it right now.”
“We also told her you weren’t a serial killer,” Brit interjected.
Cam nodded. “That’s a glowing recommendation. Hey, at least he’s not a serial killer. I’m going to put that on my Facebook profile.”
I smirked.
Jacob was positively glowing. “And she compared you to Ted Bundy.”
“I hate you,” I muttered, pushing my hair back from my face. “I didn’t compare you to Ted Bundy. I just said that you never really know a person. Everyone thought Ted Bundy was a pretty cool guy.”
Cam stared at me, amusement twinkling in his eyes. “Wow. This just keeps getting better.”
“Sorry?” I said, fighting a grin.
He sighed, turning back to my friends. “She keeps turning me down. Breaks my little heart.”
I sighed. “He’s not being serious.”
“He looks serious,” Brit said, all doe-eyed as she stared at Cam. He’d roped her in, dammit.
Cam made the most pitiful sound known to man, and I rolled my eyes. “And now she thinks I’m the next Ted Bundy.”
“I don’t think you’re the next Ted Bundy.”
“Besides, she has the wrong hair color for Ted Bundy,” Brit said. We all looked at her. “What? Ted Bundy liked girls with brown hair parted down the middle. Avery’s hair is pretty red.”
“Am I the only person who finds it disturbing that you know that?” Jacob asked.
Brit’s lips pursed. “I’m a psych major. I know these kinds of things.”
“Uh-huh,” I murmured.
“Anyway, this is not about me and my vast knowledge of serial killers. I can wow you later about that. This is about you, Avery.” She grinned as I glared at her. “This fine young gentleman, who is not a serial killer, is asking you out. You’re single. You’re young. You should say yes.”
“Oh my God.” I scrubbed my hands over my hot face. “Is it time for all of you to go home, yet?”
Cam’s deep chuckle crawled under my skin. “Go out with me, Avery.”
Stunned, I turned to him. I couldn’t believe he’d actually ask me out in front of them after all of this. “No.”
“See?” Cam grinned at my friends. “Keeps turning me down.”
Jacob shook his head. “You’re an idiot, Avery.”
“Whatever,” I grumbled, grabbing my bag. “I’m going to class.”
“We love you,” Jacob said, smiling.
“Uh-huh.”
Brit giggled. “We do. We just question your decisions.”
Shaking my head, I stood. “Be careful when you guys drive home.”
“We’re always careful,” she said, jumping up and giving me a quick hug. “Remember what I said about coming home with me. If you change your mind, text me before three.”
“Okay.” I hugged her back and gave a little wave at Jacob. Of course, Cam was already on his feet, waiting for me. I arched my brow at him. “Following me?”
“Like a true serial killer,” he replied.
I cringed as we crossed the Den and headed outside. “You know we weren’t being serious, right? And I’m sorry about saying something to them about it. They just started pestering me about you and the next thing I know—”
“It’s okay,” he cut me off, dropping his arm over my shoulders as we stopped by the cluster of trees between the two buildings. “I don’t care.”
Looking up at him, I squinted. “You don’t care?”
He shook his head, and I was sort of floored. What person would want anyone to know that they’d been asking someone out and that person had been repeatedly turning them down? I wouldn’t want that known. And why was Cam still asking me out? It wasn’t like I was the only option for him. With the unruly dark waves, the luminous true blue eyes, the face and body to covet, Cam was hands down gorgeous. I doubted there was a single girl on campus who didn’t think that. But he was more than a swoon-worthy hot guy. Cam was charming, nice, sweet, and funny. He was the kind of guy you wanted to bring home and show off—the kind of guy that was never single for too long and the one you fell head over in hells in love with.
Cam had a lot of options, so why not explore them? Maybe he was. Contrary to what Jacob and Brit thought, I wasn’t around him twenty-four-seven. He hung out with the chick named Steph a lot and I always saw him with other girls around campus. The asking me out bit had to be something he didn’t take seriously.
It couldn’t be, not after almost two months of it.
An uncomfortable knot formed in my stomach. What if he was dating other girls? Hooking up with them? I mean, totally his right, and I didn’t care. Totally didn’t care.
“Uh-oh,” he said.
“What?”
He dropped his arm, but caught a strand of my hair that was blowing across my face and tucked it back. “You’re thinking.”
I tried to ignore how my cheek tingled when his fingers grazed it. Maybe I was coming down with a nerve disorder. “I am.”
“About?” he asked.
“Nothing important.” I smiled as I pushed away thoughts of him with other girls. So was not going there. “You going home this weekend?”
“I am.” He stepped closer, blocking the glare of the sun. As he spoke, he reached out and gathered up my hair, separating it into two long pigtails on either side of my face. “I’m leaving tomorrow morning, bright and early. I’m not coming back until Sunday night. So no eggs for you this week.”
“Boo.” I squelched the very real, rising disappointment. Eggs on Sunday had become a weekend staple.
“Don’t cry too much about it.” A slight grin appeared as he tickled my face with the edges of my hair. “Are you going to take Brit up on her offer and go home with her?”
I shook my head. “I’m just going to hang out here and get some reading done.”
“Nerd.”
“Jerk.”
The grin spread as he dropped my hair across my shoulders. “You know what?”
“What?”
Cam stepped back, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “You should go out with me tonight since I’ll be gone all weekend.”
I laughed. “I’m not going out with you.”
“Then hang out with me.”
My smile started to slip. “How’s that any different from going out with you?”
“How is me asking you to hang out with me tonight any different than us hanging out on Sunday?”
Ah, he had a good point. My heart rate kicked up as I watched him. “What do you want to do?”
He shrugged. “Order some food in and watch a movie.”
I shifted from side to side, suddenly very wary. “That sounds like a date.”
“That’s not a date with me, sweetheart.” He laughed. “I’d take you out, like out in public. This is just two friends hanging out, watching a movie and eating food.”
Pressing my lips together, I looked away. Somehow I knew that wasn’t what this was about, but then again, what the hell did I know about guys and having guy friends? I