Pure Will

by Kristi Pelton

  “If you’re looking for Ham, he left,” she snickered from the dark kitchen. I spun around.

  FUCK! “Oh hey. There you are. I wanted to apologize about the ass comment earlier,” I lied and glanced at her just in time to see her staring at my unbuttoned jeans. She stopped stirring what ever it was she was stirring. I buttoned my jeans.

  “So you don’t like my ass then?”

  “No, that’s not what I said. I think your ass is spectacular, but the way I said it was less than…respectful. What are you stirring?”

  “Brownies. Well as long as we are apologizing, I’m sorry for thinking you were dumb, but I won’t agree that I couldn’t teach you a thing or two,” she said then lowered her gaze when she realized how that comment came out.

  “I’ll go ahead and leave that comment alone,” I said, sliding my t-shirt over my head.

  She laughed and it made my heart melt. “Yeah, thanks,” she whispered.

  “I should probably go,” I said, but no part of me wanted to leave.

  She held up the spoon, batter dripping back into the bowl. “You don’t want to stay for a brownie?” Her glasses-less green eyes held mine for a second then glanced away. There was no way I was leaving now when we were actually being nice to each other.

  “I think I will stay lil’ Betty Crocker.”

  She smiled and I felt ridiculously cheesy that my heart swelled. What the hell was it about this girl? Maybe that she didn’t fall over with her legs open? Maybe that Kate made reference to her needing sex? But…I felt it before I knew that. Whatever it was, I wasn’t sure I liked it. I needed to leave. I could buy freaking brownies.

  The bedroom door opened and Kate walked into the kitchen.

  “You’re still here?” she said, wrapping her arms around my neck from behind while Cam sprayed the pan with oil. “Ready for round 2?” Kate giggled and retrieved a bottle of water from the fridge. My eyes fell on Cam who was pouring the batter into the pan. She sat the mixing bowl on the table and slid the pan in the oven.

  “You never answered,” Kate said dragging her finger through the batter left in the bottom of the bowl and holding it up to my mouth. I opened my mouth and she slid her finger in coating my mouth with the batter. Regret consumed me as Cam watched us. How did I get myself into this?

  “Kate, get those out in 25 minutes. I need to go by the library, I forgot,” Cam said hurriedly grabbing her purse.

  Kate sighed withdrawing her finger from my mouth.

  “Cam. Come on. Maybe if you pulled your nose out of a book long enough. You could move past this. He can’t hurt you anymore.”

  “Kate!” Cam hissed.

  “Who?” I instinctively growled and clenched my fists.

  Both Kate and Cam shot a look my way as if they’d forgotten I was there.

  I cleared my throat. “No girl should be hurt,” I covered, but the thought of someone hurting this tiny, beautiful creature in front of me made my insides boil.

  “Her brother,” Kate explained. And in that moment, when Cam gasped with a horror stricken look on her face and tears swelled in her eyes, I knew I’d protect her from any other harm. That’s when she slammed the door.

  After leaving Kate, I drove from one end of campus to the other scouring the parking lot for her and having no a clue what I would say if I found her. Her brother had hurt her? The only way I could come up with was sexually and I wanted to slam my fist into the windshield just thinking about that happening to her.

  My dad’s words rung through my ears. Protect your girl with your life. That’s when I spotted her leaving Watson library, though she wasn’t my girl…yet. She walked alone down the lit path messing with her cell phone, of course not paying any attention to things around her.

  Three tall guys approached her, two black and one white and my hand rested on the door handle ready to pounce. One must have said her name because she smiled and stopped to chat with them. When the light hit them just right, I realized they were three of the Jayhawk starting basketball players. On her tiptoes she would have maybe come to their ribcages.

  They waved at her and watched her get to her car before they walked away—giving me a whole new respect for them. Now I knew what she drove, a little gray VW Passat. As she drove home, I followed, keeping my distance and my creeper factor to a minimum—at least to my standards.

  As I drove home, I realized that her apartment was the only place I knew to find her. No clue of her classes, of her major, of any way to find her outside of talking to Kate. And well, Kate was a great lay but not who I wanted. I might just have to endure sex with her again to see Cam…I wasn’t sure of another way. Endure sex? What the hell was wrong with me??

  Four long, slow, torturous days went by. Even though it was out of my way, I drove by Kate’s just to see if I could ‘run into’ Cam. I wanted to text Kate. But the thought of going to see Kate and possibly hurting Cam…if hurt is what it was…I don’t know. What I did know is I couldn’t get her off of my mind. No part of her. And that had never happened before.

  I rarely went out to the bars anymore. But it was game day and if by chance the little rock chalk dancer forced her quiet friend to leave the house, I wanted to be the guy who was there. So Noah and I took off and went first to The Wheel. Being 24, I could barely tolerate some of the shit I saw when I was out now. Literally, I felt like an old judgmental man. Girls barely dressed, falling down drunk, taking pictures and documenting absolutely every moment. A guy was there ready and willing to take advantage of every moment. I wasn’t sure of the stats but girls outnumbered guys significantly.

  After a couple slices of pizza and no sign of Kate or Cam, Noah and I walked the block to the Hawk. Same shit, different scene. My agenda was clear and Noah knew it, but if we could find him a girl to take home, double bonus. I was a Jayhawk fan through and through, hell I bled crimson and blue, but game day was a pain in the ass, especially if you were looking for someone in the mobs of people. My target had reddish-blonde hair and that was way easier to spot over the platinum. But Kate was the platinum blonde so I kept my eye out for her too.

  Noah and I chatted and drank a beer in the top two rooms of the Hawk then made our way down a level. I felt bad for Noah. Girls were constantly approaching us…me…and ignoring him. He was an awesome guy and would make someone a great…whatever. After blowing off girl number 5, I was ready to roll. The thought of taking someone home was gone and texting Kate was going to be my best bet.

  Noah and I moved down one more level—to the Boom Boom Room. Yes, the Boom Boom Room and the thought of her being down here, sent irritation running rampant through my body. What the hell? I had no right to be irritated where she was concerned. None. I’d had sex with her roommate. Not her. But her eyes. Those green little fuckers that pulled me in. I rubbed the heel of my palms against my own eyes. A girl had actually been videoed in this room having sex with a guy. If Cam was in here, I think I’d pull some caveman tactic like Ham did the other day.

  “Let’s get outta here bro,” I said to Noah after about ten minutes of scanning the over-capacity room.

  He shook his head. “No way. Not yet. A girl over there wants the big D.”

  I glanced in the direction he was looking, and sure as shit, this cute little brunette was staring right at him. It was only fair that I stay so I made myself comfortable against an outside wall.

  Within five minutes, the girl had made her way to us carrying a bottle of beer and it just so happened to be the kind that Noah was drinking. As she crossed in front of me to get to Noah, I spotted Kate.

  “Hey, can I buy you a drink?” a beautiful blonde haired girl asked me interfering with my line of sight.

  “No, thank you,” I said and stared over at Kate. Then I saw her—Cam—eyes wide shaking her head at Kate. Almost fearful.

  Then a guy came up from behind Cam and gripped her neck. She flinched and almost cowered to his touch. You know that minute when Bruce Banner starts turning green and every vein in his body sta
rts to pop and his clothes split…that was me in that moment. He was making Hulk angry.

  Without thinking, I nodded at Noah and his chick, bee-lined it toward Cam, and took deep breaths trying to calm myself the entire way. Kate saw me coming and her eyes lit up. She had a condom in her hand and she was handing it to Cam. Don’t take it! The ass behind her took it from her hands laughing. I seriously thought Cam might cry.

  “Hey!” Kate said to me.

  The douche said, “Let’s go,” to Cam and her little eyes met mine for a second.

  “You all leaving?” I asked.

  Kate yelled over the music, “They are! Going back to the apartment.” She gave me an exaggerated wink.

  “So why don’t we all go?” I suggested giving her a wink right back.

  The music was obnoxiously loud and the bass pounded in my ears. A hot girl walked up, stood in front of me, bent over grabbing her ankles and started twerking away on my crotch. She literally stepped in between Cam and Kate. I reared my hand back like I was going to light up her ass with a slap, smiled then said, “Let’s go?” Cam laughed out loud and that thrilled me.

  When I saw a tinge of jealousy in Kate’s face with what the other girl did, I knew she’d say yes. And she did. She nodded, spun around and headed for the staircase. My job was not done though. I grabbed Cam’s hand and directed her through the crowd, making sure she was closer to me than the guy following with the condom, which come life or death would never be used with Camden.

  We all piled into my truck since I offered, and that gave me a small amount of control. We weren’t far from the girls’ apartment, and in my head, I was strategizing on how to get this guy out of my truck. Outside of an ejection seat, I was coming up blank. My only other option was to let them think I was kinky as hell and see if they wanted to swap partners.

  After I adjusted my review mirror to where I could see Cam and not a single thing behind the truck, I caught myself watching her. He leaned in and whispered something in her ear and she only offered a slight smile. I’d made her smile way bigger than that.

  Kate turned up the music and started rocking out to some country song that mentioned strip poker and she shot around and screamed it like she’d had some great epiphany.

  “Let’s play strip poker!”

  Chapter—Camden

  Crap…Kate was drunk. That was never a good sign. Her mouth was loose enough when she was sober, but now…she’d have diarrhea of the mouth. The tool next to me, who Kate had picked out earlier in the night, was pretty hot but next to Will—not so much. And when Will grabbed my hand at the bar…oh my God.

  Kate was right. I needed to get laid. It had been nearly five years. And I’d gotten a little psyched up about a guy that she’d had. I could find a guy that wanted just me and maybe this Blake was said guy. He hadn’t molested me in the back seat that was a plus.

  Sex, smex…Kate had made it a central point of my life. Just because she needed a sign outside her door that said Pound Town didn’t mean that I had to lead the same life. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about it. Will in particular.

  “Let’s play strip poker!” Kate shouted with enthusiasm from the front seat.

  My eyes darted upward and Will was looking at me in the rearview mirror. His eyes squinted a bit like he was trying to read my mind. So I squinted back. He smiled and that’s when I placed two fingers on my temple like I was trying to communicate with him.

  “What are you laughing at?” Kate asked him and he shook his head and glanced at me one more time.

  “We’re in!” Blake spoke up and wrapped his arm around my neck pulling me in as if he was going to noogie my head.

  Will made a sharp turn throwing me the other way—away from Blake and parked near our apartment. Then suddenly, my back door was opening, Will held up his hand to help me. As I slid down out of the truck, his hands…arms clung to my waist and my body rubbed next to his. Everything and I do mean everything in my body clenched up in that moment stealing my breath and instinctively, I closed my eyes. When I opened them, his handsome face was just inches from mine. His eyes stared into mine, then dipped down to my lips, then back to my eyes.

  “Camden…”

  He said my full name. No one says my full name.

  “Yes?”

  “Why don’t you run up and get some clothes on?”

  “What?” I said with extreme distaste dripping off that one word. I thought I looked sexy as hell tonight in my little skirt, cowboy boots and tank. What did that mean?

  Suddenly, he pulled me closer and he spoke near my ear. “You have approximately four items of clothing on. And if we play strip poker, you’ll need more than that,” he said roughly, his voice so hoarse and strong. My body continued to respond to him. But the comment pissed me off. What kind of guy wants a girl to be overly dressed for strip poker?? That guy! What the hell?

  Blake and Kate were already walking toward the stairway.

  “Did I make you angry?” Will said from somewhere behind me, and I was buzzed enough that I stumbled over a curb. “How much have you drank?” he asked a little bit closer, catching me.

  I spun around on him. “Enough to know what I’m feeling and what I want right now.”

  His blue eyes narrowed and his Adam’s apple jetted out and back in.

  “Come on, you two. I’m grabbing the cards. Blake just ordered pizza and Cam, you grab the tequila!”

  I pulled away from him and went inside.

  After I got out the bottle of Cuervo, I threw a cutting board, salt, knife and some limes on the table. Kate’s idea of strip poker is a shot of tequila every time you lose an item of clothing. The plus was—it was a junior shot glass—so it wasn’t that much.

  I quickly went to my room and threw on a tank over my tank, an extra pair of socks and two pairs of panties. That should do the trick. Maybe Will was being nice…protective when he said what he said. Maybe.

  When I walked out of my bedroom, Will’s eyes narrowed again. Damn those eyes. Almost in disappointment. Unsure what that was about, I raised my tank to expose another tank then lifted the side of my skirt to show him two pairs of panties.

  Suddenly, he adjusted in his seat and I couldn’t tell if that annoyed him or not. Maybe I’d gone over the line in his friendship boundary.

  I sat. In the middle of the table, Kate already had the shot poured and the lime and salt ready. She dealt.

  Blake lost round one and took his shirt off. He wore a wife beater…really? He did his shot.

  I was next and took off one cowboy boot. Will smiled when he saw two pairs of socks.

  But it was my smile that I fought to hide when, after a couple of rounds, Will had lost his shirt and undershirt exposing three tattoos. Holy Mother of God, this guy was hot. Not just hot…on effing fire! I bit down on my lip as I tried not to stare while he did his shot. He looked like he could crush the shot glass with just his two fingers. He passed on the lime and salt.

  “Damn you are sexy as hell!” Kate shouted and I couldn’t stop staring. She was right though. And she had touched every square inch of him.

  Right below his heart read Matty. I needed to know who that was. Then the most articulate Jayhawk was on his left shoulder. There was something more on his right rib but I couldn’t read it.

  “I’m going to be doing THAT tonight,” Kate announced pointing at Will. “Blake, get that condom out because this is yours.” She waved her hands at me as if she was Vanna White and should have been shouting Wheel of Fortune. Will glared at Blake and I wondered what I’d missed.

  Shit! I just lost the next hand because I wasn’t paying attention. I was down to my bra and both pair of panties. Kate was down to simply a bra and panties. Blake shorts. Will shorts.

  Kate pushed my shot toward me and I downed it using the last slice of lime. Getting up to get another one, I teetered a bit—the dizzies were here and Blake caught me, holding me firmly around my bare waist.

  “There you go Blake,” Kate te
ased.

  I rolled away from his touch and went to the kitchen. He followed me and tried to kiss me, our lips meeting only briefly before his hand touched the top curve of my breast.

  “Hey, where’s that lime?” Will said walking into the room causing Blake to pull away.

  “In the fridge,” I said embarrassed to look at him.

  “Blake and I can grab it. You go sit your drunk self down,” he said and winked.

  So, I left them in the kitchen.

  Chapter—Will

  My eyes followed Cam in her damn lace panties from the kitchen, and Blake walked toward the fridge. I glared at this guy like he was Satan and the moment he turned around I was in his face.

  “Dude,” he said trying to back up but the fridge had him wedged.

  “I think it’s time you left.”

  “Fuck that!”

  I snickered, glanced down at the tile floor then in one swift move brought my forearm up against his chin pinning his head against the freezer. His eyes went wide and he started to put up a fight until I tightened my forearm…albeit lightly choking him.

  “You see. Cam is in a not so good place,” I whispered with my lip pulled up. “And it’s my job to make sure, even drunk, she makes good decisions. You are not that. Nothing personal.”

  Having been in several fights, I watched as his fists clenched and his nostrils flared.

  “Now. Here’s how this is gonna go down. You simply say you got a phone call and you have to leave, apologizing to Cam of course. Got it?”

  Blake nodded.

  “I’m going to let you go because we need to get back out there but you need to unclench your fists.”

  He didn’t.

  I pressed hard enough to make his face start turning red. “Listen to me !” I gritted baring my teeth. “You don’t want to do this. I guaran-damn-tee ya.”

  And with that, I broke away and turned my back to him, grabbing the lime and heading into the other room.