Pure Will

by Kristi Pelton

  You know when something is happening in front of you—like a car wreck—and you know you shouldn’t look, but you can’t help but stare as you drive past? That’s how this was. I simply stared at these two.

  Her desperate but beautiful emerald eyes found mine…again. “Tutoring, I’m a tutor,” she explained, and I smiled at her. In those same 10 seconds that she had just lived through, I realized that Kate was the dominant personality here and that the breathtaking redhead with wide green eyes was quiet and kind and perfect.

  At the sink, she opened a prescription bottle then swallowed whatever she got out. I wondered how long it had been since she’d gotten laid.

  “I was going to make some French toast. Who wants some?” Kate asked.

  I loved French toast and hadn’t had any in a long time. “French toast? Like with butter and syrup and powdered sugar?” I asked sounding like a kid.

  “Wow, do you have kids? What, are you 12?” the girl asked as the corners of her lips pulled upward.

  Clearly she had heard me last night when we came in. Clever.

  “I’m sorry. My fault. Introductions,” Kate said. “Will, this is Cam. My best friend, roommate and smartass friend.”

  “Better than being a dumbass friend,” Cam said, and her emerald eyes flashed to mine again.

  Most girls’ eyes were just a color to me, with eyelashes batting around them. This girl’s held questions, answers and depth. Pouring herself some juice, she stared at me for longer than I expected. Behind those cute, little, school-girl glasses a black halo circled the green. Striking.

  “Please don’t let me interrupt your romantic breakfast of French toast, butter, syrup and powdered sugar,” she said with a grin.

  She mocked me. A slight smile touched the corners of my mouth. She and Kate were very different. Kate’s face was made up to perfection and Cam had on no make-up, yet she was the stunning one.

  “So, Cam is it or Cami?” I asked trying not to act too intrigued.

  “Uh, oh,” Kate said and her eyes bugged out.

  Unsure what I’d said, I glanced back to Cam.

  “She hates her name,” Kate spat out.

  The girl’s green eyes were hard as stone. “No Willie, it’s not Cami. It’s Cam”

  Clearly I had not charmed this girl even in the slightest. Finally, a challenge! Boom…I was going to fuck this girl. “Cam is obviously short for something,” I winked.

  “You’re right,” Kate interrupted. “It’s short for Camden.”

  “Yeah, don’t call me that either, Willie Wonka.” She finished her juice and sat the cup in the sink.

  Willie Wonka? I’d like to show her my oompa loompa.

  “If you don’t like it, go by your middle name,” I proposed.

  Kate giggled and got out the bread and eggs. “Her name is Camden Landry Biggs. She hates it all.” Kate started breaking the eggs in a bowl while still giggling.

  I sat at the table where Cam was and where Kate was now beating the eggs. “Why don’t you like it?”

  Kate gave her a serious look, and I had a feeling I was treading on thin ice and showing way more interest than I should.

  “Well, let’s see. Let me tell my life story to the guy who slept with my roommate last night…that I just met 10 minutes ago. And who clearly stopped by this morning to hit that shit again.”

  “HEY! At least my shit is getting hit,” Kate defended. “Your shit, vaginally speaking, hasn’t seen a man in years!”

  I chuckled out loud. These two could take their show on the road. Penn and Teller would have a run for their money.

  Cam shot up out of her chair, got the butter from the fridge and tossed it to me. I caught the container and put it on the table. She couldn’t reach the syrup in the cabinet so she eyeballed me until I retrieved it. And when I held on to it just a little too long trying to get her to look at me, the green softened in her eyes.

  “I was named after Camden Yards in Baltimore because my father pitched his first no hitter there.” She spoke very fast. “Landry is after Tom Landry the old Dallas Cowboy head coach because he was a ‘class act.’” She used her two fingers to throw quotes in the air. “I’m not a boy. I have a vagina and I would have preferred to be named after something remotely feminine. Biggs is my father’s last name and I’d prefer not to tell you why I don’t like that name. So…Will as in Will-i-am?” she asked with her hand resting on her hip. She was a fiery little thing.

  I stood, towering over her tiny frame, her strawberry blonde curls framing perfectly around her face. “No, it’s Will as in Prince of Wales. Your father was Dave Biggs?”

  Kate nodded as Cam got out the powdered sugar, slammed it down on the table and a cloud of dust poofed up spraying Kate in the face.

  “You are a bitch!” she yelled joking and bent forward laughing. Cam laughed too and for some unknown reason this brought tremendous joy to me.

  Then Kate picked up a handful of the white powder and threw it at Cam. Suddenly, I got a face full from Cam. Her mouth formed an O because I don’t think she meant to throw so much. Not one to let a fight go un-fought…I too grabbed a handful and slowly walked toward Cam. Half her face was white and the powder streaked her hair. She looked…deliciously fuckable.

  She held up one finger trying to ward me off and an ornery smile spread slowly across my face. “For the record, Kate gets laid enough for both of us,” she declared.

  I liked that this quiet girl stood her ground with Kate. No matter how much I wanted to douse her with this handful of sugar, I didn’t want to break our eye contact, and me throwing it would force her eyes to close.

  Unexpectedly, Kate spun me around and said, “Yes Kate does like to get laid and this sugar all over your body is just the thing to feed me for breakfast.”

  Wait! She yanked me toward the bedroom. Before she could close the door, I glanced at Cam, whose eyes followed me, but her smile was now gone.

  Chapter 3—Camden

  I quietly closed my bedroom door and lay back on my bed. I couldn’t be angry with Kate she had found him first. But this was the first time since…that…that I’d wanted someone to touch me. Panting as I lay there, I smiled. I finally wanted someone again and this thrilled me. Even if I knew he was with her right now… Even if I knew he would never be mine.

  Closing my eyes, I allowed myself to feel the jealousy flow through me. The very thought of him going down on her or her on him or them having sex nearly sent me over the edge of screaming out loud for them to stop. WE had a moment when he handed me the syrup and when he was getting ready to throw the powdered sugar at me. It wasn’t much…but when his gorgeous blue eyes stared at me before the door closed, I knew there was something. So I made myself think about his tall, muscular frame. And I made myself think about the way his brown hair was short and neat and trimmed in the back but a little longer and sloppier on top. And I made myself think about what it would feel like to have this guy touch me in a way I hadn’t been touched in so long…

  An entire week had passed and Kate hadn’t mentioned Will again. I think he was a thing of the past, though he lived vividly in my mind. Kevin was Kate’s flavor of the week and last night they kept me awake. I was tired today from my lack of sleep. What ticked me off most at this point was when I used my little sex toy this week, I kept picturing Will’s freakishly hot face and body. Sadly, I didn’t know if I’d ever see him again. I’m not sure why that bothered me so much.

  Back to the grind of classes and tutoring, I headed into the strength center to find Ham. He had a weight bar lifted up and over his head and the weights were so heavy, the bar actually bowed in the center.

  “Hey, Cam,” he grunted, dropping the bar to the ground and taking off the belt around his abdomen.

  “Hi Ham. You ready for your session?”

  “I have a couple more sets I need to do? Can you wait?” he asked wiping sweat with a towel.

  “Ham. Academics are more important than football. Come on.”

&nbs
p; Playfully, he flicked me with a towel. “Not for me.” He smiled. “I’ll meet you at your place in 30, I swear.”

  Only two football players had I ever allowed in my apartment and Ham was one of them. I’d been his tutor for three years and I trusted him. Once he finally got it in his head that I wasn’t going to screw him, we’d become good friends. Though sometimes I think he believes I’m not interested in guys…and that I play for the other team.

  Kate was the only one who really knew my story. She knew all of it and still loved me. On occasion she would exploit the grizzly details, like the other morning, trying to get me to open up and possibly date someone, but that meant letting someone in and exposing me to their judgmental bullshit.

  After I left the strength center, I parked at Eaton Hall and darted in to get the tutoring papers from Dr. Walton. Eli was walking down the hall.

  “Hey, you already get the papers?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “Nope. Sorry. Was retaking my robotics test. But I aced it!” he shouted and lifted me by my underarms up and over his head.

  “Excellent job!” I giggled and wiggled my feet. “Put me down.”

  “Hell no Biggs! 98%! Did you hear me?”

  “I hear you! Now put me down.” I tried to cover my booty because my denim mini skirt was hiking up too far.

  “Then say it Biggs. Say ‘Eli is the smartest guy I know!’” he laughed and I figured his grotesquely large arms were fatigued at this point.

  “Eli is the smartest guy I know,” I chuckled and heard voices coming down the hall. That’s when I saw him…Will…walking with another guy. He saw me too raised about 8 feet in the air by one of the biggest lugs of meat on campus.

  Finally Eli lowered me and adjusted my skirt for me. Will never took his eyes off us and stopped talking to the guy he was with.

  “Hey Will-i-am,” I greeted looking down at my feet.

  “I’m outta here Biggs. God, I love you. You know if you marry me now, in another year, you’ll be married to a pro football player,” Eli joked and swatted my ass.

  “Ow. Goodbye Eli,” I said shaking my head. Eli and Ham…they were my boys. There wasn’t much else to say.

  “I love you, huh?” Will asked with a crooked grin.

  “What’s not to love? Do they by chance sell bigger shirts or do you buy them too small intentionally?” I asked, running my finger beneath the hem straining at his bicep.

  “Stop looking for an excuse to touch me and stop staring at my muscles.”

  “It’s hard not to Willie…Nelson. It’s kind of like when someone’s fat is hanging out around the top of their jeans…it’s just there, and you try not to look at it, but your eyes keep getting drawn back to it…especially when their clothes are too tight.”

  His sexy ass swagger made my knees go weak, and as he swaggered toward me, I stepped backward until my back hit the cold, hard wall. He propped his hands up against the wall leaning inward. Holy crap.

  “You mean kind of like your sexy, little ass looked when your boyfriend had you lifted up in the air. Your cute, red lace underwear inching up just enough so that I could see the curve of your ass. Is that what you mean?”

  My heart pounded so hard, it echoed in my ears and I honestly wasn’t sure I heard him right. Get control of yourself Biggs. Get control!

  I snickered and rolled my eyes. “Wow, Will. You just made three whole complete sentences. Is that a record?” I risked touching him and knew it could be a mistake, but with both hands I shoved him…one hand in the chest and one in the abdomen and a thrill shot through me when I felt the hardness beneath my hands. Literally, I took a deep breath, and he noticed.

  “Feels nice, doesn’t it? He raised the Polo t-shirt up exposing a mound full of rippling muscles. “That’s all I am is muscle though Cam. I’m like an idiot savant without the savant part.”

  Clearly I’d offended him. “Not surprising. Kate doesn’t attract brains. Oh wait…I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to use so many syllables.”

  His mouth was literally inches from mine. It was clear I annoyed the hell out of him. I didn’t know how to flirt or be playful. I knew how to be mean. That…kept me safe.

  “What do you attract?” he whispered staring at my lips.

  My insides were reeling with desire. This was so exciting to me on many different levels and I couldn’t control the impulse. That’s when I did it. My hands, which I would have argued were not attached to my body, touched his bare stomach. I’d seen pictures of guys who looked like this—like in magazines or on TV—but this one was right in front of me. And as I touched him, I pulled back the minute I heard his sharp intake of air. What did that mean?

  “Ms. Biggs?”

  Both our heads darted toward the voice.

  “Dr. Walton,” Will said, his arms dropping to his sides and his shirt falling to its natural place on his waist.

  “Cam. Will. I didn’t realize you two knew each other. Here are the papers for Eli. He’s doing great,” Dr. Walton said, then pointed at Will. “Now this guy…this is one guy you will never have to tutor. As smart as you are Cam. This is one who could give you a run for your money.” Dr. Walton patted my back. “See you tomorrow, Will.”

  Shit! Will’s telling eyes met mine and I looked away.

  “Dr. Walton,” I shouted and ran to catch up. “I’ll walk you out. So, Eli said he aced his test.”

  Chapter 5—Will

  I stood at the double doors watching her trot away with one of my most favorite instructors, and of all things, I had a boner. The sway of her hips. The way her hair curled. The 10 little barely noticeable freckles on her nose. The light sheen of whatever she wore on her perfectly rounded lips. Thinking of all of it…about her…collectively…I wasn’t sure if I wanted to punch the shit out of her or kiss her until she collapsed, passing out in my arms. But I felt good that I had narrowed it down to those two. It was her touch that sealed the deal. She touched my stomach for Christ’s sake, and it stole my breath. How gay is that?

  Out of sheer desperation to see her, I did the only thing a good guy would do. I texted her roommate.

  What’s up beautiful? Send

  It took exactly 42 seconds to get a response.

  You?

  Oddly enough the part of me she wanted was up but not for a reason she would appreciate I didn’t think.

  Yep Send

  Well come hither!

  And as easy as that, I was hoping to see Cam again.

  An hour later I parked the truck out front of her apartment and wondered which car was Cam’s. Finally, I mustered up the courage to go knock, praying Cam was here.

  “Come in,” I heard someone say.

  My heart beat nervously as I opened the door. Cam’s little green eyes, still hidden by the black frames, met mine from the sofa where her feet draped over some guy’s lap. A different guy. Not Eli. What the hell? For a few moments, I saw red and thought I might spontaneously combust. Why you ask? I don’t freaking know!! But I didn’t like it.

  “What was the question?” the guy asked.

  She glanced at the paper in her hand, clearly distracted by my presence. This made me happy.

  “What is biomagnifications?” she asked.

  The lardish looking guy closed his eyes. It wasn’t that hard and I wanted to shout the answer. What a dumbass! If you can’t pronounce it, don’t say it.

  “Hey you sexy beast,” Kate said interrupting my thoughts.

  Perfect and well put together as usual.

  I missed the mammoth’s answer, but he must have gotten it wrong because Cam was explaining it to him.

  “Thanks for texting,” Kate said giggling.

  Cam’s eyes shot up to me on that. Maybe texting Kate wasn’t the best idea, but the girl I wanted to see didn’t seem to want to see me. She left with my professor instead of staying and talking.

  “Let’s go to my bedroom, Ham,” she said and my stomach lurched.

  “Need condoms?” Kate giggled.

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nbsp; Ham? His name is Ham? Really Cam? Wow…Ham…Cam. You’ve got to be kidding me.

  Ham suddenly lifted her over his shoulder. “Don’t be silly Kate. She likes to feel all of me.”

  I understood now. The name Ham was fitting because he was a fucking pig! Her glasses fell to the floor. As he turned around to close the door, Cam’s eyes flitted up to mine, and I swear to God she smiled.

  Control yourself Denton! Take care of the girl behind you who wants you. Fuck the other girl out of your head. I spun around and Kate stood there with a wicked smile.

  “Looks like the roomies are both going to get it,” I said, jealousy driving me at this point as I took Kate’s hand and led her to the bedroom.

  She started yanking my shirt over my head. “Trust me, Cam needs it but she ain’t getting it.”

  I did the same to her unleashing her breasts because she was braless.

  “I took that off before you got here,” she giggled.

  “What’d you mean Cam needs it but ain’t getting it? You said that the other day.” I asked more interested in that than her hard nipples.

  Straddling me, she said, “Ham has wanted to nail her for three years. She’s kept him in the friend zone.”

  “Why’s that?” I asked, cupping her breasts.

  “That’s not my story to tell. But if there is one thing that girl needs…it’s to get laid.”

  I smiled as she pushed me back on the bed because I knew just the man for that job. Before I nailed the girl in front of me, I sent Ham a message by mental telepathy…man to man—you lay one fucking hand on her and you will be laying in a fresh meat market—ham for sale!

  An hour and a half later, I quietly walked out the bedroom door leaving Kate sawing logs and peeked around the corner. Cam’s door was still shut. I wasn’t sure what emotion flowed through me, but I didn’t like it. My jeans were unbuttoned and my shirt draped over my bare shoulder as I tiptoed over to her doorway and listened, putting my ear near the door. It was quiet.