Chapter 23
There’s no way I should be up this early.
It has to be a mix of getting to sleep for almost the whole night and all the sleeping I did yesterday. There’s no other explanation in my mind, and no other reason for me to be this wired, with electricity dancing under my skin.
Though I wish I wasn’t the only one up.
Normally I like the silence. I enjoy being alone to get work done that slips through the cracks when the kids are here and taking over everyone’s focus.
But today, something’s different. I’m not desperate enough for company that I’m willing to throw a rock at Darcy’s window or something else as equally suicidal, but I wish any of the other counselors were up. Even just seeing someone else in camp would make me feel that much less lonely.
Though I suppose I could go throw a rock through Kayde’s window and run away, then act innocent when he inevitably comes barreling out to see what in the world happened.
That also seems a little suicidal, however, and I’m not looking to be drowned today. Especially by the man who had so graciously let me sleep instead of taking up most of my night or doing something that had me knocked out for hours from exhaustion and adrenaline.
Rubbing my eyes, I wince at the tenderness under them, where the boys’ paddle connected with my face. It’s not the worst set of black eyes I’ve had, but I’ve forgotten about them enough that I end up digging into the tender bruise a few times a day and reaping the soreness straight after.
A door opens, and I glance up across the lawn where I’m picking up trash from the night before. The kids don’t really mean to make such a mess. I know that. But especially last night, when they’d been planning and writing and doing whatever for the talent show, things had happened and the normal amount of trash post-campfire had tripled.
Not that I’m mad. It happens. They’re just kids, and this is part of what I get paid for.
Liza climbs down the stairs from the nurse’s cabin, her eyes on me. I can feel the confusion emanating from her all the way across the grass, but I lift a hand and wave before shifting the trash bag to my other side and picking up a few more pieces of paper from the ground.
It’s not really that bad, and I’m already half done.
“You’re up incredibly early,” Liza remarks, bending to pick up a few stray pieces of trash. She walks over to me and I hold open the bag for her, while giving Liza my widest smile.
“Couldn’t stay in bed any longer,” I admit, shrugging one shoulder. “I don’t know, I’m just kind of wired this morning. Weird, right?”
“Maybe weird for you,” Liza allows, continuing to pick up litter where she finds it. She also tosses sticks toward the large fire pit, throwing them either in the pit itself or onto the large pile of wood nearby, depending on their size. “But I’m always up this early. Daniel usually is, too. I figured you were him, actually.”
“Daniel gets up this early?” My brows flick upward in surprise. “That’s shocking. I always figured he slept until the last possible moment and his boys had to get him up in the mornings.” It’s not an insult, and I’m not trying to be mean about it. But Daniel has never inspired confidence in me of his ability to get up and take care of shit if he needs to.
Maybe I’m just a hypocrite.
“Usually,” Liza says with a quick nod. “You slept okay, though? I thought maybe you’d be up all night.” She pins me with her gaze, but I give her the same baleful look back.
“Oh yeah? I’m the one who was in danger of being up all night?” There’s a teasing, goading edge in my voice, and I wiggle my eyebrows at Camp Crestview’s nurse.
She, of course, doesn’t look phased by what I’m implying. If anything, her grin turns sly, and Liza tilts her head to the side as if she’s considering my words. “What makes you think I wasn’t up all night with a certain best friend of yours?”
Oh, Liza is better at this than I am. I stare at her, just a touch flustered, before my grin widens to match hers. “Maybe I never went to sleep, and that’s why I’m up this early,” I reply with my own suggestion, though it’s far from the truth.
“Where’s Kayde then?” she asks with a tilt of her head. “Surely he didn’t let you just leave your bed without him.”
“Where’s Kins?” I retort, hand on my hip. It’s fun to debate with Liza this way, and new. I’ve definitely never had someone to talk so freely with, other than my best friend, and Liza is nothing like Kinsley. Not that it’s a bad thing, under any circumstances.
More and more lately, I’m realizing that Liza isn’t just the friendly camp nurse who patches me up after a questionable decision made on my part. She’s kind, funny, and I’m sure I’d like hanging out with her outside of here, if Kinsley and her last that long.
God, I really hope they’re in it for the long run. I’ve met Kinsley’s girlfriends before this, and while I’ve liked a few of them enough, none of them were like Liza.
When Liza starts speaking, I realize I’d asked her a question, and I pull myself out of my thoughts to listen, gaze finding her soft, affectionate smile.
“Kins is in her cabin. She wanted to stay all night with me, but I don’t like waking her up early by accident. She’s such a light sleeper,” Liza laments, a worried frown touching her lips. “And she has kids to look after, unlike me. So I try to let her sleep when I can. At least some.” Her smile turns heavy with double meaning again, and it just prompts me to roll my eyes, a scoff leaving me.
“So kind of you to let my best friend shut her eyes at some point,” I can’t help but tease. My eyes scour the surrounding grass, and I pick up a stray stick to toss into the fire pit as Liza had. By now, we’re closer to when the kids wake up, though I doubt any of the girls in Redtail are conscious yet, unless they’re planning something nefarious.
But today is an easy day, in my opinion. With the talent show happening tonight, the kids get free time in the morning before they’ll take the afternoon to plan what they’ll do, create props for it, and run through their act. With the prize being an actual trophy and t-shirts that declare them Camp Crestview Talent Show Winners, they always put more effort into the talent show than I expect them to.
Secretly, I’m begging for my girls to win this year. In my opinion, we were cheated out of the win last year when I had part of this same group of girls. Plus, I know for a fact Melody won’t take the loss two years in a row without a fight.
Or murder. Depending on who we potentially lose to.
“Nice of Kayde to let you shut your eyes at some point. Should I ask him how much sleep he let you get?” Her teasing words confuse me, since I can’t figure out if she’s going to just waltz up to him in the middle of the day to ask if Kayde let me sleep. It seems random, at best.
Until Liza nods over my shoulder in the face of my confusion.
I turn, nonplussed, until I can see Kayde casually striding up from the direction of the lake, dressed in a pair of loose fitting sweatpants and a Camp Crestview t-shirt. Like me, he’d probably been given a lifetime supply of them from Mr. Fink, who prefers us to wear them while we’re here in case any of the kids need a trusted adult.
Not that I think the kids would have any problem identifying a counselor, since we’re double their height, more than double their age, and usually the ones giving orders or speaking the loudest when something’s happening. But I’ve never argued with Mr. Fink’s ‘wisdom’ and never really plan to. Not when he mostly leaves us to run the camp as we see fit.
“Kayde?” I can’t help but ask, the word slipping out before I can stop myself.
Kayde, apparently having no idea that we were here until this moment, snaps his head up to look at me, eyes wide. He stops walking, hands curling and uncurling at his sides, and in this entire week I’ve never seen him look so…flustered.
Like we’ve caught him at a bad time and he’s embarrassed over it. But it’s not like he’s doing anything wrong or humiliating. Is he?
“Summer,” he breathes, then turns his head to nod at Liza as well. “Hey Liza,” he greets, some of his normal mask flooding back through his expression. “Aren’t you two up a little early?” He directs it to both of us, but his eyes are fixed on mine when he asks, brows knit together.
“Summer says she got a full night’s sleep.” Liza is quick to reply before me, and the undertone of wicked teasing is heavy in her words. “I told her I was surprised and thought I’d ask you if she’s lying to me.”
Kayde’s head tilts just a touch, just enough for me to see the question in his eyes as he steps closer. Close enough for me to see the dark circles under his eyes, and the way he looks like he hasn’t slept at all.
A stab of worry goes through me, but I’m quick to strangle it and toss it down into the abyss of inappropriate feelings where it belongs. Had I done something wrong last night, or something to upset him?
Or had he done something during the night that’s going to upset me today?
Fear creeps upward in my gut, and I can’t help but check him surreptitiously for weapons under my eyelashes. Though I’m pretty sure the handle of an ax would be hard to miss without something more substantial than sweatpants and a t-shirt.
“Well, I wouldn’t say a full night’s sleep,” Kayde replies, a little bashful and a little teasing, as he answers Liza’s insinuation. “But I try not to keep her up all night. Judging by the sounds coming from your cabin though, I’d say you weren’t so considerate to poor Kins, were you?” His gaze is both direct and taunting, but I’m still trying to figure out where in the world he’s been so that he looks like he’s come straight from the lake.
God, I hope he wasn’t disposing of a body.
They trade a few more teasing barbs, and before I know it, Liza is tugging the bag of trash out of my hand and heading toward Otter Hall to start breakfast. Her grin in my direction is confusing, and I wonder what I’ve missed in my moment of panic, since there’s definitely something I’m not getting.
Kayde shifts closer to me, and with a jolt, I realize he’s no longer four or five steps away. Instead, he’s right in front of me, fingers tipping up my chin. “Would you like to stop checking me for blood and weapons now?” he purrs softly, all hints of that sweet, golden retriever facade gone with the trash in Liza’s hand.
“Hmm?” I ask, eyes wide and innocent as I look up at him. “Me? No, I?—”
“Baby girl, you’re so easy to read.” His voice is sharper than I expect, and I blink in surprise as he continues, “You think I’ve killed one of your precious goblins and sunk them in the lake. Would you like to check me a little more thoroughly for blood?” He casts a glance around before tugging me toward the trees, his grip on my wrist tight. By the time we’re not so easily noticeable from the cabins, Kayde has his shirt rucked up in one hand, and presses my palm against his skin with the other.
“Didn’t do anything to break our deal,” he breathes, dragging my hand over his chest, his stomach, and down to his hip. “Didn’t kill your kids, Summer. Stop looking at me like that.”
My nose scrunches in irritation, and I glare at him while sinking my nails into his hip, just to be petulant if he’s going to keep dragging my hand all over his warm, sun-kissed skin.
“Where were you?” I ask finally, searching his gaze. “Did you not sleep? You look—” He cuts me off by surging forward to kiss me, his lips forcing mine open before he thrusts his tongue between my teeth. It’s uncomfortable at first, with his unexpected aggression and the way he turns the kiss filthy in seconds. My hands find his shoulders, fingers digging into his shirt as I whimper my protests against his teeth.
One arm circles my waist, keeping me pressed to him with nowhere else to go. But then again, if I’m honest with myself, I’m not exactly fighting to get away. Not like I should be, anyway.
When Kayde pulls back, it’s only so he can gaze down at me, studying my face as he strokes a finger along my lower lip. “It’s none of your business where I was, sweetheart,” he murmurs at last, leaning forward to bump his nose affectionately against mine. “The more you know, the more dangerous it is for you.”
Goosebumps trail over my arms, and a shiver travels up my spine.
“I wasn’t being?—”
“You’re so nosy,” he croons playfully. “It’s what got you into this mess in the first place.” He seems more like the first time I’d met him, instead of the Kayde from last night, and it’s unnerving as hell that he can switch between personas so easily.
It makes me wonder which is the act, and which is the truth.
“Kayde—”
“No more questions, nosy thing.” He laughs lightly. “Open your mouth for me.”
I do as he says without thinking, only for him to tilt my chin up and spit like he had that first night, when we were standing in the trees and I’d just promised him I would do anything to save the kids of Camp Crestview.
I can’t help the soft whine, or the way I flinch away from him as his saliva pools thickly on my tongue. This feels so strange. It always has. Like he’s placing some claim on me and making sure I won’t forget it, or him, or this deal.
“Close your fucking mouth and swallow it,” Kayde murmurs dangerously quiet. Nostrils flaring, I do so, never looking away from him until he grips my jaw and forces my mouth open, as if he needs to check to ensure I’d done what he asked.
“And what do you say, Summer?” he goes on, shaking my face almost like I’m a dog.
Distaste bubbles just under my skin, along with something hotter that I refuse to name. “Thank you,” I hiss resentfully, and the memories of last night’s Kayde are chased away, replaced by the feeling of him spitting in my mouth and making me thank him for the humiliation.
“Good girl,” he taunts, finally letting go. “Now go turn tail and run back to your cabin, baby. Before I decide I want to spit somewhere else.”
I can’t decide what the strange, hot feeling that floods my body is, but I just look at him, a blush staining my cheeks, I’m sure. His brow jerks upward, eyes darkening, and I can feel my humiliation growing in the seconds before he smiles.
“No, really?” He chuckles, reaching out to grip the base of my throat. “Seriously, Summer? You’re going to stand here and get all hot and bothered imagining me spitting on you? On your pretty little pussy or your?—”
“No,” I hiss, sure my face is beet red. “No, I’m not—” I shove away from him, nearly tripping and falling flat on my face. But he lets me, only watching me with bemusement on his face. “Fuck you, Kayde,” I snap, before I wheel around and march back toward my cabin, refusing to listen to his soft, purring laugh behind me.