Page 50 of Most Valuable Player
“I’ll buy you a cinnamon donut.”
“Okay.”
I snort at Cameron’s predictability. Anup basically drags me off the table to join Jody and Ravi, who are waiting by the sprawlingmaze. I’m not sure why he’s bringing me—probably because I’ve been by myself, and he wants me to feel included.
“Oh, thank God.” Ravi sprawls a hand over his chest and sighs with relief. “Mason said yes. I won’t die now.”
“I didn’t say anything,” I admit, though Anup nudges me toward the group anyway.
Moments later, we’re disappearing into the looming corn, and the boys are steering us around corners with no sense of direction or deliberation. Jody gets jump scared by a stationary scarecrow. The sound of a revving chain saw causes everyone but me to scream, and I find all of them clutching me at different points for…emotional support, I guess. As much as I love fall and Halloween, I’ve never been particularly affected by anything horror related.
A few minutes in, though, they decide they don’t need me after all, because Anup turns to me and says, “You and Cam should go that way.”
He points to a branch in the pathway we’re approaching.
“What?” Cameron squawks, his eyes flitting around with terror. He’s shivering like a wet dog, and I’ve lost count of the number of times he’s snatched the edge of my jacket. “Why? The bigger the group, the less likely we die, right?”
“Yes,” Anup says, “but consider this.”
They all sprint away, laughing at the top of their lungs.
“Youfucks!” Cameron shouts, and he starts to take off after them—until he remembers that I’m standing there. Reluctant to abandon me, he skids to a stop, sighs, and returns to my side with a scowl. “I hate them.”
“Do you?” I ask with a skeptical smile.
He gives me a cutting glare, then starts down the other pathway. This lasts three seconds before he remembers where he is, and hehunches in on himself, eyes darting across the dim trail with anticipation. “It’s scary now that there’s only two of us,” he chokes out.
I widen my eyes, offended. “You don’t trust me to protect you?”
“I don’t even trust myself,” he snaps. “And I have abs.”
We turn a corner, and a person dressed as a spider lurches out, causing me to wince and Cameron to shriek at the top of his lungs, voice cannonballing through the evening. Despite his howling scream and terror, he lunges in front of me and sprawls his arms out. Protecting me.
“Dude, relax, it’s a costume,” the spider says, shoving his hands over his ears. “I’m not going to kill you.”
“Water boy, run; I’ll hold him off!” Cameron roars, but I’m too busy hunching over with laughter. The spider sighs and wanders off to find someone more suitable to scare.
“Y-you…” I can’t finish my sentence—at that point, I’m curled up on the ground, laughing so hard I can barely breathe.
“What are you doing?” Cameron demands, his cheeks red with humiliation or fear, I’m not sure which. He wraps a hand around my elbow and hoists me into the air like I weigh the amount of a toddler. His casual strength is attractive enough that it snaps me out of my laughter.
“Incredible,” I choke out, smearing tears from my eyes. “I’ve never heard anyone scream like that before—”
“Stop,” Cameron grumbles. He reaches out suddenly, and it’s startling enough that I reel backward, heart plunging into my stomach. His palm hesitates twelve inches from me and slowly retreats. “Your hand. Stop hiding your smile.”
“Oh.” I clear my throat, feeling sufficiently awkward as I start walking off. “Well, let’s find the exit.”
The goose bumps are poking prominently out of my skin, and Irealize that I’m cold despite the flannel jacket. I guess Cameron has this natural warmth that wards it all away, until you step too far out of his sphere.
Quickened footsteps approach behind me, and then two flaps of a jacket suddenly ensnare me, pulling me to a stop on the muddy pathway. I look down in puzzlement to find that Cameron has trapped me within the confines of his varsity jacket.
“Why?” he asks.
I can feel his firm, warm midsection pressed against my back—the rise and fall of his broad chest, the steady beat of his heart, which is maybe bigger than I thought it was. I try stepping out of his grip, but he tightens his hold around me, keeping the flaps of his jacket snug around my front. “Why what?” I ask with a sigh.
I feel a weight press into my beanie—he’s resting his chin against my head. “You can’t leave until you tell me why you cover your smile.”
He means it, but I don’t feel in danger. Maybe I’m even cozy. But if he realizes, he’ll get smug, and we can’t have that while I’m this vulnerable. “My smile is misleading,” I say, staring vacantly at the wall of corn carving a path before us. “I cover it so people don’t get the wrong idea.”
