Have Mercy

by Hart, Lane

  “Yum-mee,” one of the women drawls.

  “I swear I’ve never been bi-curious before now,” a male nurse tells the rest of the group of ladies, making them all giggle.

  “If anyone could turn a man gay, it would be him.”

  “Mmm, mmm, mmm,” another mutters.

  And finally my exhausted brain clicks, and I realize that they must be looking at Royal working or possibly just suntanning on the other side of the building.

  Once I’m able to walk on my wobbly legs again, I ease over and take in the view over their shoulders.

  Much to my surprise, I find Royal is actually working. At the moment, he’s hauling a bag of mulch over his broad, muscular shoulder, shirtless, in just his athletic shoes and his black nylon shorts riding low on his indented hips. His sculpted abs and pecs are on full display with sweat glistening down them like tiny waterfalls. His biceps strain as he carefully pours out and spreads the mulch with a rake and then goes over to grab another bag.

  Not only am I impressed with his surprising work ethic, but he looks downright delicious. I don’t think sweat has ever been more appetizing on a man as it is in this moment. But there’s something else…

  “Oh great! He’s going to get sunburnt to a crisp again,” I remark aloud, causing the nurses to all startle before turning around to look at me. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt your ogling.”

  “That man wouldn’t happen to be yours, would he?” the “yummy” woman asks.

  “No. I mean, yeah, I guess you could say he’s sort of mine,” I reply with the most wishy-washiest of answers. “And now I better go find some sunscreen to slather all over him.”

  “You lucky, lucky girl,” the “mmm-mmm” lady tells me. “Don’t you dare miss a single inch of his fine-looking body!”

  “I won’t!” I promise them with a smile on the way out.

  Grabbing up the sunscreen from my tote bag I left underneath a tree in the shade, I go around and offer it to the campers who touch up their faces and arms before making my way around the other side of the building to where Royal is pouring the last bag of mulch.

  Holy crap! He’s almost finished redoing all of the plant beds on this side when it’s taken me and six campers combined to complete the other.

  “How’s it going on your side?” he asks when he looks up and sees me watching him. “I’m almost finished.”

  “It’s not a race,” I joke with him. “And if you don’t get some sunscreen on, you’re gonna be a lobster tonight.”

  “Oh shit,” he says as he tosses the empty mulch bag to the ground and looks down at his arms and then his stomach. “I didn’t even think about that. I was just so hot I had to ditch my shirt to get some relief.”

  Relief. The word instantly invokes a certain kind of relief that I’ve always associated with the mostly naked man standing in front of me. Long gone is the lean sixteen-year-old boy who was so lazy he wouldn’t lift a finger the first week of camp.

  “Everyone inside noticed your obvious lack of a shirt,” I remark.

  “What?” he asks.

  “Just come here and put on some SPF fifty,” I tell him.

  “My hands are dirty, so you’ll have to rub it in for me,” he remarks as he strolls up to me with a grin. An actual grin, not his usual evil smirk, making his face even more handsome than usual.

  “I suppose I can handle touching your hard, sweaty body.”

  “Once you start touching me, I’ll probably get hard somewhere else,” he warns with an arched eyebrow.

  “You better not,” I warn him. “You have a rather large audience.”

  “Huh?” he asks.

  “Over on your left, first window,” I say before I squeeze a palmful of sunscreen into my hand and then slap it on his broad chest to start rubbing it in. He even has a smattering of reddish-brown chest hair now! When did that happen?

  “Wow. How long have they been watching?” Royal asks when he gives them a big smile and a wave of his hand.

  “For a while now.”

  “And they don’t seem to be embarrassed enough at getting caught to actually stop either.”

  His head stays turned in the direction of the window until my fingertips move lower, rubbing the lotion over his abs and around the waistband of his shorts. That’s when his head whips around to look down at what I’m doing.

  “I really wish you would keep going a little lower.”

  “In front of witnesses? No way,” I tell him.

  “I’m pretty sure it’s too late. I’m sunburnt,” Royal informs me. “Maybe you could come to my room tonight and rub lotion on my dick to take my mind off the burning.”

  “Nice try, but hand jobs are considered a form of sex,” I remind him.

  “What if you just come to my room and watch me rub one out myself? Is that sex?”

  “N-no, I don’t think so,” I stammer at the sudden mental image of him getting himself off. I still haven’t forgotten the first of many times he did it in my dorm room and how hot it was.

  “So, it’s a date?” Royal asks.

  “It’s a date,” I agree. “Now turn around, so I can get your shoulders and back.”

  “Yes, ma’am. Take your time,” he says over his shoulder when he spins around.

  If my panties weren’t wringing wet with sweat, they would be dripping now, that’s the reaction I have to just touching this man. If his hands were on me in the same way, I would probably orgasm without any direct contact to my clit.

  I am in soooo much trouble this summer.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Royal

  I work out regularly, can run several miles without getting winded; but for some reason, doing actual physical labor is brutal.

  It could also be the hot sun, lack of proper hydration, and getting a little sunburnt that’s contributed to the fact that, after my shower, I put on a pair of white boxer briefs and then flopped down on my bed and haven’t moved an inch since except to breathe.

  When there’s a soft knock on my door, I simply say, “Come in. It’s open.”

  Thankfully, Hannah heard me and lets herself into my room a moment later.

  “Hey,” I say in greeting, rolling my neck toward the door to see her but unable to lift it.

  “Hey. You exhausted too?”

  “Yes,” I answer, too tired to even feel ashamed of admitting that weakness. “I don’t think I’ve ever been too wiped out to jerk off before, but here we are.” I pat the mattress lightly where my palm is flattened next to me. “Take a load off. You must be as beat as I am.”

  “I am. And I just spent half an hour checking dorm rooms for boys.” With a groan, Hannah stretches out beside me on the bed, laying on her side, her head on one half of my pillow.

  “I’m glad we finished the gardening today, because otherwise I would’ve been MIA tomorrow,” I tell her. “What’s in store for us, anyway?”

  “Not sure,” Hannah says as she closes her eyes and yawns, not bothering to cover her mouth. “All I know is that, if it’s something outdoors, I’m going to demand we have a transfer.”

  “Good. Indoors is good.”

  “Yeah,” she agrees as my eyelids drift closed. “At least you don’t look too red. Got the sunscreen on just in time.”

  “Thank fuck,” I reply, remembering how miserable I was with the sunburn for days last time. “Mind if we just talk and not lift a finger tonight?”

  “Fine by me.”

  “You’ve barely talked to me in two years,” I point out.

  “Water under the bridge,” Hannah says. Then, “What do you want to talk about?”

  “You. What are your plans for the fall? You got into Madison, right?”

  “Yep. Full scholarship too,” she says. And when I open my eyes to see her face, she’s smiling and looking right at me.

  “That’s great,” I tell her. “You gonna study art?”

  “Art education is the plan right now.”

  “So you want to teach?”
I say. “I thought you wanted to, like, create it or whatever you call it.”

  “I do, but being an artist is not exactly practical or a reliable form of income.”

  “Why can’t you teach and try to sell your own work?” I ask her.

  “That’s possible, I guess. One thing at a time, though, and that’s getting through the next four years. Besides, I thought you said my drawings were boring.”

  “I just said that to be a dick. Most things I say is just to be a dick,” I admit to her. “You’ve got more talent in your pinkie than I have in my whole body.”

  “That’s not true!” Hannah exclaims.

  “Yes, it is.”

  “No, it’s not. What are your plans for the future anyway?” she asks.

  While I hate keeping secrets from her, I don’t want to tell her and ruin the short month we have together. Besides, I’m not exactly lying when I say, “I want to sleep until next week. That’s as far into the future as I want to think about.”

  “Me too,” she agrees. “Don’t you need to do a room check before we pass out?”

  “Nah.”

  “Nah?”

  “I left a few boxes of condoms in the bathroom.”

  “Royal!” Hannah exclaims, slapping me half-heartedly on the shoulder. “We’re not supposed to encourage them to have sex.”

  “I didn’t,” I assure her. “In fact, I told all of the guys on my hall that they should wait, because there’s a lot more to sex than two body parts banging together. But I seriously doubt that’s going to stop them. So, I also said that if they were going to be idiots, to at least wrap it up first.”

  “They’re probably sneaking out or sneaking girls in as we speak!”

  “And what am I supposed to do about that? I can’t guard all the doors all night long,” I point out. “It’s on the camp for not locking down the dorms or installing security cameras at the exits. Besides, a little hypocritical of you to want to stop them when you’re in my bed.”

  “But we’re not having sex. We’re just talking.”

  “Maybe the campers are just looking for a little conversation too,” I tell her with a grin.

  “Yeah, right,” she says with an eyeroll. Then, with a heavy sigh, she admits, “There’s not much we can do to stop them except lock them in their rooms, which is a huge fire hazard. I just don’t want any teen pregnancies on my conscience.”

  “Well, I already have one on mine…”

  “You do?” she asks.

  “Yeah, Blake and Caroline’s. It was my fault they hooked up and also my fault for not providing protection.”

  “Seriously?” Hannah asks with a grin.

  “Yeah. I actually feel a little guilty.”

  “So you do have a heart!” she exclaims and then rubs her palm over my chest. “Yep. There it is. I thought it may have shriveled up and turned to ash.”

  “I wasn’t that bad last year.”

  “Yes, you were,” she assures me. “You called me every name in the book.”

  “And still you wouldn’t talk to me.”

  “Oh, so the taunting was intended to try and get a reaction?” Hannah asks.

  “Yep. Although I was also pissed. Not just at you but the world.”

  “It wasn’t my fault the dork at the SATs confessed like his life was on the line.”

  “I know,” I tell her. “I asked around until I found someone who was there. Adam, a junior on the football team, was taking the test that day and told me how it all went down.”

  “Oh. Well, I’m glad you know the whole story,” she says before yawning again.

  “Hey, Hannah?” I say, knowing my time with her tonight is running out.

  “Yeah?” she asks, eyelids heavy.

  “I’m glad you weren’t with anyone else after me,” I tell her. “You have no idea how much I wish I hadn’t let anyone else touch me…”

  “It’s okay,” she says with a sad smile.

  “No, it’s not,” I say, thinking about Collette and how maybe I wouldn’t have done anything with anyone else if not for her. “But what’s done is done and in the past,” I say with a sigh, unable to go back down that road. “I can tell you that I never actually slept with anyone after you.”

  “You didn’t?” she says, sounding surprised.

  “Nope. So that first is still yours.”

  “That’s…wow, I don’t know what to say, Royal,” she replies, brow furrowed in thought.

  “You don’t believe me,” I say in understanding.

  “Have you got an alarm set for tomorrow morning?” she asks, changing the subject and giving me a hint that she’s ready to sack out for the night. Which sort of sucks because I like talking to her. I just wish she could trust me.

  “Yeah,” I reply, hating that she’s about to roll out of bed and leave so soon. Maybe I shouldn’t have brought up the stuff about fooling around with other people.

  “Okay. Goodnight,” Hannah says with a pat of her palm on my chest as she closes her eyes.

  “You’re sleeping here tonight? With me?” I ask her in surprise.

  “I’m too tired to walk back to my dorm. Is that all right?” she asks, her hazel eyes opening to look at me cautiously like she’s worried I’ll say no or hurt her at any second.

  “Sure. Yeah,” I agree.

  Being wiped out from working all day is definitely one way to ensure I keep my dick in my pants. The problem is that, without the distraction of sex, I may fall for Hannah even harder.

  Rolling to my side, I cover Hannah’s hand with mine and then easily begin to drift off to sleep.

  A lot of things may have changed over the last two years, but one thing is still the same. Here, in this stupid camp, in a hot as fuck dorm room with Hannah is still, somehow, a little slice of heaven on earth.

  I’m not sure what I did to deserve it, but I plan to soak up as much of her goodness as I can over the next few weeks.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Hannah

  The six a.m. alarm comes way too soon. I’m not ready to leave the comfort of Royal’s arms yet, but I know I need to slip out of the dorm and get back to mine for a shower before anyone sees me.

  As soon as I push myself into a sitting position, he removes his arm and lets me up to reach and shut off the radio alarm clock.

  “You leaving?” he asks, sitting up.

  “Yeah. I’ll meet you in the cafeteria for breakfast?”

  “Okay,” he agrees as I start for the door. “Oh, wait a second!” he exclaims, jumping out of bed in his boxer briefs that are noticeably tented and nearly see-through. “I’ve been meaning to give you something but was too tired to get up and get it last night,” I vaguely hear him say since I’m so busy staring at his sculpted body. I only take my eyes off his abs when he comes closer and holds something out to me.

  “What’s this?” I ask but answer my own question as soon as I see the front cover of the spiral notebook. “A sketch book?” I say in surprise.

  “To replace the one I threw out your window,” he explains with his hands on his hips.

  “You didn’t have to do that. I haven’t really been drawing much lately,” I tell him.

  “Well, maybe you’ll have some time to draw while we’re here,” he tells me as he runs his fingers through his messy but sexy bedhead. “You never know.”

  “Yeah. Thanks,” I reply before I slip out the door with the book in hand.

  It feels like I’m sleep walking back to my dorm. I don’t even remember taking a shower. My mind is blown by this new, nicer, sweeter side of Royal, a side I’ve never seen or imagined existed.

  Is it the real him, though?

  Yes, I think it is.

  In fact, I think the Royal I got to know two years ago was the real deal too. It just sucks that we let other people cause problems and make us think what we had together was a lie.

  Never again.

  We’re both older and wiser now. And from here on out, nothing can come between us.


  * * *

  I’m only slightly disappointed when Royal keeps his promise regarding not sleeping together for the next few weeks. Mostly, I’m impressed. His willpower is incredible and so is his work ethic. He makes me look bad at most sites, putting in twice the effort on each and every community service project, as if he’s got something to prove.

  And while I’m sad that camp is coming to an end, the four weeks passing in a blur of sweating during the day and kissing and snuggling with Royal at night, I’m also excited to find out what comes next once we’re back home.

  I’m so ready to lift the no sex rule that my ovaries may explode.

  There’s still this tiny bit of doubt I have, worried that Royal no longer wants me if he could so easily resist getting naked with me for a month when we slept together every single night.

  Hopefully, he was just being a gentleman, doing what I asked and is still interested in doing more…

  “Thanks for giving me a ride home,” Royal says after we say goodbye to everyone and are throwing our things into my car.

  “It’s no problem,” I reply even though he hasn’t yet told me where I’m taking him.

  “Holy shit!” he exclaims as soon as we both climb inside and he turns on his cell phone while I blast the air conditioner. My phone is still restarting, and while I’ve called my parents a few times from the pay phone, I’m excited to be able to talk to Maddie again.

  “What?” I ask.

  “Caroline had the baby. A boy,” he says with a smile as he scrolls through text messages. “They’re both doing great. Apparently, her and Blake changed their minds. They’ve decided to keep him instead of putting him up for adoption.”

  “Oh, wow,” I say with my own happy grin

  “Yeah, crazy,” he says. “You mind dropping me off at his place when we get back to town?”

  “Sure, of course,” I agree.

  “Thanks.”

  “So, um, what are you doing tomorrow?” I ask Royal as I pull down the long winding road out of camp, driving us down the mountain. “There’s this art exhibit at Madison, actually it’s my, um, exhibit and it starts at four, so I was hoping you would come see it with me.”