Summer Heat (Cruel Summer #1)(11)

“So I get to suffer because you aren’t mentally prepared for my presence?”

“Exactly.” He winked.

“What game are you playing?” I asked once we were at my front door. “Hours ago you wanted to murder me, and now you’re having an adult conversation with me.”

He leaned in, placing his hands on either side of my head against the cabin door. “Maybe this is a cease fire.”

“You don’t cease fire that much hatred,” I said softly. “Though I wish it was true.”

“Is that a polite way of saying you don’t trust me?” He tilted his head like he was amused.

“Yeah. It is,” I croaked.

“Smart girl,” he whispered, his gaze lowering to my mouth.

I needed to escape.

Not to pull him into my cabin and ask him to get naked.

What was wrong with me?

All because he was the only guy to ever make me feel something other than lonely?

“I, um, have a bag or something for you from your mom.”

“Foster mom,” he corrected, his demeanor completely changed, like I’d somehow put division between our two positions in life, rich and poor.

“It’s just… over here.” I flipped on the lights and grabbed the small duffel for him and tossed it.

He caught it with one hand and then took a look around the small cabin. I wondered in that moment if he wanted to put me in this place because it was the way he’d lived his whole life.

A small room.

Nothing personal.

Enough food to go around, but nothing extra.

I knew what my parents paid them.

I knew the house was old, just like this room.

There were no pictures. Just two small twin-sized beds, a sink to wash up in, and numerous windows with a few shelves filled with dusty books and emergency equipment.

“There a reason you haven’t decorated?” He pointed to the blank walls.

“I have nothing to put there,” I admitted lamely.

“Family? Friends? Pictures of cats?” he offered.

“Not allowed to have any pets, I kept to myself in College, and I suck at decorating.”

“That’s… depressing.” He crossed his arms.

Why was he still there?

The longer he stared at the walls the more it felt like he was staring into my soul, and I hated it. I hated that he saw all of my vulnerabilities without me even saying anything.

It wasn’t fair.

“I should sleep,” I blurted.

He stared at the walls a bit longer then back at me. “Me too.”

Why was he not moving?

He reached into his duffel and pulled out something small. It looked like a calendar of some sort.

“Grumpy Cat calendar.” He shrugged and tossed it to me. “Two birds with one stone, you can decorate with the pictures, and you have a fake pet.”

I caught it midair and gawked at him. “Stop being nice. It’s weird.”

“I’ve always been the nice one.” He smiled.

“Um, no you’ve always been extremely rude unless drunk.”

“And you’ve always been a spoiled princess with a stiletto up your ass… guess people don’t really change, huh?”

I took in his massive appearance and lied. “Guess not.”

“Sleep tight.” He winked then left without another word. The screen door slammed behind him. I flipped him off and then grabbed the little calendar, held it to my chest as a tear slid down my cheeks.



“I just want one pet!” I told my mom. “A fish! An ant farm, something, anything!” I didn’t tell her how scared I got at night. How I hated living in that giant house without any sort of warmth, how the fact that she was leaving for a girls’ trip in Vegas over my birthday made me sick to my stomach. If I could just get something or someone to talk to. “Please?”

“Honey…” Mom rolled her eyes. “Pets smell. You don’t need a smelly pet ruining your carpet.”

“Fish don’t do that!”

“Are you cleaning the fish tank? And ants can escape. Sorry but you don’t need a pet, whatever happened to that rock collection!” She beamed. “Just name a rock!”

Name. A. Rock.

“But Mom—”

“I gotta catch my flight. Be good!” She blew me a kiss. The door slammed behind her.

And my second lonely tear fell.





THE SOUND OF Brax blowing the camp horn, signifying it was time to wake up, was the absolute last thing I wanted to hear. I’d slept like shit, tossed and turned so much that at one point had to get up and take some sleeping medication and then fell asleep for two more hours before I heard that damn horn.

It sounded happy.

I was anything but.

I quickly dressed in a new staff shirt, threw on a pair of ripped jeans, washed my face and brushed my teeth in the sink provided, and called it good. I had to be the first at breakfast and since it was our first official day at camp, it was imperative I be there to answer questions and help all the teens get to their classes.

I grabbed the main camp iPad and strolled out of my cabin in a hurry. My eyes focused on the gravel road ahead. I tried not to notice the outlier.

The cabin I’d put Ray in.