J. Lynn - Wait for You

‘Look at you.’ Ollie hopped down the steps. ‘Got the girl tripping all over her feet.’

Cam chuckled as he reached up with his free hand and slid the cap around backward. ‘I can’t help it. It’s my magnetic charm.’

‘Or it could be your smell,’ Ollie retorted. ‘I’m not sure I heard a shower this morning.’

Cam gasped in mocked outrage. ‘Do I smell bad, Avery?’

‘You smell great,’ I murmured, feeling my face heat. It was the truth, though. He smelled wonderful—a mixture of fresh linen, faint cologne, and something else that was probably all him. ‘I mean, you don’t smell bad.’

Cam watched me for almost a moment too long. ‘Heading to class?’

We were walking down the steps, but his arm was still around my shoulders and the entire side of my body seemed to tingle like it had fallen asleep. He was so … casual about it. Like it was nothing to him and it probably wasn’t. I remembered how he and the girl had hugged last night, but to me, it was …

There were no words.

‘Avery?’ Cam’s voice lowered.

I wiggled free, and I saw the way Ollie’s grin spread. I headed down the stairs, needing distance. ‘Yeah, I’m heading to art. What about you guys?’

Cam easily caught up with me on the third floor. ‘We’re going out to breakfast. You should skip and join us.’

‘I think I’ve done enough skipping this week.’

‘I’m skipping,’ Ollie announced, ‘but Cam doesn’t have a class until this afternoon, so he’s a good boy.’

‘And you’re a bad boy?’ I asked.

Ollie’s grin was contagious. ‘Oh, I’m a bad, bad boy.’

Cam shot his friend a look. ‘Yeah, as in bad at spelling, math, English, cleaning up after yourself, talking to people, and I could go on.’

‘But I’m good at the things that count.’

‘And what are those things?’ Cam asked as we exited the building. Outside the air carried the faint scent of dampness, and the clouds looked plump with water.

Ollie jogged out in front of us and turned so that he was facing us as he walked backward, completely ignoring the red truck trying to back up. He held up a tanned hand and started ticking off his fingers. ‘Drinking, socializing, snowboarding, and soccer—remember that sport, Cam? Soccer?’

The easy grin slipped off Cam’s face. ‘Yeah, I remember it, asshole.’

Ollie just laughed and turned, heading toward where the silver truck was parked. I glanced up at Cam, curious. He stared straight ahead, jaw set and eyes like chips of ice. Without looking down at me, he shoved his hands into his jeans and said, ‘See you around, Avery.’

With that, he joined Ollie over at his truck, and I’d swear the temperature dropped to match the sudden coolness in Cam’s attitude. Didn’t take a genius or an overly intuitive person to figure out that Ollie had touched on a sore spot and Cam hadn’t been in the mood to elaborate.

Shivering, I hurried to my car and jumped in. Not a second too soon as a big, fat raindrop splatted against the windshield. As I backed out, I glanced over, my eyes finding them. Both guys were standing by the bed of the truck, Ollie smiling and Cam with the same distant, rigid set to his expression as he spoke. Whatever he was telling his friend, he wasn’t happy about it.

I had no idea how I let Cam talk me into riding with him and not taking two cars, but Saturday night—the night of our assignment—just before dusk, I found myself climbing into the massive silver truck. My stomach had been in knots since Friday night, when Jacob started hounding me about the party he and Brittany were going to. It had been good-natured and I wanted to go, but I couldn’t bring myself to really do it. Besides, I had no idea where the house was, it had been late when he’d started texting, and it had been storming again.

And now I was as nervous as a mouse in a room full of hungry cats. As lame as this was, I’d never been in a car with a guy before. Man, even admitting that to myself sounded incredibly pathetic. Like take-that-little-secret-to-my-grave level of pathetic.

Cam shoved the keys into the ignition as he glanced over at me. The baseball cap was on again, twisted backward. Behind the thick lashes, his eyes glimmered a bright azure. ‘Ready steady?’

Tugging my lightweight cardigan around me, I nodded. When I saw him in astronomy yesterday morning, he was his usual self—joking, flirting, and offering cookies. I hoped that meant whatever had gone down between him and Ollie had been worked out. ‘Are you sure we can’t just do this around here?’

‘This place will be perfect. I will never lead you wrong, sweetheart.’

‘Okay,’ I murmured, clasping my hands together tightly. I turned to the side window, watching as we blew past the campus and crossed the bridge into Maryland.

Fifteen minutes later, Cam turned onto the road leading to the visitors’ center in Antietam National Battlefield. The history nerd in me started doing cartwheels, but I was way too nervous about being out here at night with Cam. Not that he seemed like the type to try anything, but if I knew anything, there was no ‘type’ when it came to that sort of thing. My nerves felt stretched thin and frayed at the edges.

‘Are you sure we’re allowed to be out here at night?’ I asked, glancing around.

‘Nope.’ He pulled into a parking spot. There were only a handful of cars.

I stared at him. ‘What?’

He laughed as he killed the engine. ‘I’m kidding. All we have to do is tell one of the rangers that we’re from the university. They’ll be cool about it.’

I hoped so. The idea of being chased off the battlefield by a park ranger wasn’t on my list of things to accomplish before I died.

However, from a quick look at Cam, it looked like something he’d be down for.

‘You ready?’

Grabbing my bag off the floor, I opened the truck door. ‘Yeah, let’s get this over with.’

Cam grabbed a flashlight out of the glove box as he chuckled. ‘Don’t sound too excited.’

I sent him a quick grin. ‘I’m not.’

‘Don’t lie.’ He walked around the hood and joined me, pointing over to where a cement tower with a red top rose into the sky. ‘That’s where we want to go.’

‘The tower on Bloody Lane?’

He shot me a quick look. ‘You’ve been here before?’

‘No.’

‘Then how did you know that’s Bloody Lane?’

I smiled slightly as I picked up a strand of my hair, twisting it between my fingers. ‘I’m a history major, so places like this appeal to me. Read up on it before. Bloodiest day of the whole war took place on that little stretch of dirt road.’

‘Yeah, that’s what they say. Hold on a sec.’ He turned to where a ranger was cutting across the field. ‘Be right back.’

I watched him jog over to where the ranger waited. Words seemed to be exchanged and then Cam showed him his notebook. The ranger laughed and they shook hands. Tipping my head back, I could already see tiny stars appearing in the deep blue sky. Nightfall would be on us in minutes.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

Cam swaggered back to my side. ‘We’re good to go. And we’re not the only ones. There are a few students down by the other side of the tower.’