actually hurt.’
I grinned, falling into the easy banter with him. ‘I guess it’s a good thing that you don’t have feelings then, huh?’
‘Guess so.’ He went down a couple more steps and stopped on the landing. ‘You better hurry or you’re going to be late to your next class.’
Holy shit! He was right.
Cam laughed at my wide eyes and stepped out of my way as I charged down the steps. ‘Damn, if only you moved that fast for my cookies, I’d be a happy guy.’
‘Shut up!’ I tossed over my shoulder as I hit the next set of steps.
‘Hey!’ he yelled after me. ‘Don’t you want to know what cookies is a code word for?’
‘No! Good God, no!’
His laughter followed me into the hall and all the way to my next class.
‘Your apartment is nice,’ Brittany said from my couch. A history text lay open but unread in her lap. ‘I would love not to have to live in a dorm. My roommate snores like a banshee.’
I hovered between the coffee table and the TV, really unsure how Brittany and Jacob had ended up in my apartment after class. At lunch, we’d talked about getting together and exchanging notes from history, and somehow my place was offered up. I thought it was Jacob’s idea, and since both of them were here we were getting absolutely no studying done.
Anxious energy buzzed through me like a hummingbird. It had been so long since I had people in my space. Back home, no one but family came around, and only the maid entered my bedroom. Not only had I been a virtual pariah in my town and at school, it had been the same way inside my house. But before that Halloween party, everyone hung out at my house, especially the girls from the studio. Everyone had still talked to me then, and I’d still danced. Before that party, things had been normal.
I fiddled with my bracelet, nervous. I liked having them here because it was normal and reminded me of the before. It was what people in college did, but it was so … different to me.
Jacob resurfaced from my kitchen, a bag of chips in hand. ‘Forget about the apartment. Don’t get me wrong. It is a nice apartment, but I want to hear more about Cam’s cookies.’
I took a chip from the bag. ‘I should’ve never told you about that conversation.’
‘Whatever,’ he replied, mouth full.
Brittany giggled. ‘I am so dying to know what cookies are slang for.’
‘Probably his cock.’ Jacob plopped down on the arm of the couch.
‘Oh my God,’ I said, taking a handful of chips. I needed the calorie fortitude for where this conversation was heading.
Brittany nodded. ‘Makes sense then. I mean, with the whole not sharing cookies with ugly girls.’
‘I don’t think he really meant that,’ I said, popping a chip in my mouth. ‘So, back to our history notes …’
‘Fuck history. Back to Cam’s cock,’ Jacob said. ‘Do you know, if cookies are a code word for cock, then that means his cock was in your mouth.’
I choked on the chip and grabbed my can of soda, inhaling the liquid as my face burned.
‘Figuratively speaking, that is,’ Jacob added, grinning like a total shithead. He hopped up. ‘I don’t know how you do it, Avery. If I lived across the hall from him, I’d be plastered to his front door noon to midnight. And I’d be all over his cookies. Yum.’
Waving a hand in front of my face, I shook my head. ‘You can have his cookies.’
‘Oh, honey, if he swung batter-batter for my team, I’d be all over that in a heartbeat.’
Brittany’s eyes rolled. ‘Big surprise there.’
‘What I don’t understand is how come you aren’t all over his cookies.’
I opened my mouth, but Brittany shook her head and said, ‘I don’t think cookies mean cock. I think it might mean his balls, being that it’s plural and all.’
Jacob burst into loud laughter. ‘Then that means his balls were in your mouth, figuratively speaking! Damn, that’s some dirty baking.’
I gaped at the two. Was this typical conversation? ‘Oh my God, can we please stop talking about his cock and balls or I’ll never be able to eat cookies again. Like, ever.’
‘No. Seriously. How come you aren’t all up on that?’ Jacob climbed onto the back of the couch like an overgrown cat. ‘He’s obviously flirting with you.’
‘So?’ I replied, believing it might be safe to eat another chip without dying.
Jacob’s jaw dropped. ‘So?’
Brittany closed the history book and dropped it on the floor with a loud thump. Guess there went studying completely. ‘Jacob is like a sex-starved woman in her mid-thirties, so he can’t possibly understand why you wouldn’t want to take a ride on the town bike.’
I glanced at Jacob, and he just shrugged and said, ‘Very true.’
‘Even I have a hard time understanding that. Cameron is really good-looking,’ Brittany continued. ‘And I’ve never heard any girl talking crap about him, so he must treat them good.’
Having no idea what to say, I dropped into the black moon chair near the TV. Explaining to them the why behind it all was a big fat no go. ‘I don’t know. I’m just not interested.’
‘Do you have ovaries?’ Jacob asked.
I shot him a look. ‘Yes.’
He slid down the back of the couch and sat beside Brittany. ‘Then how are you not interested?’
Shoving the rest of the chips in my mouth, I struggled to respond without coming across like a frigid prude. But I was a total frigid prude, wasn’t I? Or afflicted, depending on who you asked. Either way, while the idea of cocks and balls interested me, the thought of actually getting up close and personal with them made me break out in a cold sweat.
And I was sweating now. The chips were already souring in my stomach. I’d be breaking out the Tums later. My mind immediately went straight to the e-mail from last night.
Liar.
Wiping my hands over my jeans, I shook my head. ‘I’m just not interested in a relationship.’
Jacob laughed. ‘We’re not saying that Cam is either, you know? You don’t have to want to be in a relationship for a little bow-chicka-bow-wow.’
Brittany looked at him slowly. ‘Did you really just say that?’
‘I did. And I owned it. Gonna make me a shirt that says that.’ Jacob flashed a grin. ‘Anyway, all I’m saying is he’s an opportunity you might not want to pass up.’
I didn’t even give that a thought. ‘Why are we even talking about this? We have one class together and he lives across the hall—’
‘And you’re partners for the rest of the semester,’ Brittany added. ‘Kind of romantic, going out at night and gazing up at stars.’
My stomach tightened. ‘It’s not romantic. Nothing is romantic.’
Her brows rose as she ran her hand through the short locks of blond hair. ‘Well, hello, Debbie Downer.’
I rolled my eyes. ‘All I’m saying is that I don’t know him. He doesn’t know me. And he’s just a flirt. You’ve even said he’s the town bike. This is just probably how he is. He’s a nice and friendly guy. That’s all. So can