Page 17

17

PENN

I woke up in Cam’s arms again, his bare chest pressed against my back. His arms pulled me closer in his sleep, and I smiled a sleepy smile. Every night that I fell asleep with him, I slept better than I did when I was alone. And the mornings—well I wasn’t complaining about those either. Most of the time, it was a quick get off. I always felt him pull a little of that energy in. When I asked him about it the first time, he grinned and called it a morning snack. It was never enough to give me that intoxicated feeling, though when he pulled energy, I did get a touch of it. My head felt light and my heart raced a little faster.

It was an amazing way to start my day.

And I could feel him pressed into me, promising another amazing start to the day. I ground back on him. His arm lowered, and I moaned softly as he hit his target.

“Roll over,” he whispered, voice thick with sleep. It was like the command was a magic spell I was powerless to resist.

I turned to face him. Our foreheads touched as he began to pump me. My hand slid down his bare chest, and I returned the favor. We kissed our way through the morning climax, ending breathless and sticky and sated.

“Good morning, baby,” he purred after, as we laid together intertwined.

“I’ll say.”

“I think we should go on a date tonight.” He turned his bright blue eyes on me, and I melted again. He could have suggested that we jump off the dorm roof using a sheet as a parachute, and as long as he had that look on his face, I would have agreed without a second thought.

Luckily, this was something that I would have wanted to do even if he hadn’t been looking at me like that. Our relationship existed on campus, in our dorms, in our classes, and in the student activity center. Our relationship existed in conversations with our parents. We’d never taken it off campus, and I wanted that. I wanted us to exist in the real world, away from the safety of Creelin University.

“I’d love that.”

“Perfect. Meet me here at six?”

I raised a questioning eyebrow. “Six?”

“Yeah,” he answered. “Gives me time to clean up after class.”

“And figure out what we’re going to do?”

Cam grinned that earth shattering smile of his, eyes glittering. “I have a few ideas.”

“Dress code?”

“Nice but casual?” he suggested. “Nothing I’m thinking about would be all that fancy. Living on a college kid budget, remember?”

I laughed. I understood that too well. I was also living on a college kid budget, though from things he’d said, his college kid budget was a little better than mine. “I think I can work with that. Shower?”

He nodded and groaned as he climbed out of the bed.

After class, we separated in the elevator with a quick kiss. He reminded me of what time we were meeting, and I slipped off to my dorm room. My roommates teased me as I started getting ready for the date, especially when I came out and asked for opinions on shirts multiple times. I would be the first to admit that my sense of fashion was lacking and going out in public with the embodiment of male perfection made me wish that it weren’t the case.

“You brought that one out already,” Coop muttered, bored after the fifth shirt option.

I looked down at the gray button down I was holding. Had I brought it out already? No, I’d just taken it out of my closet. “Pretty sure I haven’t.”

“The other one had a bit more blue to it,” Ryan corrected, grinning at Coop, “but you’re right. It’s basically the same shirt. What’s the big deal anyway? It’s not like you have to impress him. You’re already dating him.”

“Yeah, but—”

“No buts,” Ryan interrupted. “He’s clearly smitten, so I don’t think he gives a shit what you’re wearing. Be comfortable.”

“But which shirt?” I whined, holding up the gray button down again.

“Not that one,” Ryan answered with a shake of his head. He held up a finger to silence any protests I might have had. Maybe he was just trying to ask for a moment to think. “Wait here.” Okay, so the latter option. He bolted out of the common room, and a few minutes later, he came back out with a rich green button down on a hanger. “Try this one. Pretty sure we’re about the same size.”

I reached out and fingered the material of the sleeves. It was nicer than anything I owned, softer too. I looked down at the buttons, simple with a silvery sheen. “You sure?”

“Yeah. Can’t remember the last time I had an excuse to wear it, so might as well.”

“What should I—”

“Dark wash jeans,” he cut me off, knowing exactly what I was going to ask. “And before you ask on shoes, not your sneakers. Wear the hiking boots.” I didn’t think we were going hiking. I must have looked confused, because Ryan rolled his eyes. “They’re not just for hiking, and I’ve only seen you with three pairs of shoes all semester. They’re better than your sneakers and so much better than those ugly ass sandals you wore in August.”

“Those sandals weren’t too bad,” I argued.

“They were horrible,” Coop shot out. I didn’t know if he actually cared or if he was just trying to contribute to the conversation. “Now go get ready and stop playing fashion show.”

I flipped him off and took the shirt from Ryan. When I finished getting dressed, I checked the time. I still had half an hour before I needed to head to Cam’s room. I went to the common room and hung out with my roommates until Ryan reminded me of the time. Ethan wished me luck, albeit a little begrudgingly. It was progress from last week at least. Slow and steady won the race and all that cliched nonsense.

I stopped thinking about Ethan’s reaction by the time I hit the button to call the elevator. All I could think about was whatever Cam had planned for this date.

He took me to a small Mexican restaurant a few blocks from campus. The moment we stepped inside, I couldn’t stop grinning. I’d mentioned one time how much I loved Mexican. The fact that he’d found some authentic hole in the wall for our first date gave me butterflies in my stomach.

After dinner, he stopped me the moment we stepped outside. “Two options: we can go find a movie to watch or we could take a walk to the park. Maybe stargaze or something?”

A movie didn’t feel right for our first date. If we wanted to watch a movie, we could do that in the dorm. There was nothing playing that sounded good, anyway. A walk in the park while the sun was setting, watching the stars? That sounded a hell of a lot better. We could talk. We could spend quality time together. I wouldn’t have to worry about people staring at us when I kissed him. Especially since I could barely ever stop at just one.

He was like the Pringles of kisses.

“Park,” I answered quickly. He slipped his hand in mine, and we started walking. “That food was amazing. I never even knew this place was here.”

“One of my roommates is a major foodie. He knows all the best places in town, so I asked him for suggestions. He gave me three or four for Mexican, and he said this one was the most authentic.” He paused, looking nervous in the setting sun. “Was he right? Was it authentic?”

I chuckled. “Yes, Cam. It was authentic. And amazing. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be one of my favorite places in town after tonight.”

The smile on his face made me wish I was even more effusive with the praise. It made his beautiful face even more perfect. He looked like an otherworldly creature… which technically he was. He squeezed my hand excitedly, and there was a bit more pep in his step. Like some nerves I hadn’t even known he was carrying had melted away.

It didn’t take long to walk to the park. We talked about classes as we made a lap around it. It was basic conversation, the kind of thing we talked about every night in our dorms. There was a comfort to the fact that our conversation didn’t change just because we were on a date, that we could keep that same ease we enjoyed together. I’d found that, sometimes, dates felt too formal and stilted. I’d had dates in the past with friends and new relationships that felt so different than our usual dynamic that I couldn’t bear the thought of another one. They were first dates that ruined relationships.

This wasn’t that.

After a few laps, he pulled me toward the swings. We sat down beside one another, hands linked between us. The sun had dipped below the tree line, and there was a quiet peace to the night.

“What’s your family like?” I asked after a few moments.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I know you have two parents, that they’re married. I know that you have a sister, Christa, but I don’t know much about them beyond that.”

Cam looked thoughtful for a moment. “Well, they hold more traditional viewpoints when it comes to feeders. All three of them have multiple. They constantly tell me that I should too. They don’t understand that I don’t like the idea.”

“Do they pressure you about it?” I didn’t like the idea of anyone pressuring Cam. It brought out some protective side of me, like I had some kind of monster inside of me that had never awakened until that moment. It was big and had fangs and only wanted to protect the man beside me.

Cam’s hand tightened around mine. “You look tense.”

“The idea of someone pressuring you…” I sighed and shook my head. “I don’t like it.”

He let out a fond laugh, his lips curving upward into a smile. “They don’t pressure me about it. It’s not like they’re trying to force me to take on another feeder. They just make their opinion very well known.” He paused and sighed. “They’re very opinionated, but in the best possible way. They’re also some of the kindest people I’ve ever known. We’ve always been close. Mom insists that Christa and I come home for a family dinner a few times a month. Dad usually ends up cooking it for us. He’s a great cook.” The smile on his face grew bigger the longer he talked about his family. “Mom is really expressive, but Dad’s a lot less so. He shows the way he cares through grumbling about things in our life that he disagrees with and by feeding us.”

I raised an eyebrow at that. “I’m assuming you mean in the normal food way.”

His nose scrunched. “Uh, yeah. In the normal food way.” He shook his head as he laughed. “They do overshare though. The family dinner before you started feeding me in the non-normal food way, Christa told us way too much information about one of her new feeders. Which let me tell you, I did not want to hear while we were eating.”

I could understand that. I wouldn’t want to listen to my family talk about their sex life either, though I doubt it was anywhere near as exciting as the conversations around Cam’s table. “Do you ever share about yours?”

“No. I mean, I’m not a prude. I just think some things should be private. At least when it comes to the family dinner table.” He punctuated the sentiment with a shrug of his shoulders. “What about your family?”

“It’s pretty basic. I’m an only child. My parents have been married since I was five. My dad is actually my step-dad, but we don’t really mention that.”

“What happened to your bio dad?” Cam’s voice was soft and tentative, like he was afraid of stirring up some childhood trauma.

I liked him even more for it. I was like a bull in a China shop when I wanted information, never caring what damage I did when I was searching for answers. Cam was like a gentle voiced therapist, coaxing it out and backing up if the subject of the questioning seemed unnerved. I’d noticed his articles where he interviewed people were so much more poignant than mine.

I understood why now.

“He passed when I was two. I don’t really remember him,” I told him after a few moments. “I used to think that maybe, I’d see him again. Like as a ghost. I didn’t really understand how the Halloween Wave worked when I was a kid, you know.”

“I still don’t exactly understand how the Halloween Wave worked,” he admitted. “So, your bio dad? Do you have pictures of him or anything? Does your mom talk about him?”

“Yeah. My mom used to tell me a lot of stories about him. My dad actually knew him too, so he told me a bunch of different stories. Apparently, they went to college together, though they lost contact after. He had a lot of stories that my mom didn’t even know. Unfortunately, the stories kind of dried up by the time I was in high school. They told me everything they could think of.”

“Do you miss him?”

“I miss the idea of him, but my dad’s great. I really couldn’t have asked for a better one. When I told my parents that I wanted to be a journalist, he ordered me a lot of newspaper subscriptions, told me that reading other journalists would be a great way to hone my skills. He also got me in contact with someone he knew at the local paper and set me up with my first internship.”

“So he’s supportive?”

“One of the most supportive people in my life. When I wanted to change schools and come to Creelin, he was on board immediately. Mom… She took some convincing.”

Alarm registered in Cam’s blue eyes. “Does that mean she’s going to have a problem with me. I mean, with us ?”

“No, babe. She’s going to love you. In fact, she already wants to meet you the next time they visit.”

“Does she know? How we got together, I mean?”

It was my turn to laugh, albeit a little awkwardly. “She knows you’re from Newspaper. She doesn’t know that we were hooking up. Maybe that’s normal to talk about in your family, but not for mine.”

“Oh, what that must be like,” he groaned. “Wanna trade?”

“Absolutely not.”

We talked longer, until the sky grew completely dark. Then he pointed out constellations in the night’s sky. He knew more of them than I even knew existed. After that, we laid down in the grass and started making up our own constellations. They grew more ridiculous the longer we laid there.

It was the best first date of my life.

And when the night ended, we made our way back to his dorm room and lost ourselves in one another’s bodies. He fell asleep in my arms, our bodies still sticky with sweat and my heart racing.

As I drifted off to sleep, I realized something I hadn’t before. I prided myself on being someone who had all the information, who turned over every stone to find things that were hidden from plain sight or finding out more than people were telling me. But somehow, I’d missed this one.

His even breathing, the smell of his hair, the thick smell of sex in the small room. The conversation that night and the way we laughed as we made up fake constellations in the sky. The way he’d gone out of his way to find the perfect restaurant for our date, asking his suite mate to find something that I’d like despite the fact that they weren’t close.

It all added up to one thing.

I was falling in love with Cam Wilde.