CRUSH (11 page)

I thought back to my stuck-up jock years before
this—playing sports, chasing and catching more than my fair share of
girls, attending some pretty wild parties. I’d loved being part of all that
before things really changed for me, sending my life in a completely different
direction.

I chuckled wryly to myself. I was so stupid.
This had seemed like it would be an easy playtime for me—lay low, party,
chill. I hadn’t really planned on knowing people well enough to actually like
them, or to have them like me either. I was starting to feel like I was part of
them. Now I was falling hard for this girl, and it didn’t seem like anything I
told my brain made it want to change. If Cami had been a girl in my old high
school, I would’ve grabbed onto her with both hands and never let go. She was
different—the kind of girl a guy would want to keep all to himself.

Ugh, I should quit sitting here mooning like a
lovesick kid. This was getting ridiculous. I barely knew her.

I rubbed my temples and glanced over to the
stack of papers sitting beside my bed. I still needed to go through them and do
my homework for school as well. Maybe I could get Chris to do my assignments. I
snorted, that request probably wouldn’t go over too well. I hated doing all
this class work.

I groaned as I pulled myself out of bed and
went to my desk chair. It was going to be a long night.

“So I want you to check out your cameras and
carry them with you all week. Take pictures of anything in and around the
school that catches your eye. Concentrate on building the composition of your
images. I want a triangular aspect to your shots, something with three points
of interest, which allows the eye to circle through the picture with ease as we
discussed in class today.”

I was stoked as I listened to Mr. Adams give
this assignment. I liked taking pictures and seeing what the camera caught when
people weren’t looking. Of course, the biggest reason I was excited was because
I couldn’t wait to get shots of Cami.

“No digital cameras either,” Mr. Adams
continued. “I want you in the dark room developing this film.”

I glanced at Cami who was alphabetically seated
in the desk next to me. “You ready to pose for some pictures, Goody?”

“Pose?” she asked, giving me a confused smile.

“You heard him. We’re supposed to take pictures
of things around the school that catch our eye. You’re what catches mine.” I
glanced over her and gave my tried and true sexy grin of appreciation.

She blushed right on cue.
Heck yeah
, I thought.
I’ve
still got it
.

“I don’t think that’s what he meant, Hunter.”
She laughed sweetly as she closed her notebook.

I shrugged. “I don’t care. I don’t have any
pictures of you, and I want some. You like me enough to do this, right?”

She shook her head in amazement, a wide grin
plastered across her face. “You really aren’t going to give this up, are you?”

“Nope. Not until I hear you say you like me.
It’s not that difficult, Cami. Even grade school kids can do it. In
fact . . 
. ,
” I reached into my
binder and pulled out a pad of sticky notes I used to keep track of assignments
and started writing on it.

“What’re you doing?” she asked, leaning to
look.

“No peeking,” I teased, shielding it with my
other hand while I continued. When I was finished I peeled off the top paper
and stuck it on the front of her notebook. “Do you like me? Check a box, yes or
no. I can’t make it any simpler.”

Cami busted up laughing, causing several others
in the class to glance at us, but I didn’t care. She was gorgeous, mesmerizing
even, and I could’ve stared at her smile all day long.

She shook her head as she stood and walked past
me. “Come on, let’s go get our cameras.”

“You forgot to check your little box thingy on
the paper,” I said pointing, and she paused, looking over her shoulder. “It’s
easy. You just take your pen and put in a check. It’s a line really, no biggie.
No one sweats over a line.” I pulled another paper off and demonstrated how to
make a check. “See just like that.”

She was still grinning as she turned and
continued to the front of the room.

“Do you need me to show you again?” I called
after her. I couldn’t help chuckling under my breath. She was so fun to tease.

I got up and followed after her to where the
cameras were lined up on the shelf. They were all identical, so I didn’t spend
any time choosing, instead just grabbing one and then getting in line behind
her to put the serial number and my name on the sign-out sheet.

Her hair was full of its usual natural bounce
and curl again today, and I touched it lightly. She looked at me questioningly.
I smiled softly. “Just admiring the view. How’re you feeling? Not catching a
cold or anything are you?”

She shook her head slightly. “I’m feeling
pretty okay, actually.”

“That’s good. I was worried you might get sick
afterward.”

We both took turns signing the paper before
leaving the classroom together.

“You want to walk around and take pictures with
me?” I asked, looking for any excuse to spend more time with her.

“Sure, I enjoy the entertainment your company
provides.” She bit her lip in an attempt to hide her grin.

“Ah, so I’m just the comic relief, then. I get
it.” I bumped her with my arm and she laughed.

“Where do you want to wander first?”

“Let’s go over by the football field,” I
suggested. “I bet we could find some good shots over by the field house and
stuff. They have the track equipment set up out there for practice.”

“Did you ever do track?” she asked as we headed
in that direction.

I shook my head. “No, just football and
basketball. I did try baseball once with one of my buddies. It was all right,
but not really my thing.”

“I bet you were really good at basketball.
You’re so tall. How tall are you?”

“Six foot three, and I was one of the shorter
ones on the team.”

“Did you play a lot?”

“Yeah, I was a starter—top scorer,
actually.”

“And were you a starter in football?”

“Yep. I played both ways. Offensive tackle,
defensive end.”

“Why’d you quit playing?”

I shrugged and gave a little sigh. I wanted to
tell her I hadn’t quit, that I’d been a first team all star every single year
before things changed. I wanted to tell her why things were different now. “Got
in with the wrong crowd, after my parents died, I guess.” I hated lying to her.
Telling her these things was going to kill my conscience.

“I’m sorry about your parents. How’d they die?”

“Car accident into a river,” I said casually,
repeating the history, which had been drilled into my head.

Her face went white. “Oh my gosh!
Yesterday . . . that must’ve been horrible for you.”

My mind scrambled for a second, trying to keep
up. “What? Oh!
You falling in the water?
No, it’s okay.”

She looked away. “It must’ve brought so many
uncomfortable memories to the surface. I’m so sorry.” She seemed distraught.

I slipped the camera strap around my neck and
pulled her into an alcove behind the building.

“Listen, Cami,” I said as I squeezed both of
her shoulders. “Don’t feel bad. I honestly never even thought of my parents
once yesterday. Any concern I felt was strictly in regards to you and your
wellbeing. I won’t lie, it was a scary thing to see, but only because I care
about you.” I pulled her closer, and she slid her arms easily around my waist,
laying her head against my chest.

I wrapped mine around her tightly and allowed
one hand to drift up the back of her neck, sinking my fingers into her soft
curls.

She lifted her face. “I’m glad you were there.”

Our eyes locked, and I felt something strong
flare between us. I knew she felt it too because the desire was written in her
eyes.

I wanted to kiss her so badly my mouth watered
in anticipation. My gaze traveled down to her glossy lips, and the tip of her
tongue darted out, licking them slightly. Her breathing increased, and I knew
then she wanted me as badly as I wanted her.

It took every ounce of will power I had to lift
my chin and place it on the top of her head. I briefly hugged her tighter for
one moment longer before I released her.

“Come on. We better go take pictures before
someone stumbles on us hiding back here.” I walked away without waiting to see
if she was following.

Cami-

I couldn’t help my disappointment as I followed
after Hunter. I wasn’t going to lie to myself. He was hot, and I desperately
wanted him to kiss me with those amazing looking lips of his. For some reason
though, he still seemed reluctant, but I couldn’t fathom why. If you liked
someone you did what you had to do to be with him or her. Right? I wasn’t any
big expert on relationships, but it seemed easy enough.

I sighed with frustration, and the sound came
out a little louder than I intended, causing Hunter to pause and look at me. He
waited until I was beside him, and he loosely draped his arm around my
shoulders, giving me a gentle squeeze.

He didn’t say anything as we continued toward
the field, but his actions spoke of attraction. He clearly didn’t care who saw
him with me, and I wondered if there was a way I could up my game, maybe tempt
him into action a little faster.

That scared me, though. Given the tiny bit of
information I knew about his past, I imagined he was probably a fire that would
light fast—so quick it would consume me whole. Maybe I should be content
to stand back and let him work through whatever issues he had. Let nature take
its course, so to speak.

Hunter dropped his arm and faced the school,
taking a picture of the wide sweeping grounds and buildings, which sprawled
behind us. He adjusted his location and took some more of the athletic fields
and structures. I wasn’t sure what he found so fascinating about the place, but
I lifted my camera and started looking through the view finder for things I
found interesting, snapping the occasional picture of trees and plant life
before casually turning and firing off several of him standing with his camera
up to his eye.

He lowered it. “Did you just take a bunch of
pictures of me?” he asked, a sly grin spreading across his face as if he were
extremely pleased.

“I don’t think so . . 
. ,
” I replied innocently. “ . . . 
unless
I caught you by accident when I was focusing on those
buildings over there.” I pointed past him, and he looked at the jumble of
plain, brick walls across the parking lot.

“Uh huh. Sure.” He lifted his camera and
pointed it directly at me, clicking several times in succession.

I smiled and he continued to shoot away.
“What’re you doing?”

“I’m taking your picture.” He paused. “Did you
hear that?
Your
picture—not
the ugly buildings behind you.
I just want to show you how it’s done.”

My goodness he could make me feel so giddy. I
couldn’t stop smiling as I walked onto the track, shrinking down to take some
images of the hurdles lined up on it.

I heard him beside me and looked over as he
continued clicking.

I shook my head. “Mr. Adams is going to be mad
that you used up all your film on me.”

“So, I’ll buy him more film.” He shrugged it
off as if it were no concern. “I like taking pictures of you.”

“Well, I hope they don’t turn out too scary.”

“Not possible,” he said assuredly before
lowering the camera. We started walking around the track together, making our
way to where the giant
pole vaulting
pad was set up.
“You should grab the pole and pretend like you’re gonna go for it, and I’ll
take a shot.”

I laughed, running over and jumping on the
giant foam mattress, flopping back against it. “This is about as close as
you’re gonna get! I have no desire to attempt a pole vault.”

He looked at me with a smoky stare I could feel
all the way to my toes. “This works too.” He lifted his camera and took one
single shot. “Do you have any idea how beautiful you are with your hair spread
out around you like that?”

I shook my head very slowly. “Nope. Guess
you’ll have to show me.”

He swallowed thickly, removing his camera from
around his neck and setting it carefully on the ground. “That could be dangerous.”

“I thought you liked danger. Wasn’t it you who
accused me of not having a real life just a few days ago—making fun of
the parties I attend and the friends I have?”

“That was wrong. I shouldn’t have said those
things.” His eyes never left me, and I noticed he was clenching and unclenching
his fists as he stood watching. He looked hungry, but hungry more like a
predator hiding in the grass, waiting for the perfect time to pounce on his
victim. It both thrilled and scared me.