by Kay Gordon
“Beauty queen of only eighteen, she had some trouble with herself,” Drew sang loudly behind me, causing me to turn and glare. He just laughed and walked back to his table. When I twisted back around, I almost ran right into Christy.
“Oh, sorry,” I mumbled quietly as I tried to step around her. She shifted slightly before I could and leaned in with a scathing look on her face.
“Throwing yourself all over him in public just makes you look like a desperate floozy.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I replied before quickly stepping around her to head back to my table. I silently wondered if she was going to continue being passive-aggressive for the rest of the summer. She wasn’t the only one, though. I caught Keaton’s eye and he was frowning at me. I just offered him a smile and took my seat across from Emma.
We headed back to the cabin once we were done eating so the girls could change into their bathing suits. It took them less than ten minutes and I cleared my throat to grab their attention before they could leave for the lake.
“We’re going to have a truce between Cabin Seven for the week. There won’t be any points for pranks or games starting Monday and ending Saturday evening.”
Hannah nodded as she pulled her hair into a ponytail. “During that time, we encourage you to decide if you want to ask someone to the dance. You don’t have to wait for them to ask you. They can be from any of the cabins with seventh graders and up of either gender.”
“And you can go stag or in small groups,” I added quickly. “There’s no shame in that.”
“Very true.” Hannah agreed with a nod. “Anyway, the moral of this pep talk was: No pranks starting Monday, be weary of pranks tonight and tomorrow, decide what you want to do about the dance.”
“Exactly. Now go swim. Be good and don’t drown.” I smiled as they all filed out the door and I went into our room to grab my sunglasses.
Hannah sighed and shook her head as she reached into her drawer for something. “I hate archery.”
“Please don’t say that around the girls,” I replied with a quiet chuckle.
We walked across the grounds and to where we had to spend two sessions with campers as we helped them with their form. Somewhere in there, I ended up with a black eye when a fourth grader’s grip slipped and her elbow connected with my face.
“Well, none of your blood vessels are broken,” Anna commented as she shined a light in my eye ten minutes later. I was in the health center with my legs dangling over the side of the exam table. “It’s already bruising, though, but it’s not too bad. Any dizziness?”
I shook my head and gave her a wry smile. “I’m fine. I’m only here because Howard witnessed it and made me come.”
“Let me know if it starts to swell, okay?”
“Thanks, Anna.” I pushed myself off of the exam table and walked out the door. We only had twenty minutes left of archery so I headed back to the cabin instead. I was just walking up the stairs when four boys ran out the door and brushed by me. When Drew appeared in the doorway with a lazy smile, his teeth still with a slight green tinge, I laughed quietly.
“Busted.”
He opened the door and gestured for me to walk in. “Shouldn’t you be at an activity?”
“Same could be said for you,” I replied as I stood in the main area of the cabin. Nothing looked out of ordinary but that didn’t mean anything. I turned to look at Drew and raised my brows. “Were you already finished or did I come in during the heist?”
His smiled dropped and he immediately brought his hand up to my face. “What happened to you?”
I leaned into his touch as his thumb grazed under my eye. “I was beat up by a nine-year-old.” I gripped his raised hand in mine and pulled him to my room. “Do you need to get back to your kids?”
“I sent them back to the golf range for the last twenty minutes.” He pulled his hand from my grip and wrapped both arms around my middle.
“Want to make out like teenagers for twenty minutes?” I grinned up at him and he chuckled before pressing his lips to mine.
Every time he touched me, my body sang. My hands slipped under his shirt and ran up his bare back as he tangled his fingers in my hair. Our tongues danced together and Drew gently tugged on my hair to tilt my head back. His lips ran down my throat and I dug my nails into his skin as I shook my head.
“You’re mouth isn’t allowed there.”
He chuckled and buried his face in the crook of my neck. “I have to stop.”
“Or,” I offered as I released him so I could dig around in my drawer. “We could go into the bathroom where the door locks.” I held up a condom and Drew lifted his head to stare at me for a moment.
“Sex in the bathroom sounds too trashy for you.” His eyes were a dark turquoise color and I shook my head.
“Sex with you anywhere isn’t trashy, Drew.”
Just minutes later, my shorts were on the floor of the bathroom as I sat on the counter top. Drew stood between my legs and thrust his hips against mine while we continued kissing zealously. He separated our mouths and dropped his forehead to mine.
“Do you feel it, too, Shay? How perfect this is?”
I nodded and locked my ankles behind his back. “Will it ever not be perfect?”
“I hope not.” His voice was a hoarse whisper and he increased the force of his thrusts. When I began to tense up, Drew covered my mouth with his and swallowed any noises I made during my overpowering orgasm. His grunts followed soon after and our bodies collapsed against one another.
I feathered light kisses down the side of his face before meeting his lips. We stayed cuddled together for a few more minutes before we both pulled our pants up and went back out to the bedroom.
“Thank you,” I said quietly, running my hand down his flushed cheek. Drew just smiled and covered my hand with his own.
“Don’t thank me. Being with you is like a dream.”
The door opened and Hannah appeared a second later. Surprise crossed her face before she smirked.
“Oh, I see why you didn’t come back now.”
I grinned and shook my head. “I caught him and a few of our boys in our cabin. I was trying to sweat him for information but he’s not breaking.”
“You would be a terrible interrogator, Butler.” He walked over to my dresser and picked up one of the peach scented, heart shaped soaps that I had sitting out. “You girls have no idea if we even did anything.”
The five minute warming chimed and I shoved on his shoulder lightly. “Go away. We have pottery next.”
“Okay.” He pressed a kiss to my nose and handed me the soap. I shook my head and pushed it back to his chest.
“Your stinky cabin could use something fresh and beautiful.”
Drew just laughed as he closed his fist around the soap and walked out the door with a wave. Hannah inspected my face with a slight chuckle.
“Damn. That’s going to give you street cred.”
I laughed and linked my arm through hers as we walked towards the arts and crafts building. I made it through pottery without getting another black eye but my campers all gasped when they saw the one on my face. They gasped even louder when I insisted that Hannah was the one that hit me. She instantly denied it and retold the story of me getting my ass kicked by a fourth grader.
No pranks made themselves apparent during our rest hour and we finished out the afternoon activities and dinner without any incident. It didn’t stop me from checking the toilets every time I went into the bathrooms and I was still very weary of toothpaste. When I opened my drawer to get my sweatshirt, I stepped back and gingerly went through my stuff as if it would explode.
We headed down to the bonfire and Drew was already there with Jordan and their campers. I smiled when our girls immediately sat with Cabin Seven and Hannah sighed next to me.
“That’s better.”
“Definitely.” I nudged her with my shoulder before walking over to start se
tting up the snacks. I was pouring the marshmallows into a bowl when Aubrey walked up and started opening the graham crackers.
“That thing with the dye and the toothbrushes was amazing,” she said with a grin and I popped a marshmallow in my mouth as I nodded.
“I’m pretty proud of it.” I dropped my voice and raised my eyebrows. “I’m also scared shitless of what’s next for us.”
She laughed out loud and almost dropped the crackers in her hands. “I would be, too.” She paused and cocked her head as she looked at me. “Do you seriously have a black eye?”
“Would you believe me if I said Hannah did it?”
“No.” Aubrey glanced over her should before looking back at me. “I love Han, but you’d kick her ass.”
An arm dropped across my shoulders before lips pressed to my temple. “Would you believe her if she said I did it?”
“She’d kick your ass, too, Drew.” Aubrey grinned and I nodded in agreement.
“It’s true. That nine-year-old archer was tougher than this guy.”
Aubrey laughed and leaned in to inspect the man next to me. “Are your teeth green?”
I was in the middle of chewing on another marshmallow and accidentally inhaled it when I laughed. As I choked on that damn piece of sugar, Drew stared at me with a smug look on his face. When my windpipe finally cleared, he shrugged his shoulders.
“I heard that karma tastes similar to a marshmallow.”
We all laughed again and Aubrey went to take a seat with some other counselors when Howard stood near the fire pit. Drew and I stood at the snack center with our hands entwined and I dropped my head to his shoulder.
“Welcome to the end of Week Four, campers! Can you believe half of the summer is gone already?” Howard released a wistful sigh and smiled as he began listing off some reminders. I only half-listened. Four hours of sleep was catching up to me. “I also want to remind you that we have movies under the stars this Friday. For those who are not old enough or do not wish to attend the ball, we will be spending the evening on the soccer field. There will be movies, games, snacks, and so much more. For those of you that wish to attend the ball, remember that it will be held in the rec hall from seven until midnight. If you are attending, you need to let your counselors know by the end of the day tomorrow.”
“I’m excited to see you in a tie,” I murmured and Drew squeezed my hand.
“I’m excited to see you in a dress.”
May and Howard began the sing-a-long once the announcements were done and I walked around to help kids with their snacks. After about twenty minutes, I stepped back and ate my own s’more by the snack table. Drew rejoined me after finishing up with a young camper. I held up the dessert in my hand and he immediately took a bite.
Neither of us said anything. I was beginning to realize that a lot of time we spent together was either in silence or having sex. I wasn’t sure if that was a bad thing but it definitely couldn’t have been good. I didn’t question it, though. After all, we’d really only been doing whatever we were doing a week and a half.
When Howard dismissed the campers to their cabins, Drew gave me a sweet kiss and went to gather his kids. I stood off to the side with Hannah as our campers gathered around and we headed back to the cabin.
“Showers, please,” I commanded softly and the girls all started doing what they needed to get ready for bed. Hannah went to shower herself and I stayed out in the main area like I normally did. About five minutes had gone by before I heard shrieking coming from the bathroom. I was on my feet quickly as I ran into where Nicole, Alexandra, and Maria were supposed to be showering.
“What’s wrong?”
Nicole stepped out of the stall with rage on her blue face.
Blue. She had been dyed blue.
“It’s coming from the showerhead!” Maria yelled as she pulled her curtain open to reveal that she was red.
I leaned into the stall that a very purple Alexandra had been in and turned on the shower and, sure enough, purple rained from the faucet. I had no idea how or what they’d done but the stream seemed never ending. The water finally ran clear after a few moments and I shook my head.
“I don’t know how they did that…” I sniffed Alexandra and sighed. “Grape. It’s Kool-Aid.”
Hannah came stomping into the bathroom area, her skin also a brilliant shade of red.
“I’m going to kill them.”
I spent the next thirty minutes helping the girls all scrub their skin but it was hard to get off. Eventually they were all lightly tinted rather than dyed and I made sure every shower ran clear before making the girls finish up.
I stood back and watched them all get into bed with my hand hovering over the light switch. Four of the girls cried out at simultaneously and I had no idea what was going on. They were suddenly jumping out of bed and pulling their blankets back.
“Pinecones and leaves in our blankets,” Thalia moaned as she pulled her covers back. “And the leaves are so mashed that they’re going to take forever to get them out.”
We were almost an hour late turning the lights out and I was just thankful that we weren’t caught breaking that rule. It would have messed up our perfect inspection record and I wasn’t ready for that to happen.
“Okay. That’s war,” I declared as I shut the door to the main cabin and turned my eyes on Hannah. “I have one more thing I want to do before the truce happens at midnight tomorrow and it involves me going over there tonight.”
Hannah didn’t even smile, obviously still mad at that her skin had a red hue to it. “What can I do to help?”
Chapter Nineteen
I was exhausted but the need for revenge had reinvigorated me. So, I went for my run even though I really didn’t want to. I needed to do it just in case Drew was waiting to gloat and also to take a sweep by their cabin to make sure everyone was in bed.
Drew was nowhere to be found and their cabin was quiet when I snuck up to it in the shadows. Without being detected, I went back to our own cabin and got everything I needed together. I sat on my bed afterwards with my yarn and hook, working on the throw that was almost done. I made a lot of progress over the next two hours in an attempt to stay awake and put everything away shortly before one in the morning.
With my bag on my arm, I dashed across the campus until I was back at Cabin Seven. Listening outside the doors, I confirmed that both counselors were snoring before going in the back door. Even in the dark, I could tell all ten boys were asleep, too, so I dashed into the bathroom quickly.
Taking the showerheads off was harder than I thought it would be and it took me more than thirty minutes before each one had been taken off and replaced. I did the same thing in Drew and Jordan’s bathroom and made sure they were still asleep before going back into the main area.
I pulled out all three cans of open tuna fish and hid them under two beds and on one shelf, tucked behind things so they weren’t easily seen. I had to hold my breath at one point when one of the boys shifted in his sleep as if he was awake.
Once everything was in place, I went to where my backpack was on the floor by the back door. I pulled the disturbing clown mask out and tugged it over my face. Sucking in a deep breath, I took a step towards the first sleeping teenager.
Suddenly, a hand went around my waist while another clapped over my rubber-covered mouth, not quite concealing my surprised yelp. That set off a chain of events because one of the boys heard me and saw a scary, struggling clown in the corner, causing him to yell in surprise. The cabin was abruptly filled with startled yells, soft curses, and laughter as a light went on and the mask was pulled back up over my head.
“Hey, babe.” Drew’s breath tickled my ear as the arm around my waist tightened and I was pulled up against a warm chest. “What are you doing in here?”
“Oh, you know. I was just out for a midnight stroll.” I waved my hand dismissively and grinned at the teenaged boys in front of me. “Everyone having a go
od night?”
Jordan laughed as he appeared in the open cabin. “Trying to get one more prank in before the moratorium tonight?”
“Your girlfriend practically insisted when she came out of the shower stained red tonight.”
All of the boys laughed, including Drew behind me. I felt his nose skim my neck before he spoke again. “We’re still trying to figure out a way to top the toothpaste, Butler. The week off just gives us an opportunity to brainstorm.”
“What do we do now that we caught her?” asked a boy named Luka as he looked at me with his arms crossed. Another one of them, Spencer, grinned evilly.
“We could strip her down to her underwear and tie her to the flag pole.”
I rolled my eyes at the same time Drew’s body stiffened behind me. A third boy named Titus nudged the second and scoffed.
“That’s Drew’s girlfriend. He’d never let us do that.”
“Not just because she’s my girlfriend,” Drew said, his tone low and somewhat scary. “Humiliating people is not cool. Stripping women down involuntarily is definitely not okay. Remember that, Spencer.”
“Remember that everyone,” Jordan chimed in with a shake of his head. “As far as what we’re going to do with her, we let her go with the shame and knowledge that she’s been caught.”
I had to hide my smile. They thought my only prank had been the mask. I hung my head in shame and let out a long sigh. “Can I at least have my mask back?”
“No.” Drew pressed a kiss to the skin below my ear. “Come on, I’ll walk you back.”
“Fine, fine. This isn’t over, Cabin Seven.” I pat Drew’s hand and he let go of me so I could bend down to grab my backpack. If Drew and Jordan insisted on searching it, I was screwed. There were tools, lids to tuna cans, and wrappers inside. I offered the boys a wave and walked out the front door with Drew behind me.
“Okay, back to bed,” Jordan could be heard saying behind us. “Morning will be here soon.”
Drew’s fingers entwined with mine and I looked over at him with a grin. “You were sleeping. I checked. What woke you?”
