Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Price
I t’s late-afternoon by the time Summer and I get to the end of the logging road. There was paperwork to handle, and a long fucking meeting with the TV people, followed by me trying to calm Ted down when they said they were still preparing the preliminary paperwork on the offer.
It’s just a game. They want my name as much as Ted wants their money. I could give a shit, except I want the camp to succeed. I want it to be home for Hailey and securing this deal not only helps Ted keep his life savings, but puts enough zeros in my bank account that I know Hailey will be taken care of, no matter what.
Even with all that on my mind, it’s the way Summer’s fleshy thighs taunt me from the passenger seat that has me nearly running us off the side of the road. The way her tits jiggle and bounce with every bump are making this feel like the longest drive in history.
The road turns to a series of deep wash outs and I ease the Jeep forward as far as the road will take us, down shifting as I steer to the side on a patch of grass and dirt, the brakes whining as I bring us to a stop.
“We’re going to have to walk the rest of the way.” Marking the trail ahead is a pile of boulders, with an overgrown path just beyond leading to the north toward the cabin.
“Walk?” She turns in her seat, her brows pulled together as I squeeze my jaw, trying to fight off the smile as I wonder where in the hell you would buy a pair of floral embroidered hiking boots. “Into the woods?”
“Adventure camp.” I shrug. “You did read the job description when you applied, right?”
She nods, tension in her shoulders. “When you said we were going to check on a cabin, I didn’t realize I was going to end up a contestant on Survivor.” Her voice wavers between excitement and fear, then she turns with that dimple showing and adds, “Or, Naked and Afraid. I love that show.”
Jesus. Just hearing her say the word naked has my nuts tightening.
“You’ll be okay. City is way more dangerous than what’s out here. You have more survival skills than you give yourself credit for.” I pull at the door handle, swing my legs out the open door and hop down onto the uneven hard dirt ground.
We talked mainly about Hailey on the ride, both of us keeping things light as I did my best to not navigate the Jeep down the drop offs on either side of the barely passable road. But I need to man up here. She had my dick in her mouth last night. There are things that need discussing.
Stay strong , I remind myself, and grit my teeth.
“Yeah, we should talk,” I say, glancing up through the streaming streaks of muted light coming through the trees. The sky is darkening like my mood. I’m unsure how to start a discussion about what happened and what can and can’t happen from here. My heart and my head are at war, and in the middle are Hailey and Summer.
I grab my backpack out of the back of the jeep, her eyes popping wide when she sees my hunting rifle strapped to the bottom.
“Just in case,” I say, grabbing her smaller pack and easing it onto her shoulders, the creamy flesh of her neck calling for my teeth.
“Okay. Is that why you wanted me to come? So, we could… talk? ” She adds a little eyebrow bob and an unsure swallow, that teasing look returning, making heat rake over my skin.
“That’s right.” I square my shoulders, reaching out to flick my green carabiner that’s clipped to her beltloop, my heart speeding knowing she’s wearing something of mine. We exchange a look as I turn and step toward the path, easing her next to me with my hand on the small of her back just under her bite-sized pack I filled with a trail mix, bug spray and a couple canteens full of water.
Almost like I was planning a fucking picnic.
Mine is twice the size. I’m always prepared, so I’ve got more food, water, filtration tabs, blanket and first aid supplies. And my gun.
I shrug, feeling the weight of more than what I’m physically carrying right now. But as I’m well aware—as are the million subscribers to my channel—things can go wrong in a blink, and there’s more at stake now than just my hide.
As the brush closes behind us, a sheer wind cuts through the woods. Our feet crunch on the leaves and sticks as we move forward.
The trail is only wide enough for us to walk single file, and I shift to the front, feeling a loss at not having the privilege of keeping my eyes on her ass in those shorts. But I’ll always make sure where she goes is safe, so I go first.
I may be a thrill seeker and a danger addict, but I’m scared to death. I have to use my words to navigate a complicated situation where my heart is involved on both sides, and other parts of me are making their own demands.
But when it comes to Hailey. I made promises to myself about how her life would be. No distractions. No possible evil step-women in her life.
My boot makes a squishing sound as I look down and ahead to see where the recent rain has left a muddy wash. I reach behind me. “Watch your step there, the ground is soft. Give me your hand.”
She slips her tiny hand into my massive one without question or hesitation, and warmth shoots up my arm. Once I lead her through the muck, I step ahead again, the tension in my center more than just about her safety.
“So, what do you need to talk to me about?” She breaks through the uneasy silence. Her voice chipper and optimistic, making me feel more like a complete ass for what I need to say.
“What happened with us.”
“Oh?” Her voice rises, and thoughts of slipping my tongue through her folds and up to that tight little asshole assault me from all sides. “Is there an us?”
“No.” The word comes out as a kind of guttural sound, and I clear my throat, trying to remember what I need to say and why I need to say it. “I mean, I want that, but things are complicated.”
“Because you have a daughter.”
I swallow the rock lodged in my throat, the breeze rustling the leaves overhead like a warning for me to tread lightly, but I don’t know how. “No, not just that.”
Her smile makes me feel like I’m walking through broken glass, then she adds, “Hailey us a jewel. You’re doing a great job raising her. She’s amazing.”
Fuck, please don’t make this harder. “She likes you too. But—”
Before I finish, she’s stomping by me, tossing me an excited look and rushing ahead.
I follow her with my eyes, the view of her stalling my heartbeat for a moment as the trailhead opens, and the cabin comes into view in a small clearing.
“Oh, wow! Like Goldilocks and the three bears.” She skip-runs ahead of me, then squeals as the sky opens up, rain starting to pelt her as she runs. I curse under my breath as I sprint to catch up. “Come on, I’ll race you!”
“ No . Summer, wait, you have no idea what’s…” I growl as I adjust my pack. She’s got short little legs, but they are churning, and she’s way more nimble than my oafish size allows. “ Wait! ”
With the place sitting empty, it could have new residents. Ones that would find her an easy target.
She laughs as I stumble, swearing and righting myself on a thick pine tree. Then she turns, running backwards, lowering her voice to a rough grumble. “Who’s been sleeping in my bed?”
Rain soaks me through, and Summer as well, her green t-shirt clinging to her every curve as the cold shower barely dampens the heat rising from my skin.
The field around the structure is overgrown. There could be snakes, hidden potholes just waiting to break her ankle, ticks and stagnant water carrying disease…
She’s plowing forward, so I need to catch up. I drop my pack to the ground by another huge boulder and force my legs to go faster. I’m on her as she reaches the front door, and she slaps her palms against it.
“I win!” She huffs breathlessly, spinning around to light me up with a killer smile and that heart-stopping dimple.
“Don’t.” I reach forward, snatching her wrist and tugging her off balance toward me as the rain soaks us both. “You need to listen.”
My rough manner does nothing to dampen her playful mood. She could put a shine on the dullest day.
“Spoilsport.” She shrugs, blowing the water from her lips, flattening herself back against the door where a slight overhang offers some shelter. Her exposed skin sparkles even through the rain, another reminder of how different our lives are. I didn’t even know that glitter body lotion existed, and manicures don’t last long in the wilderness. “I was fine. There’s no one here.”
I fish the key out of my pocket, swinging the padlock upward and slipping the key into the slot. It clicks open as I tug, the metal clinking as I pull it from the metal loop and swing open the latch. “I’m going in first. How often have you been to a deserted cabin the woods?”
“Uhhh, never,” she answers with a nonchalant smirk.
“Just, there’s danger where you don’t expect it. And you don’t even know to expect it.” The hard edge in my voice masks my own fear that something could hurt her. Take her away from me. “Come. Inside. Now.”
“Okay, big brother. You’re the boss, take me inside.” She quirks a brow and her cheeks turn pink against the cooling rain.
“Summer...” My resolve is being tested. “It’s Hailey and the camp and...” I’m at a loss. I have no idea how to explain the turmoil inside me. “No fraternization. Remember?”
She cocks a brow. “You got all your fraternization out of your system last night?”
It sounds ridiculous even to me. What I want to tell her is the first time I saw her, I wanted to marry her. I never in my life thought of having a wife, but when she’s around, nothing make sense and at the same time, everything feels right.
I kick open the door as a roll of thunder rumbles and a flash of lightning punches through the sky.
Inside, we’re both dripping on the bare wood floor as she peels her soaking backpack off and tosses it out the front door onto the small porch, as I silently run through all the reasons I shouldn’t have brought her here, but none of them seem to make much of a difference. Because being here, with her, I’m in so far over my head, I can’t even see straight.
Inside, the damp, closed-up, musty smell mixes with Summer’s sweet cherry scent, making my heart thump in a primal drumbeat.
“You know that will never last, right?” she asks as I step into the small, dark space, shaking the water from my hair as I grab the crank light hanging on the wall next to the door and turn the handle in frantic circles until the dim yellow bulb illuminates the room. “The no fraternization thing, I mean. People are people, and you have a bunch of twenty-somethings stuck in wood shacks for the summer. Things are gonna happen. Nature takes its course, whether you want it to or not— ahhhhh! ” Her chirpy speech turns to a scream as she stumbles back, a single finger pointed at the small window above the makeshift sink.
I drop the light, and it rolls like a spinning siren across the rough wood floor. Summer scurries next to me, tucking herself to my side in abject terror as I stare across the room, trying to figure out what’s scared her.
“What?” I say hoarsely, squinting toward where her finger points.
“There! Right there! ” she’s practically climbing me like a tree now, to which I have zero objections except I hate to see her frightened. So much so, the same sort of anger I had when I found out Hailey was being bullied at school starts to rise inside me.
As the light on the floor rocks back and forth, I catch the shimmering, undeniable pattern of an intricate web slung between the window and a shelf next to the sink. In the center, there’s the distinctive shape of a fairly impressive wolf spider.
“Spiders are the devil,” she hisses as I ease her off my side, grabbing a piece of kindling left near the cast-iron wood stove and sweeping it through the outer strands of the web, wrapping it like cotton candy on the end of the stick, encasing the spider in its own web.
I spin on my boot, heading toward the door as she races in an arc around me to the faded brown sofa, jumping onto the center cushion. “What are you going to do with it?”
I shrug on a frown. “Put her outside. She’s not here to hurt you. I’m not going to kill her, just rehome her.”
“Her? How do you know it’s a her?”
I hold up the stick into the light as I pull the door open, seeing the inch-wide spider frantically trying to free herself from her own prison. “Females are bigger. A male wouldn’t be this big.” I gently toss the piece of wood out the door, knowing the rain will actually help release the web from around the spider, and she will make her way to safety somewhere else.
“Jesus. I do not belong out in the woods.” She shakes her head, palming the water back into her hair off her forehead, the ends of her braids seeping water in two points just above each of her tits. “New York rats I can take, but not spiders.”
I do a quick walk, poking my head into the small bedroom, making sure there are no uninvited guests, then unlock the metal cabinet that stows a small amount of food and water.
Summer falls with a bounce on her ass in the center of the sofa, crossing her ankle over her knee and working the laces loose on both her boots before setting them on the floor.
She wiggles, tucking her legs up under her perfect ass and watching me as I wander around like I’m lost.
I need to do the one thing I don’t want to do. Tell her this can’t happen. “Summer…it’s just…we can’t—” I start, not knowing how to continue. What I need to say feels like daggers in my throat.
“Tell me something. What is it about me that you don’t like?”
“There’s absolutely nothing about you I don’t like. You’re perfect. You’re—”
“Is it that I’m a city girl? I hate spiders, and you give them new homes? You could survive at the top of Mt. Fuji with a popsicle stick and some Tic Tacs. What happened to make you hate the city? Were your parents hippies, and you’re some anti-establishment adventure junkie?” She finishes in a breathy huff as I search for a way to explain.
“No.” I draw a ragged breath, working my way back to her, scooping the crank light up off the floor and whipping the handle around until the light perks up. Maybe the only way through this is to tell her the things I want to forget. The things that made me promise to give Hailey a different life than I had. “My father was in the army. We traveled, he drank, but things were okay. Mom was sort of never really there. My dad wasn’t the warmest guy, and later, after he was injured and left the army, he was less than warm.”
She scoots over in an invitation for me to sit, her eyes as welcoming as her mouth was last night.
“And?” she says, resting her elbow on the back of the sofa, leaning her head against her palm so she’s facing me as I drop onto the cushion next to her, the entire sofa popping up off the floor when I do. It’s taking everything I have to fight the urge to pin her down and have a feast between her legs. “What’s this city prejudice you have all about?”
Rain sprays against the windows sounding like a sea of pebbles trying to come through. The walls vibrate with the cracking thunder and white flashes of lightning cast shadows across the flawless skin of her face.
“We moved to Philly. I found out about being hungry and how mean whiskey can make someone.” I scratch my fingers over my jaw on a long exhale. “Short version, Dad left, Mom went off the rails. Whenever we stayed with Dad, there was a new step-mother. None of them good. My brother was ten, I was sixteen, when we moved into an even shittier part of the city with my mom, after Dad’s newest wife decided she wanted them to start their own family and we didn’t fit in. I was the man of the house, but I couldn’t protect my brother. Our house was robbed more than once. Within a couple years, my brother was running the streets. Mom was checked out. The city ate them both up and nothing I did changed anything.”
I palm my forehead, squeezing my temples with one hand as I rest my other on her knee like that connection is going to help me somehow. I don’t think I’ve said so many words in a row in decades.
Summer nods. “You lost a lot but the city didn’t take it.”
I don’t indulge in memories of the past often, and the uneasy tightness around my throat reminds me why. I don’t know what to do with emotion besides act out. It makes me want to punch and break things. That’s why I’ve distracted myself with dangerous activities. It doesn’t leave any room for remembering.
“What happened to your brother? You talk to him still?” Summer asks as I keep my eyes focused on nothing facing forward.
“A stray bullet. Came through our front fucking window. Nick died before the ambulance even got there.”
I look to see her fingers pressed to her mouth, eyes welling, but she doesn’t say anything and I appreciate her silence.
“Out here,” I explain, “I can protect Hailey. I know the dangers, and I know how to prepare for them, how to fight them. I’ve spent my whole life doing that. But the city is chaos. There’s no order to it. No honor. No hierarchy. It makes no sense to me.”
Another bolt of lightning cuts through the sky over the tree tops. In the bright flash, I catch a dark shape out the window lumbering around in front of the cabin.
Fuck, my pack is out there. I was so fucking turned around when she ran, I left it.
As the thunder shakes the house, Summer hunches over, hands looping behind her neck.
“You okay with storms?” I ask, keeping my eyes on the movement outside, giving her knee a soft squeeze.
“I’m okay so long as I’m not out in them.” She peeks up from her crouched position. “We’ll wait here until it passes, right?”
Daylight has turned into dusk under the storm clouds. “Yeah—” I start, but she cuts me off.
“ What the hell is that? ” she shrieks, pointing again at the window, only this time, I know it’s not just a spider. A series of three lightning flashes illuminate the sky, the woods, and the hulking bear rises onto her feet about fifty feet from the front of the cabin, sniffing the air as three smaller versions of her toddle along behind.
Instinct has me pulling Summer against me. Her soft to my hard. Her fear to my protective fury.
I take a deep breath of her. Leaning in to her damp hair, resting my chin on her head, wondering in some way, if this could work.
“It’s a bear,” I say. “Black bear. Not that mean, but not that nice either. Especially because she’s got cubs.”
“Aww, babies?” She pushes up on her knees, trying to get a better look.
“They’re cute, but with them here she’ll be aggressive.” I clear my throat, not sure how to say what I have to say next. “And my pack was out there. I dropped it to catch up with you. I had food and water in there, and my gun. So, I just provided mom and her cubs with a meal.”
Summer hunches into me, and I don’t try to stop her. Somehow, telling her about the past, explaining why I have to put Hailey first, has drained any fight that was left in me. Somehow, it’s made me want her more, not less.
As her body snugs against mine, my traitorous dick responds, and all the reasons I should push her away toddle off like the baby bears into the storm.
Her stomach let’s out a loud growl in the beat of silence and she snorts.
“You need food,” I say, pissed again that I left our supplies outside to be ravaged by a single mom and her triplets.
“I’m okay.”
“What did you have for breakfast?” I clear my throat, looking down to see her cock a half smile, with a sultry lick of her lips and a glance at my lap. “The Black Swan have a continental breakfast buffet for you?”
“I wish. The last thing I had to eat was…” She clicks her teeth together, wiggling her index finger at my lap.
There isn’t much food in the storage cabinet, which doesn’t surprise me. Even with a locked metal cabinet, a starving determined bear could take down the door or come through the window and help themselves easily if they caught a good scent.
I find a couple sealed jars of peanut butter. Crunchy, thank God. Some tea bags in a glass jar and four cans of Spaghetti O’s.
Hailey’s favorite.
Summer watches from where I lifted her onto the small countertop to sit as I work wood into the belly of the stove, adding enough oxygen to get it to catch, then working the rusty can opener on the Spaghetti O’s.
The storm is still doing its thing in rumbles and flashes, but until there’s more light outside and enough time for the bears to finish off whatever they discovered in my pack, we’re stuck.
That’s not the only reason I want to keep her here. We’re alone, together, and my only other worry is Hailey, but if she’s with Ted and Wiley, she won’t miss me at all. They’ll have her knee deep in s’mores and grape soda until she passes out.
Within a few minutes, I’ve got the canned noodle concoction bubbling in a cast-iron skillet, the tea pot whistling as I hand Summer the jar of peanut butter and a spoon from the single drawer under the counter.
“That’s your appetizer,” I say as I point toward the little two-seat wood table. “Not exactly a feast,” I warn as I put the weird meal down on the top and Summer hops down from the counter to take a seat. The cabin has warmed with the fire, and our damp clothes have nearly dried. “Sorry. My culinary skills could do with some refinement.”
She laughs, but shakes her head. “Peanut butter straight from the jar? And, it’s crunchy? I’m in heaven.”
Picking up a spoon, she digs into the peanut butter first. Then, the Spaghetti O’s as I pour the hot water into a mug and dangle a tea bag inside.
Every time there’s a flash of lightning, I check outside. I’ve seen the bears twice more, and I can hear them with my trained ears.
What I’m really worried about is that it will soon be dropping dark for real. With those bears around, it’s not safe to try to get back to the Jeep, which means we’re here until morning.
And, there’s only one bed.