I tried to wrap my head around that. “That’s messed up,” I said trying to fight a smile that was spreading across my face.
“Besides, I enjoy how you torture him. He has a hard on all the time,” she said smiling as Colt planted a chaste kiss on her lips.
“Oh, and Aria,” Colt added. “We spent most of last night talking about what we want to do to you when we get you home.” I gulped then smiled crookedly at both of them.
“You only talked about me one night?” I pouted playfully. Their laughter filled the bar as we started pounding shots. I thought about how Avery rescued me from Nate. How at any moment Nate could have forced himself inside me. Thankfully, my friends were there looking out for me. Avery was always there for me when I needed him. Because of him, I was safe.
I looked across the bar to Avery holding an ice pack on his right hand as he sipped a glass of whiskey. He scanned the rest of the room before he leaned against the inside of the bar and let his eyes fall on me. I smiled appreciatively to him and waved him over to us. Avery stared through me and shook his head. There was something in his expression that I couldn’t recognize. I picked up my whiskey and raised my shot glass to him. He followed suit and downed his glass then turned away.
“Aria, that was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen,” Ethan said with a heated look. “I want you to know that I’m going to fantasize about your threesome probably until the day I die,” he chuckled. “You are so damn hot, woman.”
“I’ll second that,” Wren said, stepping closer. “I just wish you would have chosen us,” he groaned. I looked at them regrettably.
“No worries, Kitten. We get it. This place is all about new experiences. It’s all good.” Ethan smiled at me warmly. I grinned back, relaxing a bit, knowing that they understood why I didn’t wait for them.
Ethan and Wren were amazing but Sean was incredible. My body trembled thinking of all the wonderful things he did to me tonight. I sat on the bar stool in my red lace bra and panties and let Colt suck me into a new joke he was telling. He nodded to Kim and she quickly got Sara and me another round.
We were on our seventh round and the Main Lodge was loud and hectic. It was toward the end of the night and it was filling with couples and singles coming out from their private rooms and glowing in sexual bliss.
I got up from my bar stool and felt my world sway just a bit. Okay, it was a lot. How much have I had to drink? Shit. I forgot to eat dinner. I was too nervous about tonight. What was I so worried about? My thoughts slurred.
I giggled to myself and made my way toward the main hallway toward the bathrooms. I couldn’t get my eyes to focus well but I knew the way by heart. I reached my hand out to steady myself on the wall beside me and that’s when it happened – It wasn’t a wall I tried to grab hold of, but one of the giant displays that Avery brought in to resemble a hospital sign. The entire ballroom was decorated with huge monitors flashing EKG vital signs, heart rates, and pulse readers. It was huge and expensive. Probably cost thousands.
As soon as I leaned against it, it was like the dominos I used to set up when I was a child. One by one they fell, crashing into the other, smashing into themselves as they toppled around the entire ballroom. Louder and louder it sounded. It was like the heartbeat of a giant, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, as they fell until at last, the heart gave out and there was silence. Thousands of dollars lay on the floor sizzling and excreting electric pops, until the monitors went dead.
Everyone in the room stopped and just stared. It was the kind of silence you only hear at a funeral parlor. I felt warm hands around my shoulders spinning me around. I blinked my eyes, trying to get him to come in focus.
“Aria, you alright?” Avery asked. His lips pulled into a straight line.
I blinked, then, blinked again. “Yep. Couldn’t be better,” I slurred.
He narrowed his eyes at me. Or at least I think he did. I swayed in his grasp. Then I hiccupped. Damn. Hiccups were a dead giveaway. Then I heard the most annoying sound in the world.
“Colt’s been feeding her drinks all night since she got back from her little threesome. Looks like someone likes to break the rules,” Caitlyn said, in her sickening-sweet irritating voice.
I hiccupped again. Damn it. I needed water.
Avery disregarded Caitlyn and dragged me back toward the bar where Colt and Sara were gathered with all our friends.
“Colt, Sara, come with me.” He pulled me toward the buffet and piled on French toast and bacon. I couldn’t help but recognize the similarities from the first breakfast we shared at his lagoon.
“All of you need to eat,” he barked.
Sara giggled at his serious tone. I snickered with her. She and I both erupted in a fit of giggles. Alcohol made everything funny. Even the buzzkill of Mr. Serious, Avery Jameson.
He set the plate down hard on the table in front of me and sat me in the seat. I felt stunned by his need to take care of me. I guess it was a good thing. At least now, my hiccups were gone.
Avery left, then came back with three tall glasses of ice water. He stood for a moment and took in a deep breath, then looked down at me.
“Aria, please eat something. You skipped dinner and you’ve had at least seven whiskey and Diet Cokes on an empty stomach.”
I nodded stiffly. How the hell did he know that? I took a big bite of French toast and I moaned, enjoying the taste of the warm syrup in my mouth.
Avery blinked at me and I could see his eyes darken as he shifted from one foot to another.
“God, Aria. You’re killing me when you moan like that,” his raspy voice said. His heated look disappeared and it was replaced with determination.
I took another bite as he waited for Sara and Colt to join me at the table. They were both ignorant to the fact that Avery had just had a moment of weakness. Avery leaned over so only the three of us could hear.
“Colt, I don’t want to hear about you breaking any more of my rules. More than one person saw your group getting her wasted. Look around at this mess. This is what happens when rules are disregarded. I’m stuck having to clean up the mess. I’m afraid your punishment will be kitchen duty tomorrow. You can help unload the supply truck.” Colt’s eyes narrowed at him.
“It’s the Olympics shipment,” Avery added, “And the temperature is going to be ninety five degrees with seventy percent humidity. Eat something then get to bed.”
“Shit,” Colt grumbled.
My eyes flashed to Colt as he fidgeted in his seat. His eyes filled with defeat as he looked to Avery and nodded.
“See all three of you at noon,” he smirked.
My eyes fell to the clock. It was nearly 4a.m. Oh hell. I was going to be hurting tomorrow.
“What?” I asked, as both Sara and Colt stared at me.
“The supply truck that’s coming tomorrow is for the three day Camp Olympics. It’s the biggest shipment we receive during a session. It’s a very big truck and it’ll take us hours to unload.”
My eyes followed Avery as he walked across the Main Lodge toward Kim. He whispered something in her ear and she nodded. She glanced at us and winked. I guess that answers that. Kim wasn’t in trouble. Just us.
Week Six:
DAY THIRTY-FIVE:
SUNDAY
KITCHEN DUTY
It was Sunday and the weather was sweltering. It was barely noon and it was so hot and humid that it was oppressive. I was so hungover that I barely remember arriving at the party last night, let alone smashing all of the displays in the ballroom. I felt terrible, about not only my head pounding, and the bouts of nausea, but about destroying $20,000 worth of electronics. Avery was so pissed last night. He seemed to get angrier the more he thought about it. Colt wasn’t ever supposed to be supplying his students alcohol, that and the fact that I was only twenty years old was bad enough. Avery did look the other way most of the time. That is, until something happened like someone getting out of control and destroying private property.
I finished my ener
gy drink and stepped up into the back of the supply truck to help unload it. My heart clenched when I saw him. Avery had his back to me and was bending over grabbing the next case of food. He stood and pivoted then faltered as he registered that I was standing there.
“You’re late. Where are the other two?” Avery sneered then handed off a case of canned peaches to me.
“I know. I’m sorry. I’m a little under the weather. Sara and Colt are on their way.” I rambled nervously. This was the first time I’d been this close to Avery and alone with him in a long time. He pushed the case into my hands and his fingers brushed mine. An electrifying touch coursed through my body and he gasped audibly. He felt it too. I ignored it and asked, “You didn’t punish Kim?”
“No, I didn’t. It wasn’t her fault. She was giving the drinks to Colt. What he did after he got them was the problem.”
“Then why after all these weeks of camp did you let us get away with it?” I asked, confused and angry.
He took a step closer. I could see his breathing had spiked. He was angry. I studied him.
“Are you taking all this out on me because you weren’t part of my threesome? You didn’t have to watch,” I said.
His nose flared and he stepped closer. “Let’s see, shall we. Let’s check the score of Aria the Tornado so far. You destroyed private property. You broke most of my camp rules, broke the underage drinking law and you continue to be mean to Caitlyn.”
“What?” I asked, hastily.
“She told me how you forced her to turn the lights on while you peed on my back lawn because it was your fantasy to be watched, and about how you two planned that mousetrap video for a YouTube prank video, and how you made her play it for the entire ballroom. She told me how she tried to talk you out of it but how you needed the attention so she went along with it. She was so distraught that she said she had to come apologize to me over and over again.”
“Oh, really? And you believed her?” I pulled my mouth closed and I recomposed myself. Then Avery continued.
“And yes, it would have been nice if I would have been invited into your little threesome with Sara. I am the owner of this goddamn camp and can bring a little something to the table. Besides, is it so wrong that I wanted to spend time with you? It seems I have to schedule the fucking time just to see you because you’ve become little miss popular,” he concluded.
I took a second to gather my swirling thoughts. “You’re the only one I want to be with. You’re the only one that makes any of this matter and you’ve made it clear you’ve wanted nothing to do with me! I’ve done what you’ve wanted and it’s still not good enough. Tell me what I have to do because quite frankly, you’re giving me whiplash,” I said, raising my chin.
His eyes narrowed as Pierce stepped out of the cold section of the truck carrying ice cream.
“Am I interrupting?” Pierce asked.
Avery rolled his eyes. “As always, brother, your timing is impeccable.”
“Hey, hot stuff,” he said, looking guilty toward Avery. Before I knew it, Avery was growling and pushing Pierce against the wall. The ice cream that pressed between them was Pierce’s only form of protection.
“Did you sleep with her?”
“You were with the blonde boxhead,” I called out to him. I couldn’t bring myself to say Caitlyn’s name. His eyes filled with regret as he looked to me. Then he loosened his grip on Pierce as he turned to me.
“KIM!” he called out.
“Yes, Avery?” she asked, as she appeared in the doorway.
“Find Ethan and Wren Cartwright. They just got put on barn duty tomorrow.” I narrowed my eyes at him. But he just narrowed his eyes right back at me.
“And find Sean Seeley, too. He’s on barn duty with them.” A fleeting satisfaction crept over his face.
“How could I ever think you were different?” he asked. His words struck me deeper than I ever wanted to admit to myself.
“I am different than all those other girls. You just chose not to see something that’s good and standing right in front of you,” I yelled back at him. My blood boiled. My hands were shaking and I almost dropped the case of peaches. I purposely tightened my hands around the cardboard box to steady myself. “And just so you know, Pierce and I talked about you most of the time that night, so fuck off, Avery!” He blinked in disbelief.
I turned and stepped off the truck and carried the case into the cabin, slamming it down on the counter beside Sara, who finally made it and went to work unpacking boxes. I huffed loudly. Sara glanced at me sideways. She knew that when I was in this kind of mood it was best to wait until I calmed down before she started her inquisition.
I didn’t speak but I stayed to help Sara unload the boxes onto the large metal shelves. I let Colt and Sara bring the remaining boxes in, preferring to stay in the kitchen unpacking them.
“I don’t want to get stuck with kitchen duty ever again. My head feels like a cannonball after it’s been shot out of a cannon,” Sara said, bringing in the last of the boxes.
I quickly went to work on breaking down the boxes and leaned them up against the wall for recycling.
“Go see what’s taking Colt and Pierce so long,” Sara said.
I heard the shouting before I emerged through the doorway.
“How could you? You know how I feel about her.”
Colt was trying to push his way between them. Avery’s fist met Pierce’s jaw. He stumbled backwards and righted himself. He rubbed his jaw as Colt held Avery back.
“I had to pin her down somehow,” Pierce said, rubbing his jaw.
“You son of a bitch,” he struggled out from under Colt’s grasp and lunged for his brother.
“Stop this, you idiots!” I shouted. “Avery, don’t you dare try to play the angel here. You crushed me and Pierce was only trying to help you. We didn’t fuck. I told you we talked about you. Are you happy? Is that what you wanted to hear? Is that what you wanted to know?” My voice rose up an octave. “How about I tell you how he convinced me to tell you how I felt about you and when we drove to your house you were with, Cait...you know what…never mind. I’m not doing this. Not in front of everyone.”
His eyes scanned those around us, and let his hands fall to the side. Pierce cursed and mumbled something about getting some ice, then turned toward the quad, hopped on and peeled out towards his cabin. Avery was left breathing hard and fast, looking at me with a confused expression on his face. Sara stepped beside Colt. Avery’s eyes flashed toward them then back to me. He ran his fingers through his hair and cursed under his breath as he jumped down out of the truck.
Avery had always been in control, strong, confident. In this moment he looked rattled. I could feel Sara and Colt’s eyes on me. I looked to see a questioning look in their eyes.
Avery slammed the back door of the truck and stormed through the cabin’s side door. I kept my eyes on him until he was out of view. I just stared at the door, wishing he would come back. But he was just like me, he knew how to run from heartache. Pierce was right. We were alike in so many ways.
“You have something you need to tell me?” Sara inquired loudly.
“No, there’s nothing to tell,” I said, surprisingly calm, while looking to the ground.
“How could you not tell me about you and Avery?” She waited for my response but when I didn’t give one, she continued. “All I have to say is I’m really disappointed in you. I warned you to stay away from him,” Sara said heatedly. I shifted my eyes to see my best friend’s disappointment reflecting in her eyes.
“I know!” I said. But before I could storm away, Kim reappeared in the doorway.
“Aria. Avery has put you and Sara on barn duty. Report Tuesday to the stables,” she said.
“Mother fucker!” we both cried in unison.
DAY THIRTY-EIGHT:
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON
BARN DUTY
For two days, I had spent all my extra time with Sara grooming the horses in the nearby stalls. Avery was o
n a rampage, punishing everyone that slept with me, including Sara.
It was awkward running into Ethan, Sean, and Wren since it was easy to figure out they were being punished because of me. But I found an instant calm each time I was near one of the horses. I purposely only groomed the white one and kept away from the brown one. It was childish to think a horse had the same color hair as Avery but I kept that to myself. I had done well so far, avoiding any explanation of my situation to Sara. But the Camp Olympics were starting tomorrow. Three days of more competition. Yippee!
I knew I needed Sara to get through this week. I had never seen her so mad at me before.
I brushed the white Arabian, thinking how Sara and I hadn’t spoken since unloading the truck outside the Main Lodge and I was overwhelmed emotionally. I hadn’t slept since then, thus the bags under my eyes, as I looked in the mirror above the bench trying to figure out how it all went wrong.
I moved to the doorway of the stall and looked out to the extravagant barn that Avery had built. I could hear Sara filling water buckets at the outside spigot. The fragrant wild orchids nearby made me think of Avery’s Lagoon. I breathed in the fragrance of the horses and tried not to let my thoughts go down that path. I walked over and sat on one of the benches in the barn along the row of horse stalls. Avery kept returning to my thoughts. He thought I slept with Pierce. He knew about Ethan. He knew about Wren. He saw me with Sean and Sara. God, who was I turning into?
I finally let the floodgate release as I laid my head over on the bench and cried. I felt Sara sit beside me and lift my head onto her lap. She gently ran her fingers through my hair.
“Aria, you’re scaring me. I know you don’t want to, but please tell me what happened,” Sara begged.
I sucked in a deep breath and turned toward her. I studied her. She was my best friend. I let out the breath I’d been holding and started from the beginning.
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