IT FELT AS if he was avoiding me. Either that, or I was just used to seeing him now, and when I didn’t see him, I assumed something was wrong. I was overanalyzing everything.

Ever since two mornings ago.

It was Saturday, and we were still in the same cabin, but he hadn’t made another move, and it was slowly killing me.

I understood why.

To an extent.

He was acting like my friend.

Offering advice.

Making me coffee.

Being so damn nice I wanted to slap the coffee out of his hand and ask him if I could touch his eight-pack.

Or bulging arms.

Or bulging anything really.

He’d let me sleep in his bed every night.

Technically, I’d let myself sleep in his bed, and he had begrudgingly put up with it, but he always ended up wrapping his arms around me, pulling me against his body as if I was his own personal teddy bear. And my shorts were thin so I felt him pressed against me. I felt every stupid throbbing inch in the morning.

He was searing hot.

And then cold.

Because he’d pull away, grip his hair so tight I wondered if he was trying to pull it out, then walk over to the Keurig and asked how I slept.

After forty-eight hours, I was ready to wait for him naked in his cabin with a rose between my teeth.

And then the sick part of me wondered if it was a trick. If he was doing this just to sleep with me again, driving me to the brink of sexual insanity, only to see if he could have one more shot and then abandon me in the end.

My trust issues were more than severe. They were paralyzing.

I sucked it up and made my way into the main outdoor theater It seated three hundred and faced away from the lake, giving it the perfect backdrop for Dirty Dancing.

It was beautiful.

I was one of the staff judges.

Along with Jackson.

He waved me over and handed me a clipboard. “If they suck, write that they suck. Constructive criticism isn’t necessary. They either nail it, or they walk on by. Easy.” He handed me a pen and sat.

With an exhale, I plopped down next to him. “How many tryouts for the leads?”

He whistled. “Ten for Johnny, forty for Baby.”

“Forty!” I repeated loudly.

He cupped a hand over my mouth. “Don’t make them more nervous with the shouting.”

“That’s a ton of auditions!”

“You’re telling me.” He reached into the staff bag at his feet and pulled out a silver flask. “It’s also why I came prepared.”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re going to be wasted in minutes.”

“I plan on it.” He gulped and flashed me a playful grin then completely sobered when Jen made her way over.

Wordlessly, he handed her a clipboard.

She gave me a sad smile, glared at him, and walked off.

“Jackson!” I poked him with my pen. “What the hell did you do?”

“What I always do.” He shrugged. “Fucked up. Saw something pretty, told myself it would make me feel better. Same ol’, same ol’.”

“You slept with Jen?”

“No, I slept with DeeDee. Not that any sleeping was really involved.”

I smacked him and then smacked him again. “You asshole! Who the hell is DeeDee? And furthermore, who sleeps with a DeeDee?”

“It’s weird how well you know my thoughts because all I kept thinking as I slid in and out was just that. Why the fuck am I fucking a DeeDee?”

I hit him again. Because I could.

Another staff member approached. She had pretty cropped black hair and short jean shorts. He handed her a clipboard. She hit him over the head with it and walked off.

“Ah,” I nodded in understanding. “Would that be DeeDee?”

“Isn’t she a gem?” He rubbed his head.

“Well!” I threw my hands into the air. “What did you expect? That you’d sleep with DeeDee, and she’d thank you for screaming Jen’s name while you climaxed!”

His eyes got wide. “Who told?”

I covered my face with my hands. “You didn’t. Oh God, tell me you didn’t.”

“I was… confused?” He frowned.

“Don’t make me hit you again. You need to go apologize to Jen. NOW.”

“And say what? ‘Sorry that I slept with yet another staff member that wasn’t you, but hey, bonus points for imagining you while I plundered her cave. We cool?’”

I groaned. “Don’t say plunder, or cave, ever… ever again.”

“It’s for the best. Trust me, the last girl I even— Whatever. It doesn’t matter. I’m not good for her. She knows it. I know it. The universe with its cruel tricks knows it.”

“Why not just be the better guy, be deserving of her?” I wondered aloud as the lights hit the stage.

“Why not just tell Marlo you’re scared, and that you’ve been in love with him since high school?” he countered smoothly.

I froze. My entire body went stiff.

“Uh-huh,” he whispered as Marlo made his way onto the stage.

God, he was too masculine and pretty for his own good.

“That’s what I thought. Easy to hand out advice. Hard to take it.”

“At least…” I ignored the choking sensation around my throat. “…at least try with Jen. Why can’t you try?”

“Why can’t you?”

“Stop deflecting!” I hissed under my breath, earning a dark chuckle from him as Marlo glared at us from his spot on stage.

I flashed him a smile and straightened.

He didn’t smile back.

My resolve crumbled a bit.

My fault.

I’d done something wrong.

And yet, I still wanted to lash out and say “You started it!”

But I knew that would accomplish nothing.

Were we always going to be at odds? Enemies or friends?

“Welcome to auditions!” Marlo said in a happy tone that was in no way because of me. “This is how things are going to go. You’ll come up, read your own audition to the best of your ability. We’ll pick the best candidates and post results in the morning. Immediately following, we have our annual cookout near the water where we attempt to steal the seal from the other side of the lake!”

Cheers erupted.

“Wait, the seal?” I whispered under my breath.

“It’s plastic. Chill out,” Jackson drank from his flask and hid it back in his bag. “And it’s attached to the main mess hall at the camp across the lake. We steal it then bring it back in special decorations. Last year was mafia. We gave it blood, knuckles, and a cigar. The powers that be were not amused with our choice.”

I smiled to myself. “And what do you get if you steal it?”

“Duh, honor.” He scoffed. “And you get a favor from the camp director.”

I froze. “A favor?”

“Not that kind of favor.” He barked out a laugh. “I mean, unless you steal it. Then I guess anything goes. But for anyone else, more like ‘Hey, can I have a private audition with such and such agent or producer?” But if that’s not important to you, you can always steal the seal and ask Marlo for something more… personal.”

My thoughts wandered more than they should have.

And then the first auditionee was walking onto stage.

I had a brief flashback to watching Pitch Perfect the first time as she sat cross-legged and started her performance. She was cute, angsty, and had some great lines about high school that made my chest ache. When her music turned on, she danced a contemporary that took my breath away. When she was finished, I was ready to stand and clap.

“She was amazing,” I whispered under my breath.

Jackson sighed. “She’s also blown half the guys here already. Rumor is, that’s how she gets her dancing ability.” His face wrinkled in a grimace of distaste. “Meh. Next.”

Every audition was better than the last until I sat there slack-jawed like an idiot.

Three hours of entertainment later.

I was side-eyeing Jackson’s flask as if it was the last piece of chocolate cake. Marlo made his way back on the stage amidst all the claps.

“All right! And to finish, we have our staff auditions.”

I tilted my head at Jackson and mouthed, “Say what?”

He just grinned and stared down at his clipboard, letting out a low whistle.

“Nominations were taken at lunch today.”

I’d missed lunch. I had been practicing.

Shit. Shit. Shit. Is that why Marlo looked so pissed?

“And…” He gritted his teeth, his eyes landing on me. “It looks like you guys voted for both Ray and myself to show you how it’s done.”

My eyes widened. HOW WHAT’S DONE?

I elbowed Jackson, who was laughing so hard I was ready to strangle him with my bare hands. “What the hell!”

He stood and started clapping. “Woohoo, yeah, Ray! Marlo-o-o!”

People followed suit.

I officially had no friends.

I shoved him out of the way as I nervously walked toward the stage and stared daggers through Marlo.

When I got to his side all I said was “Hate you.”

“Ah, feeling’s entirely mutual. Believe me,” he said through a frozen smile.

“I’m suffocating you in your sleep tonight.” I grinned up at him.

He just gave me a bored expression and said. “I dipped your toothbrush in the toilet.”

I gasped.

“Twice.”

“You have a tiny dick.”

“Small tits.”

“Skinny legs.”

“No ass.”

The clapping stopped.

He held up the microphone to his mouth. “You guys voted, and it seems as if the people who weren’t in choreography when we showed the original duet felt left out…”

“Get it, MARLON!” Jackson shouted.

I mouthed, “Dead to me.”

It just made him grin harder.

“That is, unless Ray isn’t feeling up to it?” Marlo turned to me.

I was ready to hyperventilate.

And his eyes heated, as if he knew he was better than me, as if he knew that I would bail because I was afraid.

So, I took the microphone from him and said, “Try to keep up.”

“Oh-h-h!” The crowd loved it.

Meanwhile, I was having an internal meltdown.

I had major stage fright.

Marlo knew this!

My hands started to sweat, my blood pressure spiked, and I could taste fear on my own tongue, like bitter metal.

And then the lights on the stage darkened just enough to give it a sensual effect as Marlo took the microphone and put it back in the stand then handed me a freaking watermelon.

No-o-o-o.

Music erupted around me, and all of the teens watching jumped to their feet and literally re-created the Dirty Dancing scene perfectly, as if they’d been studying the musical since the womb.

Jackson hopped on stage and elbowed me. “That’s my cousin Johnny…”

And all I could think of was I carried the watermelon.

I gulped and then watched as Jen jumped on stage and started dancing to Odis Redding with Marlo.

Damn it, they looked surreal.

She was… amazing.

The song faded in order to make it possible for people to hear the dialogue. Everyone clapped and cheered, and that was when I lost every ounce of pride I had, which wasn’t mine.

Marlo approached, his hips swiveling. Why the hell is he channeling Patrick Swayze while I am holding a watermelon?

The lines flew by on stage and then my “I carried a watermelon” just spilled forth, earning laughter from the crowd while I squeezed my eyes shut in embarrassment, real embarrassment.

Marlo moved back to Jen. They danced down the line of people, and then his eyes were on me again as he crooked his finger, wearing a show-me-your-stuff smirk.

Watermelon gone, I walked over to him and stiffened as he placed his hands on my hips. “Move them this way. All right, that’s good…”

I sucked in a breath as he grinned down at me. God, he made me feel as if it was real. I didn’t want to leave his arms. I forgot about the arguing, about the constant push and pull, and just let him — for once — lead me without me objecting or crying or yelling.

“Watch me. Watch my eyes,” he encouraged. “Good, that’s better.”

He grabbed me, and I pretended as if I didn’t want to curl my body into his and let his hips thrust me wherever the hell they wanted to. He backed up and then slid his leg between mine as we moved back and forth.

I didn’t take my eyes away from his.

And I was one-hundred-percent sure he wouldn’t have let me.

I allowed him to lead me.

I was helpless against the power of his hips. Dear God, what is happening to me?

Hands on my hips, he ground against me.

In front of everyone. The. Entire. Camp.

My eyes widened a fraction as he leaned forward and thrust against me again. I knew it was part of the dance, but still, I felt vulnerable as every hard inch of him pressed against me, heated, hungry. I shuddered as the music ended.

And stumbled a bit as he released me.

Applause.

And I stood there stunned, eyes wide as Jackson released everyone to the cookout by the lake.

Of course, that was the time Marlo walked by with his judgmental eyes and whispered, “D-plus.”

I jumped after him.

Jackson caught me by the waist and spun me around. “I was thinking more C-minus, but who am I to judge?”

I gritted my teeth. “I was caught off guard!”

“It should have made you better.” He stared me down. “Instead, it made you worse. He’ll crack you. He always does.”

My heart sank. “So, he does this to all the staff members that suck?”

Jackson burst out laughing. “I was talking about his students. He doesn’t… well, since—” He paled. “Let’s just say it’s been a while since he’s been with a staff member here.” He looked ready to puke. “Go enjoy the cookout, yeah?”

“Where are you going?”

He grinned. “Refill!”

Right. Refill. The guy was going to drink himself into a stupor. Part of me wanted to help, but the other part of my heart that needed protecting said if I helped even more, he’d want to help me, and I didn’t want help. Not yet. I wanted protection.

And every person I turned to wanted me to jump off the cliff.

As if they weren’t completely damaged.

I snorted and walked slowly to the lake and watched as teens jumped into canoes and paddled across.

My eyes narrowed.

A favor.

One favor.

As dumb girls did, I daydreamed about asking Marlo a favor. “Kiss me, make sweet love to me under the stars.”

My body heated.

One favor.

One seal.

No revenge sex.

This time it would be all on my terms.

I slowly grinned and ran after the last canoe.

I was just pushing it off when Jen jumped in after me. “Oh no, you don’t. You need two to paddle.”

“I’ve never paddled a canoe.”

“Dip it in the water and pray we go straight.” She handed me the oar, and off we went.