Entangled Summer

by Barrow-Belisle, Michele

“Well, that was awkward.” I said.

  “Don't worry about her. She’s harmless.”

  “Yeah, that’s what every male praying mantis says, right before the female bites off his head. Apparently she does that before they consummate. Something about him being a better lover without his brain?” I shrugged. “National geographic.”

  Troy stared. “Not sure if I’m turned on, or deeply disturbed by you right now.”

  He tossed me a plush bath towel, and I had to laugh.

  “Spend a lot of time tossing girls into your pond?”

  “First off, you jumped in,” he said, “and second, I’ve told you before. There are no other girls. Only you.”

  Mmmm. I would never get tired of hearing that even if I knew it was only partly true. I wasn’t born yesterday, he had to have had other girls in his life. Celeste for one. But the fact that he made me feel like he hadn’t, meant a lot.

  “So, what was all that anyway?” I angled my head toward to the door, as I rubbed my hair. “What was Grace on about, or is that classified? The kind of info that if you told me, you’d have to kill me?”

  He chuckled, and handed me a dry t-shirt. It was warm from the sun and smelled like him.

  “Actually, it has something to do with you.”

  “Me?” I lowered the towel. “What about me?”

  “Not you exactly.” He tugged a dry t-shirt down over his head—sexy as hell—and tossed his towel on the floor. For a moment I lost all concentration on what he was saying.

  “It’s Kenzie.”

  “Kenzie?” Concentration snapped back. I walked over to him, my feet squeaking with every step. Not so sexy. “Don’t tell me you guys want her fired after all this time?”

  He shook his head. “We try to let some infractions slide when they’re not hurting anyone. But she’s dating someone who might not be good for her.”

  I digested that for a moment. Since when was he concerned who my best friend was dating? “You mean the guy from Anime club... Steve? What’s wrong with him?” He seemed harmless enough.

  “He’s dangerous.”

  “So is she,” I laughed.

  “I’m serious Nora.”

  “So am I. You haven’t seen the remains of the guys she’s gone out with, who crossed her. I’m pretty sure she can take care of herself.”

  He hesitated a little. “Just the same, I want to check this guy out. He’s someone I used to know, who may be looking for a way to get back at me.”

  “Through Kenzie?” I frowned. “That makes no sense.”

  “Let’s just say we had a difference of opinion about a class he was doing... or more to the point, a student he was doing.”

  “Ah. He had relations with one of his students?”

  “He was fired and he launched a lawsuit for wrongful dismissal, since the girl was over eighteen. They struck a deal and let him back in, mostly to avoid a scandal. Boards hate that kind of thing.”

  “Talk about hypocritical, you broke that rule ages ago.” I teased, ruffling his still wet hair.

  “Yeah well, those lips bring out the risk-taker in me.” He looped his arm around my waist and pulled me in for a brief kiss. “You are not my student Nora, and last year was different.”

  “Because?”

  “Because we weren’t here.”

  “Circular logic, but whatever. So what do you want me to do?”

  “Double date.”

  “Double date?” I pushed my still damp hair out of my face. “With who?”

  “I was thinking with us.”

  “Us. You want to go public that way? On a double date with Kenzie and Steve. But... won’t that get us both into trouble?”

  “We’ll go as friends. You up for it?”

  I frowned. “A fake double date to spy on my best friend’s boyfriend? Who wouldn’t be up for that?”

  “Good,” he said. “Now your job is to convince Kenzie.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  I’d never been into the whole double dating thing. Probably because I’d never been into the whole dating thing. But here, so far from school grounds, sitting at a table for four with just Troy and no prying eyes…it was bliss.

  He ran his finger lightly over my arm. “Are you spending the night at my place Friday?” he said in a low voice. “I have something special in mind.”

  Chills broke out all over my arm and I knew my face was flushed from the way too inappropriate thoughts he’d just put into my head.

  “Does something special translate into something sinful?”

  “Something sinful?” Kenzie parroted loudly. She beamed at us, her eyes lit with mischief. “Do I want to know what that is about?” She circled her index finger in front of my blushing face as she sat down across from us. “You’ve got that harlot flush going on. Tell me about the something sinful.”

  “Kenzie,” I warned.

  “Ooh, remember that guy I met at the church picnic?”

  “She doesn't actually go to church,” I whispered to Troy, “she just crashed a picnic.”

  “Hey, the sign said everyone welcome. —Confessional booth, now that was sinful. Possibly illegal if we’d been in Vatican City.” She shrugged, then flagged down the waitress.

  Troy and I exchanged a look.

  “What's everyone drinking? First round’s on me.”

  “Nothing for me,” I said.

  She gave me a withering look.

  “Fine, I'll have a virgin margarita.”

  “Come on, you're off duty Dultry.” Then she proceeded to order three beers, and a double margarita for me.

  When the waitress left, she frowned at me. “What is it with you and virginity?”

  I cringed, as Troy hid his flirtatious grin from the pair of camp interns who passed by.

  Great. Prying eyes. We’d have to be on our best behavior anyway once Steve got here.

  Kenzie grabbed a handful of warm tortilla chips from the basket on our table. “What is it with both of you?” she said around crunching. “My first boyfriend and I broke two beds before we hit the two week mark. What’s it been for you guys, 20 weeks?”

  “Six.” We said it in unison. I bit back my smile as Kenzie rolled her eyes.

  “My point exactly. You know, if a meteor hits Camp Wanderlust tonight, you'll wish you'd listened to me. Cautionary tale my friends.”

  My mouth fell open slightly as I shook my head. Troy just laughed. But before Kenzie could force us to explain our dismal lack of carnal destruction, she jumped up and dove into the arms of a guy I’d seen her hanging out with a lot lately. She dragged him to our table and forced him to sit.

  Troy’s hand slipped away from my thigh.

  “Everyone, this is Steve. Steve Caldwell.”

  I nodded my hello, and he winked at me.

  “Hey everyone,” he said with a wide grin, although I noticed he didn’t make eye contact with Troy.

  I wagged my brows at Kenzie, as she curled in next to him on her stool. Before long it was like they’d forgotten we were even there.

  I stared at the flickering votives for a while, then turned toward Troy.

  “She has a point,” I said, quietly.

  “I don't know,” Troy wrinkled his nose at me, “not much celestial activity lately.” He teased.

  “Not about the meteor. About us.”

  “You think she's right?” he murmured, all teasing gone from his voice.

  “I know she's right. I don't want to wait.”

  His eyes were still locked on mine. “Because Kenzie thinks we shouldn't?”

  “Because when you know what you want, you generally want it right away.”

  He smiled a little then leaned his lips next to my ear. “So are you coming over Friday night?” he whispered.

  “Depends—will there be s’mores?”

  With a deep laugh, his fingers lifted my hair back over my shoulder. “Whatever your heart desires.”

  “I’ll hold you to that. But, I can’t Friday, Kenzie’s t
heater group bonfire, remember?”

  His gaze flicked to Kenzie who had her head on Steve’s shoulder. I noticed the way Troy’s shoulders squared as he watched them.

  “Okay, what is that about?” I whispered shifting to face him. “You’ve been giving that Steve guy the stink-eye since he got here. You two have personal history or something? Beyond the dismissal?”

  “Sort of,” he said, but then he pulled his gaze away from them, and placed his full attention back on me. “Not important. I was in the midst of trying to persuade you to spent time with me Friday.”

  I made a soft kissy noise next to his ear. “Saturday night. I have to play chaperon Friday. Your rules, remember.”

  I leaned away from him as a few more staff walked past us. On the school grounds, our dining hall was restricted to staff only, so we had some kid-free time to ourselves during the day. Every so often one or two came through for some reason or another. But Troy always seemed less concerned about the students finding out about us, than the staff, until tonight. Or at least that’s how it seemed considering he’d had his hand resting on my thigh under the table, until Steve joined us.

  "Hey,” Kenzie piped up, “here's to an excellent summer." She lifted her glass in a toast, but then abandoned it when the song changed. She twirled off dragging Steve to dance as the music pumped out a heavy base.

  I tugged off the thin sweater I'd worn over Kenzie’s low-cut sundress. Troy's eyes slid over me appreciatively and he lowered the glass from his lips without taking a sip. "Nice dress."

  "You like?"

  "Oh I like."

  "So," I scooted closer to him. "What exactly were you planning Friday night?"

  Without checking if anyone was watching, his hand skimmed my bare arm. "You'll have to be patient," he said, kissing my shoulder, "but I promise," —another kiss on my cheek, "it's something," —a kiss on my nose "that you’ll like."

  My thighs quivered. Emboldened by his boldness, I curled my fingers in his shirt and pulled his lips to mine.

  By the time Kenzie and Steve returned to the table, we were back to being friendly coworkers.

  We crowded around the round table, nibbling on munchies, talking mindless work stuff and waiting for the waitress to return to order another round of drinks. Kenzie and Steve sitting nearly on top of each other, while Troy and I kept a professional distance between us. We were there as friends, so we had to look the part.

  “I need another drink.” Kenzie announced, fed up with waiting. “Anyone else?”

  “Me too gorgeous.” Steve chimed in. He pointed at Troy and then me. “How bout you bossman? Bossman’s friend?”

  Troy shook his head stiffly.

  “I’m good thanks,” I said lifting the same margarita glass I’d been sipping all evening.

  Kenzie headed for the bar, while Troy went to talk with some people he knew. That left Steve and I alone. He must have had a few drinks before he arrived, it was obvious by the glazed look in his eyes as he ogled me.

  “Soooo Nora,” he slid his stool closer to mine, “I heard you were single, and looking to get some,” he leered, letting his gaze linger on the low neckline of my dress.

  I straightened in my seat. “Really.” I glared at him. “Where did you hear that?”

  “Everywhere. That's why you're seeing that counselor chic right? Cause you can't get your engine started."

  Rude. I was starting to think Troy was right about his intentions. Clearly he couldn’t be trusted.

  He leaned forward and I could smell the stench of beer all over his breath. "I can fix you.” His brows wagged. “My couch is really big, and rock hard. Bigger than Bellisaro’s." He draped his arm across my shoulders and tried to pull me in for a kiss.

  I wrenched my arm free in time to smack his face away from mine. “Don’t be such an ass.” I shouted.

  He actually looked stunned—but not as stunned as he did when Troy yanked him out of his seat with one hand.

  I jumped up, startled by his hostility.

  “What did you just say to her?” Troy snarled.

  Steve staggered forward. “What man, it’s not like she’s your property or anything. You just own the school, not everyone in it.”

  Troy shoved him back toward the table with one hard push. Steve’s body crashed into it, sending drinks and beer bottles flying to the ground. Glass shattered, spitting alcohol everywhere.

  “What the hell man?” That's when he looked at Troy then over at me, and he seemed to piece together who he was tangling with and why. He lifted his hands in surrender. “Hey man, I was just screwin around. Didn’t mean a thing.”

  Troy’s voice was low, and cold. “Here's what going to happen. You're going to apologize to Nora, and then you're going to get the hell out of here. Understood.”

  “Yeah man, whatever. Take your best shot with her, rumor has it she's frigid anyway.”

  That was the last thing I heard before the resounding crack of Troy's fist colliding with Steve’s mouth.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Blood dripped from Steve’s split lip. He wiped it, looked at his hand and then cursed. “Whatdya do that for man, I told you I didn't mean it.”

  “Steve, you need to stop talking.” I said, as Kenzie ran over. She'd heard the commotion, but missed the main event.

  “No keep talking Caldwell. Just say one more word.” Troy taunted, a dangerous gleam in his eyes. “One more word, one wrong move, that’s all I need to get you axed permanently this time. Now I said apologize.”

  “Whatever,” he waved me off.

  Troy gave a dark humorless laugh and stepped toward him. “That didn't sound like an apology.” He said with stone cold calm.

  Even I trembled. Steve however was either too stupid or too drunk to realize how close he was to the end of his life. Or at least to losing some of his teeth.

  I pushed both my hands against Troy's chest. “Let it go. He's wasted and doesn’t know what he's saying.

  Kenzie looked back at me, after blotting Steve’s lip with a napkin. “What the hell happened? I go for drinks and all hell breaks loose?”

  “It’s nothing. I think they have history or something,” I lied. Her boyfriend was a scumbag, but this wasn't the best place for her to discover that fact. She'd be angry enough when she found out what he'd said to me. She didn't need the audience already watching us getting another eyeful of drama.

  Troy didn’t have to suggest that Steve left, he was all for it.

  Steve grabbed Kenzie’s hand. “C’mon, we’re outta here. The guy’s still a loose cannon.” He paused to look back at us. “You’ll regret that dick move, Bellisaro.”

  Troy was still fuming, but he had the waitress call them a cab to take them back to the camp, and gave very explicit instructions, and a wad of cash, for the driver to make sure Kenzie made it home alone. She’d be less than impressed with that come morning.

  Then he’d gone to see about paying for the damages, and buying everyone one in the place a round. I could tell he’d had some experience in smoothing things over and calming people down. Playing the savior was a really good role for him. By the time he’d returned to me I was sitting at the bar, polishing off my third drink. It might as well have been my twelfth. I was sort of a lightweight in that department. But it did give me courage, to do things I might not ordinarily do. Or say.

  Troy eyed my empty glasses and cocked an eyebrow. “You’ve been busy.”

  “You were gone.” I said, a little irritated at being babied. Steve had a point, we weren’t his puppets to control. “You know, I can take care of myself. I didn’t need you to run in and be all alpha hero.”

  He pulled out the stool next to me and sat down, his arm resting against mine. The sparks that traveled across my skin were very distracting.

  “Really sweetheart, cause it looked to me like you needed saving.” He said it playfully but I didn’t think any of this was funny. It had taken a few drinks too many to push Steve’s words out of my head. And
Kenzie, she actually liked this guy. How was I going to explain to her that he was nothing more than another creep like so many of the others she’d met?

  I swallowed the last of my drink, before Troy finally waved off the bartender. “Maybe you’ve had enough.”

  “Maybe not.” I said, attempting to flag her back over. Not a chance. He was flashing his cash around and not one single person in the place would ever cross him. I pouted. “Fine.”

  “Don’t let that idiot get to you Nora. He’s brain-dead.”

  “I’m not worried about him.”

  “Then what are you trying to hide from in the bottom of a glass?”

  “You.” I said brazenly. Alcohol will do that.

  He nodded once. “I think,” he said quietly, “we should get you out of here.”

  My eyes narrowed and I nibbled my lower lip. “I was thinking that exact same thought.” I’d show that pig Steve I wasn’t afraid of having sex.

  Troy took my hand and led me back to his car. He’d only had one drink the whole night, and most of that had ended up on the floor after he shoved Steve into it.

  He strapped me in and I leaned back against the supple leather seat, wondering absently if I should seduce him here, or wait til we got back to his place.

  Imagine my disappointment when he parked the mustang, helped me out and proceeded to walk me back to my cabin.

  “Hey wait,” I said. “I have a better idea.” I stretched up on my toes to nibble his earlobe. Then let my tongue trail down the side of his neck.

  “What are you doing?” he asked warily.

  “Seducing you.”

  I could hear the trace of laughter in his voice.

  “Really. You might want to save that until you’re sober.” he said.

  That’s when I realized I was licking his hair and not his neck.

  I lowered onto my heels and stepped back to look in his eyes.

  “Let's go back to your place. I could spend the night and we could pick up where we left off.”

  His eyes narrowed as they roamed over me. “Where we left off?”

  “Yeah.” I weaved to the left. “You know, last year.”

  Man that half-smile of his was sexy.