Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
KAMILA
“ B ullshit.”
Jake eyes me distrustingly.
Grinning, I point. “Check it.”
He reaches the stack of cards and flips the top ones over. “Goddammit, two fives.”
I wave my hands towards the pile that’s grown throughout the game.
“They’re all yours.”
He huffs out a frustrated groan before taking them.
“I told you, dude, she’s a good liar when she wants to be.” Levi pats Jake’s shoulder.
If only he knew how many secrets I’ve been keeping from them.
Emma throws her cards down. “I’m getting tired of losing to Kami. Can we watch a movie or something?”
It’s our Sunday game night, and we’ve been playing for two hours now. My ass hurts from sitting on the floor, so a movie doesn’t sound like a bad idea.
“I agree. It’s still early. We have popcorn we can microwave and some ice cream left over from Friday night. You guys in? ”
Jake and Levi dip their chins. Em and I prep the snacks while the guys look for a movie.
“Anything you guys have in mind?” Jake moves to the couch.
Em beats me to the punch. “Anything with horror, comedy, or action would be cool.”
“Just nothing sad or boring, and I’m set,” I add.
Em side-eyes me. “You know, we still haven’t done our yearly Twilight weekend marathon?—”
“No!” Jake and Levi squawk at the same time. Ouch.
“Oh, come on, guys. We sat through all The Lord of Rings extended versions for you last year, you owe us!” Em stomps her foot like a child, and the boys snort.
“She’s not wrong guys, you did promise.” I give them a harsh stare.
Levi sits up. “How about this? We’ll look at our schedules and set up an entire day to watch all of them.”
Emma grunts but agrees. “Fine. What are we watching?”
After some more back and forth, we settle on a dark comedic thriller, Ready or Not , that neither Jake or Em have seen. Levi and I share a bowl of popcorn as I lean my head on his shoulder while laughing at Em’s comments throughout the entire movie. The girl looks like a modern version of Grace Kelly combined with a young Pamela Anderson; her daily clothes scream I come from old money , and she has perfect etiquette at social events. But here with her friends? She’s dressed in sweatpants and a white tank top with a huge strawberry ice cream stain while yelling at the TV about how stupid hot Adam Brody is. It’s hilarious, really, and I love seeing her in her true element.
Halfway through the movie, my phone buzzes with a new message. Cameron’s initials pop up, and I make sure that Levi can’t see my screen when I open it.
CK: Back on campus. Can you meet up?
I type the fastest I ever have and hit send without a second thought.
Me: Can’t, friends’ night and I’m not ditching .
Turning back to the movie, I feel my phone vibrate again.
CK: Did you at least get what you needed on Friday?
I close my eyes and tip my head back. No, I didn’t get what I needed. I spent half of the night with Emma watching Scandal , and when I left to go to my room, I came three times on my vibrator while thinking about this asshole. I lied to him because he left me all hot and bothered after class. Then I remember he mentioned the possibility of hooking up with somebody at home and I type out the perfect non-response.
Me: Did you?
He sends me a middle finger emoji, and I can’t help the snort that comes out. Everyone turns to look at me because the current scene in the movie isn’t funny. In fact, someone is dying.
Jake raises a brow. “Who are you texting over there?”
“Um, just Ana.” I give him a sure smile and look back at the screen. Em gives me a knowing look. She believes I was texting Nick…if only she knew the truth.
The trees have finished changing colors, the fall air is crisp, right on the edge of being too cold to enjoy, and the little lake on campus will be freezing over soon. The mountains surrounding us make the autumn colors more vibrant. I wrap my hands around the cup of coffee that’s keeping my body temperature from plummeting while enjoying the view.
My first class of the day is with Cameron and we haven’t seen each other since his teasing session this past Friday. He texted me again yesterday to meet up, but I was busy all day with my regular classes, along with my Zumba ones. Then, I met up with Emma, Zoey, and Luna. We had dinner on campus and during an awkward conversation, Zo apologized for what had happened at King’s Wolf. I forgave her, and I meant it, although I don’t think I’ll be going out with her to party one-on-one any time soon .
Speaking of King’s Wolf, I still haven’t heard back from anyone about the internship. I really do hope I get it. There are so many ideas I have that could expand and improve their social media platforms along with their website.
I’m about to enter the building when I remember Professor Mills’s stupid rule about no drinks in class. I chug the rest of my coffee, which has luckily cooled down, and throw it out while making my way to my seat and see that Cameron is already in his. I raise both brows at his timing.
While putting my things down, I look over at him, but he doesn’t glance up from his phone. His eyes are hyper-focused on whatever it is he’s doing which seems to be texting someone back. My notebook slips off the desk onto the floor, and as I bend down to pick it up, my phone buzzes. Taking it out of my pocket, dread looms over me as I read the message.
Unknown: Kami. Why did you block me? Don’t tell me I annoy you, it’d hurt my feelings. We need to talk soon. –David.
After reading it for the third time, I slam my phone down on the desk. It’s the second text I’ve gotten from him within the past week and third in the semester. What else could he possibly want? More than scared, I’m pissed that he won’t just leave me alone. He might’ve tried to talk to me before the past two weeks, but I wouldn’t know. I blocked him and all of his friends I knew on every platform.
What does he mean by why did you block me?
Isn’t it obvious, you narcissistic psychopath?
“Kamila.” Cameron’s stern voice drags me back to reality.
I don’t turn to meet his gaze, but I still feel his eyes on me.
“Yeah?”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m good,” I say clearly unconvincingly.
A hand grazes my chin, and two fingers gently shift my face to the side. “Look at me, Kamila.”
My eyes move to lock on his. “What do you want, Cameron? ”
His eyebrows crease. “Jesus, I’ve never seen your skin so pale.” He frowns. “What freaked you out so much?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” My lie comes out cold and easy.
His jaw tightens, his brown eyes laced with concern.
Why does he care? “No, I’ve seen you scared before, Kamila, and?—”
“It’s nothing, Cameron.” My hand reaches up to pull his down from beneath my chin.
He lets out a huff of annoyance and doesn’t push any further. “Look. I know we’re not really friends, but if you need to talk?—”
“I said I’m fine, Cameron.” My command is stern and final. No, we aren’t friends, so this is none of his business.
He shakes his head. “Whatever.”
I take a deep breath and exhale quietly practicing the techniques I learned over the past couple of months. All thoughts of David begin to fade as usual until someone drops their steel water bottle, scaring me and taking me out of my trance as David enters my mind again.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I need a distraction. A good one and class can only help so much. The lectures are important, but honestly, everything Mills says is in the textbook.
Taking a quick glance at Cameron, I find him doodling. We’ve been teasing each other all weekend through text messages. I’m pretty sure he didn’t sleep with anyone else, and I didn’t either. He’s the perfect distraction.
I scoot my chair a little closer to his and cover my mouth next to his ear. He stiffens slightly.
“Finish what you started on Friday,” I demand, more than request.
His hand wraps so tightly around his pen, I’m surprised it doesn’t split in half. He keeps his eyes trained on mine while I pull away. He seems unsure of what to do as if trying to figure out whether I actually want this or not. But I do want it, no, I need it.
My hand traces the hem of my black high-waisted skirt I wore to class this morning. It’s paired with a long-sleeve dark red knit sweater and black boots. His eyes roam down my body, and he raises a brow in surprise, his piercing a dark metallic silver today. He takes mercy on me and slowly rolls his sleeve up, revealing his unique tattoos. We’re so close now that our arms squeeze side by side. Luckily, nobody is paying attention to us.
“Why aren’t you wearing any stockings? You have to be freezing,” he whispers and puts a hand on my knee.
“I didn’t have any, but I’m okay. My jacket’s pretty warm,” I whisper back with a shaky voice.
His fingers begin to move in circles around my knee until they slowly make their way up.
“Are you going to keep quiet? We both know how loud you can be,” he says closer to my ear this time, his breath hitting a sensitive spot, making me shutter.
We’re both looking ahead toward the front of the classroom. Cameron is big enough to block sight from anyone on his end, and my seat is the last one in the row next to the windows. Nobody can see anything happening from behind or the front of the long desk since it’s blocked by a wood panel, the same as every other row in the classroom. It’s almost as if the lecture room was made for this.
“I can keep quiet, I’ve just never really tried with you.” I shoot him a wink when he sneers.
“We’ll see about that.”
Professor Mills walks in, briefcase in hand and her usual scowl plastered on.
“One hour and fifteen minutes, Kamila.” I do a double take. He plans to do it throughout the entire class?
“Good luck.” He winks.