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CHAPTER TEN

Cameron

“Tell her to be nice to me, Noah, or I’m going to put a cup to my ear the next time you give her a little late-night call and?—”

“Cameron!” Ari cuts me off, shoving me away and swiftly moving in the opposite direction of class to finish her FaceTime call.

Laughing, I yank the door open and head down the hall, taking the steps two at a time until I reach our regular seats. Best part about college, there’s none of that assigned-seat, awkward get-to-know-your-desk-partner shit.

Okay, not best but a def plus.

I lift my legs, crossing my ankles so my shins are against the desk, and pull out my phone to scroll until class starts.

Biting on my straw, I take small sips of my soda, determined to finish it before it starts to get watered down. I’ve been getting headaches more often lately, and I’m convinced it’s my lack of caffeine, not because my thyroid hates me, so I’m doubling down like a proper college student.

Pausing on a video where a college baseball team breaks out in a full dance on the field right before the pitcher throws a nasty curveball, I laugh out loud, quickly hitting the Share button and sending it to the group text thread.

The boys won’t see it until later—all three are currently stuck in a shitty math class together—and Ari likely won’t give up the fifteen seconds it would take from her call with Noah, so she won’t see it until after class either, but oh well. I send a second message to go with it.

Me: Whose ass do we have to kiss to make this happen at our games?

“I saw that one.”

I tense, hide my screen against my chest, and drop my head back so I’m looking up at Alister from upside down, seeing as he’s standing behind my chair. I frown, and he smiles, holding out a candy bar.

I face forward, dropping my feet to the floor, and stare straight ahead.

“Oh, come on. You know you want it. Don’t allow the fact that I’m the one who brought it to you stop you from enjoying a sweet snack,” he says, laying it on thick.

And it’s working.

It’s a free candy bar, and I’m fresh out of sour gummy bears in my backpack.

I look away, and he chuckles, setting it down on my desk, and I fight a small smile, then freeze.

Ugh, how does he know what I want him to do?

Facing forward again, I look down and fake a gasp. “Wow, would you look at that? Someone left a perfectly good chocolate bar right here.”

I rip it open, tearing off a piece and popping it into my mouth.

“It must be your lucky day.” He smiles, lowering into the seat beside me.

Ari’s seat.

I turn toward the door, watching as the professor slips in, a little brown satchel bag hanging over his shoulder.

Where is Ari?

The professor looks up then, scans the room, and pauses once he’s staring in this direction.

He lifts a hand, motioning with his fingers.

I freeze, looking to my candy and half-empty soda.

Wait, is this the class I’m not supposed to eat in? I start to stand, but then notice that Alister is taking the stairs down two at a time and the professor is no longer looking this way.

Alister pulls a paper from his pocket and the professor grabs a pen, scribbling something on it before dismissing him.

With a huge smile on his face, Alister heads back this way, the class having filled up around me.

He drops into the seat beside me again just as I spot a familiar head of brown hair pop into the class.

Ari starts this way but freezes, her eyes growing wide when she realizes Alister is in her seat.

I spin my glare on him. “That’s Ari’s desk.”

He raises a brow. “They’re assigned?”

“Yes.”

A laugh leaves him, and he shakes his head, slouching back in that same lazy, hot-boy way Brady does. “Nice try, beautiful.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Shh, class is starting.”

“You’re not in this class.”

He holds up the paper the professor signed, the class access code scribbled across it. He smirks, his gaze traveling across my face. “Am now. Someone dropped, and what do you know? I was next on the add list. I just have to make up a couple assignments, and I’m good.”

I put my straw between my lips and slurp obnoxiously, but the man only laughs harder.

Professor Gilroy flicks on the monitor then, and I tear my gaze from the man beside me, spotting Ari a few rows lower.

She shrugs, and I cross my arms in a pout.

“All right, everyone. As you can see on the class syllabus, we’ve finished the review and basic introduction, and we’re moving right along. This is when things will start to get tough. Take a few minutes, even number chairs turn to the left, odd to the right.”

Wait. No, no …

“Take your phones or a notepad out, swap numbers.”

I sit forward in my seat, literal sweat building in places I’d rather not mention as I—the person in the even-numbered chair—look left, right into Alister’s waiting eyes.

“This person is your new best friend. Your lifeline. Introduce yourself and get familiar.”

Alister sticks his hand out, and I glare at the offending appendage, looking back up at him just as the professor blows up my Avoid Alister Plan when he says, “Say hello to your course partner for the remainder of the fall semester.”

Alister smiles wide, and my head falls to the desk with a groan.

I keep speed-walking, chin lifted high into the fucking sky and thoroughly ignoring my best friend’s laughter as she does her best to keep up with me. Too bad for her, her legs are shorter.

“Cam, come on!” she chuckles.

“You and your man are officially on my shit list.”

“Liar.”

“Nope.” I shake my head, hustling across the path and onto the large strip of grass. “This is all your fault.”

“Is it, though?”

I cross my arms and spin, my fake-mad face breaking when she literally slams into me, bouncing back with a cackle.

I groan into the air, then take her arm and yank her with me, trying to get away from this area as fast as possible in case the ass himself decides to follow me across campus.

“Why is this happening, Ari? He just…gets into class today and then bam, he’s my partner?

It’s like he’s the stallion and I’m the broodmare getting fucked. ”

She laughs, but when she looks over, her features mollify a bit, making me frown even harder. “Tell me the truth.”

My lungs shrivel a bit as I wait for her question .

“Is it that you don’t want to be near him because of what he did to you…or is it because when you are around him, you aren’t sure you care what he did anymore?”

“Of course I care,” I snap, tugging my arm from hers.

“You know how fucked up all that had me.” What’s sad is it wasn’t even really about the guy but the fact that I was so blind to what was happening.

A hit to the pride, I guess you could say, and if anyone had asked before then, I wouldn’t have assumed myself to be prideful.

Guess I was wrong. I felt pathetic when I learned what I’d fallen for, and now when I look at Alister, sometimes that’s all I see—a tragic me staring back.

So which part of what she’s asked is the right answer?

Do I not want him near because of what he did…or because he sometimes makes me feel like I’m not mad at all?

Ari and I both stop, and my best friend tips her head, staring me down.

I glare at her, not wanting to answer, but she holds her ground and my eyes snap shut in confession, my palms lifting to press into my eye sockets. “Fuck me, Ari. Why am I like this?”

Her arm comes around my shoulders, and she steers me as she starts walking again. “No one is going to judge you if you decide you want to try again with him, you know.”

“I’m going to judge me, Ari. I deserve better than a lying asshole who only approached me for personal gain.”

“So he’s not swaying you in the slightest with his little pop-ups and gestures?”

“I’m pissed off, not a robot. The guy’s practically throwing me a touchdown every time he looks at me, and all I’ve got to do is take it to the end zone.”

“And do you want to score?”

“I want to slap him and kiss him at the same time.”

“Kinky.”

I whip around, cheeks growing pink as Alister steps up. I open my mouth to yell at him, but he simply holds out a flower .

Hesitantly, I reach out and take the wilted, I don’t even know what kind of flower, trying to plan exactly what I’m going to say after he lets it go, but I don’t get that far.

I no sooner accept his little gift than he dashes past.

Ari and I both spin, watching as he jogs over to a small group of guys—baseball players, by the looks of it.

He doesn’t look back once, but me?

I watch him until he’s gone, and unfortunately for me…I think about him long after that.