Page 29 of Kicking It with the Point Guard

At one point he brought up the birthday party at the club.

“I was just about over it, you know? Plus, Andrea—or whatever her name is—was hanging all over me. But the next girl who came out… she was wearing an outfit made of balloons. And her eyes… man, there was just something about her…” he pauses, his face pensive.

I snort, choking on my drink and trying not to spit it all over the table.

“I know, right?” Oscar grins. “Sounds like someone you’d want to get to know.”

“Definitely someone I’d love to be friends with,” I say, covering my smile.

The rest of lunch goes by quickly, and we part ways with Oscar at the door to the caf.

“Come on, I’ll walk you back to your room,” Cameron says, taking off in the direction of the girls’ dorm.

“You don’t have to do that,” I say, playing catch up with the long-legged freak of nature.

He stops and looks at me hard. Not in a bad way. It seems more… clinical. His eyes rove across the cheek that held the bruise not long ago. It’s mostly faded now.

“I won’t. If you’ll tell me how you got that bruise.”

“Why do you want to know?” I ask, genuinely curious. It’s not like he has any sort of investment in me other than helping me to pass College Algebra. And so far, he’s doing exactly that.

My question catches him off guard.

“I…” He pauses.

Maybe he doesn’t know. I can tell he’s thinking hard. He’ll either give me some obvious nonsense excuse, or he’ll figure out the truth and tell me. I haven’t known Cameron for long, but honestly, I don’t see him lying to me.

“I want to know… because I feel protective of you.” A flush creeps up his neck, but he doesn’t look away. His warm brown eyes hold mine. “And… maybe other reasons. But I’m not sure about those just yet.”

“Oh…”

That’s… not really what I was expecting. Butterflies make themselves known in my stomach.

That was definitely honestly. No one would say something so… boldly personal as some kind of bullshit excuse.

I guess he deserves some honesty in return.

“Someone threw an orange at me the other day. It hit my face.”

He reaches up and gently runs his thumb over the faint bruise.

“Hmm…” is all he says before he grabs my hand and pulls me in the direction of the girls’ dorm.

We’re holding hands again… only this time it’s outside. In full view of everyone and their dogs.

I duck my head, hiding a blush.

This is definitely going to come back to bite me. I’d be surprised if Allyson didn’t spontaneously combust at this public display of affection.

We make it back to the girls’ dorm without incident, and Cameron gives me a little half smile and a wave before he turns away and heads back across campus. I watch him walk. Completely confused by how today turned out.

I just want to pass algebra. I’ve spent my whole college career completely focused on graduating. College Algebra has proven to be the biggest hurdle. Not an unexpected one—I fully acknowledge my lack of understanding in this particular area of learning. But now, instead of being consumed with the future of my career, I find myself daydreaming more.

I’ve blushed more in the past couple of weeks that I’ve known Cameron than I probably have in my entire life.

I’ve had the errant boyfriend here and there, but it never got too serious. Granted, high school-age boys are not a good basis for serious boyfriend material. In my experience, at least. They care more about video games and their trucks or whatever.

I can’t necessarily say that Cameron is good boyfriend material, though. There’s the fact that Allyson is obsessively stalking him. I would say me, but I’m not naïve enough to believe that I’m on her radar for just existing. No… this whole thing started when I started seeing Cameron regularly.

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