“Boo.” I squelched the very real, rising disappointment. Eggs on Sunday had become a weekend staple.
“Don’t cry too much about it.” A slight grin appeared as he tickled my face with the edges of my hair. “Are you going to take Brit up on her offer and go home with her?”
I shook my head. “I’m just going to hang out here and get some reading done.”
“Nerd.”
“Jerk.”
The grin spread as he dropped my hair across my shoulders. “You know what?”
“What?”
Cam stepped back, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “You should go out with me tonight since I’ll be gone all weekend.”
I laughed. “I’m not going out with you.”
“Then hang out with me.”
My smile started to slip. “How’s that any different from going out with you?”
“How is me asking you to hang out with me tonight any different then us hanging out on Sunday?”
Ah, he had a good point. My heart rate kicked up as I watched him. “What do you want to do?”
He shrugged. “Order some food in and watch a movie.”
I shifted from side to side, suddenly very wary. “That sounds like a date.”
“That’s not a date with me, sweetheart.” He laughed. “I’d take you out, like out in public. This is just two friends hanging out, watching a movie and eating food.”
Pressing my lips together, I looked away. Somehow I knew that wasn’t what this was about, but then again, what the hell did I know about guys and having guy friends? I didn’t think twice when Brit or Jacob came over. Why should I treat Cam any different?
Because he was very different to me.
None of that mattered, because I did want to hang out with him. Cam was fun. So I sighed and said, “Yeah, sure. Come over.”
Cam arched a brow. “Wow. Calm down before you get too excited.”
“I am excited.” I shoved him in the shoulder. “When are you coming over?”
“How’s seven?”
In the pit of my stomach, a nest of butterflies were born and began drinking energy drinks. “Works for me. See you then.”
I made it onto the sidewalk when he stopped me.
“Avery?”
I turned. “Yeah?”
His lips formed a crooked smile. “See you tonight.”
My stomach flopped. This was going to be a long afternoon.
Chapter 11
The nest of butterflies had moved on from energy drinks to smoking crack. I alternated from feeling like I was going to hurl to wanting to run around my apartment like a lunatic.
I was totally overreacting.
According to Cam, this wasn’t a date. Just two friends hanging out. Not a big deal, nothing to get overworked about. It wasn’t like it was the first time we’ve hung out. It was just the first time he asked before coming over.
I took a shower—second of the day.
Cleaned up the apartment and then changed my outfit three times, which was really stupid, because I ended up settling on a pair of yoga pants and a long sleeve shirt. Then I spent an ungodly amount of time coaxing my hair into manageable waves that fell down to the middle of my back. I put some makeup on, scrubbed it off entirely, and then reapplied.
By the time there was a knock on my door, I wanted to slam my head through a wall.
Cam looked like he always did as he stepped into my apartment—absolutely, disgustingly divine. Dressed in worn jeans and a shirt with some long-forgotten band name on it, he had the baseball cap on, pulled low. In one hand was a stack of DVDs and in the other was a bag that smelled like Chinese.
My stomach grumbled. “Oh! What you got in there?”
“The stuff dreams are made of.”
Making grabby fingers, I grinned. “Shrimp stir fry?”
“Yep.” He handed the bag off and I rushed into the kitchen like a starving kid. “I brought a couple of movies over. Had no idea what you’re in the mood to watch.”
Pulling out dishes from the cabinet, I glanced over my shoulder. Cam took his cap off and ran a hand through his hair. The dark waves were an adorable mess. He caught me looking and his lips tipped up on the side. I looked away, flushing. “So, um, what did you bring?”
“Let’s see…. We’ve got a good selection here. In the horror movie genre, I’ve got the last two Resident Evil movies.”
“Two movies?” I placed the plates on the counter.
He chuckled. “You’re not getting rid of me easily.”
“Damn it. What else do you have?”
“In the comedy department, I have the latest Vince Vaughn and Will Ferrell movies. For action, I have a James Bond flick and another where a bunch of shit blows up. And I have The Notebook.”
I whipped around, almost dropping the silverware. “The Notebook? You own The Notebook?”
Cam stared at me blankly. “What’s wrong with that?”
“Oh, nothing is wrong with that. Its just such a… uh, chick flick.”
“I’m confident enough in my masculinity and sexuality that I can say that Ryan Gosling is just dreamy in this movie.”
My jaw hit the floor.