CRUSH (12 page)

I was no queen of seduction, but suddenly
wished I was—wished I knew how to make him close the distance between us.
“Hunter,” I whispered, not knowing what else to say.

That was the magic word.

He was on the pad in an instant, stretched
beside me, leaning over as he slid his hand up my arm and into my hair. “You’re
so gorgeous.” I felt his hand trembling, and he lowered his lips toward my
mouth, but at the last second he quickly lifted them to brush against my
forehead instead.

I was so confused and frustrated. No one had
ever looked at me the way he did—no one had ever made my insides flip the
way he could. Yet, he seemed so reluctant to seal the deal. I was tired of
beating around the bush.

“Kiss me, Hunter,” I demanded, not caring if it
was the right thing to say anymore. I slid my hands up his muscle-lined arms,
linking them around his neck.

He groaned, releasing a big sigh. “I want to,
Goody. You have no idea how much I want to.”

His words made my heart sing.

“I can’t kiss you, though.”

And my heart crashed.

“Why not? What would be so terrible about
kissing me?”

He laughed wryly. “Nothing I can think of.”

“Then for heaven’s sake, what’s stopping you?”
I felt like a little girl stomping her foot because she wasn’t getting what she
wanted.

He moved closer, and I could feel his breath on
mine as he stared at my lips. I knew the exact moment he decided, and I lifted
my mouth to meet his.

“Well, isn’t this cozy?” Clay’s voice
interrupted, and I fell back onto the mat with an exasperated groan as Hunter
turned toward him, releasing me as he sat up.

I’d never wanted to punch Clay so badly.

“Can we help you with something, Bradley?”
Hunter
asked
as he looked him over.

I sat up, seeing Clay standing there in another
set of designer clothes. His body was tense, face flushed, and his mouth was
set in an angry grimace.

“What are you doing out here with him, Cami?”
he demanded. “We discussed this.”

“Excuse me?” Hunter asked, and I could see
things were quickly going from bad to worse.

“I’m here because I want to be. Why are you
here, Clay?” I scooted over, sitting at the end of the mattress.

“Why?
Because someone needs to
protect you, and it’s obviously not going to be him.
You are aware half
the school can see the two of you canoodling here together, aren’t you?” He
waved his hand in the direction of the heavily windowed buildings before
turning back to Hunter. “You moved in for the kill pretty fast. I told her you
were only after one thing.”

I thought my eyes were going to bug out of my
head, I was so incredible angry.

Hunter folded his arms casually and studied
Clay. “You have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said rather calmly. “But
this is my advice—walk away before you make things any worse.”

Clay was livid, his face almost purple with
rage. “And leave you to pick up where you left off? I don’t think so.”

“Actually, I was referring to the damage you’re
doing to your friendship with her right now.” He looked at me. “Cami, was I
forcing you to do anything?”

I blushed and shook my head. “No. It was
probably more the other way around—me forcing you to do something you
didn’t want.”

Hunter placed his hand on my arm. “You weren’t
forcing me. I’m going to leave you here so you can discuss things with your
friend. Are you okay with that? I’ll stay if you need me.”

I blew out an exasperated sigh. I didn’t want
him to go, but I knew Clay and I needed to have this out. “I’ll be fine.”

Hunter stood and grabbed his camera off the
ground, glancing between Clay and me. “Text me later, okay?”

I nodded, watching him as he walked away. I
waited until he was out of earshot before I spoke up.

“You have the worst timing ever. What possessed
you to come barging out here like that?”

He joined me on the mat, hunching over
dejectedly. “I didn’t like what I was seeing. I was running something to
another teacher, and I saw you two walking together, emerging from a hidden
corner, him wrapping his arms around you, taking pictures. I knew he was after
you. Do you see it now?”

“What you saw,
Clay,
was me trying to coerce him, not the other way around. I wanted him to kiss
me.”

“Why?”

I gave a choked laugh. “Because I like him. I
thought that was obvious.”

“He’s a player, Cami.”

“No, he’s not. You’re the one who’s placing
that label on him.”

“The whole school says the same thing.” He
looked at me incredulously.

“And what does the whole school say about you?
Does that mean it’s true?”

His face fell as he considered my words.

“Do you know why I’ve been friends with you all
these years?” I asked.

He shook his head.

“Because I like
you
. I don’t care what anyone else thinks about you, I think you’re
fabulous. I don’t care what anyone else thinks about
me
, either.”

“You care what he thinks about you,” he
replied, loosely gesturing to where we could still see Hunter’s retreating
figure walking across campus.

“I do, but only because I like him. I can tell
you right now that yes, he has his hang ups. I know he’s not perfect, but I
like him, and I don’t care what anyone else says about him. I’m going to form
my own opinions.”

He stood up and faced me. “I don’t understand.
You claim to like me and know me, then why can’t you see what’s right in front
of you?”

“What do you mean?” I knew where this was
heading, and I wished there was some way I could correct the course.

“Have you really been that blind? I’m crazy
about you, Cami. I have been for years.” He stalked away.

“What about Marcy?” I asked grasping at straws.

He snorted. “You want to know about Marcy?
Fine, I’ll tell you. She isn’t real! Just a figment of my imagination made up
with the hopes of making you see me in a new light!”

My head was spinning. “What? That’s not true.
I’ve seen the texts she sends you. You were talking to a real person!”

“Yeah, my cousin, Shannon, agreed to play the
part to help me out. Nothing like getting a little
lovin
’
from a relative, is there?”

I was going to be sick. “Why would you do that?
Why not just tell me how you felt?”

“So I could go through the humiliation I’m
experiencing right now? Gee, I don’t know . . . let me think!”
He shook his head in frustration. “You claim you know me, but you couldn’t even
see what was most important to me—you! I’ve done everything I could think
of to make you notice. Just when I thought I was finally getting through, then
Hunter comes riding up on his white horse and snatches you up and carries you
off into the sunset. I waited too long.”

He dropped back down mournfully beside me,
sliding his hand up my arm, over my shoulder, until he slipped it around behind
my neck. “Please, pick me instead, Cami. Let me be the one who holds you in his
arms and stares at you like that. I love you. I have for a long, long time.”

I was frozen by his declaration, glancing at my
clasped hands as I fumbled with what I should say. I looked up just in time to
see his lips before they pressed against mine. He slipped his hands to both sides
of my face, holding me there until I pushed him away.

“Please, Cami,” he pleaded with tears in his
eyes. “I’ve wanted you for so long.”

I looked at him, feeling tears of my own and
wishing there was something I could say to make him feel better. “I can’t,
Clay. You’ve been my very best friend, but I don’t feel that way about you. I’d
still like you in my life, but I think maybe it would be best if we spent some
time apart from each other for a while. There’s a girl out there for you
somewhere. It’s just not me.” I stood, my heart twisting in knots. “Sorry. I’ll
call you if I want to talk.”

I walked away, unable to look back and see the
devastation I knew was written on his face.

“I don’t want another girl, Cami!” he called
after me.

I burst into tears and started running.

Hunter-

He kissed her!
Kissed her
!
That made me want
to rearrange
his face. Feelings of possessiveness welled up, causing a great amount of anger
to roll through me, though I didn’t really have time to analyze.

Cool it,
man,
the sane, rational voice in
my head instructed. I tried tapping into that inner place I went when I needed
to calm down. I lifted the camera and zoomed in again, snapping a few more
pictures of Clay as he stood and kicked the giant mat when Cami ran away. He
reached into his pocket, pulled something out, and paused, looking at it. I
couldn’t tell what it was, but I took another shot hoping I could catch it.

He was certainly exhibiting signs of repressed
anger. It scared me a little, wondering if the cracks were starting to show in
his carefully maintained demeanor. I didn’t want to jump to any
conclusions—things really could be exactly as they appeared—but I
thought maybe I should keep a better eye on him. I didn’t want him hurting Cami
in any way.

I struggled with the idea of rushing to check
on her as she came barreling by my hiding spot. I started reaching for her but
then changed my mind when I heard her sobs. She was obviously upset, and I
didn’t think she needed me mixing up her feelings even more. She could probably
use a few moments to compose herself.

Watching her, I waited until she was safely
deposited in the bathroom just inside the back glass doors of the main building
before I made my way over to the exterior entrance to the photo lab. The bell
was about to ring, and most of the students were back gathering up their
belongings. I took my camera and slipped into the dark room, hoping no one
would notice. I made sure there were four bins set up with the different
developing chemicals, and I locked the door, activating the red light.

Pulling out my film, I set to work, knowing it
would take time to develop and enlarge the images I was interested in. I kept a
nervous watch on both the timer and the clock on the wall, worried about being
interrupted. I maneuvered my way through the process, carefully doing a strip
test to see how long to expose my images.

There was a knock on the door. “Is someone in
there?” Mr. Adams voice spoke.

I cringed, glancing up through the red haze
toward the clock. I’d been locked in here for almost two hours. “Yeah, it’s me,
Hunter. I used all my film and wanted to see some of my images. I thought the
darkroom was open until five.”

I had several photos hanging, and from what I
could see so far, there were some good captures. The ones of Cami immediately
caught my eye. Even in black and white she was beautiful.

“It is. I had a faculty meeting after class and
didn’t realize anyone was still in here until I saw the Do Not Enter sign was
lit. Just be sure to clean up and close everything when you’re done.”

“Will do,” I replied as I continued to hurry
about stringing pictures on the dry line. When I was finished I straightened
the room, following the instruction sheet on the wall. I was almost done when
there was another knock at the door.

“Just a sec,” I called as I quickly pulled the
pictures down and placed the ones I’d taken of Cami and Clay upside down in a
pile on the worktable. I put a few of Cami, along with some of the track,
facing up and unlocked the door so Mr. Adams could come in.

“There you are.”

I was shocked to see Cami standing there. She
stepped inside hugging her binder, and the door closed behind her.

“What are you doing here?” I asked. The red
light made her hair look like it was glowing.

“Well, I was waiting for you. Your car was
still in the parking lot.”

I looked at her, confused.

“I usually catch a ride with Clay,
and . . .” she added, shifting uncomfortably.

She’d needed a ride home and I’d ditched her. I
felt horrible.

“Oh, man. I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize you’d
need a ride or I would’ve been right there. I didn’t have anything pressing
after school so I stayed to develop my images.”

“I kind of figured that when I saw your books
were still on your desk. I sat at the tables outside and did homework while I
was waiting.” She turned toward the stack of pictures. “How’d they turn out?”
She sat her binder down on the counter and reached for them.

I felt my pulse kick into overdrive. I didn’t
want her to see I’d been spying on her private moment with Clay. It would creep
her out.

“Some aren’t that grand, but I especially like
the ones of you. They’re gorgeous—like I knew they would be.”