One of the Boys ✔️

XX

I didn't leave my room after Cameron left last night. I heard him messing around in the kitchen and the smells that seeped under the door were heavenly. He knocked at one point to ask if I wanted some dinner. I'd told him that I wasn't hungry, even though I barely remembered eating yesterday. Mia had texted and asked how the talk went, but I wasn't really in any mood to respond.

Now I just lay awake in my bed, staring at the ceiling like a normal person. The corners of my lips twitched at the memory, but then they turned down as I realised it probably wouldn't be like that between Cam and me anymore. Not for a little while, anyway. We needed to get past whatever was between us first. Whether that meant we awkwardly tried to ignore what had happened or we simply pretended this whole fiasco had never taken place was yet to be determined. I'd probably find out whenever I finally decided to get out of bed and face the situation.

Stepping out of my bedroom, Cam was bent over a textbook that lay open on the kitchen island, its pages held open by a carton of eggs strategically placed over the edges. The smell of bacon entered my nose and my stomach growled, alerting Cam to my presence.

He looked at me and did a double-take at what I was wearing. I looked down at myself; pyjama shorts that possibly fell under 'indecent' and a skin-tight, nylon singlet. With no bra.

Right. I was probably going to have to be mindful of how I dressed in front of Cam now. Censorship in my own apartment. Who would've thought it would come to this.

I jerked my thumb in the general direction of the bathroom.

"I'm gonna go shower," I said.

I barely saw Cam's quick nod before I ducked back into my room, grabbed a change of clothes and headed into the bathroom to take the longest possible shower. The mirror was all fogged up when I stepped out, and I dragged a hand across it to clear it up a little bit.

I gasped when I saw my reflection. Awkwardness temporarily forgotten, I marched out into the kitchen where Cam was packing away his used dishes.

"Cam!" I exclaimed.

He turned to look at me, a bit shocked at my sudden appearance. "Yeah?"

I swept my hair off my neck and his eyes zeroed in on the dark red mark that covered the area just below my ear. In a flash, however, that shock was quickly replaced by male pride. I refused to let my body react to the heat in his gaze.

"What am I supposed to do about this?" I gestured frantically at the mark. "I have class today!"

"You could always ditch again. I mean, you did yesterday."

That comment was like a bucket of ice water thrown over the conversation.

I let my hair fall back into place and Cam averted his eyes.

"I'll just try a bottle of concealer or something," I muttered, turning away.

"Uh, hey," Cam called, and I turned around to see him flicking his fingers as he jerked his head at the pans on the stove. "Do you want some breakfast? Everything's still warm."

As appetising as it looked, sitting down to eat breakfast that he'd made me seemed too normal for a morning like this.

I shook my head slightly. "Thanks, but I'm just going to grab a coffee on my way to class."

Cam gave a single nod of his head before he turned away and dumped the contents of the pan into the bin. My hungry stomach clenched at the sight. Goodbye, wasted breakfast.

*