"So, who are you boys bringing to the homecoming dance next weekend?" My mom grills Ethan and Cameron from the front seat, and they have no choice but to answer.

My mom always waits until we're in the car together to talk about anything. We can't run away, we have nowhere to go.

I wait intently to listen to what Cameron replies. Ethan says he's taking Jennifer, which is completely unsurprising, but Cameron just sits next to me, his body stilling.

"And Cameron?" Mary repeats. "Who are you bringing, honey?"

"I'm uh, not sure yet." He replies, and my dad and Ethan both let out a scoff.

"You don't have a date?" My dad narrows his eyes at him in the rearview mirror. "That's hard to believe."

"He's probably taking his mystery woman." Ethan reaches his arm behind my neck to smack Cam on the back of the head, and Cam can't help but laugh, dodging him and accidentally elbowing me in the side.

"Ow!" I hiss. "You guys are so stupid."

"Well, he is!" Ethan exclaims. "I'm excited to finally meet her. That's the only reason why he wouldn't have a date right now. He could literally take anyone he wants to."

I try very hard to fight back a smile as he rambles off a list of names. Sadie, Kelsey, Lindsey, Brittany, you name it, he's done them.

And I'm the girl he chose to be exclusive with.

Whether it's a secret or not, and even if we haven't labeled it, I can't help but feel somewhat special.

"Okay!" Cam stops him from naming anymore women, clearly embarrassed before he grabs onto my hand again. He thinks I'm mad, but I'm far from it. I know he's been with countless of girls. This news isn't shocking to me.

"I'm just saying." Ethan shrugs and slumps back more into the seat as my dad pulls into our driveway. "There's not going to be many girls without dates. I'll figure it out eventually."

A lump forms into my throat automatically, and right on cue my mother asks, "Maddie, are you going to go this year?"

She thinks she's changing the subject, but she's definitely not. She's making it one thousand times worse.

"You know I don't go to those kinds of things." I say, but my voice falters. I sound nervous.

Can they tell?

"Bore!" Ethan slams the door shut before I can reach over to punch him, Cam chuckling slightly beside me as he holds our side of the car door open so that I can climb out.

"Honey, I know you don't like dances." She smooths my hair down with her hands to hold both sides of my face. "But you will regret this later in life if you don't go. Trust me."

I want to tell her that the only boy that would ever ask me to begin with can't, but I just keep my mouth shut and look down to the pavement.

"Even if a boy doesn't ask you to go." She reassures me, and my entire family, including Cam, is standing right there. Embarrassing.

"Okay." I quip, leading the direction so that we can get into the house. "I'll think about it."

As my dad fishes out his keys to unlock the door, I can't help but wonder if Ethan is right. Will he be able to figure it out?

I saw the way Cam reacted when my parents said he was like their second son. If we continue down this road then my brother or my parents will figure it out eventually.

Is it worth it?

Everyone heads inside, and as we follow in behind them Cam grabs briefly onto my hand again to give it another squeeze for reassurance, the butterflies erupting into my stomach once more.

It's definitely worth it.

"You're spending the night at Maya's tonight." He pulls me back against his chest, bringing his lips down to my ear. Goosebumps rise on my skin. "It's a Friday night and I want to spend it with you. Please?"

I nod, unable to breathe from how close In proximity we are to each other.

"Good." He says, and although I can't see his face I can tell he's smiling.

————

When I get to Cam's house at around ten, he tells me to just come inside and head up to his room. It's funny, because out of all the years I've known him I've never once gone inside his room. His dad didn't allow it whenever I had come over as a kid, and I didn't blame him. I'm actually kind of glad he let this be a new experience for me when I push open his door and see him sitting on his gaming chair, his long legs sprawled out in front of him.

His room isn't what I expected it to be. I thought there'd be pictures of half naked girls on the walls, or that it'd be horribly messy, but it's somewhat neat, only a couple of pieces of clothes on his floor.

The only posters in here are of a couple different music artists, and his trophies from football are lined up on wooden shelves against the dark blue wall. He's got a lava lamp in the corner of his room, right beside the television he is currently sitting in front of.

"Oh." He notices I'm here and pauses his game. "Hey, I gotta go." He says into his headset to whoever he's currently playing with. "I'll be on again tomorrow."

With another click of the button, the console turns off and he spins to face me, opening up his arms to me. "Hi, beautiful." He grins, and I fall into his lap like a love stricken puppy, inhaling the scent of his cologne.

"Hi." I grin, grabbing a couple of his curls to keep my fingers busy.

"Did you park in the garage?" He asks.

I nod. After he told me about the incident with Sadie I'm definitely not going to park free willingly in his driveway anymore. If she finds out we're messing around she will make my life hell. That's the last thing I need.

"You know, I've never been in your room before." I admit.

He looks around as if he's inspecting it before he shrugs. "It's not much. Sorry if you're disappointed."

"Oh, I'm not." I say as I feel his arms tighten around me. "I'm impressed actually."

"How so?" He asks, and his eyes move from my eyes down to my lips.

"Well, for starters you don't have any naked women hung up, or any porno magazines around..." I erupt into laughter when he places his hand over his heart, almost as if he's offended.

"Wow." He says in disbelief. "How little do you think of me, Mads? You think that's all I do when I'm home? Get off to random women all day?"

"I don't know." I shrug, and then hold my breath when he leans in to kiss me.

"I'm actually a bore myself." He pulls away and arches a brow up, pointing to his television. "If I'm not playing video games then I'm watching Netflix, or..." he rolls us over slightly to the right so he can lean over with one hand and open up a drawer to his nightstand. "Look for yourself."

I lean over while I'm still on his lap and see a binder. I'm confused as to what it is, but when I grasp it in my hands and open it, a huge smile falls onto my face.

Pokémon cards.

"Cam!" I shriek with excitement, scanning all of the carefully enclosed characters. "You kept these?"

"Of course I did." He scoffs. "I'm always going to be a nerd at heart."

I kiss him this time and rearrange myself on his lap so that I'm straddling him, the binder falling to the floor. His hands grasp onto my ass, holding me against him, and in seconds I feel his hard on press into me.

"Nerdy Cam really turns me on." I giggle, and he smiles a genuine one at me, almost like he's seeing me in a different light. His eyes soften, and he tucks a strand of hair behind my ear, his thumb gently scraping my cheek.

"I know." He replies. "You're starting to bring the old me back, Mads. I missed him more than I thought I did."

When he leans back in, the way he kisses me is different. It's filled with need. Like in this very moment I'm all he's ever wanted.

He stands up from his chair, my legs wrapped around his waist, and he carries me over to his bed, laying me down onto my back so he can crawl on top of me.

His hand roams down my body, the other supporting himself on his elbow. I always hoped nerdy Cam was still in there somewhere, and as he's kissing me right now I can tell that this is fully him. Not the player Cam, not the cocky Cam, but the Cam that I know.

The Cam I first fell for.

"I was thinking about you all day." He groans and kisses down my neck, stopping to suck right on the spot that makes me the weakest. "You have no idea how much you're on my mind, Maddie. Not in the least bit."

Kissing me again, I don't say anything as I feel his bare chest. I can tell he showered not long ago because it's still damp, his skin smelling like axe.

My hands feel all over his abs, and my mind imagines him from earlier tonight in that little uniform, how tight those damn pants were.

So many girls were talking about him at the game tonight, and I was so proud of the fact that I get to be the one to have these moments with him. I'm who he's thinking about. Not them.

He slips his hand inside of the waist band of my leggings, past my underwear, right to the spot that he's wanting.

"God, you're so beautiful." He mutters, his voice raspy and filled with desperation. His eyes scan mine, almost as if he's wanting to see my reaction.

"Maddie." He pants, scanning my eyes once more. "I think I-"

The door to his room swings open, and his father storms in. Cam immediately retracts his hand, and I quickly fix the waistband of my leggings, the breath completely leaving my body.

Was he about to say what I think he was going to say?

"Maddie?" His father roars, and then his face turns beat red from anger when he looks at Cameron.

Oh no.

What the fuck did we just do?