Chapter 41
He stayed.
That’s the first thought that crosses my mind when I open my eyes into the very early, mostly still dark sky outside of my window. I can’t see the sun, but strips of pink paint the dark sky through the trees above the cabin.
And around my waist, warm and heavy, rests Kayde’s arm. Nervously, I pick up my hand to stroke my fingers along his tanned skin that makes my olive complexion look pale in comparison.
He isn’t awake, but when he shifts behind me and lets out a breath against my shoulder, I pause. Kayde shifts a little, burying his face against me, and murmurs something that doesn’t sound like a real sentence.
“Yeah,” I agree in a whisper anyway, wondering how deep of a sleeper he is. “I agree.”
Kayde shocks me with a tired chuckle, and kisses my shoulder. “Do you?” he purrs, voice just as soft. “I’d think you most certainly would not agree with me, Summer.”
Somehow I manage not to jump, or stiffen, or startle even the least bit. I suck in a breath and lean my head back a little, putting my ear close to his lips. “So what am I agreeing with?” I ask, still chasing sleep from the edges of my brain. I can feel the pleasurable soreness in my lower abdomen, and as if he can read my mind, Kayde’s arm shifts so he can splay his fingers against my stomach.
“I said I love you,” he tells me after a moment, his hand pressing me back against him.
And while him being awake hadn’t startled me, nor had the fact that he’s still here, this does it. My breath catches as my throat closes in surprise, and I stare up at my window with wide eyes while having no idea what to say. “Oh,” I murmur at last, feeling hyperaware of every small move of his body against mine.
“Yeah.” Kayde chuckles and nips at my shoulder. “I have to go, baby girl.”
“Why?” My brain clearly isn’t working at full capacity, since I can’t figure out why in the world he’s going to deprive me of his radiator-like warmth.
This time Kayde nips my shoulder lightly, and draws away a second later before sighing, “Because if we walk out of here when the kids are up, or the other counselors, it’s going to get back to Fink. You know how they are. We’re already Crestview’s worst kept secret, apart from Liza and Kinsley. But even they try not to let anyone realize they’re sleeping together.” That seems stupid to me, since everyone knows they are. But he’s right; a bunch of preteens learning about our nightly activities would be…probably not great for us. And I certainly wouldn’t get invited back to be a camp counselor here again.
If I’m even coming back next year.
I know for a fact Kinsley won’t be. She has too much going on in her life, and with Liza now part of the deal, she has no reason to come back. Any job she’s been offered will net her more money than this, and since Liza lives close to us, she doesn’t need to come here to make her move.
But I still haven’t decided where that leaves me.
“That’s fair, I suppose.” The words come out in a grumble, and I can’t help my groan of protest when Kayde pulls away completely. Belatedly, I roll over, watching him pull on his t-shirt and shorts. “Though I do feel incredibly offended. I’ll never get over this slight against my character.”
That earns me a side-eyed glance from Kayde, though I can see the smile twitching at his lips. “My poor sweetheart,” he purrs, crossing the cabin and leaning down to kiss my nose. I grumble at that too, turning my face into the pillow. “Go back to sleep, baby. You don’t need to be up for another hour.”
“We’ll see,” are the only words I’ll give him, though I do curl up on his side of the bed and bury my face in the pillow that smells like him. And if I suck in a deep breath of his scent as my eyes fall closed again, Kayde is at least nice enough not to mention it. Instead, he crosses back to me and presses one last kiss to my temple, then leans down to murmur in my ear.
The door closes behind him seconds later as he leaves, but I’m too busy with his last words running through my head on repeat to really notice.
I love you more than anything, Summer.
Like hell he does, I remind myself. He hasn’t known me long enough for that.
“You’re flailing again, Melody. You too, Lily.” Kayde’s words are kind but firm, and I peek up at them from over my sunglasses as he stands at the edge of the pool where two of my girls and three of his boys are doing laps. With their free day, the kids could decide to do pretty much anything, but only a few of them had been interested in Kayde’s swimming lessons.
Or more precisely, competitive swimming lessons. So far he’s taught them two or three different styles, and I’d had to stifle a laugh when they’d attempted to butterfly themselves across the pool. But Kayde had only given me a withering glance and I’d managed to shut up.
I glance up at them again, content to soak up the sun in a chair next to the pool while the kids try to impress my sociopath. Melody, in particular, strives to be the best with form and speed, and it would take an idiot not to see that Kayde likes her more than the others.
I wonder if it’s the sociopath in her that draws him in like a big brother, or something else entirely. Mel does have a great personality, and the maturity some adults don’t possess. Like Darcy. But if I had to guess, I’d say that it’s the…wrongness about them.
Which I’ve stopped denying, since I’ve started actually paying attention to the similarities between her and Kayde. There are too many to count, really. The same shrewd way they observe people, for one. The easy mask I see Melody put on around others.
The ability to stay calm in any situation, even ones that should bother a twelve-year-old.
A low noise that I recognize as someone clearing their throat catches my attention, and I jerk my head up to see Darcy standing behind me, her face pinched and uncomfortable behind a pair of designer sunglasses.
“Yeah?” I ask, brows raising. “You want something? I don’t think Kayde likes you very much anymore. So maybe don’t push me into the pool or some other shit.”
“I’m not going to push you into the pool.” Darcy’s voice is a quiet mutter, and I can feel the contempt wash over me as she speaks. She might not do it, but she definitely wants to. But she doesn’t continue. She doesn’t say a damn thing as she stares at me from behind her sunglasses, though I can definitely feel her distaste just as clearly as the contempt.
“Can I help you with something? Do you want to, I don’t know, dump all of your kids on me while you run off to the boathouse with Shawn?” My words aren’t meant to be cruel, but Darcy flinches like I’ve just accused her of the worst thing in the world. Her arms come up, and Darcy seems to hug herself as she stands behind my chair, twisting like a child caught doing something bad.
But she still doesn’t offer me any explanation. I see her chin jerk up as she glances across the pool, and when I follow her look, I find Kayde’s gaze on her. And, well, I can’t really blame him for not looking particularly friendly. But when he looks at me, as if asking for permission, I shake my head just enough that he has to get the message. After all, I’ve never been afraid of Darcy or her caustic words.
And I certainly won’t be starting today.
“Look. Is there something you want? If something’s wrong, just tell me. You know I’ll help with whatever?—”
“Have you ever done something you regret? Or, I don’t know, heard about something happening you know shouldn’t?” She cuts me off like I hadn’t been speaking and seems to hover in place like the least comfortable prey animal I’ve ever laid eyes on. Hell, at this point, it seems as if she’ll bolt if I clap my hands or make any sudden movements, so I just wait for her to figure out what she wants.
But then she just…doesn’t continue, and it occurs to me the question isn’t rhetorical. Though it’s stupid enough that it should be.
“Yeah, I’ve done a lot of things I regret,” I tell her, self-consciously rubbing the scar over my eye. That’s certainly not one of them, but it’s become almost a nervous tick. “And uh, kind of?” Kayde probably counts for the second part. And not telling the police, or anyone else, had probably been a mistake on my part once I knew what he was at Camp Crestview for originally.
However, that seems to have worked out. Somewhat. Maybe.
Well, okay, I’m still not so sure about the outcome of that. But Darcy barely seems to be listening to me. She rubs her arms as if she’s cold, though the day is sweltering for this late in the summer. Instead of looking at me, she stares at the pool, her mouth pressed into a thin line.
“We’re not friends,” she announces suddenly, and I blink up at her, bemused and utterly nonplussed.
“Yeah, we’re definitely not,” I assure her. “We haven’t ever been friends. This summer has kind of made that even clearer, huh?” My voice is dry as I speak to her, and not for the first time in the past minute, I wonder what in the world is going on.
“What would you do if I’d done something bad?” she asks finally, and I barely hear her words over the yells from the kids in the pool and Kayde’s sharp, barking advice to them.
Something bad?The alarm bells in my head are ringing, and I turn without standing to look up at her, dragging my sunglasses off of my face as I do.
But Darcy doesn’t return the favor. She doesn’t let me see her eyes, and I wonder if that’s intentional. “I’d help you.” My words, my voice, my tone are all earnest, because I’m not lying. Even though she looks at me with a quirked mouth that shows me she thinks I am. “No, I’m serious. I’d help you, Darcy. Just because you aren’t my friend doesn’t make you the boogeyman.”
She flinches at that, and I have no idea why. I certainly haven’t insulted her, I don’t think. If anything, I’ve done the opposite. But the way Darcy recoils makes me nervous, and I wish for the first time I could read minds, or faces, or at least body language better than this.
“You wouldn’t,” Darcy murmurs. “You’re just saying that.”
“I’m not.” Worried that getting up will spook her, I remain sitting. “I’d help you, Darcy. Okay?” I don’t know how else to convince her, and she certainly doesn’t look like she believes me.
Her mouth opens, then closes, and she glances up toward Kayde once more. “I’ve got to go,” she says at last, and when I follow the direction of her face, I see that Kayde is sauntering around the pool, his eyes firmly on her. Sure enough, Darcy takes one step back, then another, before reluctantly looking back down at me.
“Be careful in the woods. Be careful near the?—”
“Everything okay, Darcy?” Kayde’s words are sharp, and the smile on his face is anything but friendly.
Darcy doesn’t stick around to answer. She turns and walks away from the pool as quickly as she can, disappearing around the edge of Otter Hall as she breaks into a jog.
Kayde comes to a stop beside me, and I get to my feet slowly. “That was really weird,” I tell him, shoving my sunglasses back on my face. “Like…even for Darcy.”
“What did she say?” His voice is sharp. Demanding. I turn to look at him, brows raised, but he just gives me a blank look in reply to show me he really isn’t joking.
“That’s the thing.” I lift my shoulders and drop them in a helpless shrug. “She didn’t say anything at all that made sense. She asked what I’d do if she’d done something bad. Then she told me to be careful.”
“Be careful of what?”
Again, I shrug. “Who knows?” It’s not worth worrying about. Not when it could just be Darcy trying to freak me out. “Maybe she took one of Kins’ edibles and it didn’t agree with her.” Kayde shrugs in agreement, but I’m not an idiot.
Neither of us believe that’s the case in the least.