Summer Heat (Cruel Summer #1)(20)

I quickly got ready, pulled on my staff shirt, a pair of jeans, and then grabbed my beanie and wrapped a sweatshirt around my waist. I dabbed on some lip gloss and put on a little bit of mascara, but other than that, I was going all natural.

The brisk morning air chilled my body as I made my way to the loud mess hall. The lights were bright from the inside, and campers were sprinting toward the doors like the food was going to run out.

Ah, to be eighteen again and have the metabolism of a toddler.

Nobody was at the coffee station, so I lucked out there and quickly made myself a cup of coffee that would hopefully wake me up. Amid the chaos and the loudness, I had to smile into my searing cup.

There was something about the energy here.

The excitement.

Like the day before school gets out or maybe even the first day of school when everyone has something to say about summer. I smiled briefly to myself and made my way through the buffet line in search of something that looked edible.

I settled on blueberry oatmeal and some bacon that looked charred but still worth saving and sat down at the only empty table.

“That bacon looks like it’s been killed twice.” Jackson pointed his fork, his mouth full.

Brax was to my right. “Well at least she got some bacon, I had to help put out the newest fire with Marlo and then lost the good fight over the past batch before they put that one out.”

“Here.” I handed Brax two pieces.

He clutched them to his chest while Jackson rolled his eyes.

“What?” Brax shoved a piece in his mouth.

“She didn’t ask you to marry her, bro, take it down a notch,” Jackson said in a bored tone and then grinned at something behind me. “Looks like he’s on the war path, and only two days in, one of us should monitor his blood pressure.”

I bit down on my lip to keep from laughing or encouraging Jackson more when I knew it would only make him think I found him funny and, oh my gosh, we should totally have sex.

He might be funny.

But guys like Jackson wielded their humor like a weapon to get a girl’s clothes off, and I knew from experience — it worked better than it should.

“Fuuuuuuuuuuuck.” Marlo plopped down on the bench next to Brax took one look at the bacon in his hand, jerked it out, and shoved it in his mouth.

“And now I’m in mourning…” Brax announced. “What the hell, man?”

“Your students, ergo I steal your bacon. Your class is supposed to help other campers choose the musical, and today I woke up to at least ten different campers at my table arguing why we should do the musical they either just starred in or went and saw on Broadway. One smart ass said anything but Hamilton is beneath us.”

“Hamilton.” Jackson’s eyebrows shot up giving him more of a boyish and less of a I wanna sex you up look. “They do realize that Hamilton is—”

“Don’t.” Marlo held up his hand. “The point is, we have until Friday, it’s Tuesday, and I’m ready to pull all my hair out. And I don’t know my parentage — this could be as good as it gets.” He pointed to his head.

I remembered running my hands through that hair.

I knew its length.

The way it curled around my fingertips like it had a mind of its own or like it was just telling me that he wanted to stay.

“Why don’t you just choose?” I offered in a soft voice. “Pull your trump card as director, give a stupid reason that makes sense to an eighteen-year-old who has way too many hormones to actually make a logical decision outside of what to wear, and there you have it.” I bit off a piece of bacon while Brax did a slow clap.

Jackson sighed. “Your prettier half has a point.”

“She’s not my half.” Marlo said through clenched teeth at the same time I said. “We’re not together.”

All of this, of course, just made Jackson grin wider like he knew a secret we weren’t in on yet. “Sure…”

I rolled my eyes and tried to tamp down the heat rushing to my cheeks, while Marlo jumped to his feet and walked toward the front of the room.

“Listen up!” he roared in a loud voice, catching the attention of every camper and every staff member in the place.

Even the kitchen staff stopped working and moved toward the door to see what the fuss was about.

Marlon gazed over the campers like they were his friggin kingdom and he was the ruler, which wasn’t far from the truth I guessed.

He threw his hat onto a nearby table and ran his fingers through his dark hair. I licked my lips and imagined my hands were his, like a freak.

He inhaled. A few girls up front giggled.

I rolled my eyes even though I knew why they were reacting that way. The man wasn’t just beautiful to look at. He had perfectly toned muscles to match, strong hands, nice hair. And a megawatt smile that put his scowl to shame. Damn it. I was cataloging his scowls and smiles now?

“I’m pulling rank,” he finally said. “By the end of the week, we’re just going to have more and more arguments over what we should do for the musical, so I’m going to pick.”

Everyone seemed to hold their breath.

Even me.

He scanned the room, his eyes landing on mine. And then, he sucked in his lower lip and smirked down at the ground and back up. “Dirty Dancing.”

A sliver of excitement ran down my body.