Chapter Ten

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was awake before Hannah on Sunday morning and I waited until half of the girls were up and ready for breakfast before shaking her gently. She groaned and got out of bed to wait for the rest of the girls to stir as I took the first few to the dining hall.

We all sat at our table with our dishes piled high of delicious food and a mug of hot coffee for me. I ate quietly, letting the girls do all the talking for me, and Hannah showed up with everyone else after about ten minutes.

“Han.” I spoke quietly as I leaned in towards her.

“Yeah?”

I gestured towards the door. “I’m going to run to the health center and grab some ibuprofen really quick. Do you mind?”

“No,” she replied with a shake of her head. “Of course not. We’ll be here.”

I thanked her before standing and dropping my dirty dishes off at the bin. I made it out of the dining hall and was instantly grateful to be away from the noise. I walked through the grass slowly, not in a hurry to head back, and was passing by staff lounge when someone gripped my upper arm from behind me.

“Shaylee.”

I twisted around, pulling my grip from Drew’s as I did. He held his hands up in surrender before stuffing them into the pockets of his shorts.

“Can we talk for a second?”

My head was hurting and I kind of wanted to punch him in the face. It was a miracle that I restrained myself.

“I guess.” I rubbed my temple in frustration. “What’s up?”

Drew gestured to the staff lounge with his head and I nodded as I followed him up the three stairs to go inside. It was empty, giving us complete privacy, and I crossed my arms over my chest, giving him an expectant look.

“The other night,” he began slowly, lifting his cap and running a hand through his brown hair. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m fine,” I said, my tone curt and full of irritation. “Anything else?”

He released a long sigh. “You don’t sound fine. You sound pissed. Fuck, I knew this would happen.”

I narrowed my eyes and looked around before tugging my shirt down to reveal my black bra. About fifteen purple blemishes still stood out clearly against my pale skin and I pressed my lips together to hold in my snotty retorts.

“I didn’t even realize I was...” Drew trailed off but I could see the small smile tugging on the corners of his lips. Of course. The asshole was proud of himself.

“This isn’t even it, either.” I gestured to my breasts. “You should see the ones under my bra.”

Drew’s eyes were more green in the moment but they darkened and he took a step towards me. “Yeah? Are you offering?”

“You’re so full of yourself.” I rolled my eyes and let go of my shirt. “Look, you didn’t take advantage of me. I had been drinking but I knew what I was doing and not only consented to our activities but was a very willing participant. If you’re trying to see if I’m going to be expecting hearts and chocolates now, I’m not. If you’re trying to figure out if I’m going to tell Christy, I’m not.”

“I don’t give a shit what you tell Christy,” Drew said, taking two more steps forward, causing me to take two of my own back. “Christy has no claim to me. And if you want hearts and chocolates, Shay, I’ll get you some.”

Another step forward, another step back.

“Are you really such an arrogant dick that you’re okay letting her think you’re more while you sleep with other women?” I shook my head and looked at him in disbelief. “That you’ll sleep with those other women and not even give them the benefit of knowing so they can protect themselves?”

Drew’s next step caused me to back into the wall. He braced an arm against the panel next to my head as he looked at me. “Christy has nothing to protect because I’m not sleeping with her. Christy assumes we’re more but that’s because she knows if she asks, I’ll tell her we’re not. I know what you think of me, Shay, but you should at least get your facts straight.”

And with that, he kissed me. For some stupid reason, I kissed him back. I wrapped my arms around his torso and enjoyed the taste of maple syrup on his tongue and the feeling of his fingers in my hair. We kissed frantically, as if there wasn’t any time left in the world so we had to get it all in right then, and I didn’t have a cognitive thought in my head.

The sound of feet on the stairs to the staff lounge brought me back to reality and I shoved Drew off of me before dashing to the back door. I was just disappearing through it when I heard a male greet Drew. I didn’t stop, though, and hurried over to the health center as quickly as I could.

Anna was sitting behind her desk when I got there and she had no problem giving me ibuprofen once I’d mentioned that I’d had tequila on my day off. I took it in front of her, proving that it was swallowed, before thanking her and power walking back to the dining hall.

When I arrived, everyone was just disbursing and I found my girls easily so I could fall in step next to Hannah.

“Did everyone vote on what to do this morning?” I asked her casually, as if I hadn’t just been making out with Drew in the lounge. She nodded and gestured in front of us.

“The lake, of course.”

I sighed and shook my head. “I love the lake but spending every ounce of our free time there is getting old.”

“Agreed. I told them they could have the morning but then it was our turn to pick.”

“Good call.” I held my hand up and she immediately high-fived it as we walked inside our cabin. The girls all changed into their bathing suits while Hannah and I did the same in our room. After I’d pulled my swim top on, I turned with my arms outstretched to show her.

“Look.”

Hannah’s eyes went wide and she shook her head quickly. “Was he trying to brand you or something?”

“I have no idea,” I replied as I covered my top with a white lifeguard shirt. “Once they start to fade, I’ll just tell people they’re mosquito bites or something.”

Hannah chuckled and nodded slightly as she pulled her platinum locks into a ponytail. I did the same with my brown ones before I slipped into my red shorts and water shoes.

We hung out in the room for another thirty minutes before Howard and May showed up to do the bunk inspection. We received full marks on the check and Cate even gained us a little extra credit due to her taking the imitative to pull weeds in the flowerbed during the rest hour on Saturday afternoon.

Our campers were ready to swim as soon as Howard and May left and we walked down to the lake together. A lot of other campers were already there and our girls jumped in immediately, most of them swimming out to the inflatable to play. I grabbed a float from the rack and Hannah and I took a spot at the end of the dock so we could watch.

“Where does Jordan live?” I asked her quietly as my eyes skimmed the water. Hannah’s loud sigh told me that she felt he lived too far from her.

“Illinois. I’m trying not to dwell on that, though. I mean, it’s only been three weeks and it might not even matter at the end of the summer.”

I murmured an agreement before grabbing my whistle from my pocket so I could bring it to my lips. “Only one person on the swing at a time, please.” I turned to Hannah with a smile. “You can get in. I’ll stay out here.”

“I might just so I can cool off.” She pulled her shirt over her head and let her shorts fall to the ground.

I pointed to a group of younger kids off to the side before looking over at her. “Will you break up that argument while you’re in there?”

Hannah jumped in the water and immediately stopped the ten-year-olds from killing each other, something their counselor should have been doing.

I paced along the dock and beach to keep myself occupied. I stopped to chat with a few other counselors who were doing the same thing, looking about as bored as I was. When Cameron showed up with the seventh grade boys, he nudged my shoulder with his own and gave me a bright smile.

“I feel like I haven’t seen you all week.”

“One of the downfalls of the big age gap in our bunks,” I replied as I dug my toes into the wet sand. “Ninth grade girls are way too cool for seventh grade boys, apparently.”

Cameron chuckled as he tugged his white shirt off, revealing a very nice, tanned chest. “Better they learn that lesson now. Wanna get in the water? We can watch them from there.”

“I’m okay for now. Maybe in a bit.” I offered him a smile as I mentally planned to kill Drew. It was hot, probably hitting the ninety degree mark, and I could feel beads of sweat trickling down both my chest and neck. Getting in the cool water sounded like heaven but the shirt couldn’t come off.

Cameron waved at me before wading out into the lake. I continued my pacing until I was back at the dock and I took a seat at the edge of it with my toes skimming the surface. I looked out to the water and counted until I could find all ten of our girls. Hannah was out there with them, playing a game of water tag, and I watched her face light up when Jordan swam up with the boys of Cabin Seven behind him.

So when someone sat on the edge of the dock next to me, I knew it was Drew without looking. His shoulder brushed mine but he didn’t say anything and I didn’t bother looking his way. I used the back of my hand to wipe my damp forehead before leaning back on my arms.

“You should get in the lake,” Drew said quietly as he used his feet to kick up a little water. I finally turned to roll my eyes at him.

“I’m not in the mood to have my teenagers point out that my chest is full of hickeys. But thank you for your brilliant advice, Drew. What would I do without you?” I pushed myself to my feet and began walking back to the beach. I’d only made it about five steps when strong arms wrapped around me from behind and lifted me off my feet.

I let out a surprised yelp but didn’t have time to protest before we were falling into the lake. Drew’s grip around my body didn’t slacken until we broke the surface and I turned so I could shove on his chest lightly.

“You’re such an ass.”

He just grinned and shrugged his shoulders as his hand tugged on my shirt underwater. “You looked cooled off, though, and no one can see the proof of your escapades.” He leaned forward and lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “You’re welcome.”

I scoffed before dunking under the water and swimming towards my kids. Drew followed me but I pretended like he didn’t exist and joined in on the water games with both cabins. When the warning tone sounded to let us know lunch was in thirty minutes, we called for the kids to get out of the water.

“What are you guys doing after lunch?” Jordan asked as we hung up our floats.

Hannah shrugged and glanced over to watch as I tried to wring water out of my sopping wet shirt. “Probably something organized or the obstacle center. What about you guys?”

“We’re going to play some baseball for a bit,” Drew offered as he pulled his shirt over his head. “You guys should feel free to join us. We’ll go easy on you.” He nudged me with his elbow and I didn’t bother responding.

“I don’t think our girls would go for baseball, but thanks for the invite, Drew.” Hannah offered him a smile as our campers began to swarm us. We said our goodbyes to the boys and headed back to our cabin to get dressed and ready for lunch. I’d just pulled on dry clothes when I turned to grin at Hannah.

“Let’s TP their cabin while they play baseball.”

Her face lit up and she nodded excitedly. Neither cabin had broken the prank seal and the thought that it would be us was exhilarating. “Good idea. Should we get the girls on board?”

“Not yet.” I shook my head and stuck my feet into my sneakers. “Wait until after lunch so none of them blow it.”

Hannah and I played it casual as we ate our food and we told the girls we’d probably go to the obstacle center after lunch. Once everyone had deposited their dishes into the bin, we walked towards the obstacle center until we were out of the sight of the dining hall.

“Okay. Back to the cabin!” I whispered excitedly as I changed directions and sped up my pace. The girls followed, all confused but excited at my change in mannerisms. The baseball field was close to the boy’s cabins so I knew we’d have to move fast.

When we made it to our bunk, Hannah ran in to grab the bag of toilet paper she had packed before lunch while I explained what we were doing. The girls giggled excitedly and all said they were on board. When Hannah reappeared, I ran ahead and confirmed that Cabin Seven was at the field before jogging back and signaling for my girls to join me.

We worked fast until toilet paper hung from the ceiling of the entire cabin, making everything look completely white. I ran into the counselor room and emptied the first dresser of all of the boxer-briefs. I stuffed them into a pillow case and shoved them under the blankets at the foot of the bed. I turned to the other dresser and did the exact same thing except with the socks instead.

When I checked my watch and saw we’d been in there for twenty minutes, I gestured to the campers to follow me out the side door. We all ran back to our cabin, laughing as we did, and Hannah and I praised them all.

“Expect retribution for this, though, guys,” I warned them as I put my hands on my hips. “Cate, I’d hide Joe when we’re not in the cabin, just in case. I’d also see about locking your bras and underwear in your trunks for now.”

The girls ran inside to heed my advice and I sat next to Hannah on the steps.

“Do you think we should hide our underwear and bras, too?” she asked as she glanced at me and I shrugged.

“If you want to. I’m expecting Drew to do something juvenile with them anyway so why deny him the pleasure?”

We hit the obstacle center once the girls had locked up their stuff. The sun beat down on us as we climbed and jumped and after about an hour, I was soaked in sweat. I rappelled down the twenty foot tower at a good pace and my sneakers hit the ground with a thud. I was unhooking the tether from my harness when someone spoke behind me.

“You know revenge is going to be sweet, don’t you?”

I pulled my helmet off of my head and turned to offer Drew a sickly sweet smile. “Bring it on, Moore.”

“The anticipation is going to be fun for you. It’s not if but when, Shay.” He brought his hand up to my forehead, causing me to flinch slightly. He wiped something across my damp skin before pulling back and handing me the wad of toilet paper in his fist. “At least put this to good use.”

I couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped my lips as I accepted the tissue from him. I looked at Drew and his eyes were sparkling with mischief and happiness. In that moment, I had an overwhelming urge to kiss him. I absentmindedly fidgeted with the charm around my neck and turned away from him before clearing my throat.

“Jenny has a lot of allergies so don’t do anything to the food. Also, try not to do anything too inappropriate or embarrassing for the girls’ sake, okay?” I asked quietly as I turned back to look at him. His eyes snapped up from my neck, probably admiring his handy work, and he nodded.

“Of course. We’d never want to hurt you guys.”

“Shaylee! Can you come spot me?”

I looked over and nodded at Thalia before focusing back on Drew. “I better go help her.” I took three steps before glancing over my shoulder and smirking.

“I believe that puts us in the lead, Drew.”

I heard his chuckle as I put more distance between us to help my campers.