27. Miller
Not even the goat can ruin my day.
Lucy fixes me with her evil stare, but I just give her a smirk. She can’t get to me.
Because I’m seeing Becca tonight. I have no idea what we’re going to do, or where we’re going to go, but honestly, I’m happy just to spend time with her.
Each counselor gets a night off once a week, and last week, I spent mine driving to McDonald’s to get a Big Mac with Jackson. We get to leave camp, or at least have time off from campers, from the time dinner ends until curfew. Which I still think is stupid, but the days are so busy that by the 10:00 p.m. curfew I’m ready to drop into bed.
As I wait by the barn for Mary to show up with the key, I rub my hand over my chin, thinking about what to do tonight. I want to show Becca a good time, prove to her again that I’m a good guy.
And fuck, if I can touch her, kiss her, I’d die happy.
Mary walks up just as I start imagining what Becca’s luscious breasts feel like. They’d be more than a handful, for sure. I wonder if they’re sensitive.
“How was your weekend trip?” Mary asks, snapping me back to reality.
Do not get a boner in front of the campers.“It was good. Interesting, but good.”
Mary smirks, confirming that the camp gossip mill is working overtime. She pulls a key from her pocket and inserts it into the padlock that holds the barn door closed. I help her pull the door open as the first campers show up for the day.
I herd the campers into a group, sitting them on a patch of grass while Mary pulls out the attendance sheet. She goes through the list, checking off each camper to make sure we haven’t missed anyone, then shoves it in her back pocket and claps her hands twice.
“Okay, welcome to Nature!”
The campers cheer. I clap along with them, because why not? Despite the goat, this place is growing on me.
“You’re here because you signed up for the big animals class! That means we’re going to spend extra time with our animals that live out here.” She motions to the pens that hold Lucy along with the pony, alpaca, and sheep. “They’re a lot of fun but a lot of work, too! And we’re going to learn all about them this week.”
Mary goes through the safety rules for the department. Wear closed-toed shoes, don’t get animals out without permission, don’t touch animals without permission, don’t feed animals without permission.
Mostly, make sure you have permission before you do things with the animals. You’d think we wouldn’t have to say it so many times.
Wait. Scratch that. Now that I’ve spent a week living with pre-teens, I’ve realized something. You do, indeed, have to say things like this many times. Because they’ll find a loophole.
“Can we go in the pens with the animals if we don’t let them out?” a boy sitting in the front of the group asks.
See?
Mary shakes her head firmly. “No. Anything with the animals is off-limits unless you’re with a counselor.”
The camper looks disappointed, his dreams of crawling into the sheep’s little house dashed for the time being.
“Any other questions?” Mary asks, looking at the group. When no one else raises a hand, she claps hers together again. “Alright. Now, who do you want to meet first?”
I breathe a sigh of relief when they choose the sheep. Edison is the most chill of all the animals and seems to be the one who hates me the least.
The day goes by smoothly, especially for a Monday, and my prayers of avoiding Lucy are answered for today when she blessedly stays in her pen through all three classes.
Once the barn is swept and the animals are all fed, Mary locks the barn and holds something out to me. “Here.”
I take it automatically, then look at the key in my hand with furrowed brows. “Why do I need your key?”
Mary points to the padlock she just snapped shut. “Tomorrow is my day off, so I won’t be here. You’ll have to open the department. Guard that with your life. The last thing I need is for campers to get a hold of it. Remember how one of them wanted to go play in the pens with the animals? You lose the key, we’ll end up finding him sleeping in one of their shelters.”
I slide the key into my pocket next to my phone. “Will do, boss. Have a good day off.”
I finger the key as I walk back to my cabin, a plan starting to form in my mind.
* * *
After dinner I pat my pocket, making sure I didn’t lose the key yet, as I make my way the few steps from the dining hall to the beach. I slide my sandals off and hold them in one hand, the sand warm beneath my toes.
The sun is starting to dip lower in the sky, orange light reflecting off the glistening waves of the lake, but nature’s beauty pales in comparison to what’s waiting on the swing for me.
Becca’s hair is down instead of in her usual braid. She’s twisting a lock of it around her finger, her knees hugged to her chest as she stares out at the water.
For a moment I stop in my tracks, taking her in. God, she’s stunning.
I want nothing more than to run up to her, sweep her into my arms, and carry her off to my bed, but there are campers spilling out of the dining hall, on their way to their evening program, so I settle for a wave. “Hey, Becs,” I call to her.
Becca looks up at me, a smile warming her face. “Hey,” she says. She hops off the swing and walks toward me. “You never told me what you had planned for tonight, so I’m just wearing my usual camp clothes. I can stop by the cabin to change, though.”
I shake my head, resisting the urge to pull her into my arms and hold her close, because campers. “No need.” I drop my voice low enough that only she can hear. “Let’s get out of here. I need to get you away from these campers.”
We make small talk as we wander past the throngs of kids. It’s torture not being able to hold her hand, put an arm around her shoulder, kiss her. And it’s not like we’re hiding anything, if you ask me.
The tension between us is so thick that it radiates off us in waves. How could anyone look at the two of us together and not see it?
We walk across the Sports field, which has somehow quadrupled in size. It’s in plain view of the campers, and it feels like an hour for us to cross it and finally be hidden in the woods that separates the sports area from the Nature barn.
I look back to make sure we’re hidden from view, and as soon as I’m sure, my control snaps.
“Come here,” I say roughly. I pull Becca into my chest, spinning her around and then backing her up until she’s pressed against a tree. I set one hand on the trunk behind her head while the other pins her in place at her hip.
Becca’s breath hitches when my thumb traces a pattern over her hip, and her tongue darts out to wet her perfect lips.
“I’ve wanted to do this since the first time I saw you,” I say, and then my lips are on hers.
Our mouths fit together just like they did that night in the tent, both of us pressing back against the other like we can’t get close enough. I use my tongue to trace along her lips, and when she opens them, I slip inside, swallowing her moan.
Our tongues tangle together in a dance that feels like we’ve been doing it for years. It’s perfect, it’s everything, and yet somehow, it’s not enough.
Becca’s breathing hard when I lift my head to look into her eyes. Her pupils are so dilated there’s just a faint rim of brown surrounding the black. Her pulse hammers in her neck as I trace a finger over it.
I take a deep breath. “Okay. That’s all I wanted. Have a good night,” I deadpan.
Becca giggles, fucking giggles, and it’s the best thing I’ve ever heard. She throws her arms around my shoulders. “Nice try.”
I grin, pulling her in tight with my arms around her waist. “I knew you’d get my humor eventually. Let’s go.”
She slides her hand into mine and follows me as I lead her through the woods. “Where are we going?”
I don’t look back. “You’ll see.”
To my surprise, she doesn’t argue, and I’m hoping that finally, finally, she trusts me. I keep a tight grip on her hand as we emerge from between the trees and the Nature barn comes into view. It looks different, somehow, without all of the campers crowding around it. Even the pens are silent, the animals asleep for the evening.
Becca gives me a questioning look until I reach into my pocket and hold up the key. “Look what I have.”
Her brow pinches together. “Where did you get that?”
“Mary.” I slide the key into the padlock and turn it until the lock pops open. “Her day off is tomorrow, so she gave it to me to open things up.”
I pull the door open, and Becca walks inside. ”You’d think after so many years as a camper and counselor I’d have been everywhere at camp, but this is one of the few places that’s still brand-new to me.” She looks around the space in wonder.
I close the door behind us, making sure we won’t have any unexpected guests.
When I turn back to her, Becca is engrossed in a poster that lists flowers that are native to the area. Yarrow, aster, butterfly weed, honeysuckle. I’ve spent some time studying it myself.
I step up behind her and splay my hand over her stomach, pulling her into me, her back to my front. Her breath hitches slightly, but then she tenses her muscles, sucking her belly in until it’s practically flat.
“Don’t,” I say. My lips brush the shell of her ear, and she tilts her head to the side, subtly giving me permission. I trace kisses down the soft skin of her neck. “Relax. I like you just the way you are.”
Her pulse hammers in her neck. I scrape my teeth lightly along her skin.
“Relax,” I say again, and this time she does, letting out a breath, and her stomach rounds beneath my hand into that perfect softness.
I nip at her jaw.
“Perfect,” I whisper. “You’re so fucking perfect.”
She moans, just barely loud enough to hear. I’ve been hard all day, thinking of this moment, but she makes that noise and somehow, I’m even harder.
“Fuck,” I grind out. I need to touch her, hold her, kiss her.
I’m painfully aware that we’re still at camp, that we’re in the Nature barn of all places, and God knows this isn’t going to be where I finally get to fuck her for the first time. For that she deserves a five-star hotel, 1,000-thread count Egyptian cotton sheets.
But I need to touch her.
I tug her toward the couch and sit. “Come here.”
Becca follows me and plops down, close enough that our shoulders are almost touching. I hold my arm out, and she settles against my shoulder.
“Talk to me,” I say. “It’s been forever since I saw you.”
She snorts, an adorable little sound if I’ve ever heard one. “I saw you yesterday.”
“That was a long time ago. How are your campers?”
Becca tilts her head. “You really want to talk?”
I shrug and shift us on the couch so she’s resting against one side, her legs on my lap, then pull her sneakers off one by one, dropping them to the floor as I rub her sock-covered feet. “I want to do whatever you want, babe. If all you want to talk, that’s what we’ll do.”
She bites her lip as I massage her foot and lets out a groan as I find a tight muscle. “God, that feels good.” She tips her head back, closing her eyes. But as I switch feet, starting to massage the other one, she looks up at me and pulls her feet away. She tucks them underneath her as she moves closer to me. “I don’t want to just talk,” she whispers.