a hell of a lot more than I could ever hope to handle. He would expect things I couldn’t give him. Holding a conversation with him was difficult enough sometimes. “I don’t want to go out on a date with you.”
Cam didn’t look surprised by my response or undaunted. “I figured you’d say that.”
“Then why did you ask?”
He finally—
thank God
—backed away and gripped the side of the door. “Because I wanted to.”
“Oh. Well. Okay. Glad you got it out of your system.”
His brows knitted. “I haven’t gotten it out of my system.”
Oh no. “You haven’t?”
“Nope.” He flashed a charming grin. “There’s always tomorrow.”
“What about tomorrow?”
“I’ll ask you again.”
I shook my head. “The answer will be the same.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” He reached out and tapped the tip of my nose. “And maybe you’ll say yes. I’m a patient guy, and hey, like you said, I don’t give up easily.”
“Great,” I muttered, but…oh, oh man, there was an unfamiliar stirring in my chest.
“Knew you’d see it that way.” Cam tweaked the tip of my nose, and I swatted his hand away. “Don’t worry. I know the truth.”
“The truth about what?”
Cam stepped back. “You want to say yes, but you’re just not ready.”
My jaw dropped.
“It’s okay.” His grin turned cocky. “I’m a lot to handle, but I can assure you, you’ll have fun handling me.”
Then before I could muster up a response worthy of that statement, he tapped my nose once more and then shut the door in my face.
#
Back in my apartment, I dropped my bag on the couch and collapsed next to it. Go out on a date with Cameron? Was he insane? He had to be joking or just flirting. On the ride home, he hadn’t mentioned it again, instead he spent the time drilling me about my schedule. Question by question, he dragged out every detail about the classes I was taking. By the time we’d got back to the building, I was exhausted.
Leaning my head back against the cushion, I closed my eyes. My heart was beating pretty fast for just sitting down. Was he being serious about not hooking up with Stephanie on Wednesday? Seemed odd to me that he hadn’t if she really had been all over him.
Honestly, it didn’t matter.
I couldn’t do a relationship of any sorts. Maybe one day. Hopefully one day, because I didn’t want to be like this for the rest of my life. Eventually I wanted to be the girl who got excited about being asked out on a date instead of the girl who came home and did this.
Opening my eyes, I groaned. “I’m Señor Fucktard. Or Señorita Fucktard.”
I pushed to my feet and started halfway to the bedroom before I remembered my vibrating bag. “Shit.”
Hurrying back to the couch, I reached into the side pocket and pulled out my cell. I tapped the screen, fully expecting to see a text from Jacob or Brittany pop up. Instead I saw a missed call and voicemail.
“What the hell?”
I ran my fingers along the side and figured out I’d knocked the damn thing to silent. Sliding my figure along the screen, I unlocked it and saw that the call was from an UNKNOWN CALLER.
My heart skipped a beat.
No big deal. Probably a wrong call or a telemarketer. I went to the voicemail page and my finger hovered over the delete button. The past raised its ugly, bitter head. How many times did I get a prank call from people blocking their number? Too many to count, but that couldn’t be it. My number was new, like my email….
I cursed again.
Taking a deep breath, I hit the message and raised it to my ear. There was a pause and then a gravelly, indistinguishable voice crackled through the phone. “You know what happens to liars and skanks? They get a big, fat—”
Crying out, I hit the delete button before I could hear anything more. I dropped the phone on the couch instead of tossing it against the wall and backed up like it was some kind of venomous creatures perched on the cushions.
Any method of communication could become poisonous. Didn’t I already know that firsthand? A strangled laugh escaped me. Really, did they have nothing better to do? It had been five years. Five years! They couldn’t let go of the past.
Just like deep down, neither could I.
Chapter 7
I jerked straight up in bed, confused and disorientated. It was damn near close to four am when I’d finally fallen asleep and I had no idea what woke me. I twisted in bed, groaning when I saw that it was only eight in the morning.
On a Sunday.
Flopping onto my back, I stared up at the ceiling. Once I was awake, there was no hope of ever—
Thump. Thump. Thump
.
I sat up again, frowning. Someone was banging on a door—
my door
. What the hell? Throwing off the covers, I swung my legs off the bed. My toe caught on the sheet and I nearly ate the carpet.
“Holy crap.”
Cursing, I raced through the apartment before the entire building was woken up. I stretched up, peering through the peep hole. All I could see was a mass of wavy dark hair. Cam?
Something had to be wrong. Maybe the building was on fire, because I couldn’t think of any other reason to why he’d be banging on my door Sunday morning.
“Is everything okay?” I winced at the sound of my voice.
Cam spun around. A crooked smile appeared, taking his already extraordinary face and making it boyishly sexy.
“No, but it will be in about fifteen minutes.”
“W-w-what?” I stepped aside or was forced aside as he entered my apartment, carrying something wrapped in tinfoil, a carton of eggs—
huh
?—and a tiny frying pan. “Cam, what are you doing? It’s eight in the morning.”
“Thanks for the update on the time.” He headed straight for my kitchen. “It’s one thing I’ve never been able to master: the telling of time.”
I frowned as padded after him. “Why are you here?”
“Making breakfast.”
“You can’t do that in your own kitchen?” I ask, scrubbing at my eyes. After the astronomy assignment and the phone call, he was the last person I wanted to see at a buttcrack time in the morning.
“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?”