Summer Heat (Cruel Summer #1)(9)

How did one even begin?

She tried. She really did. I’d definitely give her an A for effort. She was animated, and her smile was friendly. But both girls got up, pale, and ran off, like they were ready to puke.

I snorted out a laugh earning her attention across the campfire.

The blaze roared to life like it was using our hate as its fuel.

And then she held the hot dog to her lips and parted them.

My breath hitched as she took in a huge bite, her eyes locked on mine like she had her mouth on me, her teeth, her tongue swirled around catching bits of ketchup that had hit the corners of her mouth, as she chewed she stuck a finger in her mouth and licked it.

What the hell kind of game was she playing?

“Like I said,” Brax whispered under his breath and leaned closer to me so Jen couldn’t hear. “Revenge sex.”

“She’ll think she won.” I turned to him while Jen tended to the fire, oblivious to my dark thoughts. My pain. The sour direction my stomach had taken the minute I saw Ray walk up.

“So let her think she has the upper hand, then pull the rug out from underneath her. Easy.”

“You need to stop hanging out with Jackson. Bastard’s tainting your soul,” I joked, toying with the idea more and more, tossing it around like a ball in the empty dangerous parts of my head. The ones where ideas were born or killed.

“I just hate seeing you like this,” Brax said. “You’re one of my best friends, plus it will keep all the teens from salivating over you if you have someone to focus on. It’s a win-win.”

Interesting.

It typically took the first month for the girls to realize that I wasn’t interested, and it was annoying as hell.

It was a thought.

Sleep with her. Use her as a human shield. Then pretend like it never happened, like we never existed. Just the way she did four years ago.

She took another bite.

And then flipped me off.

I pressed my lips together to keep from smiling then turned to Brax and said. “Consider it done.”





ONE NIGHT DOWN, a million more to go.

I was staff, so I didn’t have a cabin of screaming girls that I had to watch over at night, which almost made it worse. I was lonely.

So lonely.

I wiped a tear from my eye as I grabbed the flashlight and the rest of my shower caddy and slowly left my spider-infested cabin and made my way toward the bathroom.

Any time after ten, the staff bathrooms were co-ed.

Which sucked for me, since the campfire had just ended, but I couldn’t stand sitting in my cabin all by myself with my thoughts, plus I smelled like smoke.

I made a mental note to do a little sprucing up later that week, because my cabin looked like it was built in the twenties and had just had shitty updates until 2018. I was probably going to die in a fire, or it was going to just collapse on me while I slept in my bunk.

Yay!

With a shudder, I opened the bathroom door. Steam billowed out. Every shower was taken. I sighed in impatience and waited near the wall.

What kind of camp had only six showers for the staff anyways?

At least the room was clean. Stark white. It smelled like coconut body wash and Old Spice.

One of the showers turned off.

I pressed off the wall only to see Jackson pull open the curtain and grin at me. “Hey, friend.”

I groaned.

“What? I thought we were doing this whole friends thing.”

“Could you please not be naked during this conversation?” I pleaded turning away while he grabbed his towel.

“I can’t help that I’m packing.” He said with amusement. “Okay you can look now.”

I turned back. The guy had a nice six pack, a V that would make any woman salivate, and enough muscles to make me slightly attracted. It was the personality that killed it.

“Like what you see?” He sauntered toward me.

I shrugged. “I’ve seen better.”

“Doubtful.” He nodded like I was cute for lying. “I didn’t use all the hot water, but I may have fantasized a few times about a certain pretty girl.”

“Ew!” I shoved him while he fell into hysterics.

“I’m kidding!” He nodded back. “But it was tempting.”

“Oh, I’m sure it was, so many girls, only two hands and one dick. Poor guy!”

“Ha-ha!” He patted me on the shoulder. “I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship, don’t you?”

“Undecided.” I patted him right back, side stepped him, and turned the shower back on.

“Later, friend!” The door opened and closed, letting some steam out. I huffed out a breath and slipped off my flip flops just as the door opened again.

“Jackson, seriously—”

Not Jackson. Shit.

Marlo was standing there shirtless with a towel hanging over his shoulder, his caddy in his right hand, and wearing a pair of low slung shorts that made me drop my eyes to the impressive band of muscle around his midsection. Damn. What did he do to get abs like that? Just cut out all food that made a person want to live and survive off of dry chicken and beef jerky? Not an ounce of fat. It was almost disappointing, not being able to find a flaw on the outside when there were numerous ones on the inside.

“Disappointed?” Marlo tilted his head.