Trust in Me

“Cam?” she said softly, wiggling under me.

I turned her arm over and I looked. There was no mistaking the deep scar that ran several inches up her vein. My thumb followed it as I realized that this cut—oh God, this cut—had to be severe.

An ache formed in my chest, pouring through my veins. Muscles tightened and lumps formed. I wanted to wipe the scar away, to erase whatever it was that had caused this, because I knew she had done this to herself.

“Avery . . . ?” My gaze moved to hers, latching on. I could barely breathe. “Oh, Avery, what is this?”

A moment or two passed when she stared up at me, the blood leaching from her face, and then she tore her arm free. She clambered out from underneath me, yanking her sleeve down with such force I thought she’d tear the arm off her shirt.

“Avery . . .” I twisted toward her, reaching out.

“Please,” she whispered, climbing to the end of the bed. “Please leave.”

Stomach sinking, I pulled my hand back. “Avery, talk to me.”

Her entire body trembled as she shook her head.

“Avery—”

“Leave!” She shot from the bed, taking a step back like a wounded, caged animal. “Just leave.”

Every instinct demanded that I not leave, but the wild, horrified glaze to her eyes was more than I could bear. I went to the door and then stopped, trying once more. “Avery, we can talk—”

“Leave.” Her voice cracked. “Please.”

The muscles along my back tensed at the broken sound of her voice. I did what she asked. Not because I wanted to, but because it was what she wanted.

I left.





Eighteen

The moment I realized that Avery was never coming to astronomy class again, I literally couldn’t believe it. But it had to be the truth. Since the ride back from my parent’s house the Friday after Thanksgiving, I hadn’t heard a peep from her. No response to my calls or my texts. The times that I knocked on her door, there was never an answer even though her car was in the parking lot.

She hadn’t even answered the door for eggs.

When the weekend came again and the following Monday morning passed without Avery being in astronomy, I knew she had taken an incomplete.

A motherfucking incomplete.

It was insane for her to go that far to avoid me, and for what? Because I had seen the scar? I didn’t understand and I wasn’t stupid. She was obviously embarrassed and had gone to great lengths to hide the scar, but it hadn’t been fresh. It was something she had done years ago, so why did she hide from me now?

I talked to Brittany and even Jacob, since Avery didn’t show in the Den for lunch. Neither of them knew what the hell was going on with Avery. I hadn’t mentioned the scar. I never would, but I had hoped that they had some insight. They had none.

It was driving me crazy—the silence and the confusion. And the longer it went, the more acid that seemed to collect in the pit of my stomach, the worse the knots and the ache in my chest were getting.

Short of camping out in front of her door, there was little I could do, but I was determined to talk to her. And it happened on the last day of finals, at the start of winter break. Like a total stalker, I’d been staring out my front window, waiting for Ollie to return with pizza, when I saw her cross the parking lot with her hands full with groceries.

When I heard the soft footsteps in the hall outside, I threw open the door. Avery was in front of her door, her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, and the weight of her bags dragging her shoulders down. There was no doubt in my mind that she was trying to ghost through the door before I saw her.

That hurt.

And that fucking pissed me off.

“Avery.”

Her back stiffened like she’d been shot full of steel. She didn’t turn around or address me, and as my gaze drifted over her, I could see the pink tips of her fingers, strangled from the bags she carried. Some of the steam went out of my anger.

I sighed. “Let me help you.”

“I got it.”

“Doesn’t look that way.” I stepped closer. “Your fingers are turning purple.”

“It’s fine.”

She walked into her apartment and I shot forward. Hell to the fucking no. She was not going to disappear on me.

I took a bag from her, and she jerked like she’d been shocked. She dropped a bag. Items spilled forth. “Shit,” she muttered, stooping down.

I knelt, picking up items I really didn’t see. Her head was bowed as she swiped up a bottle of hair conditioner and then her chin lifted. Our gazes met. Dark shadows had bloomed under eyes, smudges that had not been there before. Was she sleeping? What was she doing during this time? Did she miss me as much as I missed her?

Avery looked away as she snatched a box of tampons from me. “If you laugh, I will punch you in the stomach.”

“I wouldn’t dare think of laughing.”