17. Seventeen
Seventeen
Toni
After their conversation, Xavi came to find me.
Okay, find is a loose term, he actually followed me to the girls’ toilets and snuck into the showers behind me.
Lately, the bathroom was the only place I couldn’t feel Francis’ eyes on me.
Xavier knew it, too, so he stood there, still clothed and soaking wet, not saying a word, but watching with hungry, longing, eyes while I washed my hair.
There was so much heat in his eyes that answering pulses of heat fired from my centre.
And under my own gaze, I watched his dick harden, its outline clear, thanks to the way the wet denim stretched over it.
There was only one other shower running, it had been when we arrived, but the second we heard the water turn off and footsteps head for the door, he pounced.
Not even bothering to remove his clothes, he just unzipped his jeans revealing the hard head of dick.
He grabbed the backs my thighs, until I was balanced on my tiptoes, and leaned into me.
“Nettie,’ his voice rumbled low against the skin of my collarbone, “We don’t have a lot of time.”
I knew what he was saying. I’d take him any way I could get him, so I whispered back, “I don’t care,” as a sank back on to my feet, letting the head of his dick push its way inside me.
I revelled in the sting as he plunged inside me.
Though, seconds later that pain would evaporate into a frenzy of desire as Xav set a punishing pace, fucking me hard against the back wall of the shower stall.
The hot water cascading over us as he thrust into me over and over again.
At the first whimpers of pleasure from me, his palm clamped over my mouth to keep me from crying out.
Maybe it was that, the way he took over, or just the fact that I’d been missing him so damn badly, but neither of us lasted long.
When his other hand, reached between us so that his fingers could rub circles around my clit, he breathed, “Come with me, wild girl.”
Xav tipped over the edge first, but the rush of him finishing inside me sent my own orgasm hurtling through me mere seconds later. It was only after we’d both caught our breath, and I’d poked my head out of the shower to confirm we were still alone, that he relayed the nature of their conversation.
We’d both spent the whole year convinced that Brennon was done with us.
It had hurt me to hear it, but I think it might have hurt Xav worse since he’d had to live it.
Hearing that he’d followed us and watched us together on the trampoline initially sent another flare of heat, and okay, maybe a bit of hope, through me.
That was immediately doused at learning that Mitchell fucking Greer had also been there watching.
And worse, taking pictures. If Francis or my father saw a single one of those photos, no one would survive.
Xavi dried off as best he could before handing me back my towel. I hadn’t exactly planned on company in the shower, so that damp towel was all I had to wrap around myself until I got back to Foxglove.
“You go first, wild girl. I’ll sneak out when the coast is clear.” He leaned down and kissed me one last time, “And in the meantime, the guys and I will work on getting rid of Mitchell. I promise.”
Neither of us knew when our next chance to talk, let alone kiss, would come.
With a predatory squeeze on my ass cheek and a quiet exchange of ‘I love you’s’, he pushed me out of the shower.
Every time I had to walk away from him, it felt like a little piece of my heart was getting ripped off, shredded like confetti and left behind.
and my little cabin if you were willing to scrape your way through a few trees instead of taking the established path. It was the quicker, but scratchier, option. Though, it had the added benefit of keeping me out of Francis’ line of sight.
Sticking tight to the exterior walls, I rounded the corner, preparing to make a clumsy jog to Foxglove when I tripped.
Between holding my shower basket and my towel, I’d always expected it to be a somewhat awkward trip.
My fall sent my shower basket flying, shampoo, body wash and all.
It also seemed my current razor had shaved its last hair and now I’d have to wait until my next day off to replace all that shit.
I groaned at the loss. At least I’d managed to keep hold of my towel so that I wasn’t now lying face first and totally naked in the dirt.
Not that it prevented most of my shower efforts from being totally undone.
Twigs caught in my hair, and before I even stood back up, there was tell-tale stinging on my knees that hinted at scrapes and future bruises.
My eyes had been so trained on the walk ahead, I hadn’t bothered to watch my step.
A fucking rookie mistake, I cursed, especially out here where rocks and tree roots were just about everywhere.
Before standing, I scanned the ground looking for exactly what had sent me flying.
There was no exposed root nor any corners of buried rocks.
There wasn’t even a dip in the ground that caused me to stumble.
I’d tripped over a foot, not a root. A foot belonging to Stephanie.
She jeered, “Why, if it isn’t my old maid,” prodding me with memories of when I’d been forced to play her servant last summer.
“You should really watch where you’re going.”
Even though she was a few years younger, every time I had to interact with the girl, she made me feel like trash.
Maybe it was her squeaky-clean sneakers, or the new-looking clothes, or just the fact that she always wore a full beat of makeup.
She looked like a model from a fitness magazine, not an eighteen-year-old.
Meanwhile, I spent most of my time looking like a partially drowned rat thanks to hopping in and out of the water a thousand times a day.
And her suitcases had to be huge, because in almost two months since training started, I don’t think I’d seen her wear the same shirt twice.
I’d never begrudge someone their wealth, but I could begrudge her constant need to be the worst type of person imaginable.
As far as I could tell, I had never done anything to earn her hatred, yet she always looked at me liked I stunk.
Or worse, like she wanted to rip my hair out with her bare hands.
Bells and Abbi chalked it up to her being a plain old bitch.
Mich was too nice to say it, but she always nodded her agreement whenever the topic came up.
Thinking of my friends, I channeled my inner Abbi and stood up.
“What the fuck is your problem?” I snapped.
The joy at seeing me sprawled before her dropped from her face, replaced by that cutthroat stare, the one where dreams of hair-ripping and eye-gauging swirled in her eyes.
“You’re in my way.”
I stared back at her for a second, incredulous.
“How? This isn’t even a path!”
“Pfffft, not out here, you stupid cunt,” she snivelled, “I don’t know what he sees in you.”
Confused, and now worried she had seen me with Xav mere minutes ago, I played as dumb as I felt, “Who? What are you talking about?”
She looked downright gleeful at my question and grinned as she answered, “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe whoever you just let rail you in the shower back there,” she thumbed over her shoulder at the building.
I sucked in a breath involuntarily but tried to hide any other reaction.
There was no way she’d seen him. Xav would never have taken the risk of coming in there if he thought there was a chance he would be seen.
Still, she seemed even more thrilled by my obvious shock.
She scolded, “Tsk. Tsk. I wonder what big brother would say about his sister being such a nasty little slut?”
Any mention of Francis rendered me queasy, but her question sent my stomach rolling. I was going to be sick. No question. But the last thing that I needed–other than her saying shit to Fran–was for this evil girl to see me vomit up the last of my lunch.
Thankfully, I was spared when she lost interest. Bullies like Stephanie and Francis–although using the word ‘bully’ to describe him seemed like a joke–got off on the reaction from those they tormented.
So when I didn’t immediately take the bait, too busy holding back sick, she got bored.
That didn’t stop her from taking a parting shot.
Wiggling her fingers at me, she giggled, “Toodles, princess.”
She took off running while I stayed in place, too busy trying to collect my thoughts and slow my stomach to bother collecting all the shit I’d just dropped.
The next two days, I clung to Abbi or Michele as much as possible.
Stephanie’s use of my father’s nickname rattled me more than I cared to admit, but my friends were like an emotional security blanket.
Not that I explained. We were too busy for me to dump all my baggage on them, again.
Between the All-Along-Marathon and Parent’s Day right after, there was a ton of prep work required.
I wasn’t going to compete in the race, and I knew Xavier wasn’t either.
Neither of us could bring ourselves to even think about it after what happened last summer, so while he focused his energy on the search for his sister’s camper file, I focused on helping my friends.
The marathon was a ton of work to set up.
All the stations needed to be prepped and staffed.
There was also all the administration that went into managing Parent’s Day.
So, while we worked our way through Camp’s different program areas, we were also periodically joined by Riley, who brought Abbi near constant updates on which parents would be coming over the weekend and what their plans were.
Half of the time, I suspected his updates were just an easy excuse to be near Abbi.
I was happy for my friend, Riley was easy-going, quick to smile, and seemed to make her laugh.
Yet, I was also jealous of how easily and openly the two of them flirted.
Meanwhile, Xavi and I could never fully let our guard down, even when we were alone.
We were always too busy looking over our shoulders for Francis. And now Mitchell, too.
During one such visit, while Abbi and I were supposed to be prepping campfire supplies for one of the obstacles, I couldn’t help but overhear their hushed conversation.
They were huddled together on the benches encircling the girls’ campfire area.
To give them space, I was weaving my way amongst the surrounding trees, collecting dry sticks and kindling to serve as tinder.
We needed a shitload of it because tomorrow evening, each of the competing racers would get to this station where they would have to build and light a fire strong enough to burn through a thin piece of twine suspended over the ten makeshift fire pits we’d created yesterday just for the marathon.
I would have the delightful job of restringing said twine after every successful attempt.
Once my arms were full, I returned to the area just in time to hear Riley say, “I’m telling you, babe, I’ve never heard him laugh like that.”
“Like how?” She asked.
Riley scrunched up his face, “I don’t know. It was just…creepy,” he stalled, “Like the villain in some action movie right before they reveal their evil plan.”
Abbi smirked, humouring him.
“Ry, Jack Walker’s no super villain.”
Unlike my friend, I wasn’t so sure about that. And since I’d made less than zero progress unraveling Jack’s connection to my father, now wasn’t the time to mind my own business.
“When?” My abrupt question sliced through the lovers’ bubble surrounding them. Riley blushed, having forgotten that he and Abbs weren’t alone, before he answered, “Uh, last night.”
“When last night?” I demanded.
He only took a second to think before replying, “After dinner. I went back to the office to do a final check on payroll because…” For a second I tuned out.
Fuck. We were getting paid this week. Last summer, fuck, not once in the previous five years would I have ever forgotten about payday but I had slipped so easily back into the privileges and the horrors of being a Barrett that I hadn’t looked at my personal bank account in ages.
I made a mental note to send my full paycheque to my mother and prayed Father didn’t have one of his psychotic goons monitoring the account.
I dialled back in on Riley’s story as he said, “…your brother was coming out the door as I went in, but once I was inside, I could hear Jack cackling right through the walls of his office.” My brother. And Jack. Together again.
“Fuck!” The word slipped out. They both looked at me confused, only, Abbi’s brows drew in and her confusion morphed into suspicion.
“What’s going on?”
I ignored her question, grilling Riley instead, “Do you remember anything else? How did my brother look? Did he say anything to you?”
Riley’s eyes were wide. My non-stop probing clearly spooked him.
“No-o-o,” he stammered, looking to Abbi for reassurance, “But, uh, he seemed happy, too, I guess. He was definitely smiling.”
“Double fuck.” I swore.