pushing through the crowds as fast as I could.
I thought I could handle it. I thought it didn’t matter what people said about me; the lies they told. But apparently even I had a line. And that line was a detailed account of what someone thought a traitorous whore like me deserved.
Traitorous whore.
Anyone who knew me, really knew me, knew I didn’t date, let alone hook up with random guys.
Tears burned the backs of my eyes as I burst through the main doors into the fresh air. But I wouldn’t cry. Not over a bunch of kids who had been all too happy to ignore me for my entire high school existence. Besides, it was anger, not pain, I felt.
“Hailee, would you just wait up—”
“Go away, Cameron.” I waved him off over my shoulder as I made a beeline for the parking lot, ignoring the fact he’d called me by my name and not that stupid nickname he usually loved so much.
“Hey.” His hand curved around my shoulder.
“What do you want from me?” I spun around, shrugging him off, narrowing my eyes right on him.
“I...” His response died as he stepped back, putting some distance between us. He swept a hand over his short hair.
“Just leave me alone, okay?”
But Cameron didn’t move. He didn’t do anything. He just stood there, watching me, his expression dark; his gaze so intense I felt stripped naked. I went to walk away, but he moved quickly, his hand snagging my wrist. “It’s been like that all morning?”
“What do you care?”
Something flashed in his eyes, but he didn’t offer me an answer, and I let out a heavy sigh. “You know,” I said. “All I wanted was to get through senior year. I knew nothing would change with Jason, knew he’d still be obsessed with playing his stupid games. But I was fine with that. It was between us. I could still stay in the shadows…”
“I’ll fix it,” he said cryptically.
“Fix it?” My voice was incredulous. “You do know it’s your fault I’m in this situation, right?”
“If you hadn’t gone to that part—”
“You have got to be fucking kidding me? What is wrong with you? I’m seventeen, Cameron. I’m supposed to be going to parties, meeting boys, and getting drunk. But wait, I can’t do that because you and my asshole brother made damn sure of it.”
A couple of kids walked by us, their eyes wide with curiosity. Cameron grabbed my arm and pulled me toward his truck until we were secreted away between his vehicle and the one beside it. “I know we give you a hard time but it’s better this way.”
“Better?” I sucked in a harsh breath. “For who? You? Jason?” Anger vibrated in my chest as I glared at him.
“I…” he breathed out. “Look,”—Cameron pressed his hands either side of my head, caging me in. “I only did what I did at the pep rally because Jason was ready to destroy you.”
“So you were saving me? Please.” Bitter laughter rose up my throat. “You did what you did because you’re just like him. He dishes out the orders and you come running like a good little—”
“Watch it, Sunshine.” His words were low. Gravelly. As if this was all some game to him. But it wasn’t a game, it was my life. And it was falling apart all because of them and their stupid rivalry with Rixon East.
“Or what?” My back pressed further into the side of his truck, pinned in place by his intense gaze.
“You really want to know the answer to that question?” Cameron’s brow rose, a silent dare.
This felt different. I was angry, yes, but I couldn’t deny there was something else simmering beneath my skin. Something unfamiliar. A deep yearning I tried to fight, tried desperately to ignore, every time I found myself in close proximity to Cameron Chase.
“What’s the matter, Sunshine?” He leaned in, dipping his face to mine. “Cat got your tongue?”
“Why?” The word spilled from my lips. “Why are you doing this to me?”
“What is it you think I’m doing?”
I swallowed as his eyes flicked to my mouth, the way they had before in the janitor’s closet and again in my kitchen the other morning. “Toying with me like this,” it came out a whisper.
“What if I told you this isn’t a game?”
Not a game?
What the hell did that mean?
“I- I don’t understand.”
Cameron moved closer, his legs brushing mine. My hands flew up, landing on his chest, desperate to keep him there. But the second