Redeem Me (Kin #6)(2)
Author: Jennifer Foor

I didn’t just love her for taking care of me. She held many qualities that kept me wanting more. Cameron has long blonde hair that hangs halfway down her back. Her gray–green eyes sparkled in the summer sun, and those full lips of hers kissed me like no other female ever had. Day after day I was in awe of her. The looks weren’t where my attraction ended though. She had a way with words, and held herself like every aspiring attorney would. Her wits made her deadly when it came to arguments, and she pretty much knew everything about everything. I’m not just bragging about her smarts either. When she was growing up her rich daddy sent her to the best of schools. Instead of making friends she studied her ass off, just to be able to follow in her father’s footsteps. His law firm was well known in Pennsylvania, and with little effort she’d be set with a career alongside of him and her mother.

When we first started dating he freaked out. The last thing he wanted was for his daughter to fall in love with some jock. He’d basically played out her future in his head, and a boyfriend wasn’t in the plan.

I met Cameron on the first day of our freshman year in college. She was stopped in the middle of a crowded corridor, looking down at a schedule and map. Someone bumped into her arm that was holding her books, sending them falling to the ground. Flustered, she dropped to the floor, desperate to pick them all up before stomping feet ruined them.

I bent down and started picking them up even before our eyes met for the first time. It was a good thing I hadn’t looked at her first, because I probably wouldn’t have been able to focus on helping her.

That very first smile I got from her captivated me. She was stunning, naturally, without makeup. Unlike the other girls on campus, Cameron didn’t care about dolling herself up for classes, which I soon learned because she was only there to learn, while some of us wanted the whole experience.

It took me a couple months to convince her to give me a chance, and even longer to open up and admit that she wanted more out of life than just wasting away in a library for the next however many years she had to go to school.

Our first kiss was in that very library, and from that moment on I knew she was going to be impossible to let go of.

My phone kept blowing up, so I finally came back to reality and decided to answer it. With my best innocent voice I acknowledged her. “Good morning, dear. How’s my beautiful girlfriend today?”

“Don’t give me that charm this morning, Parker Hutchinson. Your face is all over the Internet this morning. Do you have any idea what my parents would say if they knew that my boyfriend was busy doing keg stands when he was supposed to be studying for finals? This is exactly the kind of actions that makes them so judgmental regarding our relationship.”

“Come on, Cam. I was just unwinding. It’s no big deal.” How was I to know that people would take pictures? I mean, sure, everyone had a camera, but I hadn’t given them permission.

“When one unwinds, they don’t purposely make a mockery of themselves in public. What is this type of activity gaining you?”

“Please don’t be my mother this early in the morning.” I got that she’d been raised a certain way, but this was annoying as shit to me. I didn’t need a mom. I needed a companion. The fact that she drilled me about right and wrong was so exasperating. “Cam, I love you. I’m sorry that I let things get out of hand last night. Maybe if you would have taken a break from that library and come with me, for just a couple of hours, none of this would have happened.”

“Maybe if you didn’t feel the need to join that frat house none of this would have happened. Did you really think you’d gain something worthwhile out of that place? It’s filled with losers that party away their futures.”

“Not everyone can be on the dean’s list, babe. Besides, it was one party. Pretty soon once I get my room you’ll be able to spend the night. Calm down. I’ll meet you for breakfast in a few minutes.”

The line was quiet for a minute. “Cam, are you still there?”

“Do I really nag you?” Her voice sounded conflicted.

“It’s fine. I think it’s cute,” I lied.

“Just please be more careful, that’s all I’m bothered about. You have potential to be great. Someday we’re all going to be watching you on television throwing that ball across a field. Little parties could end that for you, and I’d hate to see that happen. I love you, Parker. I’m only thinking of our future together.”

It made me smile, even though my head was pounding. Picturing myself with Cameron in the future was easy. Making it happen was a whole different kind of ballgame.

Chapter 2

Cameron

Unlike my boyfriend, I awoke to my cell phone making a dinging sound over and over all night long. I’d been tagged in several photos while Parker was at the party, suspending himself upside down to guzzle beers, and act like a moron. For so many reasons I should have dumped him a long time ago, when he’d made the decision to act like all of the other meatheads on campus.

There was a time when I saw him as the most charming guy I’d ever met. In all honesty, he was one of the only males that had ever looked my way. I supposed for lack of better judgment, I was immediately captivated by his interest; although, the days of him trying to impress me were in the past. Now I spent most of my free time trying to push some sense into his incredibly shrinking medulla oblongata.

Opposite from my boyfriend, I was raised with the knowledge of what I was going to be, and how I was to achieve it. My parents instilled me early on with the provisions that would enable me to excel.

I didn’t have a normal kind of childhood, per se. For as long as I could remember I’d been tutored on the weekends, instead of being able to run free and play like the other kids. It was okay for a while, since we lived on ten acres in a waterfront estate. Our property was too large for me to notice the kids playing next door, or hearing their laughter when they were having fun.

My fun time was going into my secret hideout underneath our back staircase with a good book. It wasn’t exactly a secret, since my parents had a contractor come in and install carpet, lighting, and bookshelves inside for me. I think I read Little Women at the age of five, and the Secret Garden sometime after that. I’d also found my dad’s stash of his favorites, including the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and Sherlock Holmes. While other children were just beginning elementary school, I was learning how to become a sleuth, who solved the most heinous of crimes – in a young girl’s mind, of course. For Christmas one year I actually wrote a list for Santa that included a pipe, trench coat, and gentlemen’s hat. It was that same year when I learned that Santa was a made up character.