Hi all! Back with Chapter 2. Many thanks to everyone who read, favorited, voted on, and commented on the first installment. I really appreciate all of the feedback and kind words — it’s very encouraging! If you’re new here and haven’t read Chapter 1 yet, I recommend that you read it first, since this is a novel-style work that won’t make much sense unless you’ve started from the beginning.

As a rundown of Chapter 1, Lila is about to graduate high college. Her stepfather’s coworker Cameron takes an interest in her, and she winds up at his apartment after a bad experience at the prom after party. This chapter, which turned out just as long as the first one, picks up the next morning. I know I promised more fun stuff (and I think you will discover that there is!), but just a heads up that this story is turning out slightly more slow-burn than I initially anticipated, so I hope that you will bear with me as these characters continue their journey together. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

***

Lila blinked, bright morning light flooding her eyes.

For a moment, she stared up at the unfamiliar ceiling above her in confusion. She wasn’t in her bedroom, or in the guest room allotted to her and Emily during sleepovers at her best friend’s house. This wasn’t Victoria’s gigantic king size bed, either.

All at once, the events of the night before came rushing back, smashing into her with sickening ferocity, and she sat up in Cameron Winthrop’s bedroom and immediately flopped back down, clapping a hand to her aching temple. It took a moment for her to decide that she was not imminently about to puke. This was a hangover, then. Victoria, for one, could count her underwhelmed.

Victoria. Emily. Her heart sank when she wondered of her friends, and she grabbed her phone from the bedside table and tried to turn it on, but found it dead. Turning her head, she saw that the other side of the bed looked untouched. Cameron hadn’t shared the bed with her as he’d agreed he would. Something like disappointment bubbled up in her mind, but she knew that she should have known better than to think that he would. He was a gentleman, after all.

But he had clearly opened the curtains to let the morning light spill in, and that meant that he had been in the room while she had slept. She thought if he had stood at the foot of the bed, or even sat in the chair in the corner, and watched her sleep, and for how long.

The wondered sent a delicious shiver running down her spine.

After a moment of luxuriating herself against the satiny sheets, she sat up again, more slowly this time, and swung her legs over the edge of the bed and dropped down to the floor. Her feet felt leaden. She dragged them into the bathroom and used the toilet, then headed down the hall with her phone in hand. The apartment was quiet.

In the living room, she found a phone charger plugged into a wall socket and connected her phone before dropping onto the sofa, which sat opposite the imposing leather chair where Cameron had sat working the night before. In the light of day, she noted how lovely the room was, with its well-matched furnishings and ivory walls and intricate crown molding. The owner of the apartment himself was nowhere to be seen, but his laptop was on the coffee table in the center of the room, and beside it were some objects that gave Lila pause: a glass of water, a bottle of pain medication, and a note scrawled across a half-sheet of lined notebook paper.

The last of these she picked up.

Lila — I’ve gone out to procure breakfast and will be back by 8:30. Drink the water and take 1 Advil if you need it. — Cameron

Procure, another one of those fifty-cent words he was fond of using. She fumbled with the child seal on the bottle of Advil before finally popping it open and shaking one pill loose into the palm of her hand and gulping it down with a mouthful of water. Then she leaned back and closed her eyes. Her respite was short-lived, because a moment later her phone buzzed to life and pinged several times as text messages came in. She reached for it, one hand still wrapped around the glass of water, and inspected the damage from the night before. Her mother had called twice; so had Emily. Twenty texts had been exchanged in the group chat between Emily and Victoria, the latter of whom had sent Lila a single text. U ok grlfrnd?

She let her phone slip from her fingers. She didn’t know whether she ought to be angry with Victoria, who had left her alone with Brendan Callahan but had also proved her rescuer. She didn’t know how to feel about any of it. The wondered of what Brendan had done to her made her cringe, but nothing more. She’d been disembodied. How was she supposed to feel anything but numb?

She closed her eyes, sleep pressing back in around her. She didn’t know whether moments or minutes passed behind closed eyelids, but she did know that when she blinked awake, Cameron had materialized beyond the kitchen archway, and the smells of coffee and freshly baked bagels came floating across the room to her. She stirred, raising her head.

“You didn’t finish your water,” came his voice. His eyes made an indication toward the glass still in her hand. Thank God she hadn’t spilled it all over his no-doubt expensive couch when she’d drifted off. “Drink it. It’ll help.”

She took a sip, her heart hammering madly in her chest. A hot flush spilled across her cheeks. Jesus, why couldn’t she get it together? He came across the room with coffee and bagels with the works on a tray. She couldn’t even look at him.

“I’m sorry,” she blurted out.

He raised his eyebrows at her, digging into his bagel with the same voraciousness with which he’d devoured his burger the other night. It was a moment before he spoke.

“Sorry about what?” he asked then, wiping his mouth on a cloth napkin.

She stared at the food. She was hungry. Starving, even. But she didn’t know if she could bring herself to eat.

“Sorry to be so much trouble,” she whispered, cheeks on fire. Her hands knotted in her lap in visible consternation. “I shouldn’t have called you the way I did. It was only because I was drunk.”

She was usually more… She trailed off, fishing for a word in her mind. More what? More responsible? Quieter? These things were true, but they didn’t erase the way he made her feel, off-kilter yet alive, electrified beneath his gaze.

“Really,” he said, casting her a long look.

Case in point. Her face burned.

“W-well, maybe not only because I was drunk,” she managed. “I’m sorry I never responded to your text. It was just that I was scared.”

“Scared of me, or scared of something else?”

She sucked in her breath.

“Scared of how badly I wanted to say yes,” she said at last. “Scared of, well…”

She broke off again. He was still watching her closely, his eyes seeming to digest her. She became suddenly aware of her state of semi-undress and wriggled where she sat in a futile attempt to pull the hem of his T-shirt further down her bare legs. But he wasn’t looking at her, not exactly. He seemed to be looking through her. And he was gonna make her spell it out to him, even though it was clear he knew exactly what sort of effect he had on her.

“You’re beautiful,” she blurted out. One of her hands flew instinctively up to her mouth. “Oh, my God, I didn’t. I mean, you’re ridiculously attractive. I never say this kind of thing.”

He gave her a wolfish smile.

“You’re a tough nut to crack, little Miss Henson,” he said. “I was wondering when I’d make you spit it out. Now would you care to tell me exactly what happened to you at that party last night?”

Lila groaned, head in her hands.

“Please don’t make me talk about it,” she said, her voice muffled. “It’s embarrassing.”

He said nothing, but his eyes, peering at her through her fingers, seemed to shoot her a warning. She raised her head and hastily took a gulp of water. It didn’t help that she couldn’t remember exactly what she’d told him the night before, but she knew she’d babbled something in the car on the drive to his apartment.

More likely than not, she’d already said too much.

“Specifically, you could give me the name of the boy who laced your drink,” he said. “His last name, that is. You already told me that he’s called Brendan.”

“B- boy…” She let out a nervous giggle. “He’s more of a man, really.”

“Don’t play with me, Lila,” Cameron said, his voice low and dangerous.

She became frightened.

“Brendan Callahan,” she said. “B- but it’s not a big deal. He’s pulled that kind of stunt with lots of girls. It was stupid of me to drink the Coke and vodka or whatever it was he made me.”

“No. It wasn’t your fault. Certainly you could have exercised more caution, and I trust you will do so in the future, but all the blame lies with him. And all the better if he’s a repeat offender; it’ll be more worth my while to deal with him,” Cameron said. He turned and stared out the window. A muscle in his jaw twitched, but otherwise he registered almost nothing.

“What are you going to do?” Lila asked. The idea of this man interceding on her behalf was both terrifying and terrifyingly alluring.

Cameron turned back toward her.

“Well, I certainly have enough money to have him jumped… or worse… but that wasn’t exactly what I had in mind,” he said. His eyes danced, assuring Lila that he was joking with her. “No, I’ll have a word with his parole officer. I’d put two and two together, you see. My sources did a quick survey of property records and found his name, so it added up.”

Lila stared at him, her heart and stomach doing flip-flops in tandem within her. Who was this man? With anyone else, and particularly with anyone closer to her own age, she might have laughed them off. As if they had the confidence to step in like this.

But she didn’t doubt Cameron for a second.

“Thank you,” she blurted out. “I mean, I would never ask you to do that, but it means a lot to me. All of this does. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

“So you owe me one.” His eyes rested lazily on her. “I can think of a way or two you might make good on that debt.”

Lila ducked her head, a hot flush spreading across her cheeks.

“You didn’t sleep with me last night,” she said. She jerked her eyes back up to meet his. “The products in the bathroom, who do they belong to? Do you have a girlfriend?”

He gave her a long look, sipping on his coffee.

“Eat,” he said abruptly, gesturing at her untouched bagel. “Then we’ll talk, and then I have to get you home before your parents start asking too many questions.”

Lila said nothing. She picked up the bagel and took a bite. Of course. It was already nearly nine in the morning, and if she didn’t get home soon, or to college for the brunch that was meant to start at ten, then Robert would drive over to Emily’s and find her fabrication. She ate quickly and gulped down some coffee, too. It was hot and scalded her mouth, but she didn’t mind. Anything to root her to the present.

“I don’t have a girlfriend,” Cameron said when she finished. His eyes had remained on her the whole time. “I had one once.”

Lila almost choked on her mouthful of coffee.

“Once?” she asked after she had managed to swallow. “You’ve only had one girlfriend?”

“I’d tell you to conceal your feelings, Lila, but I think it’s part of your appeal.” He gave her a thin smile. “You’re an open book. Yes, I’ve only had one girlfriend. We met when we were in college.”

“At Harvard,” Lila interrupted, unable to stop herself.

“Yes, at Harvard. Now do you want to hear the rest of the story or not?” he asked.

She ducked her head, blushing again. Steam spiraled off the surface of the coffee in the mug in her hands and further warmed her face.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I want to hear. Go on.”

“Only with your permission.” His face was serious, but not unkind. “We are still very good friends. The breakup was mutual; we wanted different things.”

“That seems sensible,” Lila squeaked. It was all she could manage. “To remain very good friends, I mean.”

“Yes, I think it’s proven sensible enough in our case,” Cameron said. His eyes flicked toward the hall, at the end of which lay the bathroom. “Those products belong to the last woman who lived here. Her name is Jennifer. We still see each other, but I had decided that it was for the best that she find her own accommodation.”

Lila stared at him, not fully comprehending what all of this meant.

“Is- Was she your sugar baby or something?” she asked, her voice coming out high-pitched and giggly.

He laughed, leaning back in his chair.

“Something like that,” he said. “But I think that’s enough for now. We had better make our escape. You don’t have school today, do you?”

“N- no… Well, it’s optional. Senior skip day. Finals are over — graduation is Friday. There’s a brunch this morning, my friends are probably going, but…” Lila looked down at her plate, where only a few crumbs remained. “I’m pretty full.”

“I’ll take you there.” Cameron had gotten up and slipped on his coat at the door. “It’s at the high school? Tell your mother and Robert you went with your girlfriends. And ask one of them to meet us when we get there with a change of clothes for you.”

She watched him, even while tapping out a quick message to her mother along those lines. He really had it all together. She felt like nothing could go wrong with him by her side. In the bedroom, she got back into her dress from the night before, pausing for a moment to deeply breathe in the smell of his T-shirt one last time before discarding it in the hamper. Then they went down to the street, where he opened the car door for her, and she got in. Traffic had died down a little from its rush hour level, and twenty quiet minutes later they pulled up out front of her high college, in the loop. She unbuckled her seat belt and looked across at him, a surge of gratitude rising within her.

“Thank you,” she said. She reached over and spontaneously hugged him. “When will I see you again?”

“I’ll be at your graduation,” he said.

For a moment, his arms came around her, and he seemed to hug her back. Then he held her at arm’s length and nodded, his eyes making an indication outside the vehicle. She looked and saw Emily and Tori standing together by the flagpoles. Emily’s arms were crossed over her chest, and her eyes were wide.

Victoria was grinning ear to ear.

“Bye,” Lila said quietly to Cameron. She reached for the handle of the door, but found it locked.

“Haven’t you learned anything?” he teased her, getting out.

She sat in silence, squeezing her arms around herself. How was she ever gonna live this one down? Emily would scold her for going home with the guy; Victoria would be mad she hadn’t slept with him! He opened her door, and she stepped out, swallowing.

“Bye,” she said again, not daring to lift her eyes up to his for fear she might act on another impulse.

“See you on Friday,” he said.

She stood on the curb and watched him pull the Mercedes away. Emily and Victoria came up behind her, their voices already raised in audible argument. As they got nearer, though, they fell silent. Emily was the first to speak.

“What the hell happened to you?” she asked, shoving a duffel bag into Lila’s arms. “There you go, clothes. We better get you changed before anyone sees you.”

“Emily’s no longer a kissless virgin! Now she’s just a virgin!” burst out Victoria. She wrapped an arm around Lila’s waist and leaned close. “And you are…”

“I am still both,” Lila said bluntly. Now that they were here, in front of her, she found she couldn’t bring herself to look at either of her friends. Everything had changed. The ground had moved beneath her feet, and it felt that nothing would ever be the same again. But when she finally forced herself to look, she saw that Emily’s dark eyes were the same, though guarded, and so were Victoria’s, blue and filled with light, and she threw herself into their arms, eternally grateful to discover that they were still there for her.

“You have a lot to fill us in on, girl,” Victoria said as they hurried toward the front entrance, Lila’s arms linking the other two.

“Is it true that Brendan Callahan tried to feel you up at the party?” Emily asked, her eyes wide.

“Tried to — ” Lila shot a glance at Victoria and wrinkled her nose. “No, he actually did. But it’s okay. It’s all being dealt with.”

“You mean your older boyfriend is going to deal with him?” Victoria asked, jabbing her in the side with a giggle. “I’d pay to see that.”

“He said he’s going to talk to his parole officer is all,” Lila said. They hurried into the bathroom just outside the auditorium, which was all the time open, and she backed into a stall and stripped out of her prom dress, discarding it at her feet. “I didn’t ask him to!”

“Of course you didn’t, you’d never ask someone to do something like that.” Through the open door, Lila saw Tori turn toward the mirror to touch up her lip gloss. “So what’s the skinny? Is he your boyfriend now? You say you’re still a kissless virgin, so clearly you haven’t consummated the arrangement…”

“There isn’t any arrangement,” Lila said, blushing profusely. She pulled up Emily’s jeans, which were at least two sizes too big on her, but luckily there was a belt. The T-shirt fit fine. “At least, I don’t think there is. He said he’ll be at graduation and that’s all.”

“Hell yeah he’ll be,” Victoria said. She pulled the stall door all the way open as Lila began to lace up the pair of Converse Emily had brought her. “They just ran us through the program in homeroom. You know, I wouldn’t have come in today if it weren’t for you. But thanks to you, I found out that your boyfriend is real tight with the superintendent of schools. So he finagled himself a way to confer half the diplomas. Don’t tell me that’s a coincidence.”

“He what?” Lila asked. She snatched the piece of paper out of Tori’s hands. And there it was, swimming up at her from the page. Cameron Winthrop, senior consultant at Schar and Elmhurst, will confer diplomas to letters A-M, in thanks for his generous creation of a Fund for the Arts. Mr. Winthrop…

She looked up from the page, her heart pounding.

“A through M,” she said. Her tongue felt dumb in her mouth. “So I’m going to have to shake his hand.”

Tori rolled her eyes to heaven.

“Me too,” she said, snatching the program back. “Not Emily, she can have natty old Superintendent Harris. But come on, Lila, that’s no coincidence. There wasn’t such a thing as the Fund for the Arts two days ago! This guy is going out of his way to bump into you. And to such great lengths.”

“It’s a little scary,” Emily said in a low voice.

“Well, last night had nothing to do with him going out of his way,” Lila said. She stuffed her dress into the duffel bag and peered at her reflection in the mirror. The damage from the night before was minimal: her eyes looked a little bleary, but otherwise she was her usual self, and her cheeks were brighter than usual. That was no surprise. She turned toward Emily. “I was drunk, and I called him. I guess I didn’t know who else could give me a ride.”

“Tori!” Emily said, glaring at the blonde. “Tori could have given you a ride!”

“That was my fault, too,” said Lila. “I turned her down, because I thought I was well enough to walk. Only then I started feeling worse, and that’s when I called Cameron.”

A little shiver went down her spine.

“And?” Tori prompted her.

“And he came and called an ambulance for Alan, and we went back to his apartment in the city, and I stayed the night,” Lila finished. “He slept on the couch. And that’s it. I don’t know about this whatever with the diplomas, but I guess it explains why he’ll be there.”