Page 50 of A Not So Prince Charming

“Now, that’s no way to treat your best friends.” The first one grinned, offering me a hand. “Hi, I’m James.”

“Erikson.” Cam rolled his eyes. “Leave her alone.”

The third one—with auburn hair—chose this moment to speak up. “Come on, scooch in. My soup’s getting cold.”

Of course, Cam and I ended up smack dab in the middle of the circular booth, our legs pressed up against each other and his friends on either side of us.

“Ella,” he sighed, like he couldn’t believe we’d ended up here. “These are, unfortunately, my best friends. James Erikson,” he pointed at the one with black hair, darker than his own, “Forest Carter,” the brunette—who I now realized I recognized as Sutton’s boyfriend—“and Adam Prince.” The slightly grumpy one with reddish hair. “Guys, this is Ella.” He nodded at me.

“Hi.” I gave a hesitant wave. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Taking another bite of my salad, I watched the four guys, seeing how comfortable they were with each other. They almost acted like brothers.

“So… what are you all majoring in?” I asked, figuring maybe I should get to know these guys that Cam was so close to. Not for any specific reason, and certainly not because I thought I’d be sticking around him, but if they were important to him, well…

James—the tallest of the bunch—gaped at me and then looked over at Cameron. “She doesn’t know who we are?”

Cam shrugged. “Didn’t know who I was, either.”

I blinked. “What?”

“Do you not pay attention?” Adam frowned on the other side of me.

Clearly not.“Not sure what I was supposed to be paying attention to.” I shrugged.

“This guy,” Cam said with a laugh, pointing at James with his thumb, “is the star of the football team. Forest is on the baseball team, and Adam, well…” He cocked his head at his friend. “What do you do again?”

Adam grumbled. “You know damn well what I do.”

I didn’t feel like getting in the middle of their conversation, so I gave a mumbled, “Oh.” Was I the only girl on campus who didn’t know the four of them? I had paid little attention to boys in the last year. Not since that disaster of a party. I’d sworn off crushes, even. I didn’t need a man to make me happy—I could do that myself.

Forest gave me a warm smile from my side. “Hi, Ella.”

“Hi. It’s been a while.”

“Wait. You two know each other?” Cam blinked, his eyes full of surprise.

Forest nodded. “She’s friends with Sutton. Get it together, Edwards.”

“So you knew?” Cam said, the tone of his voice almost… upset? But that didn’t make any sense.

“No. Not until later.”

“Knew what?” I whispered to Forest.

Cam shook his head, but his friend just smiled. “Nothing.”

I rolled my eyes. “Way to keep a girl in the dark.” Spearing my dessert—a pumpkin pie—with my fork, I took another bite, trying to tune out the noise of four college guys surrounding me.

When I looked up, Cameron’s eyes were on me, searching my face. It was like he needed to make sure I was okay. “What?” Imurmured, putting my fork down. My plate was practically empty, and I was full, anyway.

“You’re just…” He glanced over at the other three guys, who seemed deep in some conversation about sports that I knew I wouldn’t understand, even if I’d tried. “Quiet.”

“So?”

“You’re not usually quiet. Not around me.”

“Oh.” Maybe that was true. He got all of my fight, all the sass in my body—but in truth, I was an introvert. Socializing with people I didn’t know took a lot of energy out of me. It had never been like that with him, though—I’d never felt like talking to him was an effort. It had always just been comfortable. “I’m just…”

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