This Is War - Chapter 18 – Hugging a Naked Woman
We pulled up to the Emerald Oasis just as I buttoned my jean shorts. Phew. That had been close.
“All done?” asked Tanner, as if he hadn’t been stealing glances at me the entire time I was changing.
“Yup.” I would have called him out for peeking, but I was too distracted by the massive castle that we’d just pulled up to.
Or maybe palace was a better word to describe it?
Either way, it was not what I had pictured.
I’d assumed the clubhouse would be a rustic little cabin type deal, which was kind of dumb given how much money the Society clearly had to throw around.
Tanner hopped out of the car and started to walk over to open my door, but someone else beat him to it.
“Welcome to the Emerald Oasis,” said a familiar voice. I looked up and saw Cole the liftman holding the door open for me. Instead of his usual uniform, he was now wearing swim trunks and a bright blue T-shirt with Emerald Oasis written across the chest.
“What are you doing here?” I asked. He wasn’t supposed to be here! Chastity hadn’t had time to devise a proper prank to get him back for embarrassing me at Club Onyx.
He laughed. “Now what kind of way is that to greet your favorite Society member? We missed you this week at Club Onyx. I was especially surprised not to see you when we hosted an elementary school science fair Wednesday night. I thought for sure you’d show up nude.”
I tried to turn away so he couldn’t see me blush, but it was too late. My damned cheeks always betrayed me! And that made me even more embarrassed.
“Everything okay?” asked Tanner. “Is this camp counselor bothering you?”
“He was just offering to carry my bags,” I said.
Cole raised an eyebrow at me but didn’t fight back. I had a feeling he’d get me back for that comment later. Once our bags were out of the back seat, Cole pulled out a clipboard. “So will you two be staying as a couple?”
Uhh… “Nope,” I said. Tanner had made it very clear that we weren’t dating.
And yet…Tanner looked disappointed by my answer.
“Great,” said Cole. He turned to Tanner. “Someone will be with you shortly. Raven, please come with me.” Cole grabbed my suitcase and tossed it onto a golf cart. Then he patted the passenger seat to get me to join him.
I hopped in and we sped off down the gravel road. It took every ounce of restraint I had not to look back to see Tanner’s reaction. Not that I cared what he thought. I pulled out my phone and texted Chastity to distract myself.
Ash : We made it to the camp. Tanner didn’t cut me into little bits. But…Cole is here!
Chastity : Cole?! What is he doing there?
Ash : He’s one of the camp counselors or something.
Chastity: We still need to prank him.
Ash : I know! Did you ever pull any good pranks at summer camp?
Chastity: Uh…one time I showered with a bunch of guys. Does that count?
Ash : No.
Chastity: Hmm…okay. Well, I’ll try to think of something. Just don’t let him trick you into getting naked and everything should be fine. Or do. ;)
I glanced at Cole out of the corner of my eye. Chastity didn’t need to warn me that he might try to get me naked. My radar had been on high alert since the second I saw Cole’s stupid handsome face. There was no way he was going to trick me again.
“Here we are,” said Cole as we pulled to a stop in front of a super cool looking cabin with a giant window overlooking the lake.
Damn this is nice. So much for this being like my 5 th -grade summer camp. Those cabins had looked like they were straight out of the 1700s. Meanwhile, this cabin could have been on the cover of Architectural Digest .
Cole grabbed my suitcase out of the golf cart and took it into the cabin.
As I walked in, I nearly tripped over a suitcase overflowing with bikinis and makeup and beauty products.
And another suitcase. And another. It reminded me of when I’d visited my extremely messy older sister in college one time.
She’d had so much stuff everywhere that we literally could not open the door to her dorm.
I hadn’t realized I’d be rooming with other people when I turned down the couples cabin. Speaking of which…how did the couples cabins work? Were the couples all together in one big room…orgy style? I swallowed down the lump in my throat. I’d made the right call saying Tanner and I weren’t together.
Especially because we clearly weren’t together. And we never would be. Because DODO said he couldn’t be distracted and apparently dating me was a distraction. Stupid DODO. Or stupid Tanner, because I was really starting to think DODO didn’t exist at all.
“You’ll be rooming with…” Cole looked down at his clipboard. “Vanessa, Soraya, Alessandra, Isadora, and Giovanna.”
“Are you sure that’s all?” I asked. “Because I count at least 18 suitcases.”
Cole laughed. “Based on what I’ve seen in some of the other cabins, you actually got lucky. Well…maybe. I guess that depends on if you remembered to bring earplugs. Rumor has it that Soraya had a few ribs removed and now she snores like a 90-year-old man.”
Was rib removal still a thing people did? “Are those two things even related?”
Cole shrugged. “I guess you’ll find out.”
“Aren’t any other rooms available?”
“Don’t think so. In fact, you’re lucky this one was. The Emerald Oasis fills up fast on Friday afternoons. But let me make a call.”
He dropped my suitcase and stepped out of the cabin.
I took a minute to look around. All of the top bunks had been taken, which left one lower bunk for me.
Probably under Soraya. And then I realized that I really needed to pee after the long car ride.
I hopped over a few suitcases to the bathroom.
There were a bunch of sinks, a few toilet stalls, and one giant group shower occupied by two beautiful models soaping each other up. Oh no, it’s an orgy here too.
“Hey,” said the one getting soaped. “You our sixth?”
“Uh…yeah. I’m Raven.”
“Isadora,” she replied.
“And I’m Giovanna,” said the other. I was pretty sure she’d been one of the other girls at the sex auction a few months ago.
I stuck my hand out for them to shake. Which was awkward because she was naked and soapy. What the hell was I doing?
“I’m a hugger,” said Isadora. Before I could process that information, she bounced over and threw her arms around me. I died a little inside as her soaking-wet body pressed against me.
Well…at least I can cross “Hugging a naked woman” off my bucket list. Not that it was on there in the first place. But if it had been, I’d done it. I patted her awkwardly on the back and prayed she’d let go of me.
“Wanna join us?” asked Giovanna. “We were just getting ready to head over to the mess hall for dinner.”
“Uh…I’m pretty clean already. I’ll just wait for you guys out there.”
They nodded and went back to awkwardly soaping each other. I turned and got the heck out of there, completely forgetting about my need to use the restroom.
Cole was waiting for me by the bunks.
“Please tell me you found me a better room,” I said.
“Why are you so soapy?” he asked. “Did you just take a shower with your clothes on?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Well, I do have some good news. There was a last-minute cancellation for one of the princess suites. You interested?”
“Is this a trick?”
“You don’t trust me?” He acted like he was hurt, but his acting was way over the top.
“I do not. The last time I trusted you I ended up naked in front of a bunch of high school kids.”
“That wasn’t my fault. You took your dress off all on your own.”
“And you didn’t stop me!”
He shrugged like it was no big deal. “Do you want the princess suite or not?”
“I need more information.”
“The princess suite is just what it sounds like…a suite fit for a princess.”
“But I have to share it with twelve other girls who like giving naked soapy hugs?”
Cole’s eyes lit up. “Is that what’s going on in there?” He craned his neck to try to look into the bathroom.
I blocked his view. “Hey, focus, buddy. You were telling me about the princess suite.”
“Right. No, you don’t have to share it with anyone. You get it all to yourself.”
I squinted at him, trying to see through his lies. “What’s the catch?”
“No catch.”
“Then why is it available?”
“I think a lot of the girls like sharing cabins. It’s part of the experience.”
I thought back to what I’d just witnessed in the shower. Okay, that checks out. These girls were crazy, though. Having a room all to myself was a dream come true. Although…staying in a cabin with lots of girls might be better for detective work. One of these girls might have known Rosalie.
Nope. I couldn’t deal with the group showers and all these suitcases. And the snoring. Nope, nope, nope. But I still wasn’t quite ready to say yes to Cole. I still had more questions. “So I’m not going to wake up handcuffed to the bed surrounded by naked men?”
“I mean…I could probably arrange for that to happen. Is that what you want?”
“No!”
“Then I guess it won’t happen.”
“Is it like a three-hour hike from the princess suite to the rest of the camp? Is there a pet crocodile that the occupant of the princess suite must care for? Is the suite filled with nanny cams…like a Big Brother situation?”
“No, no, and no. It’s just a normal room.”
“Alright. But if you’re lying, I promise you’ll regret it.”