style="font-size:15px;"> I laughed as Brittany shook her head. ‘I seriously ran into him, Jacob. And he caught me. I wasn’t feeling him up on purpose, but he seemed like he had a good body.’ I shrugged. ‘Anyway, he had dark, wavy hair. Longer than yours, kind of messy but in a—’
‘Damn, girl, if you say messy in a I-don’t-care-I’m-a-sexy-beast kind of way, I want to run into this guy.’
Brittany giggled. ‘Love hair like that.’
I wondered if my face looked as hot as it felt. ‘Yeah, it was like that. He was really gorgeous and his eyes were so blue they looked—’
‘Wait,’ Brittany gasped, her own eyes widening. ‘Were his eyes, like, so blue they almost looked fake? And did he smell, like, really good? I know that sounds creepy and weird, but just answer the question.’
That was kind of creepy and weird and really funny. ‘Yes to both.’
‘Holy shit on a shoe.’ Brittany let out a loud laugh. ‘Did you get his name?’
I was starting to get worried, because Jacob also had this dawning expression on his face. ‘Yeah, why?’
Brittany elbowed Jacob, and then she lowered her voice. ‘Was it Cameron Hamilton?’
My jaw hit my lap.
‘It was!’ Brittany’s shoulders shook. ‘You ran into Cameron Hamilton?’
Jacob wasn’t smiling. He was just staring at me in … awe? ‘I am so incredibly envious of you right now. I would give my left testicle to run into Cameron Hamilton.’
I half laughed, half choked. ‘Wow. That’s pretty serious.’
‘Cameron Hamilton is serious, Avery. You wouldn’t know. You’re not from around here,’ Jacob said.
‘You’re a freshman, too. How do you know about him?’ I asked, because Cam looked too old to be a freshman. He had to at least be a junior or senior.
‘Everyone on campus knows him,’ he replied.
‘You’ve been on campus for less than a week!’
Jacob grinned. ‘I get around.’
I laughed, shaking my head. ‘I don’t get it. Yeah, he’s … hot, but so what?’
‘I went to school with Cameron,’ Brittany explained, glancing over her shoulder. ‘I mean, he was two years older than me, but he was, like, the shit in high school. Everyone wanted to be around him or with him. It’s pretty much the same here.’
Curiosity rose in spite of how what Brittany said reminded me of someone else. ‘So you guys are from around here?’
‘No. We’re from outside of the Morgantown–Fort Hill area. I don’t know why he chose this school instead of WVU, but I did because I wanted to get out of town versus being stuck with the same old people.’
I could understand that.
‘Anyway, Cameron is known around campus.’ Jacob smacked his hands together. ‘He lives off campus and supposedly throws the best parties ever and—’
‘He had a reputation in high school,’ Brittany cut in. ‘A reputation that was well earned. Don’t get me wrong. Cameron has always been a really cool guy. Very nice and funny, but he put the “or” in man-whore back then. Seems to have settled down a bit, but a leopard and their spots …’
‘Okay.’ I fiddled with my bracelet. ‘Good to know, but it doesn’t really matter. I mean, I ran into him in a hallway. That’s the extent of my knowledge of Cam.’
‘Cam?’ Brittany blinked.
‘Yeah?’ I shoved to my feet and grabbed my bag. Doors would open soon.
Brittany’s brows knitted. ‘People who he doesn’t know call him Cameron. Only his friends call him Cam.’
‘Oh.’ I frowned. ‘He told me people called him Cam, so I assumed that’s what people called him.’
Brittany didn’t say anything, and I honestly didn’t see what the big deal was. Cam/Cameron/Whatever was just being polite after I ran him over. The fact that he was a reformed party playboy meant nothing to me other than that I should stay far, far away from him.
Doors swung open and students spilled into the hallway. Our little group waited until it cleared before we headed inside, picking three seats in the back, with Jacob in between Brittany and me. As I pulled out my massive, could-knock-someone-out-if-hit-with-it, five-subject notebook, Jacob grabbed my arm.
Mischief and total mayhem filled his gaze. ‘You cannot drop astronomy. To get through this semester, I must live vicariously through you and hear about Cam at least three days a week.’
I laughed softly. ‘I’m not going to drop the class’—even though I sort of wanted to—’but I doubt I’m going to have anything to tell you. It’s not like we’re even going to talk again.’
Jacob let go of my arm and sat back, eyeing me. ‘Famous last words, Avery.’
The rest of the day wasn’t nearly as eventful as my morning had been, much to my pleasure. No more innocent hot boys almost knocked over or other humiliating incidents. Although I had to relive the experience all over again at lunch for Jacob’s entertainment, I was happy that he and Brittany had a break around the same time I did. I’d really been planning on spending most of my day being a loner, so it was nice to actually talk to people … my own age.
Being social was like riding a bike, I guess.
And besides Jacob’s unneeded advice, which entailed me purposely running into Cam the next time I saw him, there hadn’t been any awkward moments. By the end of the day, I honestly had pretty much forgotten about Cam.
Before I left campus, I headed down to the financial building to pick up an application for work-study. I didn’t need the money, but I needed the time suckage to keep my mind occupied. I had a full load—eighteen credit hours—but I would have a crap ton of free time. A job on campus seemed like the right thing to go for, but there were no spots open. My name went on an extended waiting list.
The campus was really beautiful in a quaint, peaceful sort of way. It was nothing like the sprawling campuses of huge universities. Nestled between the Potomac River and the tiny, historical town of Shepherdstown, it was like something you’d see on a postcard. Large buildings with steeples mixed in among more modern structures. Trees everywhere. Fresh, clean air and everything you needed within walking distance. I could actually walk on nicer days or at least park on West Campus to avoid paying the meter.
After giving my information for the waiting list, I hoofed it back toward my car, enjoying the warm breeze. Unlike this morning when I’d been running late, I got a chance to check out the houses on the way to the train station. Three houses, side by side, had porches full of college-aged guys. Most likely this school’s version of fraternity row.
One guy looked up, beer in hand. He smiled, but then turned as a football flew out from the open door, smacking him in the back. Curses exploded.
