CRUSH (14 page)

I felt a small thread of jealousy shoot through
me. “Really? Who else is after her?”

“Well, no one now that I’m aware of, but Jordan
Henley was carrying a pretty big torch for her before he died. I heard him
making a bet in the locker room with some other guys about how he was gonna
smash her.” He shook his head. “We all thought he’d strike out. There’s no way
she would’ve given him the time of day.”

I didn’t like hearing about another guy wanting
her like that. “I’m sure she would’ve given him the same lecture I got about
how drugs are bad and he shouldn’t be doing them.” My body was tense as I tried
to casually redirect the conversation.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. He was never really
into the drug scene that heavy.
Maybe a joint or two here and
there.
He drank with us, but he had his heart set on some big athletic
scholarship. He tried hard to keep his nose clean, wanting to be in the best
physical shape possible for the teams who were looking at him. College football
was a really big deal to him. That’s why his death was weird. No one could
believe he started using so heavily.”

“Such a bummer,” I said, fingering my notebook
as I stared at Cami.

“It’s okay, dude. He’s not competition anymore,
you can relax.” Russ gestured at my clenched hand on my lap, and I realized I
was grinding my teeth.

I released everything with a sigh. “I’m okay.
Guess I like her more than I thought. Hearing you talk about another guy put me
on the defensive a little.”

Russ clapped me on the shoulder and squeezed.
“You’ve got it bad, don’t you?”

“I do.” I knew that simple comment would spread
through the school like wildfire, and everyone would know about it before the
day was over.

That was exactly how I wanted it too.

Cami-

“Is it
him
again?”
Hunter asked, leaning to look at my phone resting on the arm of my couch.

“Yes,” I replied with a sigh, as I saw Clay’s
name on the screen.

“Hand it here.” He made a motion for me to give
it to him, but I hesitated.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea. He’d
freak out if you answered. Plus, I don’t know what you’ll say.”

“He’s stalking you, Cami. Can’t you see that?”

“No. He’s just jealous of you. Cut him a break,
Hunter. He’s been a huge part of my life since we were five. He’s not used to
me ditching him for another guy. He’ll catch on eventually.”

“So you’re just going to let him hound you
until that happens?” Hunter’s mouth set in a firm line. “This has been going on
for, like, two weeks now.”

“For the time being. Please don’t be angry with
me. I want to handle this in my way.”

His eyes softened. “I’m not angry with you. I’m
just not too thrilled with him.”

“I know. Me neither. It’ll get better, though.
I promise. Clay’s had his obsessive moments with me in the past, but he always
gets over it.”

“Obsessive how?” Hunter’s scowl deepened, and I
laughed, desperate to diffuse the situation.

“I love that you’re so overprotective of me.” I
brushed my hand over his forehead where it was laying in my lap.

“Well, you are my girlfriend. It would look
kind of bad if I didn’t care, don’t you think?”

“I’m your girlfriend?” I couldn’t help the
smile that crept over my face.

He chuckled. “I figured that was kind of a
given since we can’t seem to keep our hands or mouths off each other. Were you
not on this couch with me for the last hour, or for the last couple of weeks
for that matter?”

“Yeah, I was, but we’ve never really declared
anything official was going on. I thought maybe I was just your new make out
buddy. You made it pretty clear you’re not into the whole girlfriend thing in
the past.”

He shook his head and closed his eyes as he
lifted his hand, running it into my hair absently. “You’re my girlfriend, Cami,
unless you don’t want it that way.” He opened his eyes, looking at me.

I swallowed. “I want it that way.”

“Good, because I think we’ve established I’m
never going to get my fill of you.” He lifted up, capturing my mouth, and
shifted to make room for me to lie next to him on the sofa.

I melted easily into him once again—our
homework still lying on the floor forgotten, and neither of us seemed inclined
to start it again. Too bad we didn’t have a class on physical anatomy together,
then
maybe we could’ve passed this off as studying.

My head rested on his shoulder, and I tipped it
toward his, allowing him to rain little kisses over my face. He paused, his
amazing eyes heavily lidded with desire written plainly in them. Even the way
he stared at me made me feel beautiful.

He ran his hand down from my shoulder to lock
fingers with mine. “When will your parents be home from work?”

I shrugged. “Probably in thirty minutes or so.
Why?”

“No reason. Just wondering when I needed to be
ready for your dad to barge in here with a shotgun.”

“Why would he need a gun? Unless you’re
planning on doing something super evil and depraved to me,” I teased. I loved
being wrapped up with him like this.

“You have no idea how deep the level of my
depravity is right now.” He chuckled.

“Are you subtly telling me you’re the wolf in
sheep’s clothing?”

“There’s no subtle about it. I’m flat out
telling you.” His eyes roamed over me hungrily, and I knew he was being
serious. For whatever reason, I wasn’t scared. I felt safe with him.

“I trust you.” I brought my lips to his again,
and he groaned at the contact.

“You shouldn’t,” he mumbled into my mouth. He
shifted me again so I was lying on top of him. I kissed him heavily while he
ran one of his hands into my hair, holding my face to his, the other circling
my waist, crushing me against his body.

Our mouths pressed harder together, kissing more
and more frantically until he arched suddenly, causing me to roll onto the
floor. Instantly he was off the couch and sprawled out on top of me.

I laughed. “What was that for?” I asked
,
sliding my arms up around his neck and pulling him back
down. He sucked on my lower lip, biting it as he reached for first one arm, and
then the other, pinning them beside my head.

“We have
got
to cool down. You’re driving me crazy.”

I bit my lip as I stared up at him
mischievously. “I thought that was the whole point.”

He shook his head and groaned. “You really want
me to get shot, don’t you?”

“Not at all. We couldn’t do this anymore if you
were.” I had no idea what made me feel so bold with him. I’d never behaved this
way with anyone in my entire life, but I liked it. The things he made me feel
were incredible.

“Can I be honest with you? I mean brutally,” he
asked, keeping me pinned beneath him.

Nervous fear shot through. “Sure.”

“There’s only so much a guy can handle before
things get out of control.”

“Okay?” I searched his face wondering where he
was going with this.

He laughed wryly. “I’m trying to say I’m there,
Cami.” He stared at me. “I mean
right
there.
I can’t take anymore.”

I could feel the blush that was rapidly
spreading across my face as his meaning sunk in. “Oh.”

He grinned, bending to kiss me lightly on the
lips before nuzzling softly by my ear. “I love that you’re so innocent, but I’m
gonna move now. I want you to pick up your books and put them on your lap.
We’re going to finish our homework . . . from opposite ends of
the couch. Understand?”

“Got it,” I nodded, secretly thrilled that I
could make him feel so unrestrained.

He sighed and dropped to kiss my mouth one more
time before quickly moving off me and heading toward the kitchen.

“Where you going?” I called after him as I sat
up, reaching for my books and placing them in my lap just like he’d asked.

“I need a cold drink. Do you want something?” I
could hear him banging around in the cupboards as he looked for a glass.

“No, I’m okay. Thanks.” I didn’t want to do
anything that would dilute the scent of him on me. I could taste his minty
breath from the gum he’d been chewing earlier, and I could smell his aftershave
on my now sensitive skin from all the times he’d nuzzled against me. I loved
it. I’d had no idea what I was missing out on before this. He made my heart
flip out in ways I’d never imagined possible.

I heard the back patio door slide open. “I’ll
be outside for a second.”

“Are you okay?” I laughed nervously.

“No, but I will be. I just need to cool down
for a minute.”

Wow. I must’ve really done a number on him. I
smiled in secret glee, biting my bottom lip again as opened my English book. I
felt so empowered right now. I stared at the assignment in front of me feeling
hopelessly distracted. There was no way I was going to be able to concentrate.
My skin was still tingling and my heart was racing.

Glancing down, I noticed my disheveled
appearance. I got up and went upstairs to my bedroom, pausing in front of the
mirror to straighten my clothing before going into my bathroom and quickly
brushing through my hair. My lips were swollen and nearly every trace of makeup
had disappeared. I looked thoroughly kissed. My dad would freak.

I picked up my face powder and began quickly
buffing some over my skin.

“Covering up the evidence?” Hunter drawled,
appearing in the doorway and causing me to jump.

“Yes.” I continued to apply as he leaned
casually against the frame, watching me.

“Good idea, though it
kinda
just makes me want to mess it all up again.”

Tingles shot through my body, and I glanced at
him. “You’re so bad.”

He arched his eyebrow. “You have no idea.” He
tipped his head slightly to the side, his eyes narrowing.

I paused. “What’s wrong?”

Moving behind me, he swept my hair to the side.
“You may want to put a little powder here on your neck. It looks like I got a
little too aggressive.” His thumb brushed over my skin.

“You gave me a hickey?” For some reason a
giggle bubbled up out of me.

“Apparently—unless you’ve been having
your neck sucked on by someone else.”

I elbowed him in the stomach and he grunted.

“Sorry.” He continued to brush his fingers over
the mark.

“Don’t be. It’s close enough to my hairline
that no one will notice after I cover it up. Besides . . . I
like it.”

He smiled, looking surprised. “You do, huh?” He
wrapped his arms around me and leaned his chin on my head.

“I do. Maybe you’ll give me another one
sometime.”

He released me and moved away. “I’m leaving
before this conversation takes us right back to where we started. See you
downstairs.”

“Chicken!”

“I’m
so
not chicken,” he replied, and I couldn’t help my grin. I finished reapplying my
lip-gloss and went down to join him.

He was sitting on one end of the couch with his
books propped open beside him and his notebook in his lap. He held a pen
carefully poised over the paper, and he glanced up when I entered.

“You look amazing,” he said appreciatively.
“Now sit over there.” He pointed to the other end of the sofa.

“Bossy, aren’t you?” I grumbled as I went to
where he directed.

“Practical,” he supplied, giving me a wink to
soften the remark.

I stared at him—something I could do
forever and never get tired of—and I suddenly wanted to know every little
thing about him. We’d been together a lot during the last couple weeks, but
conversation hadn’t exactly been high on our list of priorities.

“What’s your favorite color?” I asked.

“What?” He looked as if I’d thrown him with my
random subject change.

“Your favorite color,” I repeated. “It occurs
to me that we barely know anything about each other.”

He snorted. “I was under the impression we were
getting to know each other quite well.”

“You know what I mean!” I threw my pencil at
him, and he lifted his hands to ward it off, chuckling.

“Red. My favorite color is red.” He eyed me.
“For obvious reasons.”

I grinned. “So, if I didn’t have red hair, what
would your favorite color be?”

He appeared to consider this. “Probably black.
Black looks great with everything . . . especially red.”

“I agree, black rocks. I also like green and
gold. They go well with my red hair.” I smiled. “What’s your favorite food?”

“Anything Italian. I’m a big fan of both pizza
and pasta. How about you?”

“I love Italian food, though I probably love
Mexican just as much.”