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guess’?”
    My heart pounded and the temperature shot up twenty degrees. Here we go . “I don’t have a lot of experience with stuff like that.”
    Cami exhaled and I finally tore my eyes away from the now disintegrating towel. She shook her head and tapped her toe. “Okay, confession time. You keep saying your dad was overprotective and all that, but I assumed that just meant you had an early curfew. Now I’m getting the impression that wasn’t it. Exactly how strict was he?”
    I took a deep breath and squeezed the paper towel tighter. A few drops fell from the damp paper before I finally relaxed my hand and tossed it in the garbage. Cami never took her eyes off me. Even though the expression on her face made me want to run and hide, I knew I needed to be honest. After all, I was counting on her to help me get through all these new experiences. There was no way I could do it on my own, and Cami seemed like the perfect amount of wild for me. Not so much that she’d get me arrested, but enough that she’d help me get a little drunk and maybe go skinny-dipping.
    â€œI wasn’t allowed to do anything,” I mumbled. I focused on her chin instead of her eyes.
    Cami huffed. “Look at me.” I looked up and she narrowed her eyes on my face. “What do you mean?”
    â€œI wasn’t allowed to go anywhere without my brothers.”
    â€œOkay . . .” Cami pursed her lips for a few seconds before saying, “So you’ve never dated?” I shook my head. “Never gone to the prom or to a party?” I shook my head again. “What did you do in high school?”
    I shrugged and shifted from foot to foot. “I played volleyball and went out with my brothers and their friends.”
    â€œDidn’t any of their friends ever flirt with you or ask you out?”
    â€œI was one of the guys. Plus, my brothers never would have let it happen. It was ingrained in them from a young age that they needed to look out for me.”
    â€œWhy?” Cami whispered. “Why was your dad so protective?”
    That was the one thing I couldn’t talk about. None of us talked about why I had to be protected. “He just was.”
    Cami exhaled again and ran her hand through her hair. “I wish I’d known this before we went out.” She tapped her toe on the floor, then shook her head. “We need to go home.”
    My mouth dropped open and I shook my head desperately. I thought she would help me! I didn’t think she’d be on my dad’s side or I never would have told her. “I don’t want to go home!”
    She waved her hand in the air, then grabbed my arm. “Relax. I just think we need to discuss this in a more private place. I’m not going to keep you trapped in a bubble. That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”
    I relaxed and allowed her to lead me through the bar even though I wasn’t ready to go home. She was going to help me. Somehow, I’d known the second I set eyes on Cami that I could count on her.

4
    I t was almost one by the time Cami and I were both showered and dressed in our PJs. Ryan and Chris had been nice enough to walk us back to the dorm, even though to them it was still early. It probably had something to do with the beer they spilled all over me.
    Cami pulled her desk chair out and took a seat. She motioned for me to do the same. “Sit down and let’s figure this out.”
    I smiled because she suddenly seemed so mature. Nothing like the silly girl I’d met earlier who complained about not having enough room for her clothes.
    She drummed her fingers on her knee and pressed her lips together. “I want to get this out there because it’s nothing I ever want to go through again, understand?” Her words made the smile melt off my face and my pulse kick up a notch. “You can’t go crazy, okay?”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    She sighed