Twenty-Seven
Avery
I think the only thing better than falling asleep in Kaleb’s arms is waking up in them, and that’s been my reality the past couple days. Even if it means an alarm going off at the ass crack of dawn, forcing us to part ways so we don’t get caught, I’ll take it. I’ll take every sleepy moan and half-conscious kiss I can get, and the knowledge that I’ll spend the entire day with him takes some of the sting out of sneaking around.
It’d be kind of sickening to witness if I wasn’t so goddamn happy.
Apparently my joy has become obvious to others too, but mostly Elijah, who never fails to comment on it…like right now.
“I’m just saying, you’ve been smiling a lot.”
I can’t help but laugh when I glance down at him while we walk down the trail to the lake, lagging behind the rest of the group as always.
“Last time I checked, smiling wasn’t a bad thing, kid.”
“It’s just different.”
“Yeah, well,” I muse, ruffling his hair. “I don’t think I’m the only one smiling a lot lately. From where I’m standing, you’re actually having a pretty great time here this summer.”
His little nose crinkles up and his cheeks turn a little red. “Yeah, I guess.”
“You guess,” I echo, arching a brow.
An indignant huff leaves him, and he rolls his eyes. “Fine, you win. I’m having fun.”
“And?” He grumbles out something I can’t quite make out, and I knock his shoulder with my arm. “Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.”
“I said I liked camp too, okay? But I wouldn’t if you weren’t here.”
A few deep chuckles break out from my chest as we reach the edge of the clearing. Kaleb’s already over unlocking the shed, and I motion to where the other boys are all gathered, chatting and fucking around with each other.
“I’m sure you’d be just fine. Now, go hang out with your friends. I’ve gotta help Kaleb anyway.”
After a lot of hiking over the past few days, we’ve decided to do something a little more relaxing post-lunch: spending the day out at Glass Lake. The kids are thrilled with the change of pace as we break out the paddleboards and kayaks, letting them choose whichever their preference is.
No canoes, though. Thank God, because I don’t think I’d survive a repeat of that particular incident…even if I’d love nothing more than to get Kaleb dripping wet again. Especially when I know just how good those swim trunks look hanging low off his hips when they’re saturated with water.
One by one, we get the kids fitted into life vests and launched off the dock in their watercraft of choice. Only the twins are left now, and I easily get Dayton situated on his paddleboard before giving him a proper send off into the water. However, when I turn around, it seems Kaleb is having slightly less success with Colton.
Colton’s straddling the edge of his kayak, one foot in the watercraft while the other is still on the dock, and his legs are damn near shaking while he reaches for his paddle resting on the seat.
Kaleb’s holding the edge of the kayak against the dock and notices his brother struggling. “Here, let me grab the paddle while you—”
“I can do it myself, Kaleb. I don’t want your help,” he snaps, glaring at his older brother.
The kid haphazardly climbs the rest of the way into the kayak, somehow managing not to fall in or tip it in the process.
Kaleb winces but releases the kayak once his brother is sitting safely in the seat and then rises to stand beside me.
Colton glances at me warily before moving his gaze to Kaleb. Distrust is written all over his face when he looks at his brother, lingering there before he inevitably paddles far away from shore.
While Colin may have insinuated that a ton of the kids love me during our meeting earlier this week, one thing remains evident: Colton LaMothe is not in that category. What’s not so clear is why Kaleb seems to be on the receiving end of his brother’s ire.
From what I’ve noticed since arriving at camp, Kaleb might be Colton’s favorite person on this planet. All three of the brothers are close, don’t get me wrong, but there’s something different about Colton and Kaleb’s relationship. So while it’s not really any of my business, I can’t stop the question from slipping out as we watch them all from the dock.
“What’s been up with Cole the past couple days?”
Kaleb’s gaze is fixated on his brother, who is currently using the kayak paddle as an extension of his arm to push Dayton off his paddle board. An attempt that becomes successful moments later, with the help of Max and Jordan, when Dayton goes crashing into the water.
I chuckle softly at the antics, but Kaleb doesn’t so much as crack a smile. An unreadable emotion flashes in his eyes when he looks back at me, and I wouldn’t have to read his mind to know something is up.
“Maybe he’s just realizing that having his big brother around all summer isn’t as great as he thought it would be.”
It doesn’t feel like the entire truth, but I don’t press him on it. Instead, I slowly reach over and let my fingers graze his; a featherlight caress that has goose bumps popping up over his arms. It’s meant to be more of a sweet gesture than anything, but the second my skin connects with his, an electric current sparks between us.
From the way his eyes flare when he looks at me, he feels it too.
“I guess his loss is my gain.”
His brow arches imperceptibly before he murmurs a gruff, “Is it now?”
I nod, swallowing hard as our gazes stay locked together.
The urge to haul him against my chest and kiss the daylights out of him is damn near overwhelming, and I have to pull my hand away before I do just that. Kaleb’s gaze breaks first, moving back to the kids for a brief second.
“We better get out there with them before someone drowns.”
“They’re wearing lifejackets,” I remind him. “They’d have to try really hard for that to happen.”
“Yeah, well, sometimes I wouldn’t put it past Cole to hold Day underwater with his paddle.”
The joke lightens the mood ever so slightly as we head over to the shed to grab our own paddle boards, but I can still feel a tinge of despondence in Kaleb. And I hate it. Hate that something has him feeling so sullen and dejected. Hate that I can’t do something to change it.
Maybe that’s why, before he can grab his board off the rack, I wrap my fingers around his wrist and drag him toward me. He crashes into my chest, his smooth, tanned skin pressed directly against mine, and I don’t wait more than half a second before covering his mouth with mine.
Releasing his wrist, my fingers slide over his side and wrap around his lower back, holding him closer while my tongue flicks over his lower lip. Every inch of my body ignites, consumed in a fire of love and lust, and I relish in the burn.
“What are you doing?” he whispers after a moment, his hands gripping my waist.
“Kissing you. I would’ve thought that was obvious.”
My lips cover his again, and this time, he’s kissing me back with just as much fervor and passion. One hand slips up into his dark hair, loving the way it feels between my fingers, while the other moves up to his jaw to deepen the kiss. I back him against one of the racks while our tongues tangle together, every inch of our bodies so perfectly aligned, I could die on the spot.
The ridge of his rapidly thickening cock twitches against my hip, and I roll against him on instinct. A soft moan leaves him—or maybe it was me—and it only spurs me on. Releasing his hair, I slide a hand between us to palm him over his swim trunks, needing to touch him.
But that’s what breaks the spell, and Kaleb’s hand pushes against my chest to break the kiss.
“Okay, okay,” he mutters, putting some distance between us. “We have to stop before we get carried away.”
“So let’s get carried away,” I reply immediately.
His eyes may as well be on fire as he adjusts himself, hiding his erection as best he can. “Too much sunshine must be making you lose your damn mind.”
Turning, he grabs a paddle board from the rack for me, then one for himself. Unfortunately for him, this leaves his delectable ass wide open, and I take the opportunity to give it a playful smack.
“Actually, it was definitely the way these trunks mold to your ass and sit low on your hips.”
He shoots me a glare as he grabs his own board and pushes past me to exit the shed. “And you’re gonna end up outing us to the entire camp if you can’t keep your hands off me in broad daylight.”
“There are worse things.”
What the fuck did I just say?
I don’t have time to process or unpack my Fruedian slip, though, because the second we step from the shed and turn the corner, I’m greeted with a sight that instantly sets my entire body on edge.
“Dad.”
I damn near choke on the word as it falls from my lips, and my father’s penetrating gaze shifts from the lake over to where Kaleb and I are standing.
“Avery. I’ve been wondering where the hell you were.”
“We, uh…” I look helplessly at Kaleb for some sort of explanation, but he still has his gaze locked on my father. “We had to grab our boards before going out with the kids,” I finally go with.
It’s not exactly a lie, and it’s certainly better than going with we were too busy making out like horny teenagers right outta the gate.
“What are you doing here?” I manage to ask, despite the baseball that’s lodged itself in my throat.
My father glances down at his watch, and it’s only then that I realize he’s dressed impeccably, as always, in one of his tailored suits that cost more than all my paychecks from camp combined.
And he’s certainly out of place standing at the edge of a lake in the mountains.
“I had a call scheduled with Colin to go over some quarterlies after balancing his books this week. Figured I might as well kill two birds with a trip here instead, seeing as I haven’t heard from you since you left.” He cants his head, eyes sliding over me with suspicion. “If it weren’t for your name still on his payroll, I’d have thought you were eaten by a mountain lion out here or something.”
My smile is tight and forced as my father wraps me in an awkward one-armed hug—one no doubt for Kaleb’s benefit rather than my own.
“How’re you fairing?”
“Uh, fine, I guess.” I motion out toward the lake with the board under my arm. “Busy keeping all these kids in line.”
“Easier said than done, I have no doubt.”
The charm oozes off him like a toxic gas, infecting every air molecule around us until it’s getting harder to breathe. Spending much more time in his presence is sure to suffocate me entirely.
Clearing my throat, I motion toward Kaleb beside me, who hasn’t so much as moved since our path collided with my father’s.
“Uh, Dad. You remember Kaleb, right? He’s our left-fielder back at Foltyn.”
I internally wince at the word our, the sting of no longer being on the team still very much present. But it’s not until I look back at my father, noticing his eyes have hardened to stone, that I realize my mistake in making the introduction. He runs the payroll, so there’s no way he’d miss Kaleb’s full name on it, let alone fail to put together the pieces of how we know each other. A fact he confirms with as much venom as I’ve come to expect toward anyone on the bad side of Jason Reynolds.
“Yes, of course. You’re the one who came forward about the… incident last spring, right?”
I feel Kaleb bristle beside me, and when I glance from my father to him, the tension lining his jaw is enough to make my own ache. Having spent as much time with him as I have this summer, it’s obvious he’s doing his best to not pop-off at the mouth—especially after all I’ve told him.
“That was me, yeah,” he states after a beat, leaving it at that.
“But we’ve put it behind us,” I quickly add, my attention shifting back to my father. “You know. Water under the bridge, as they say.”
Disbelief lines my father’s expression. “I clearly fail to see how it could possibly be under the bridge when his actions swept away your entire college career.”
“Which would be a rightful repercussion after his actions,” Kaleb snaps.
“Perhaps in the world you live in.” My father studies him briefly, a knowing smile slowly creeping on his face. “But welcome to reality, where anything can be corrected with the right course of action.”
My pulse thuds rapidly beneath my skin, and for whatever reason, I feel like he’s not just talking about me getting kicked out of Foltyn. It almost feels like he’s talking about me too. Like he’s somehow figured out the secret I’ve been harboring and he plans on fixing it. Like he knows what Kaleb and I were just doing in that shed by simply looking at me.
Of course he knows. You reek of depravity.
Shame’s venom seeps into my bloodstream like poison, spreading slowly through my body with every heartbeat.
Disgusting creature. An absolute disgrace.
I do my best to shove it back into the cage I’ve made inside my mind, but it’s no use. I can’t block it out. Not with my father standing right here in front of me. Shame feeds off him, growing in strength from his presence.
Kaleb’s lips pull back slightly, but he doesn’t say anything more. I feel like I’m drowning in tension between them, and I’m willing to do anything to find a liferaft to pull me above the surface.
Motioning toward the lake with my board, I mutter, “Uh, yeah. We actually have to get out there with the kids, so—”
“Colin’s given you the rest of today off since I’m here,” he cuts in, looking entirely disinterested in whatever I was going to say. “Now, why don’t you go change and we can see what we can scrounge up for food around this place.”
“Kitchen closed an hour ago,” Kaleb says immediately, a demeaning smirk on his face. “And we just ate.”
My father doesn’t bat an eye at the information, instead smiling viciously as he switches gears. “We can go into town, then. I’m sure it would be a nice change of pace from…all this .” Pausing, his attention finally shifts to me. “Besides, you and I have some things we need to discuss.”
A sour taste hits my tongue, spreading into an ache at the back of my throat.
I don’t want to go. Not in the fucking slightest. If anything, I want to go back in time to five minutes ago, when Kaleb and I were in that shed, and never come out.
But I also know nothing good can come of refusing him.
“I, uh…” I awkwardly adjust the board under my arm. “Let me just put this away first, and I can meet you at the lodge.”
“Leave the board, I’ll take care of it,” Kaleb murmurs, drawing my attention over to him. There’s a hint of worry in his gaze, his brows drawing down in the center slightly, and I wish I could do something to assuage it. I do my best with my own gaze, I swear I do, but it’s all meaningless when his hand lands lightly on my shoulder and…I flinch.
I pull away from his touch—the press of his skin on mine that I’ve come to crave—before I can think better of it.
Shame cackles and shrieks with glee, its talons clanking against the cage that once contained it. A cage that’s now been dismantled, piece by piece, by my father’s presence.
I know it, and from the hurt in Kaleb’s expression, he knows it too.
Shit, shit, shit.
“Kaleb, wait,” I whisper.
His forest gaze collides with mine, speaking to me with it as he gives a subtle shake of his head.
Not now.
“I’ll leave the two of you to… catch up,” he says instead, his focus flicking from my father, then back to me.
With that, he heads off to the shoreline and drops his board in the water.
And I watch after him, full of helpless anxiety, and knowing damn well that every step forward we’ve made was just taken out in a landslide.