Teach Me (College Daze Book 2)

by Danielle Burton

  I happily obliged. “Oooh, I like where this is going.”

  The room was silent for a while then something wet squiggled across my cheek. I reared back and my eyes popped open.

  Bright blue eyes stared back at me. They were set in a white and gray fluffy face with pointy ears protruding from its head.

  Cam giggled and moved the Husky puppy away. “Do you like him?”

  I stood, looking down at her with wonderment. “You got me a dog?”

  “Yeah, from the rescue shelter. I know he’s not a Rottweiler and won’t replace Killa, but–”

  I pulled her into a sideways hug and kissed her temple. “Thank you, Cammie.”

  “You’re um, y-you’re welcome.”

  I took the puppy from her, scratching behind his ear, and sat down again.

  Cam followed, sitting beside me. “What will you name him?”

  I looked over the little guy while she petted his head. “What about…Blue?”

  “Nah, too overdone. Oooh, what about Junior?”

  “Junior?”

  “Yeah, short for Benji Jr. because you have the same eyes.”

  I looked down at the puppy and smiled. “Yeah…I like that.” I rubbed his small head and glanced at Cam. “You can be his mommy, I’ll be the daddy.” Easing my arm around her waist, I pulled her closer. “We can play house.”

  She shoved me with her shoulder and stood. “Damn it.” She was feigning mad, but I saw the beginnings of a smile. She took Junior and started toward the door. “Your daddy is a perv.”

  “And mama got a big–”

  She turned and narrowed her eyes at me.

  “What? I was gonna say heart.”

  She glared at me while fighting a smile then closed the door.

  I flopped back on the bed, smiling too damn hard. Never thought I’d say it, even inside my head, but she was definitely The One.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  ~ Camryn ~

  I woke Friday morning with no recollection of getting into bed. The last thing I recalled was sitting next to Benji in the basement watching Jack Sparrow being swallowed by a Kraken.

  Climbing to my feet, I proceeded with my morning routine before heading downstairs where I knew Benji would have breakfast waiting for me. I still hadn’t quite gotten use to all the attention he showered me with, but I had to admit, it was kinda nice.

  When I made it to the living room he was sitting on the floor playing tug of war with Junior. Since his arrival Benji’s personality had brightened even more. And they were so adorable together. There was just something about a man with a puppy.

  Benji smiled when he saw me and let go of the toy. “Morning Camryn.”

  “Morning Benjamin. Why so formal?”

  He shrugged and stood. “Just thought I’d try it out. Cammie is still my favorite.”

  “You know, I actually don’t hate that name as much as I used to.”

  “That’s because you like the person that calls you by it.” He winked at me and I rolled my eyes.

  “No. I just got tired of telling him to stop calling me that.” I stuck my tongue out at him and giggled. I’d never admit it to him, but it did have a nice ring to it when he said it. Maybe it was his husky voice, or the way he’d sometimes lick his lips right after he’d utter it. Whatever the case, it was growing on me. As was he. Who’d have thought a year ago that I’d be friends with Benji of all people?

  Grabbing up Junior, I headed for the kitchen while scratching behind his little ears. “What’s for breakfast?”

  “French toast topped with berries and whipped cream.”

  I sat Junior on the floor in front of his water then went to wash my hands. “Oh Benji, you spoil me so.”

  He laughed while sanitizing his hands then began fixing my plate. “Only the best for my best friend.”

  My brow lifted. “Oh, it’s best friend now?”

  “Best of the best.” He pulled out my chair for me then went to the fridge and came back with a can of whipped cream. “Where do you want this?” He held up the can while licking his lips.

  “On my French Toast, please.”

  “Really? Because I can think of a few other places–”

  “Benjamin…”

  Chuckling, he titled the can the squeezed the nozzle, dressing my toast and berries with the fluffy topping. When he finished he pulled his cream covered index finger into his mouth and suckled it gently.

  Nearly salivating, I moved my gaze to his eyes, catching a mischievous twinkle. “Stop that.”

  “What am I doing?”

  “You know exactly what you’re doing.”

  A smile formed on his face as he took his seat. “So I was thinking, since you don’t have to work tomorrow, let’s do something fun.”

  “Like what?” I asked before taking a bite of my food. The cinnamon and berries danced over my tongue in perfect harmony.

  “You ever been to Air Time?”

  “Isn’t that the place with the basketball nets and trampolines?”

  “Yup.”

  “That does sound like fun.”

  “Then it’s a date.”

  My fork froze mid-air as I gawked at him.

  “Or not.”

  ~ ♥ ~

  After our delicious meal Benji dropped me at work, informing me that he’d be back to pick me up but of course not before pulling me into his arms and squeezing me tight.

  When I’d asked him why he always hugged me so long he’d stated because he never knew if it’d be our last and he wanted to savor it.

  I’d given him my usual eye roll before strutting off, knowing his eyes were glued to my ass, following each swing of my hips.

  The day moved by pretty fast, likely due to my excitement over going to Air Time. I’d always wanted to go.

  As a customer walked up to the counter I put on a genuine smile. “Welcome to Ken’s Hardware. How can I help you?”

  The middle aged woman with an unhealthy looking tan grimaced at me. “I’d like to return these screws,” she said, sitting a package in front of me. The cardboard backing was shredded and the plastic had been cut.

  “Ma’am, these are opened. We don’t accept returns on opened packages.”

  She scoffed and fisted her hand on her hip. “Of course they’re opened. How else would I know that they don’t fit? I need a new size.”

  “I’m sorry, Miss, but once an item has been opened its nonrefundable. It’s company policy.”

  Her grimace morphed into a sneer. “Well could I exchange them then?”

  I had to force the smile to stay on my face. This woman was really trying my patience. “I’d be more than happy to help you find the right product, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to exchange them either. You’ll have to pay full price for the new ones.”

  “Can’t you just make an exception this one time?” Her voice turned syrupy sweet in an instant. “I can’t use these. They’re too small.”

  “I apologize for the inconvenience, but there’s nothing I can do.”

  The scowl reformed on her face and she crossed her arms. “Well I’d like to speak with your manager then.”

  With a painted on smile, I picked up the intercom and called Ken, the store owner/manager to the front.

  A few minutes later he rounded the corner, smiling bright. His bald head glinted off of the overhead lights. Sean often joked that it reminded him of a peanut. What made it even funnier was Ken’s complexion just so happened to be the same shade as peanut butter.

  Ken made his way behind the counter and stood beside me. “What seems to be the problem?”

  I opened my mouth to explain the situation but was cut off by Miss Rude.

  “Your employee is giving me a hard time.”

  “I–”

  “Camryn,” Ken said. “Why don’t you go help Sean in aisle three while I handle this?”

  I plastered on yet another pleasant smile, fighting to remain professional, and backed away. “Sure.”


  As I made my way toward Sean he snickered and shook his head.

  “What’s so funny?”

  He continued to laugh while placing items on a shelf. “Ms. Norman,” he said nodding behind me.

  I glanced back at the counter and frowned. “You know her?”

  “Yeah, she comes in here once or twice a month hassling employees with one thing or another. You handled the situation a lot better than most.”

  “Really? Because I wanted to slap that fake tan off her rude face.”

  He chuckled while opening another box. “That’s not even her at her worse. I went off on her once. Almost lost my job.”

  “Wow. What made you do that?” I grabbed a couple of small hammers from the box and began hanging them up.

  “She called me a thug.”

  One of the hammers slipped from my hand and Sean caught it.

  He hung it up the moved the empty box. “I usually let her slide because she’s bitter and lonely, but that day she pissed me off.”

  “What makes you say she’s bitter and lonely?”

  “She and my mom are in a book club together. According to her, Ms. Norman is cranky ‘cause she needs to get laid.” He laughed at himself then started to break down the empty boxes while I straightened up a few packages of nails.

  He looked over at me and stopped what he was doing. “You know, when I asked you out you could’ve just told me you had a boyfriend.”

  “Boyfriend? I don’t have a boyfriend.”

  “What about the guy who drops you off and picks you up?”

  “Benji? We’re just friends.”

  Sean scoffed. “Judging by the way he looks at you, he’s trying to be a whole lot more.”

  “Please. Benji looks at every woman like that.”

  “Now that I don’t believe for a second. I’m no expert, but speaking from experience, I know what a man looks like when he’s in love.”

  “L-love?”

  Sean gave a quick nod before grabbing up the empty boxes then heading down the aisle.

  I stared after him for a minute, my thoughts running wild. Benji, in love with me? I had no doubts that he liked me as more than a friend, but love? According to him he wasn’t capable of such an emotion. But so much had changed about him in the time since we’d become friends, so was it so farfetched? The idea of him loving me sent a shiver down my spine and caused my heart to beat out of sync.

  I moved through the rest of my day on auto pilot, unable to shake Sean words. When it came time to clock out, my heart rate increased. Each second accelerated the beats as I made my way outside.

  Benji sat on the hood of his uncle’s truck with his feet propped on the bumper. The blue shirt he wore was almost an exact match to his eyes and his black shorts complimented his deep caramel skin perfectly. Good Lord he was gorgeous.

  His lips lifted into a smile as I neared and he hopped down. “Sup girl,” he said, pulling me into a tight embrace. “You alright? You look kinda stressed.”

  “Yeah, just tired.” I circled his waist with my arms in inhaled a sweet scent. Pulling back, I gazed up at him. “What kind of cologne are you wearing?”

  His smile widened and he took my hand, leading me to the passenger side. “It’s not cologne. I picked up some scented oil from the mall earlier. It has orange essence. You like it?”

  I nodded, allowing him to help me climb into my seat. “It’s nice. Different.”

  He got in and started to back up, glancing at me as he did.

  My unfocused gaze moved to his lips, the world around us was silent with the exception of his words. “I love you.”

  My heart clenched and my eyes flew to his. “What!”

  “I asked how your day was.”

  “Oh! It was, um, it was okay, I guess.”

  His forehead crinkled as his brows lowered. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

  I nodded and faced forward, pulling my water bottle from my purse. Dehydration was the only explanation for the hallucination that had just transpired.

  During the short drive home, I filled him in on the day’s events and he informed me that Mr. Adams had finally called a professional to put in the pool and hot tub so the yard would be ready in a week or two. I was more than a little excited to see how it turned out.

  Once we made it home I headed straight for the shower. Work always made me sweaty and gross. Two things I loathed being. When I finished I headed downstairs, seeking Benji. He was nowhere to be found on the first floor so I peeked out back before descending the basement steps. “Benji?”

  “Over here.”

  I rounded the corner to find him seated on the sectional, scrolling through On Demand. Two steaming plates of food sat on the card table he had pulled beside him.

  “You cooked?”

  “Nah, ordered take out before I picked you up. It came while you were showering.”

  As I sat down next to him he handed me a plate of lasagna and breadsticks.

  “Mmmm, smells good. Thank you.”

  He smiled and leaned back. “No problem. I know you’re always starving when you get home.”

  “And exhausted.” I ate a forkful of the pasta and sighed with contentment. “I hate working. I’m forever tired and my feet are killing me.”

  Benji sat down his plate and slid to the floor. Kneeling in front of me, he lifted my feet onto his lap.

  I moved them away and frowned at him. “What are you doing?”

  “You said your feet hurt.” He took my foot again and started to massage it.

  His brows furrowed as he worked out the kinks, giving attention to each of my toes before moving to the ball of my foot then my arch.

  When he added pressure my eyes drifted closed and I leaned back as a soft moan escaped my lips. “Mmm, harder.”

  He obliged my request while chuckling softly. “So you like it hard, huh?

  My eyes popped open then narrowed. “I will kick you.”

  He laughed while moving down to my heel. “You got some pretty ass feet, girl.”

  I giggled and lifted my other foot so he’d give that one some attention.

  He started on my arch first this time, and again I couldn’t help but moan. Good Lord, his hands felt amazing.

  “Where did you learn that?”

  He smirked at me then bit down on his lip. “I’m just very skilled in my touch,” he replied with a wink.

  “Do you ever stop?”

  “Do you want me to?”

  I rolled my eyes at him and turned my attention to the TV while he finished his massage. I had to bite my tongue several times to keep my moans confined.

  When his hand slid up my calf I lifted my foot to his chest and shoved gently. “Below the ankle, Casanova.”

  He chuckled then moved back to my foot, rubbing it slowly while staring into my eyes. “Let’s talk.”

  I wiggled my toes on my free foot and pressed them against his pec. Mmm, hard. “About what?”

  “Anything, everything, you.”

  I stopped my probing and let my foot drop to the floor. “What about me?”

  He shrugged. “I’ll take anything at this point. All this time we’ve been friends and you still keep me at arm’s length. Let me in, Cammie.”

  I stared down at my plate while chewing my lip. “I don’t know how.”

  His warm hands left my skin and he moved to sit beside me. “That’s okay.” He pushed my hair behind my ear then used his fingers to turn my face in his direction. “It doesn’t have to be anything big, just tell me something about you that I don’t know, that no one knows.”

  I spent a long moment searching his eyes, for what, I wasn’t sure. “My deepest fear is being alone.”

  “That’s understandable.” He brushed my cheek with his fingertips. “If it’s up to me you won’t ever have to be.”

  His warm touch was making it hard to think, at least non carnal thoughts that is.

  I set my plate on the floor then shifted my body so I was facing him fully.
“What’s crazy is, even though I don’t want to be alone, I’ve never allowed myself to let anyone get close either.”

  “That’s not crazy, it’s human. Our fears and desires often contradict one another. Like how I desired the love and acceptance of my family yet did everything in my power to push them away because I was afraid they wouldn’t.”

  “But you’re better now. Right?”

  “Getting there.” He took my hand and ran his thumb across the back of it. “Tell me something else.”

  Our conversation lasted into the wee hours, until I eventually drifted off to sleep, waking again in Benji’s arms as he carried me to bed, part of me wishing I could stay there forever.

  ~ ♥ ~

  A light breeze blew my hair across my face as I laid the thin blanket on top of the grass. The sun warmed my skin and the scent of the flowers I held tickled my nose. With a heavy sigh I eased to the ground, sitting the fresh daisies in front of me.

  I lifted my fingers to my lips, a tear breaking free, and pressed a kiss to them before touching the headstone. “Hi Daddy.”

  Words failed me as more tears rolled down my cheeks, almost instantly drying from the summer heat. I had no idea what to say or if I was even talking to anyone at all. I’d never been one to believe in the afterlife. As far as I knew, gone was gone.

  During our long conversation the night before I’d confided in Benji that I’d never visited my dad and that I’d spent half a decade hating the man who’d help give me life for abandoning me to an uncaring mother.

  Even before he’d died I’d blamed him. Telling myself that if he was just home more things would be better. If he hadn’t loved that damn record label more than his own family we’d have been happy and Mom wouldn’t have been a label whore. But deep down I always knew that wasn’t the case. He’d married a monster who made it her life’s goal to spend every penny he had. If our unhappiness was anyone’s fault it was hers.

  I took another deep breath then glanced back at Benji leaning against his car. He was the reason I was here. According to him it would help me get closure. I faced my father’s grave again and arranged the flowers on the ground in front of it. “Daddy...there’s so much we didn’t get to do. So much time we never got to spend together. Memories we didn’t get to make. I hate that we never will, but I don’t hate you…not anymore.” I paused to take a tissue from my purse. “Benji says that the first step to healing is forgiveness. I’ve held onto this pain and anger long enough, so even though I may never understand why you did what you did, I forgive you for it. I hope it gave you peace from whatever demons you were running from.”