I like them.’ Straightening, his gaze drifted up me slowly, leaving an unfamiliar wake of heat behind. ‘A lot.’
I immediately let go of the door and crossed my arms over my chest. One corner of his lips tipped up. My eyes narrowed. ‘Thanks. That means a lot to me.’
‘It should. They have my seal of approval.’ He bit down on his lower lip as his lashes lifted. Those eyes pierced mine. ‘I need to get Raphael back in his little habitat before he pees on my hand, which he’s bound to do, and that sucks.’
My lips twitched into a small grin. ‘I can imagine.’
‘So, you should come over. The guys are about to leave, but I’m sure they’ll be around for a little longer. You can meet them.’ He inched closer and lowered his voice. ‘They’re no way as interesting as I am, but they’re not bad.’
I glanced over his shoulder, part of me wanting one thing and the other part wanting nothing to do with any of this. That part won out. ‘Thanks, but I was heading to bed.’
‘This early?’
‘It has to be after midnight.’
His grin was spreading. ‘That’s still early.’
‘Maybe to you.’
‘Are you sure?’ he asked. ‘I have cookies.’
‘Cookies?’ My brows rose.
‘Yeah, and I made them. I’m quite the baker.’
For some reason, I couldn’t picture that. ‘You baked cookies?’
‘I bake a lot of things, and I’m sure you’re dying to know all about those things. But tonight, it was chocolate and walnut cookies. They are the shit, if I do say so myself.’
‘As great as that sounds, I’m going to have to pass.’
‘Maybe later then?’
‘Maybe.’ Not likely. I stepped back, reaching for the door. ‘Well, it’s good seeing you again, Cameron.’
‘Cam,’ he corrected. ‘And hey, we didn’t almost run each other over. Look at us, changing up the pattern.’
‘That’s a good thing.’ I was back in my apartment and he was still in front of my door. ‘You should get back before Raphael pees on your hand.’
‘Would be worth it,’ he replied.
My brows knitted. ‘Why?’
He didn’t answer that, but he did start backing up. ‘If you change your mind, I’ll be up for a while.’
‘I’m not going to. Good night, Cam.’
His eyes widened only a fraction of inch, but his grin slipped into a full smile, and my stomach sort of flopped, because his smile was wow. ‘See you tomorrow.’
‘Tomorrow?’
‘Astronomy class? Or are you skipping again?’
My cheeks heated all over again. God, I had almost forgotten about running away in front of him like a total idiot. ‘No.’ I sighed. ‘I’ll be there.’
‘Great.’ He started backing up again. ‘Good night, Avery.’
Ducking behind the door, I closed it and then locked it. I swore I heard him chuckle, but I had to be crazy.
I stood there a few moments and then I whipped around and raced back to my bedroom. Diving under the covers, I rolled onto my stomach and shoved my face into a pillow.
Sleep. Just go to sleep.
Cam lived across the hall?
You need to get up early. Go to sleep.
How in the world was that possible? He was everywhere I went.
Go to sleep.
And why did he have a pet tortoise? And did he seriously name it after the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Because that was kind of funny.
Morning’s going to come soon.
Does he only wear a shirt during class? Oh my God, he seriously lived across the hall. Jacob was going to flip … and probably move in. That would be fun. I really liked Jacob, but I had a feeling he’d borrow my clothes.
Go the fuck to sleep.
I couldn’t believe the hot dude I ran into and then ran away from lived across the hall. I don’t even know why I cared. It didn’t matter. I wasn’t interested in guys, or girls, but he was extraordinarily hot … and kind of funny … and kind of charming.
No. No. No. Stop thinking about him, because it’s pointless and hopeless, so go to sleep.
Did I eat all that salad? Man, those cookies sound good right about now.
‘Ugh!’ I groaned into the pillow.
This crap went on for about an hour before I gave up and threw myself out of bed. Out in the living room, I didn’t hear any music or noise coming from Cam’s apartment. He was probably sleeping soundly while I was up obsessing over cookies and chicken tenders and ripped stomachs.
Stomping into the extra bedroom that had become more of a library/office, I powered on my laptop and brought up my e-mail. There was one unread e-mail in my in-box, from my cousin. I deleted that without even opening it. On the left toolbar, I saw I had a few unread e-mails in my junk folder. Bored out of my mind, I clicked on the link and scanned the prescription drug offers, the ‘I have money in a foreign account’ e-mails, and the notice that Bath & Body Works was having a sale. My eyes narrowed on the subject line of the one e-mail, which had come in at around eleven the previous night.
It read AVERY MORGANSTEN and was from an e-mail address I didn’t recognize.
Well, that was strange, because my e-mail wasn’t set up under my real name, so it would be unlikely that it was a phishing scam. Only my parents and cousin had my e-mail address because, even though they had my telephone number, I’d rather have them contact me that way instead of calling. No one else had it.
My finger hovered over the mouse pad. Unease rose as knots formed in my stomach. Tucking my legs against my chest, I told myself not to open it, to just delete it—but I clicked because I had to. It was like looking at a bad car accident alongside the road. You knew you shouldn’t, but you did.
I immediately wished I hadn’t. The knots in my stomach tightened and a lump formed in the back of my throat. Nauseous, I pushed away from the desk and slammed the laptop shut. Standing in the middle of the room, I sucked in a deep breath and curled my hands into fists.
It was just two lines.
That was all.
Two lines erased thousands of miles.
Two lines ruined my entire night.
Two lines found me all the way in a little college town in West Virginia.
You’re nothing but a liar, Avery Morgansten. You’ll get yours in the end.
I dragged myself into astronomy class ten minutes early and picked what I believed to be an inconspicuous seat in the middle of the amphitheater-style classroom. A few other students were already there, sitting up front. Yawning, I scooted down in my seat and rubbed my eyes. The gallon of coffee I drank this morning hadn’t done a thing for me, given that I only got an hour of sleep.
Two little sentences.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I rested my head on my forearm. I didn’t want to think about the e-mail or the fact that I had reopened my laptop and