been in the mood to elaborate.
Shivering, I hurried to my car and jumped in. Not a second too soon as a big, fat raindrop splattered against the windshield. As I backed out, I glanced over, my eyes finding them. Both guys were standing by the bed of the truck, Ollie smiling and Cam with the same distant, rigid set to his expression as he spoke. Whatever he was telling his friend, he wasn’t happy about it.
I had no idea how I let Cam talk me into him driving and not taking two cars during class, but Saturday night—the night of our assignment—just before dusk, I found myself climbing into the massive silver truck. My stomach had been in knots since Friday night, when Jacob started hounding me about the party he and Brittany were going to. It had been good-natured and I wanted to go, but couldn’t bring myself to really do it. Besides, I had no idea where the house was, it had been late when he’d started texting, and it had been storming again.
And now I was as nervous as a mouse in a room full of hungry cats. As lame as this was, I’d never been in a car with a guy before. Man, even admitting that to myself sounded incredibly pathetic. Like take that little secret to my grave level of pathetic.
Cam shoved the keys into the ignition as he glanced over at me. The baseball cap was on again, twisted backward. Behind the thick lashes, his eyes glimmered a bright azure. “Ready steady?”
Tugging my light-weight cardigan around me, I nodded. When I saw him in astronomy yesterday morning, he was his usual self—joking, flirting, and offering cookies. I hoped that meant whatever had gone down between him and Ollie had been worked out. “Are you sure we can’t just do this around here?”
“This place will be perfect. I will never lead you wrong, sweetheart.”
“Okay,” I murmured, clasping my hands together tightly. I turned to the side window, watching as we blew past the campus and crossed the bridge into Maryland.
Fifteen minutes later, Cam turned onto the road leading to the visitor’s center in Antietam National Battlefield. The history nerd in me started doing cartwheels, but I was way too nervous about being out here at night with Cam. Not that he seemed like the type to try anything, but if I knew anything, there was no ‘type’ when it came to that sort of thing. My nerves felt stretched thin and frayed at the edges.
“Are you sure we’re allowed to be out here at night?” I asked, glancing around.
“Nope.” He pulled into a parking spot. There were only a handful of cars.
I stared at him. “What?”
He laughed as he killed the engine. “I’m kidding. All we have to do is tell one of the Rangers that we’re from the University. They’ll be cool about it.”
I hoped so. The idea of being chased off the battlefield by a park ranger wasn’t on my list of things to accomplish before I died.
However, after taking one quick look at Cam, it looked like something he’d be down for.
“You ready?”
Grabbing my bag off the floor, I opened the truck door. “Yeah, let’s get this over with.”
Cam grabbed a flashlight out of the glove box as he chuckled. “Don’t sound too excited.”
I sent him a quick grin. “I’m not.”
“Don’t lie.” He walked around the hood and joined me, pointing over to where a cement tower with a red top rose into the sky. “That’s where we want to go to.”
“The tower on Bloody Lane?”
He shot me a quick look. “You’ve been here before?”
“No.”
“Then how did you know that’s Bloody Lane?”
I smiled slightly as I picked up a strand of my hair, twisting it between my fingers. “I’m a history major, so places like this appeal to me. Read up on it before. Bloodiest day of the whole war took place on that little stretch of dirt road.”
“Yeah, that’s what they say. Hold on a sec.” He turned to where a Ranger was cutting cross the field. “Be right back.”
I watched him jog over to where the Ranger waited. Words seemed to be exchanged and then Cam showed him his notebook. The Ranger laughed and they shook hands. Tipping my head up, I could already see tiny stars appearing in the deep blue sky. Nightfall would be on us in minutes.
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
Cam swaggered back to my side. “We’re good to go. And we’re not the only ones. There are a few students down by the other side of the tower.”
“Cool.” I fell in step with him, keeping a healthy distance between us. “Why do so many people come here to do this? I’m sure there are places closer to campus.”
“Not like this. Look around.” He shoved the flashlight in his back pocket. “Besides the houses across the street, there are no city lights or towers everywhere. It’s just the sky.”
“And cornfields,” I pointed out.
He nodded. “Lots of cornfields.”
We hit the paved portion of the lane and started toward the tower. “How long do you think this will take?” I asked.
“Why? You got a hot date tonight?”
I barked out a short laugh. “Uh, no.”
One single dark brow arched up. “You sound like that’s an insane idea. That no one would go out on a Saturday night for a date.”
Dropping the piece of hair I was playing with, I forced a casual shrug. “I’m not dating anyone.”
“So why the rush?”
Admitting that I was seriously uncomfortable being out here would be embarrassing and rude, so I said nothing.
“Are you worried that I’ve brought you out here for my own nefarious plans?”
I came to a complete stop. Knots formed in my stomach. “What?”
Cam stopped and turned toward me. His grin slipped a notch. “Hey, Avery, I’m just joking. Seriously.”
Heat swamped my cheeks and the knots unraveled, replaced by a strong feeling of total lameness. “I know. I’m just…”
“Jumpy?” he supplied.
“Yeah, that.”
He studied me a moment longer and then started walking again. “Come on. It’ll be dark soon.”
Trailing behind him, I pictured myself running straight into the old wooden fences and impaling myself on one of the pointy ends. God, I needed to get a grip. Not every guy was like Blaine. I knew that. Totally understood that. I wasn’t completely damaged by my affliction.
On the other side of the tower, near the plaques, two students from our astronomy class sat on the bench, notebooks in their laps. They waved at us and as we waved back, Cam headed a little further down the wide parking lot and then veered off toward the grassy hill overlooking the dirt path of Bloody Lane.
Cam picked a spot and pulled out the flashlight before he sat down. I hovered a few steps back, listening to the low hum of the crickets. The ground had dried out from yesterday’s weather, but even if it was wet, it wouldn’t have stopped me from sitting down. I was just too keyed up.
“Join me?” Patting the spot beside him, he inclined his head. “Pretty please? I’m lonely all by myself over here.”
Biting down on my lip, I sat a few feet away from him and then busied myself with finding my astronomy notebook. As I pulled it out, I glanced over at him and our