Chapter 22
Briar
Briar found Alice in their bedroom donning a bright blue bandana and smirked.
‘So I’ve been sleeping with a river rat this whole time?
’ she asked, grabbing the face paint she’d left out and wiping two green streaks under her eyes to mark her as a member of the opposing team.
It was the day of the traditional game of Capture the Flag which divided the camp into teams: the River Nymphs and the Forest Elves.
Alice smiled wryly. ‘Who knows what secrets I’ve tricked out of you in your sleep.’ She slipped a finger up Briar’s arm suggestively. Briar shrugged her off, refusing to be drawn in. Since the last session’s game had gotten rained out, there was even more pressure to win.
‘Joke’s on you,’ Briar said, pulling her hair into two short braids. ‘Freddie won’t tell me where he hid the flag.’
Alice laughed. ‘You’re not in the inner circle?’
The blue of Alice’s tank top matched her eyes, making them look impossibly big.
Briar glanced down at the rest of the outfit, which included jean shorts perfectly molded to Alice’s thighs.
She had the urge to grab Alice’s waist, skim her hands up to her ribcage, and take the damned tank top off. She swallowed.
‘He knows I’m the weakest link.’
As soon as they started, Freddie sent Briar to guard their team’s jail, a patch of grass in a clearing with white lines drawn around it. The job was reserved for the youngest campers. Briar tried not to be offended.
An hour into the game, they’d jailed fifteen of the blue team.
‘Guys,’ Briar called out to the campers guarding the jail. ‘Remember, you gotta give them at least five feet.’
Her teammates grumbled but moved away from the line.
There was a cry in the distance, and suddenly Freddie came running through the clearing. His shirt was drenched in sweat, his eyes wild. ‘Keep an eye out. There’s a plot afoot,’ he yelled as he darted back into the trees.
‘Be normal,’ Briar called after him. The campers around her giggled. ‘Everyone get ready! They must be trying for a jailbreak.’
She scanned the trees for movement, her heart quickening with adrenaline. She heard a stick crack nearby and whipped her head around to see a flash of blue. Without thinking, she took off, racing into the woods after her opponent. She would recognize that shiny ponytail anywhere.
Alice tried to cut left but stumbled over a root and Briar crashed into her. They fell together, sprawled on the forest floor.
‘Okay, ouch,’ Alice said breathlessly, shifting so that Briar slid off of her. ‘It’s two-touch, not tackle.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Briar said, giggling at the state of Alice’s hair, which was tangled with twigs.
She reached up to pull a few out. Alice was trying her best to look stern, but the glint in her eyes was overwhelmingly fond as she swiped her thumb across Briar’s lips, the pad of it coming back pink with blood.
Briar blinked in surprise and ran her tongue over her bottom lip, tasting metal.
‘Ow.’
Alice glanced around before leaning in for a kiss. She pushed Briar down into the brush, slotting their bodies together. Briar kissed her back just as hard, pulling at Alice’s hair. Her other hand slid into Alice’s back pocket. Alice gasped into her mouth, biting Briar’s bottom lip.
‘Ow.’ Briar broke away with a wide grin, then felt her lip split further. ‘Oh, fuck. Okay, no more kissing.’
Alice laughed, standing and then helping Briar. ‘I’ll take the request into consideration, but I’m not sure I can be in full compliance.’
Briar tried to glower but couldn’t wipe the smile off her face. ‘I’m gonna have to haul you in.’ She grabbed Alice’s hand and walked her back towards the jail. They were nearly there when Briar heard the telltale horns that signaled the end of the game.
She shot a questioning glance at Alice, who looked too smug for her liking.
‘This was a distraction?’ Briar asked, putting it together. Alice beamed back at her, looking particularly angelic in the light streaming through the tree canopy. ‘You’re evil.’
Alice pulled her hand out of Briar’s grasp, skipping back to the center of camp. ‘I’m competitive.’
At that moment, she reminded Briar so much of her younger self that she didn’t care about losing.
Of the VHS tapes Briar had picked up, the campers selected A League of Their Own for movie night.
They lay in their sleeping bags on the mess hall floor, watching the giant projector screen at the end of the room, as the counselors watched from the back.
Cook, who had fully recovered, was in such a good mood that he was passing out bags of popcorn and chocolate chip cookies.
Briar smiled into her cup of Sunny D, her eyes skipping around the room before finally settling on Alice. She was in a corner with the counselors from Cabins 5 and 9, talking quietly but animatedly, her hands waving wildly as she spoke. Watching her sparked something warm in Briar’s abdomen.
‘Whatcha looking at?’ Sierra sidled up to her, and Briar quickly covered her smile by taking a sip of her drink.
‘Just enjoying the movie,’ Briar said. ‘Trying not to think about what could go wrong next week.’
Sierra eyed her like she saw through the subtle verbal parry.
‘Yeah, this session is going much smoother,’ she said finally. ‘You and Alice make a good team when you’re actually working together.’
Briar nodded, tight-lipped, suddenly nervous that even talking about Alice would give them away.
‘We do,’ she managed.
‘So… why aren’t you trying to kill each other anymore?’ Sierra asked, sensing a bruise and poking it.
Briar shrugged. ‘We’re just making it through the summer.’
And that was the truth. Maybe Briar didn’t want anyone to know about Alice because she knew that it was stupid to have started something with her in the first place.
Alice was leaving in two weeks. Whatever was going on between them had a clear expiration date, and yet, Briar couldn’t help herself.
Her crush from high school had come back in full force.
Alice came to save her then, raising her cup to Sierra. ‘Cheers, River Nymph.’
‘Cheers.’ Sierra clinked her cup.
‘I can’t believe we fooled you,’ Alice said, grinning at Briar.
‘I’m out of practice,’ Briar said. ‘Should’ve seen your jailbreak for the Trojan horse it was.’
‘It’s funny how Alice was so sure you’d go after her,’ Sierra said, a knowing glint in her eye.
Briar’s face was now permanently flushed. ‘I guess my competitive streak got the best of me.’
‘I came here to see if you want to review the schedule,’ Alice said smoothly. ‘I think I’ve worked out how to cover for Josh and David.’ Briar stood, following her outside.
‘Can’t wait to see this timetable,’ Briar said as they walked towards their cabin. ‘I know you’re just dying to show me, you geek.’
Alice huffed. ‘I was lying about the schedule.’ Briar raised an eyebrow at her, and she shrugged. ‘I just wanted to get you alone.’
Briar grinned and, with a quick look over her shoulder, took Alice’s hand. The night air was humid as she led them down the path. But before they reached the cabin, Alice pushed Briar against a nearby tree, grabbing Briar’s hips.
‘Hi,’ she said, mouthing at her neck, making Briar gasp. The rough bark bit at her skin, pain coupled with the sharp nip of Alice’s teeth on her clavicle. Her hand fisted in Alice’s hair, pulling her head back for a kiss.
‘Inside,’ she gasped, breaking away, but Alice caged her back in. Her lips never left Briar’s skin, skirting across her cheeks, her nose, her eyelids, mouthing along her jaw, and biting the lobe of Briar’s ear. ‘Please.’
Briar breathed out the word, and Alice trembled against her, her head finally lifting to meet Briar’s gaze. She looked wild, her eyes dark and heady, and Briar lost her ability to think.
Alice dragged her the final few yards to the cabin. They pulled at each other’s clothes, stripping bare and falling into bed. Briar’s hands skimmed over Alice’s curves, unable to get enough of her.
‘You have no idea how many times I’ve thought about this,’ Alice murmured, her thumb rubbing along Briar’s lower lip where it had split. Giddiness filled her at the words. Briar had thought about it too, too many times to count. But she’d never expected to hear the admission from Alice.
She parted her lips obediently, and Alice’s eyes flashed as she dipped her thumb into Briar’s open mouth. Briar sucked, tasting the saltiness of Alice’s skin, and couldn’t stop herself from moaning.
‘I’ve got you,’ Alice whispered, kissing her neck. Her hands drifted down Briar’s body, leaving fire in their wake. And wherever her hands went, her mouth followed.
Not a single inch of Briar’s body was left untouched, except for the one place she needed it the most.
‘Ally,’ she begged, running her hands through Alice’s impossibly soft hair, tugging on it, trying to get Alice to move from where she was biting a mark into Briar’s hip. Alice glanced up at her wickedly. ‘Please,’ Briar groaned, feeling like she might burst.
And then, finally, finally, Alice’s mouth met her center, and Briar lost all sense of herself. Her hands fisted into the bedsheets, feeling like she was being held together by Alice’s fingers, her impossibly hot hands holding down her hips and keeping her tethered to the world.