Camp Jameson (29 page)

“Avery, I…” I started but
trailed off.

“Give me a second, Aria,” Avery
said, moving closer toward Nate and towering over him. He wrapped his hand around
his shirt and yanked him upward so that Nate was lifted up on his toes and
slammed into the wall as he spoke through clenched teeth.

“You have fifteen minutes to get
your stuff packed and get the fuck out of my camp. Do you hear me you piece of
shit? Get the fuck out of here and never come back or I will shove my hand down
your throat and pull your dick out of your body from the inside!” Avery glanced
over to see if I was all right then turned his attention back to Nate. Nate’s
shirt was covering him but his hard cock pushed through his shirt and poked
into Avery’s cold belt buckle. Nate pushed Avery back by thrusting both his
hands forward.

“I didn’t do anything she didn’t
ask for,” he said sounding unrattled.
He was such an asshole.

Avery stepped toward him again
and backed him up against the wall. “You’re a piece of shit liar,” Avery huffed
in anger. His veins were sticking out in his neck as Avery raised his fist and
thrust it toward Nate into his stomach causing Nate to lose his breath. Then he
grabbed him and tossed him like an old shirt across the bed and into the
adjacent nightstand smashing a small lamp against the floor.

“Get him the fuck away from me
before I kill him,” he said, still glaring at Nate. The guards strolled forward
while Nate tucked himself back into his pants. The two large men began pulling
him away as Nate turned to Avery.

“I’m not the only one that’s
broke your rules, Avery,” Nate smirked.

“I don’t have time for this. Get
him out of here,” Avery seethed. I could see his chest rising rapidly but he
was trying to calm himself.

The guards started to drag him
away. “You sure? You might want to know that your precious little Aria and Colt
aren’t as innocent as you’d might think.” My eyes widened as I looked to Colt.
Then Nate got out one last comment. “Aria, should I tell him how you have been
fucking Colt during your lessons?” he laughed dryly.

“Jay, Danny, get him out of my
sight,” Avery said to the guards. I stared at an angry Avery as he walked
towards Colt, as I tried to figure out how in the hell Nate knew that Colt and
I almost had sex. Avery ran his hand through his beautiful hair then looked to
Colt. “What’s he talking about Colt?”

“Avery, I…” Avery held his hand
up to me, cutting me off. I stepped back shocked by his look of anger.

“We’ve been best friends for
over five years don’t fucking lie to me. Did you fuck your student?”

I drew my arms around myself and
looked to Colt. Colt drew his lips into a straight line.

“No. I got caught up in a lap
dance and we fooled around a bit but we both stopped it before it went too
far.” I could see Avery visually relax. But it wasn’t because of me. It was
because he didn’t have to fire his best friend. Avery gave me a mixed look as
he stormed out of the room towards the bar. One of relief that I was in fact
okay and Nate didn’t get his way with me, and one of anger. We followed behind
him but kept our distance.

“Kim!” Avery shouted. The
bartender stepped out from behind the counter with a wide-eyed gaze. He lowered
his voice as he walked to the bar. “Get me some ice for my hand, please.”

“Aria, are you okay?” Sara asked
coming up to me.

“Stop being so nice to me. How
can you not be mad at me for almost fucking Colt behind your back?”
God, who
was I turning into? I didn’t even recognize myself right now.

She chuckled and I looked at her
dumbfounded. “Because you already told me sweetie and thanks to you, he took
out his sexual frustration on me,” she grinned at me like a giddy schoolgirl.
‘You know the important thing was you stopped yourself. That’s why I wanted
Colt to be your teacher because, I figured, if he slipped up and lost control
it would at least be with you. I love both of you.”

I tried to wrap my head around
that. “That’s messed up,” I said trying to fight a smile that was spreading across
my face.

“Besides, I enjoy how you
torture him. He has a hard on all the time,” she said smiling as Colt planted a
chaste kiss on her lips.

“Oh, and Aria,” Colt added. “We
spent most of last night talking about what we want to do to you when we get you
home.” I gulped then smiled crookedly at both of them.

“You only talked about me one
night?” I pouted playfully. Their laughter filled the bar as we started
pounding shots. I thought about how Avery rescued me from Nate. How at any
moment Nate could have forced himself inside me. Thankfully, my friends were
there looking out for me. Avery was always there for me when I needed him.
Because of him, I was safe.

I looked across the bar to Avery
holding an ice pack on his right hand as he sipped a glass of whiskey. He
scanned the rest of the room before he leaned against the inside of the bar and
let his eyes fall on me. I smiled appreciatively to him and waved him over to
us. Avery stared through me and shook his head. There was something in his
expression that I couldn’t recognize. I picked up my whiskey and raised my shot
glass to him. He followed suit and downed his glass then turned away.

“Aria, that was the sexiest
thing I’ve ever seen,” Ethan said with a heated look. “I want you to know that
I’m going to fantasize about your threesome probably until the day I die,” he
chuckled. “You are so damn hot, woman.”

“I’ll second that,” Wren said,
stepping closer. “I just wish you would have chosen us,” he groaned. I looked
at them regrettably.

“No worries, Kitten. We get it.
This place is all about new experiences. It’s all good.” Ethan smiled at me
warmly. I grinned back, relaxing a bit, knowing that they understood why I
didn’t wait for them.

Ethan and Wren were amazing but
Sean was incredible. My body trembled thinking of all the wonderful things he
did to me tonight. I sat on the bar stool in my red lace bra and panties and
let Colt suck me into a new joke he was telling. He nodded to Kim and she
quickly got Sara and me another round.

We were on our seventh round and
the Main Lodge was loud and hectic. It was toward the end of the night and it
was filling with couples and singles coming out from their private rooms and
glowing in sexual bliss.

I got up from my bar stool and
felt my world sway just a bit.
Okay, it was a lot. How much have I had to
drink? Shit. I forgot to eat dinner. I was too nervous about tonight. What was
I so worried about?
My thoughts slurred.

I giggled to myself and made my
way toward the main hallway toward the bathrooms. I couldn’t get my eyes to
focus well but I knew the way by heart. I reached my hand out to steady myself
on the wall beside me and that’s when it happened – It wasn’t a wall I
tried to grab hold of, but one of the giant displays that Avery brought in to
resemble a hospital sign. The entire ballroom was decorated with huge monitors
flashing EKG vital signs, heart rates, and pulse readers. It was huge and expensive.
Probably cost thousands.

As soon as I leaned against it,
it was like the dominos I used to set up when I was a child. One by one they
fell, crashing into the other, smashing into themselves as they toppled around
the entire ballroom. Louder and louder it sounded. It was like the heartbeat of
a giant, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, as they fell until at last, the heart
gave out and there was silence. Thousands of dollars lay on the floor sizzling
and excreting electric pops, until the monitors went dead.

Everyone in the room stopped and
just stared. It was the kind of silence you only hear at a funeral parlor. I
felt warm hands around my shoulders spinning me around. I blinked my eyes,
trying to get him to come in focus.

“Aria, you alright?” Avery
asked. His lips pulled into a straight line.

I blinked, then, blinked again.
“Yep. Couldn’t be better,” I slurred.

He narrowed his eyes at me.
Or
at least I think he did.
I swayed in his grasp. Then I hiccupped.
Damn.
Hiccups were a dead giveaway.
Then I heard the most annoying sound in the
world.

“Colt’s been feeding her drinks
all night since she got back from her little threesome. Looks like someone
likes to break the rules,” Caitlyn said, in her sickening-sweet irritating
voice.

I hiccupped again.
Damn it.
I needed water.

Avery disregarded Caitlyn and
dragged me back toward the bar where Colt and Sara were gathered with all our
friends.

“Colt, Sara, come with me.” He
pulled me toward the buffet and piled on French toast and bacon. I couldn’t
help but recognize the similarities from the first breakfast we shared at his
lagoon.

“All of you need to eat,” he
barked.

Sara giggled at his serious
tone. I snickered with her. She and I both erupted in a fit of giggles. Alcohol
made everything funny. Even the buzzkill of Mr. Serious, Avery Jameson.

He set the plate down hard on
the table in front of me and sat me in the seat. I felt stunned by his need to
take care of me. I guess it was a good thing. At least now, my hiccups were
gone.

Avery left, then came back with
three tall glasses of ice water. He stood for a moment and took in a deep
breath, then looked down at me.

“Aria, please eat something. You
skipped dinner and you’ve had at least seven whiskey and Diet Cokes on an empty
stomach.”

I nodded stiffly.
How the
hell did he know that?
I took a big bite of French toast and I moaned,
enjoying the taste of the warm syrup in my mouth.

Avery blinked at me and I could
see his eyes darken as he shifted from one foot to another.

“God, Aria. You’re killing me
when you moan like that,” his raspy voice said. His heated look disappeared and
it was replaced with determination.

I took another bite as he waited
for Sara and Colt to join me at the table. They were both ignorant to the fact
that Avery had just had a moment of weakness. Avery leaned over so only the
three of us could hear.

“Colt, I don’t want to hear
about you breaking any more of my rules. More than one person saw your group
getting her wasted. Look around at this mess. This is what happens when rules
are disregarded. I’m stuck having to clean up the mess. I’m afraid your
punishment will be kitchen duty tomorrow. You can help unload the supply truck.”
Colt’s eyes narrowed at him.

“It’s the Olympics shipment,”
Avery added, “And the temperature is going to be ninety five degrees with
seventy percent humidity. Eat something then get to bed.”

“Shit,” Colt grumbled.

My eyes flashed to Colt as he
fidgeted in his seat. His eyes filled with defeat as he looked to Avery and
nodded.

“See all three of you at noon,”
he smirked.

My eyes fell to the clock. It
was nearly 4a.m.
Oh hell. I was going to be hurting tomorrow.

“What?” I asked, as both Sara and
Colt stared at me.

“The supply truck that’s coming
tomorrow is for the three day Camp Olympics. It’s the biggest shipment we
receive during a session. It’s a very big truck and it’ll take us hours to
unload.”

My eyes followed Avery as he
walked across the Main Lodge toward Kim. He whispered something in her ear and
she nodded. She glanced at us and winked. I guess that answers that. Kim wasn’t
in trouble. Just us.

Week Six:

DAY THIRTY-FIVE:

SUNDAY

KITCHEN DUTY

I
t
was Sunday and the weather was sweltering. It was barely noon and it was so hot
and humid that it was oppressive. I was so hungover that I barely remember
arriving at the party last night, let alone smashing all of the displays in the
ballroom. I felt terrible, about not only my head pounding, and the bouts of
nausea, but about destroying $20,000 worth of electronics. Avery was so pissed
last night. He seemed to get angrier the more he thought about it. Colt wasn’t
ever supposed to be supplying his students alcohol, that and the fact that I
was only twenty years old was bad enough. Avery did look the other way most of
the time. That is, until something happened like someone getting out of control
and destroying private property.

I finished my energy drink and
stepped up into the back of the supply truck to help unload it. My heart
clenched when I saw him. Avery had his back to me and was bending over grabbing
the next case of food. He stood and pivoted then faltered as he registered that
I was standing there.

“You’re late. Where are the
other two?” Avery sneered then handed off a case of canned peaches to me.

“I know. I’m sorry. I’m a little
under the weather. Sara and Colt are on their way.” I rambled nervously. This
was the first time I’d been this close to Avery and alone with him in a long
time. He pushed the case into my hands and his fingers brushed mine. An
electrifying touch coursed through my body and he gasped audibly.
He felt it
too.
I ignored it and asked, “You didn’t punish Kim?”

“No, I didn’t. It wasn’t her
fault. She was giving the drinks to Colt. What he did after he got them was the
problem.”

“Then why after all these weeks
of camp did you let us get away with it?” I asked, confused and angry.

He took a step closer. I could
see his breathing had spiked. He was angry. I studied him.

“Are you taking all this out on
me because you weren’t part of my threesome? You didn’t have to watch,” I said.

His nose flared and he stepped
closer. “Let’s see, shall we. Let’s check the score of Aria the Tornado so far.
You destroyed private property. You broke most of my camp rules, broke the
underage drinking law and you continue to be mean to Caitlyn.”

“What?” I asked, hastily.

“She told me how you forced her
to turn the lights on while you peed on my back lawn because it was your
fantasy to be watched, and about how you two planned that mousetrap video for a
YouTube prank video, and how you made her play it for the entire ballroom. She
told me how she tried to talk you out of it but how you needed the attention so
she went along with it. She was so distraught that she said she had to come
apologize to me over and over again.”

“Oh, really? And you believed
her?” I pulled my mouth closed and I recomposed myself. Then Avery continued.

“And yes, it would have been
nice if I would have been invited into your little threesome with Sara. I am
the owner of this goddamn camp and can bring a little something to the table.
Besides, is it so wrong that I wanted to spend time with you? It seems I have
to schedule the fucking time just to see you because you’ve become little miss
popular,” he concluded.

I took a second to gather my
swirling thoughts. “You’re the only one I want to be with. You’re the only one
that makes any of this matter and you’ve made it clear you’ve wanted nothing to
do with me! I’ve done what you’ve wanted and it’s still not good enough. Tell
me what I have to do because quite frankly, you’re giving me whiplash,” I said,
raising my chin.

His eyes narrowed as Pierce
stepped out of the cold section of the truck carrying ice cream.

“Am I interrupting?” Pierce
asked.

Avery rolled his eyes. “As
always, brother, your timing is impeccable.”

“Hey, hot stuff,” he said,
looking guilty toward Avery. Before I knew it, Avery was growling and pushing
Pierce against the wall. The ice cream that pressed between them was Pierce’s only
form of protection.

“Did you sleep with her?”

“You were with the blonde
boxhead,” I called out to him. I couldn’t bring myself to say Caitlyn’s name.
His eyes filled with regret as he looked to me. Then he loosened his grip on
Pierce as he turned to me.

“KIM!” he called out.

“Yes, Avery?” she asked, as she
appeared in the doorway.

“Find Ethan and Wren Cartwright.
They just got put on barn duty tomorrow.” I narrowed my eyes at him. But he
just narrowed his eyes right back at me.

“And find Sean Seeley, too. He’s
on barn duty with them.” A fleeting satisfaction crept over his face.

“How could I ever think you were
different?” he asked. His words struck me deeper than I ever wanted to admit to
myself.

“I am different than all those
other girls. You just chose not to see something that’s good and standing right
in front of you,” I yelled back at him. My blood boiled. My hands were shaking
and I almost dropped the case of peaches. I purposely tightened my hands around
the cardboard box to steady myself. “And just so you know, Pierce and I talked
about you most of the time that night, so fuck off, Avery!” He blinked in
disbelief.

I turned and stepped off the
truck and carried the case into the cabin, slamming it down on the counter beside
Sara, who finally made it and went to work unpacking boxes. I huffed loudly.
Sara glanced at me sideways. She knew that when I was in this kind of mood it
was best to wait until I calmed down before she started her inquisition.

I didn’t speak but I stayed to
help Sara unload the boxes onto the large metal shelves. I let Colt and Sara
bring the remaining boxes in, preferring to stay in the kitchen unpacking them.

“I don’t want to get stuck with
kitchen duty ever again. My head feels like a cannonball after it’s been shot
out of a cannon,” Sara said, bringing in the last of the boxes.

I quickly went to work on
breaking down the boxes and leaned them up against the wall for recycling.

“Go see what’s taking Colt and
Pierce so long,” Sara said.

I heard the shouting before I
emerged through the doorway.

“How could you? You know how I
feel about her.”

Colt was trying to push his way
between them. Avery’s fist met Pierce’s jaw. He stumbled backwards and righted
himself. He rubbed his jaw as Colt held Avery back.

“I had to pin her down somehow,”
Pierce said, rubbing his jaw.

“You son of a bitch,” he
struggled out from under Colt’s grasp and lunged for his brother.

“Stop this, you idiots!” I
shouted. “Avery, don’t you dare try to play the angel here. You crushed me and
Pierce was only trying to help you. We didn’t fuck. I told you we talked about
you. Are you happy? Is that what you wanted to hear? Is that what you wanted to
know?” My voice rose up an octave. “How about I tell you how he convinced me to
tell you how I felt about you and when we drove to your house you were with,
Cait...you know what…never mind. I’m not doing this. Not in front of everyone.”

His eyes scanned those around
us, and let his hands fall to the side. Pierce cursed and mumbled something
about getting some ice, then turned toward the quad, hopped on and peeled out
towards his cabin. Avery was left breathing hard and fast, looking at me with a
confused expression on his face. Sara stepped beside Colt. Avery’s eyes flashed
toward them then back to me. He ran his fingers through his hair and cursed
under his breath as he jumped down out of the truck.

Avery had always been in
control, strong, confident. In this moment he looked rattled. I could feel Sara
and Colt’s eyes on me. I looked to see a questioning look in their eyes.

Avery slammed the back door of
the truck and stormed through the cabin’s side door. I kept my eyes on him
until he was out of view. I just stared at the door, wishing he would come
back. But he was just like me, he knew how to run from heartache. Pierce was
right. We were alike in so many ways.

“You have something you need to
tell me?” Sara inquired loudly.

“No, there’s nothing to tell,” I
said, surprisingly calm, while looking to the ground.

“How could you not tell me about
you and Avery?” She waited for my response but when I didn’t give one, she
continued. “All I have to say is I’m really disappointed in you. I warned you
to stay away from him,” Sara said heatedly. I shifted my eyes to see my best
friend’s disappointment reflecting in her eyes.

“I know!” I said. But before I
could storm away, Kim reappeared in the doorway.

“Aria. Avery has put you and
Sara on barn duty. Report Tuesday to the stables,” she said.

“Mother fucker!” we both cried
in unison.