Summer Heat (Cruel Summer #1)(18)

He smirked.

Yeah… just keep telling yourself that, my blood roared.

And then the damn man winked.





I SHOULDN’T HAVE kissed her.

My body wouldn’t stop flashing me with images of her tears, and if that wasn’t bad enough, I was starting to get concerned that I would never forget the way she felt against my mouth.

But nobody should spend their birthday alone, and I truly couldn’t conjure up much hate. Part of me wanted to shout “Karma” from the rooftops, while the little boy inside me, the one abandoned by his parents at age three, cried out.

He rebelled.

Beat against my chest and demanded I do something kind.

Something that would make her feel less alone.

Less angry.

Less afraid.

Because I wasn’t a fool — loneliness was one thing, but fear almost always followed it, they were, in a way, partners, weren’t they? Because loneliness caused us to doubt our own humanity.

And as much as I wanted to get even with her.

As much as I felt like I deserved it.

I couldn’t bring myself to do anything except touch her, comfort her, kiss her twenty-two times.

I sighed as the flames of the fire died out.

She was still there, talking with some of the other staff members, but always with her arms crossed, always with a polite smile that basically said, please don’t ask me questions.

Hell, she was just as bad as some of our technology-obsessed students, wasn’t she?

Clearly, if my social skills suddenly surpassed her — the sky had indeed fallen.

I smiled at that.

And gave my head a shake.

“You have that look again.” Next to me, Jackson whistled, stoking the fire a bit before tossing the stick in. “The one where I’m afraid you’re going to maul the nearest object with your dick.”

“So in this case…” I pointed to the flames.

“Hell, no!” Jackson shuddered. “I was thinking more along the lines of…” His voice trailed off as his eyes fell to Ray.

“Hilarious.”

“Am I laughing?” He snorted. “Girl pretty much shut me down on day one. Maybe you’ll have more luck since you got all down and dirty with her.”

“Dancing.” I rolled my eyes. “Big deal. We’re actors — it’s what we do, pretend.”

“Ohhhhhh…” He snapped his fingers. “So all this sexual tension is pretend? Why didn’t you just say so, man?” He winked and sauntered over to her.

The hell was wrong with me?

I watched him wrap an arm around her shoulder.

I felt her stiffen as if I was touching her.

And then she very politely stepped away from him and rolled her eyes as if he was the annoying best friend.

Best moment of my life.

Because I knew what that was like.

Friendzoned so hard you get bruises on your heart.

Feels awesome.

He looked back at me and shrugged then wrapped his arm around Jen, the guy moved fast, but he’d already done a stellar job of dating and dumping several of the staff members to the point of earning himself a reputation. So unless he could get Ray to fall for his shit — it was going to be a really lonely summer with his right hand.

Ray was alone again.

Sometimes I hated my conscience. Hated that I wanted to comfort her when for years all I ever wanted to do was seek justice for the way she tossed me aside in high school, for how she beat me for the scholarship I needed more than her.

No matter how many times I tried to bring up logical arguments, my brain just pointed to my heart and shut down.

Before I knew it, I was next to her. “Walk with me?”

Her eyes narrowed — so much mistrust between us, so many reasons why it would never go away no matter what we did. “Are you going to murder me then bury my body in the woods?”

I let out a deep laugh. “If I was going to kill you, I wouldn’t prepare you for it, Ray. I’d just do it. What sort of murderer do you take me for?”

“This isn’t helping your argument.” Her lips pressed into a smirk. God, I’d forgotten how obsessed I’d been about her mouth until now. It caused many a guy to lust in high school, and I knew if I could just taste them again I’d be swimming in my own damn sin.

“I promise I won’t attempt murder on your birthday. You did just turn twenty-two…” I held out my hand.

She stared down at it and then finally gave in.

I squeezed it.

I didn’t let go.

The plan was to hold her hand for a few brief seconds.

And now I was holding it as if it belonged pressed against mine.

Jackson stretched is arms overhead and then did a double take, and his smirk was as big as a house, bastard.

“Eff you,” I mouthed.

It just made him grin harder.

With a sigh, I squeezed her hand and tugged her with me toward the mess hall. We walked in silence, the only real noise coming from our shoes as they crunched gravel with each step.

I stopped at the rear entrance, grabbed my set of keys, opened the door for her, and pointed inside. “Ladies first.”

“So you’re burying me in the mess hall? Huh, have to say I didn’t see that one coming.” She sashayed by me, giving me a full whiff of her perfume.