DISCLAIMER: This is the fourth part of a longer story. For the best reading experience, start this story at the beginning. The story contains plenty of sex, but this chapter does not. If you appreciate stories that build, you may like this. If you want a quick read, this may not be for you.
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After the barbecue, it was two weeks before I heard from Cam. During this period, I vacillated between disappointment and relief, uncertain whether I actually wanted him to call me. It is worth mentioning that, at the time I met Cam, my experience with boys was very limited. I was familiar with shy, awkward boys like Caleb, who clammed up whenever I was around. And I had received more than my share of attention from guys like Todd, who took a brute force approach to courting me. Although guys like Caleb and Todd seem to be very different, they both have insecurities in common. Cam, on the other hand, was an entirely different breed. His attitude suggested that he knew something I didn't, and I wanted to know what it was.
Finally, a few days before my recruiting visit to Stanford, he messaged me to find out when I was arriving and who I was staying with. His messages were surprisingly subdued, innocuous inquiries without any discernible subtext. Hadn't he been flirting with me at the barbecue, or was it my imagination? For two weeks, I had been going over the exchange in my mind, replaying the words he had said and the way he had touched me. Is it possible that he was just being friendly?
Now, of course, I am aware that seduction is a game of push-and-pull, that savvy men act unpredictably to keep their prey from getting too comfortable and gaining the upper hand. But, as I said, I had little experience with such men at that time.
In my old life before the scandal, dating had been discouraged, if not prohibited outright. Both of my parents viewed boys with suspicion, and they made sure to keep me busy with activities like tennis and community service that left little idle time for parties where people might hook up. My most adventurous sexual encounters to date had come during sleepovers at my friend's house. One night, I happened to be awake after she fell asleep when her older brother came home from an evening of drinking with his friends. What started out as a conversation culminated in a kiss, and whenever I slept over from then on, I would sneak downstairs to rendezvous with him in the middle of the night. These illicit hookups never went too far with his parents and sister asleep upstairs: we would makeout and he would feel me up, but aside from rubbing him through his sweatpants, everything we did stayed above the waistline. When I first met Cam, the only penis I had ever seen in the flesh belonged to my little brother Benji, who ran around the house naked until he was almost 7. Pretty tame stuff for an 18-year-old girl, but that was me.
When my Mom and I showed up on the Stanford campus that afternoon, I really had no idea what to expect from Cam. To my surprise and my mother's delight, he turned out to be a perfect gentleman, a charming conversationalist, and an enthusiastic ambassador for the school. He toured us all around, pointing out interesting buildings, historic sites, and popular student hangouts on and off campus. And he seemed to know everyone. Every few minutes, someone would shout his name, give him a high-five, or wish him good luck with the upcoming baseball season. I couldn't help but notice that many of his admirers were pretty girls. This initially reminded me of the strolls through campus I used to take with my Dad, but the thought disappeared as the afternoon wore on and I became more comfortable around Cam.
At the end of our tour, Cam walked us over to the dorm where I would be staying the night with two sophomore girls on the tennis team.
"Do you live here, too?" My Mom asked him.
"No, I don't live in the dorms anymore," he said. "I live in a house off campus with a few of the other baseball guys."
"Do you know any of the girls on the tennis team?" She followed up.
"Yes, a few," he grinned. "But neither of the girls that Lola is staying with tonight."
As we approached the dorm, two girls were standing outside in Stanford Tennis hoodies. They waved to us. One was Asian, the other white. I wondered if Coach Matthews had told the tennis coach that I was mixed.
"Well, this is where I leave you," Cam said. "Ms. Kim, so nice to see you again." He gave my Mom a hug.
"Thank you so much, Cam." He really had charmed my Mom. I hadn't seen her show such warmth towards a man since she had divorced my Dad. "It was very kind of you to spend so much time with us."
"Lola," he turned to me. "If you need anything later, just text me."
"Okay," I said. "Thanks, Cam." I stood there for a second, awkwardly waiting for my own hug. But Cam just flashed me a smile and walked away.
After meeting Chloe and Danielle, the two girls I was staying with, my Mom pulled me aside.
She looked at me with concern. "Are you having fun?"
"Yeah," I replied, a bit puzzled by the question.
"This is exciting, isn't it?" She looked around. "We're at Stanford! This could be your future, Lola."
"I know, Mom."
"Honey, I know the last few months have been hard on you, but I want you to know how proud I am of you." She leaned in and gave me a big hug. "My little peanut is all grown up!"
"Mom, come on," I said, glancing up at the other girls in embarrassment.
"Okay, okay," she pulled away, wiping a tear from her eye. "I'm going to go back to the hotel now. Have fun tonight, but be safe, okay?"
I nodded.
"See you tomorrow morning for breakfast," she said. She turned to Chloe and Danielle. "Bye girls!"
"Bye, Ms. Kim!" They called back.
As soon as we entered the dorm, Danielle spun around.
"Okay, how do you know Cam Matthews?"
"Seriously," Chloe said. "What was he doing here?"
"Oh," I said, caught off guard by the intensity of their interest. "He gave me a tour of the campus."
"Oh my god," Chloe gave Danielle a shove. "You got a campus tour from Cam Matthews?! What do I have to do to get one of those?"
"Filling out a C cup would probably be a good start," Danielle joked.
"Shut up," Chloe laughed. "Let a girl dream for once."
"For real, though," Danielle said, opening the door to their room. "How did that happen, Lola?"
"He's a family friend," I said sheepishly. "His mom is my tennis coach. I play tennis with his little brother."
"Wow," Danielle whistled. "Lucky Lola."
"What the hell?" Chloe pretended to pout. "How is the prefrosh already getting hotter guys than me? Life is so unfair."
"Wait," I said. "How do you two know Cam?"
They exchanged looks.
"Well, first of all, everyone knows Cam," Danielle said. "He's the star of the baseball team and probably going to get drafted by a major league team next year."
"Second, have you seen him?" Chloe rolled her eyes back in her head. "I can practically feel the heat radiating off him from here."
"I think that's coming from between your legs," Danielle clowned. She turned to me and whispered, loud enough for Chloe to hear. "Her regular hookup is on study abroad, so she's been like a bitch in heat recently."
"Whatever," Chloe said. "I just know a fine-looking piece of man when I see one."
"So what's he really like?" I asked. "I actually don't know him that well."
"Well," Danielle said. "You know he's a player, right?"
"Like, a baseball player?"
"No, honey," Chloe chuckled. "Like he fucks a lot of girls. That type of player."
