LITMIR.BIZ

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know today is only Wednesday, but here is your first assignment for the weekend. Skies are supposed to be clear as a baby’s bottom on Saturday.’

      ‘Clear as a baby’s bottom?’ I muttered.

      Cam chuckled.

      ‘I want you to find the Corona Borealis in the sky—the actual real, honest to goodness, night sky,’ Professor Drage explained, smiling as if he said something funny, but we all stared at him. ‘You won’t need a telescope. Use your eyes or glasses or contacts or whatever. You can view it either Friday or Saturday night, but the weather is looking sketchy on Friday, so choose wisely.’

      ‘Wait,’ someone from up front said. ‘How do you use this map?’

      Cam handed me a map that had been passed down our row, along with several grid sheets.

      Professor Drage stopped in front of the class. ‘You look at it.’

      I bit back a laugh.

      The student huffed. ‘I get that, but do we hold it up to the sky or something?’

      ‘Sure. You could do that. Or you could just look at each of the constellations, see what they look like and then use your own eyes and brains to find it in the sky.’ The professor paused. ‘Or use Google. I want all of you to start to get familiar with stargazing. You’re going to be doing a lot of that this semester and you’ll appreciate doing it now when it’s warm. So get with your partner and pick out a time. The grid will be turned back in to me on Monday. That’s all for the day. Good luck and may the force of the universe be with you today.’

      Several students laughed, but my stomach dropped out of my butt.

      ‘Partner?’ I said, voice low as I frantically looked around the classroom. Almost everyone was turned in their seats, talking to another person. ‘When did we pick partners?’

      ‘On Monday,’ Cam replied, closing his notebook and shoving it into his backpack. ‘You weren’t here.’

      My heart thumped in my chest as I scooted to the edge of the seat. Shit. Professor Drage had already bounced from the room. Half the students were already out the door.

      ‘Avery?’

      How in the hell was I supposed to get a partner now? I really shouldn’t have run like a little baby on Monday. This was all my fault.

      ‘Avery.’

      Where was the professor’s office? I was going to have to find the dude and explain I didn’t have a partner. I bet his office smelled weird, too, like mothballs.

       ‘Avery.’

      ‘What?’ I snapped, turning to Cam. Why was he still sitting here staring at me?

      His brows rose. ‘We’re partners.’

      ‘Huh?’

      ‘We. Are. Partners,’ he repeated, and then sighed. ‘Apparently, Drage had the class pick their partners right at the beginning of class on Monday. I walked in afterward and at the end he told me to partner with anyone who joined the class on Wednesday or I’d be partnerless. And since I don’t like the idea of being partnerless, you and I are partners.’

      I stared at him. ‘We have a choice to do this on our own?’

      ‘Yeah, but who wants to go out staring at the sky at night by themselves?’ He stood and slung his backpack over his shoulder as he started down the row. ‘Anyway, I know a perfect place we can do our assignment. Has to be Saturday, because I have plans Friday.’

      ‘Wait.’ I stood, rushing after him. ‘I do.’

      ‘You have plans on Saturday?’ He frowned. ‘Well, I might—’

      ‘No. I don’t have plans on Saturday, but we don’t have to be partners,’ I explained. ‘I can do this by myself.’

      He stopped so suddenly in front of the doors that I nearly had a repeat of Monday. ‘Why would you want to do all the assignments—and if you look at his class outline, there are a lot—all by yourself?’

      ‘Well, I don’t really want to.’ I shifted my weight from one foot to the next. ‘But you don’t have to be my partner. I mean, you don’t owe me or anything.’

      ‘I don’t get what you’re saying.’ Cam tilted his head to the side.

      ‘What I’m saying is that …’ I trailed off. What the hell was I saying? The problem was I just didn’t get him—any of him. He didn’t know me. I didn’t know him and yet he was so … so friendly. The next words just came out of my mouth. ‘Why are you being so nice to me?’

      A brow rose. ‘Is that a serious question?’

      ‘Yes.’

      He stared at me a moment. ‘All right, I guess I’m just a nice guy. And you’re obviously new—a freshman. You seemed to be a little out of it on Monday and then you ran off, wouldn’t even come into class, and I—’

      ‘I don’t want your pity.’ I was horrified. He was being nice to me because he thought I was a freshman freak. Oh God, that was …

      Cam frowned, and I mean really frowned. ‘You don’t have my pity, Avery. I’m just saying you seemed out of it on Monday and I figured we’d just be partners.’ He stopped and his eyes narrowed. ‘I can see that you don’t believe me. Maybe it was the cookie? Well, you refused to taste my cookies last night and, honestly, I was going to eat the other cookie, but you looked so tired and sad sitting there, I figured you needed the cookie more than I did.’

      I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, but there was a distinct gleam of amusement in his eyes.

      ‘And you’re pretty,’ he added.

      I blinked. ‘What?’

      That frown had faded as he opened the door, ushering me out of the class and into the hall. ‘Do not tell me you don’t know you’re pretty. If so, I’m about to lose all faith in mankind. You don’t want to be responsible for that.’

      ‘I know I’m pretty—I mean, that’s not what I meant.’ God, I sounded vain. I shook my head. ‘I don’t think I’m ugly. That’s what—’

      ‘Good. Now we’ve cleared that up.’ Tugging on my bag, he steered me toward the stairwell. ‘Watch the door. It can be tricky.’

      I ignored that. ‘What does the whole pretty comment have to do with anything?’

      ‘You asked why I’m so nice to you. It’s mutually beneficial.’

      It sank in, and I stopped on the stair above him. ‘You’re nice to me because you think I’m pretty?’

      ‘And because you have brown eyes. I’m a sucker for big old brown eyes.’ He laughed. ‘I’m a shallow, shallow boy. Hey, it helps that you’re pretty. It brings out the nice guy in me. Makes me want to share my cookies with you.’

      I stared at him. ‘So if I was ugly, you wouldn’t be nice to me?’

      Cam pivoted around, facing me. Even a whole step below, he was taller than me. ‘I’d still be nice to you if you were ugly.’

      ‘Okay.’

      A wicked grin slipped over his full lips. He bent his head down and whispered, ‘I just wouldn’t offer you any cookies.’

      I folded my arms and tried to ignore the close proximity of our faces. ‘I’m beginning to think cookies is a code word for something else.’

      ‘Maybe it is.’ He tugged on my bag again as he took a confident step back, forcing me down another step. ‘And just think about it. If cookies is a code word, whatever it symbolizes, it’s been in your mouth, sweetheart.’

      Part of me was slightly disturbed by that, and the other part? A laugh bubbled up my throat and came out,

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