Page 34

“Yeah.” Chase’s grin widens. “But so did she.”

I frown, not sure what he’s talking about when her little tease from earlier comes back to mind, and he’s right. She did call me “ boyfriend,” leaving off the fake . My hand tightens on my cup, and I force a shoulder to shrug. “People are around, that’s all. It’s not like that.”

“And if you guys get a little needy and decide you want it to be like that?” Mason teases.

I swing my eyes to his and hold them, his losing some of the amusement the longer he stares.

“You still haven’t told the girls?”

“Wait, really?” Chase’s head whips back this way.

He’s not talking about the shit going on in my head lately—that has now started to take a little trip south, if you know what I mean. No, he’s talking about something else entirely.

I grumble. “It’s not exactly a conversation you have at the dinner table.”

Mason nods slowly, gaze assessing. “But you don’t want her to know. Do you?”

“What would be the point of telling her?”

“What’s the point of keeping it a secret?”

“I’m not embarrassed if that’s what you’re getting at.”

Mason frowns. “It’s not and you know it. Chase.” He looks Chase’s way. “Help me out here?”

I meet Chase’s eyes, and he lifts a shoulder.

“Look, man, shit happens. Most of the time when you least expect it, so maybe just think about it. That way, if you find yourself diving a little deeper, it’s not a whole-ass thing.”

I stare at my half-empty cup of warm beer I’m not even drinking.

I have thought about it. A lot, but if I’m honest, it only started to cross my mind over the last few weeks.

And what does that tell you, dumb-ass?

“All right, I think it’s time,” Mason says, splitting through the mess in my mind, and I look over just as Payton tips her cup all the way back, trying to get something to magically come out when it’s clearly empty.

“I might ask her to leave the wig on. At least for round one.” He smirks and walks away, lifting his woman off her feet, her laughter all that’s left as they disappear around the corner as we approach the last two standing.

Paige looks at her watch once they’re out of eyesight. “I should probably go too.”

“Already?” Cameron whines.

Paige gives her an apologetic expression. “If I don’t go now, I’ll have to wait another hour for the campus safety shuttle, and I’m not sure I want to be on it when it’s people who are going to be carried on and given puke bags.”

“You can come home with me and Brady. Take Ari’s bed or the couch?” Cameron suggests, hiccupping slightly. “Or you can take Brady’s bed. He has a lock on the door, so you’ll be safe.”

Chase chokes on his drink, looking from Cameron to Paige.

I fight a grin. “Yeah, Paige. Take my bed. I’m room four, second floor.”

Chase swings his eyes my way, narrowing them on me.

I wink at him and his frown deepens. Has he not figured out he likes her yet?

Man. My friends are slow to the ball when it comes to women.

So glad I’m not like them.

“Okay, yeah.” Paige nods. “One or the other will work. Thanks.”

I nod, meeting Cameron’s mischievous gaze when she looks back at me, happy her little scheme is working out.

She presses into my chest, and I bend to whisper in her ear.

“I take it she’s unaware I have a roommate named Chase Harper?”

“Shh,” she laughs, spotting someone to the side and calling out to them with a smile.

She slips away, drunkenly tugging Paige along as she moves over to hug a girl with pink hair dressed in a catsuit.

A few of our teammates join us, and we bullshit for a while. At one point, Chase disappears and then the others walk off too. Unfortunately for me, a gang of girls appear in front of me next.

“Hey, Brady,” they singsong, swinging props around and sliding in as close as possible.

“Ladies.” I look over their costumes of choice. We’ve got a nurse, policeman, firefighter, convict, and every other outfit along that line, each one the “sexy,” near-naked version. “I’ve been a good boy. No need for the cuffs,” I tease when the cop girl swings her fluffy cuffs around her finger.

“Saw your girlfriend with the new quarterback earlier. Did you guys break up?” one asks.

I open my mouth, but then her words register, and my eyes snap to where I last saw Cameron. I spot Paige and the girl they went over to say hello to, but she’s nowhere to be seen.

My pulse jumps for some reason, and I slip through the group, for once not bothering with an excuse about why I’m leaving them standing there.

I circle the main room, the kitchen, and the game room but don’t spot her anywhere. Tension tugs at my muscles with each passing minute. I pause at the stairs, wondering if I want to go up to his room and see if she’s there. I shouldn’t.

I should just…leave them alone.

I take the stairs two at a time, round the corner, and just as I lift my fist to knock, I spin on my fucking heels and hurry back down with a groan.

Unease wraps around my shoulders and I shake my head.

What are you doing, bro?

Quit with the bullshit already. You did your job.

You gave her time.

It’s like you fucking knew.

Time is up.

Instead of moving toward the keg, I hit the kitchen, letting one of the freshmen pour me a double of something dark .

I throw it back, snag a bottled water, and push through the back patio door.

It’s louder than normal back here, barrels lit up with bonfires, but I tear past them both, moving for a quieter spot in the dark across the yard.

My feet jerk to a stop when a pair of perfect pigtails come into view.

My heart hammers behind my ribs as I watch her.

She’s sitting alone, staring across the fire.

Slowly, I make my way over, nerves I don’t quite understand twisting in my gut, but there’s another feeling in there too. Relief.

My eyes lift, seeking out the sight that has her looking so sad, and I spot him almost instantly. The knot in my stomach seems to tighten, but I’m not sure I understand why. This is good, right?

Was my first thought bad?

I swallow, shaking my head to try and make some sense of what’s running through it, but my thoughts are too all over the damn place for me to figure it out. I drop to my knee behind her chair, my hand coming up to squeeze her arm.

“Hey,” she whispers, her attention going right back to the guy across the fire.

He’s laughing with a few guys from the team, completely ignoring the girls that are clearly trying to get his attention.

Cameron sighs, slowly slumping back in her chair, and my arms push through the loops of the plastic seat and wrap around her.

“You okay?” I whisper into her hair.

Cameron nods. “I’m happy for him. As much as he pissed me off last year, he had an even rougher time—second-string, a cheating girlfriend, a house full of guys who only knew him to be the asshole he was acting like. I hope he can make new friends and find a place on the team he can be proud of.”

“I’m sure he will.” I pause, then add in a whisper, “Having you around could help.”

Why did I say that ?

“I thought those were his parents at the game today,” she says softly, ignoring my comment.

“He had told Ari his family wouldn’t be there, and then he saw that couple and young boy, and he was…

so happy. I thought it was his parents, maybe a brother.

Turned out they were her parents and that was her little brother. ”

I wince, remembering how excited he seemed to see them.

“Did you know he was with her since they were young? Like thirteen or some shit.” She sighs again. “That’s a lot of history, lots of shared family holidays.”

“Yeah,” I agree, swallowing hard, and force myself to be the support she needs. “But we have a lot of room in our extended family. You could always add someone new to it, you know? No one would judge you, Cammie Girl.”

Cameron leans to the side a bit so she can see me, her gaze roaming my face before settling on my eyes. “You’re kind of perfect, you know that?”

“I try.”

She smiles and slowly moves to stand, tugging me up with her.

She slips her arm around my middle, inside my furry shawl thing, her slender, freezing fingers resting along my ribs, or as much of them as she can reach.

I jolt at the chill of her touch, and she chuckles, a low, raspy sound. She folds herself around my naked torso, burrowing deeper into the warm part of my costume.

I bend and sweep her up, bridal style, spinning the fur thing around so it’s lying across her like a blanket, and start walking toward the sliding door.

She huddles into my body, and I can’t help but haul her higher, her face now in my neck.

She peeks up at me again, those big blue eyes glossy and holding mine hostage. There’s glitter swept across them, thick black lines curving up and making the blue seem even brighter. Her lashes are long and full, lips painted a pretty pink tonight.

She’s beautiful, my Cameron .

I lean down with the intent to kiss her cheek, but she turns at the last second, pressing her lips to mine.

My feet stop moving, muscles locking in surprise.

Her mouth presses against mine more firmly, more certainly, and an instant heat crawls up my groin, fanning across my stomach. My fingers dig into her thighs a little, and she opens up for me, her exhale filling my starved lungs, our tongues meeting for a soft, silky sweep.

Maybe the boys are right. Maybe I should tell her I’m not the wanton man she thinks I am but a waiting one.

She smiles against my mouth, and I nip at her lips in response, wanting more. Needing more.

Maybe I’ve just been waiting for this. For…her.

Cameron chuckles, eyes still closed as she pushes her face back into my neck, her hand pressed to my chest.

A smirk tugs at my lips, and I stand a little taller, my head a little higher, as I walk toward the door, but before my left foot lifts to follow my right, my eyes do. And the rest of me freezes.

Alister Howl is standing there, staring right at us.

Or more, at her.

Suddenly it all makes sense.

She had been watching him before, but he didn’t know it.

She must have realized she had his attention now.

She knew he was looking and that’s why she kissed me.

She kissed me so he would see, but that’s okay. That’s good. Perfect.

That’s what I’m here for.

It’s what I agreed to.

My team won our game tonight.

So why does it feel like I lost?