The next morning Cameron was gone, leaving me to wake up alone after we'd spend the night together.

I flushed at the thought. It had so many connotations.

I almost regretted asking him to spend the night with me. I might have sent us back to square one, sent him back to hiding from me.

But when I remembered how scared I'd been, how terrified, I had to admit that without Cameron's presence I probably would have spent the entire night huddled in that bathroom.

It was a couple days later, when I was knee deep in my studies, that Cameron knocked at my door again.

The moment I heard the tap of his knuckles on the doorframe, I cringed. My hair was tied up in a messy bun on the top of my head, wisps flying all over my forehead. My hooded sweatshirt hadn't seen a laundry machine in weeks. The only clean pants I owned were a pair of yoga shorts.

I heaved myself from my bed and cracked the door open an inch. Cameron's eyebrows were drawn down with something almost like worry.

I began to get nervous. Why was he here, after so many days of ignoring me? Was he going to bring up that night?

"I'm going to ask you to do something you're not going to like," were the first words out of his mouth.

Now it was my turn to frown.

"Do I even want to know?"

"Can I come in?"

I opened the door reluctantly. My room was still messy. I hadn't felt comfortable letting housekeepers clean up after me. Maybe it was my stubborn independent streak, but I wanted to feel like I could take care of myself, even in some small way.

Cameron's eyes scanned my room as he stepped through the door. His eyes fell on a lacy black bra sitting on one of the armchairs in a corner. His eyebrow twitched. I felt my face go red.

"So what am I not going to like?" I asked, blushing.

He forced his eyes away from my bra reluctantly. "I'm throwing a party."

I frowned, failing to see why I wouldn't like that. Understanding dawned on me. I suppressed a sigh.

"Let me guess. My brother wants me to stay in my room the entire time?"

Cameron had the decency to look chagrinned. "I know he's a dick, but I promised I'd keep you safe."

I raised an eyebrow. "And your parties are unsafe?"

"I promised I'd keep you away from the debauchery," he clarified.

"Sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll?"

"Something like that."

"You are aware I'm an adult, right?"

Cameron slowly eyed me up and down. That heated look, a look I hadn't seen in days, returned as he honed in on my bare legs.

My heartbeat sped up at that look. Warmth began to flow between my thighs.

Cameron looked away. I exhaled a deep breath.

"Promise me you'll stay in your room?" he asked.

"I don't want to be kept locked away like some princess in a tower."

"You're not locked away. You go to class every day."

"Only because I begged my brother to let me borrow one of his cars. You know he offered to pay for a chauffeur to drive me to campus every day?"

"Sounds like His Royal Highness." Cameron gave me a concerned look. "I know you hate being treated like a kid. I'm sorry."

I knew it wasn't Cameron's fault. It wasn't really my brother's fault either. They were both just overprotective.

When it was my brother doing the protecting, it chafed me to no end. When it came from Cameron, I didn't feel upset. Instead, my body felt lighter, like I'd been filled with helium.

The idea that Cameron wanted to protect me — that he cared enough to worry about me — made a happy, fuzzy feelings grow inside me.

"So when is this party?" I asked, ignoring the glow spreading throughout my chest.

"Tonight. People should begin filing in around ten."

"I'll probably be ready for bed by then, anyway."

"I thought that might be the case." Cameron held out his hand. "Here."

I took the two small pieces of orange foam from his palm. "Ear plugs?"

"You're gonna need them."

My heart thudded in my chest.

"Thanks for looking out for me." I waved my hand, indicating I meant the earplugs, not the over-protectiveness.

He just threw me a thumbs up and sauntered away.

I closed the door behind me and made my way back to the bed. I placed the ear plugs on the nightstand. I stood there and stared at them for a few minutes.

It really was a thoughtful gesture. I wouldn't have expected that from someone like Cameron Thorne.

Or maybe I should have expected it. I'd come to see a different side to Cameron since coming to live with him.

A side that made me long for him.

At first, all I'd been able to think about was how Cameron saw me as an adult. It was an intoxicating feeling, knowing that an older man found me attractive.

But this… my pounding heartbeat, my flushed cheeks, the lightness in my chest…

This was getting dangerous.