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My eyes snap up to hers, brows furrowed in confusion. “Doing what?” I ask, completely bewildered by her accusation. All I’m doing is sitting here.
“Whenever you think about him, you get this faraway look and start touching the marks on your wrists. Even I’m not that bad for Liza. You’ve got to get a hold of yourself before tomorrow, or whenever you plan on coming out of here. If you walk around looking at Kayde like that, everyone is going to notice. Darcy is going to notice.” She blinks, looking thoughtful. “Darcy doesn’t know, does she?”
Slowly, I shake my head, a frown touching my lips. “There’s nothing for her to know. It’s just sex. It’s just…” The words die on my lips, and I huff out a sigh. “It’s just something that’ll last this week, Kins. He’s not staying for the last summer camp session. He’ll be gone three days from now. Three days is all I need to put up with him for, and only two nights. He hasn’t managed to break me yet, and I sure as hell don’t intend to lose the game this close to its end.
Kayde Lane is not the scariest thing I’ve ever dealt with. That honor will always go to my father.
“And yeah,” I add, feeling a little cheeky. “I haven’t been sleeping well for nights. Plural.” I can’t help wiggling my brows at her, especially when her face crumples in disgust.
“Please, God, spare me the details,” she requests, holding her hands up in surrender. “I don’t want to hear anything about his dick, or I might vomit.” But she hesitates, eyes narrowing. “Okay, but for science’s sake. Does he have a nice dick?”
I nearly snort out my coffee at the change in direction, and I can feel my cheeks burning once more. “Yeah, Kins,” I cough at last, eyes watering from the coffee burning my throat. “Yes, he has a very nice dick. I can describe it for you?—”
“No! No, no, God. Please, I wouldn’t last. I’d vomit all over your breakfast. But…” She reaches out and grips my hand, carefully dodging the still-irritated line around my wrist. “You’d tell me, right? If something was wrong or if you don’t want this? I’m not afraid of him, Summer.”
She should be. The thought rings in my head, though I don’t say it out loud. How can I?
“Literally nothing about Kayde is scary except that he’s apparently a little feral and maybe gave you rabies last night. Seriously, that’s a little intense, don’t you think? You’re going to have to cover those with Bandaids, or the campers are going to think you got attacked by a werewolf.”
“It would give them something to talk about,” I point out wryly, but she doesn’t see fit to comment on that.
“If he’s hurting you, if he’s forcing you or coercing you or whatever, just tell me. I’ll kill him for you. Hell, I’ll go have the shotgun talk with him right now if you’re okay with it.”
“No, oh, please, no,” I say, holding up one hand in surrender. “Please, Dad, spare Kayde the shotgun threats. I don’t think he could take it.” Without retaliating, anyway.
Her look softens, and she nods a few times, obviously mulling it over. “Okay.” Kins gets to her feet, stretching, and looks around before snatching something off my dresser and tossing it to the bed. “But maybe put this on your wrists, okay? So you don’t look so fucked up when you come out of here. And don’t worry. I’ve got your cabin for as long as you need.”
“Thanks, Kins.” My smile is wide and genuine as she walks backwards toward the door. “You’re the best.”
Her only response is a dramatic salute, and my best friend leaves my cabin with much less fuss than she’d entered, leaving me alone with my breakfast that Kayde got together for me.
And I hadn't even asked her to thank him for me.
Guilt stabs at my stomach as I grab the object she’d thrown my way, turning it over in my hands until I can see what it is.
Kayde’s small bottle of aloe rests in my palm, and it occurs to me he must’ve left it here on purpose, for me to use if I need it.
And that just makes the guilt cut a little deeper.
CHAPTER TWENTY
By the time the sun is setting, I’m too restless to stay in my cabin for any longer. The marks on my wrists have mostly faded, at least enough that they won’t be visible in the darkness. And the bandages I used to cover the first hickeys from the shower are just as effective for the bite marks and are close enough in location to be mistaken for the same ones I’d worn before.
As long as I don’t wear a tank top or swim top, I can hide the rest of the marks as well. At least for now, from the kids, and definitely from Darcy.
I don’t want to die after all.
With one last yawn, I pull open the door to my cabin, striding in my loose, long basketball shorts and camp counselor t-shirt toward Otter Hall. I figure at the very least, I can join my girls for dinner, sit with Kinsley, and talk shit with her and Liza.
While staring at Kayde when he’s not looking, of course. But that had gone without saying, since observing him and trying to figure out what to do from here is definitely my highest priority.
But I’m so fucking close it’s unreal.
Two more nights, and he’ll be gone. As long as he keeps his end of the bargain, Kayde Lane will be out of my life in just under forty-eight hours.
I couldn’t be happier.
Except, I can’t figure out why my stomach twists unhappily at the thought of him leaving. Surely I’m not that desperate for good sex, and if I was, then I’m sure I can find it somewhere else. Hell, anywhere else. Anyone else is a better option than him.
