Summer by the Lake

by Kay Gordon

  “Okay, sounds good.”

  He flashed me a smile that sent an unwelcome flutter through my stomach. “Night, Shay.”

  I watched him walk back towards the boy’s cabins, the darkness swallowing him while I stood there.

  I could admit that I was attracted to Drew. He was a really good looking guy. When he wasn’t being a total jackass or acting like an immature co-ed, he was actually really decent. That didn’t mean anything, though. He and I didn’t mesh well as it was. Besides, he had a girlfriend.

  A girlfriend that was hanging out on the beach with someone else, my subconscious subtly reminded me as I continued walking towards my cabin.

  By the time I was showering off my run, I’d decided that it might not have been Christy I heard, just someone that sounded similar to her. I needed to push all thoughts of Drew Moore out of my mind. Completely.

  Our second week was even better than the first. We’d really fallen into a great pattern with the girls and were learning their different personalities and quirks quickly. Cate was our people pleaser. Lizzy our dreamer. September and Thalia were both boy crazy and going to give us grey hair before the summer was over. Jenny was shyer than the others and Nicole was a daredevil. The other four all had something that made them unique and I was really proud to be their counselor.

  On Thursday afternoon, I had to run back to the cabin after dinner to change my shorts. Robbie had been talking animatedly with her hands and her lemonade had ended up in my lap. I made it to the field at the edge of camp just as our nature lesson with Cabins Fourteen and Sixteen was beginning.

  I went to stand with Hannah, who was with the other counselors. Tammi and Joanne were covering Cabin Fourteen for the night so I immediately hugged them both and took a seat on the grass next to Hannah.

  The wildlife expert was going over the different edible plants in the area when I noticed the sour look on Han’s face. I nudged her with my elbow and furrowed my brow.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She sighed and shook her head. “So, I was going to ask Jordan about tomorrow night at dinner, right?”

  I nodded. She had finally built up the courage to ask him out and I knew she’d been nervous.

  “Well, before I could talk to him, Alison from Cabin Ten told me that Jordan had asked Angie out tomorrow.”

  “Angie?” My jaw dropped open and I shook my head quickly. Angie and Alison shared the same cabin. “Setting aside the fact that Jordan obviously likes you, she doesn’t even have tomorrow off. Why would he ask her that?”

  Hannah shrugged her shoulders and I could see the defeat on her beautiful face. “I don’t even care. Whatever. It’s not like I need some summer fling anyway.”

  Joanne leaned into Hannah at the same time I did and none of us said anything else as we watched the presentation. We didn’t speak again until the end, when the girls were squealing about eating the dandelions that were being handed to them. It was Hannah who broke our silence.

  “I’m getting so drunk tomorrow.”

  I groaned, causing Tammi to laugh quietly. She peered past Joanne so she could meet my eyes. “Just get drunk, too, Shay. You won’t have to hold anyone’s hair if you’re too busy worrying about your own.

  “Oh, you definitely need to.” Hannah turned her hazel eyes on me. “I’ll pay for the room if you’ll drink, too.”

  I watched Nicole take another mouthful of dandelion with a grin and chuckled before looking back at my friends. “Deal. Let’s do it.”

  Chapter Eight

  We had a long talk with our girls the next evening, letting them know the expectations we’d set for them while we were gone. Both of our beds had been remade with fresh sheets for Joanne and Tammi and I’d made sure to lay out clean towels.

  The girls began their shower rotation and I took my turn once Hannah was out. She was dressed to kill in a tight, black skirt and a red, low-cut tank top that highlighted her features well. Her bright blonde hair was left straight, looking perfect and untouchable in the humidity. It was obvious she was on a mission for the night.

  I decided to go with a pair of denim shorts and a bright purple v-neck t-shirt. I left my pathetic hair down straight, too, but I knew it would be frizzy before we even made it into town. With very minimal make-up around my eyes and a pair of sandals on, I walked back out to the main cabin and sat with the girls who were playing monopoly.

  Joanne and Tammi showed up at a quarter to nine and we made sure the girls knew who they were. Joanne took over my job as banker and Hannah reminded everyone to be good while we were gone. It was shortly after nine when we finally made our way to the front of the camp.

  “Oh, I miss you, my friend,” Hannah murmured to her phone once she’d taken it out of lock-up. Howard laughed and took my key so he could get mine, too.

  “Kurt has rapid chargers in the shuttle so make sure to plug them in, okay?” He smiled affectionately at us both. “Be good out there tonight and don’t hesitate to call if you need anything.”

  We both nodded and I gave Howard a quick hug before we both walked towards where the shuttle van was parked. Kurt grinned when he saw us and steered us towards town once we were both inside.

  I hooked my phone up to the charger and powered it up as we drove. The second it was on, it was chiming like mad from text messages, emails, and voicemails. I quickly tapped out a message to each of my parents, letting them know camp was going great. My mom text back almost instantly to let me know she had mailed off a care package of goodies just the day before.

  Hannah was on her phone, obviously talking to her parents, too. She was raving about the camp and how well Chloe was doing. I couldn’t help but smile as she talked about her little sister. Hannah always made sure to find Chloe during meals to give her a quick hug. Anytime the two passed each other around camp, they greeted one another enthusiastically. They reminded me a lot of how Kira and I acted when we’d been at camp together. I missed that.

  Except where Hannah was probably encouraging Chloe to stay out of trouble, Kira had been the one to lead me towards trouble. She was mischievous by her own right but was usually flanked by AJ, a boy in the same grade as her. They’d met her first day of camp and were inseparable for the eight years that followed. The two of them had made sure I wasn’t homesick and then proceeded to show me how to bend the rules of Camp Holcomb. It was awesome.

  Kurt dropped us off in the middle of town and wouldn’t drive away until we confirmed that we had his phone number. He told us to be good and went back to the camp without a glance back.

  Hannah was on a mission and wouldn’t stop until she had some sort of alcohol in her. I let her drag us both to a small bar down the street that was about half-full already. She went to the bar to order drinks while I found us a table.

  After she had finished her fourth Vodka cranberry, I considered cutting her off. She was so happy, though, which is what she needed in that moment, so I let her drink on.

  “Let’s play darts,” she said, her voice slightly slurred as she tugged on my wrist. She grabbed a handful of darts and we took turns throwing them at the wall. Hannah’s aim was terrible, which was to be expected, but I had never been that good at darts myself. I threw them, hitting the board more often than missing it, but I wasn’t that much better than Hannah.

  I ducked into the bathroom for a quick moment and when I came back out, Hannah was talking to some guy. When I got closer, I realized it was Jordan. He was standing close to where she was at the dartboard, a smile on his face as he stared at my friend. He wasn’t alone, though. Drew looked bored as he sat on the stool I’d originally been in.

  He didn’t spot me so I took a moment to admire him. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a white-shirt with that blue cap firmly on top of his head, facing backwards. Every time he lifted his bottle to take a drink, his forearm flexed and showed off those delicious tattoos.

  Delicious tattoos? My inner monologue was starting to fangirl over Drew
Moore and I needed to put the brakes on that immediately. Shaking myself out of it, I moved towards the table.

  “You’re in my seat,” I said as I walked up, folding my arms across my chest. I didn’t wait for him to move, though, and I sat on Hannah’s unoccupied stool.

  Drew reached for a bottle of beer that was on the table and smiled as he brought it to his lips. “Good to see you, too, sunshine.”

  “What are you guys even doing here?” I asked, my tone sharp. “I thought Jordan was taking Angie out tonight.”

  Drew rolled his eyes before shaking his head. “Jordan never even asked her out. Someone heard a snippet of their conversation and assumed. He’s completely stuck on your girl. Besides, it looks like she’s accepted his explanation and apology.”

  She definitely had. The two of them were standing close and the smiles on their faces promised a good night for them both.

  “Were you two planning on going back to camp tonight?”

  “No,” I replied with a shake of my head. “We reserved a room.”

  “Then why aren’t you drinking?” Drew raised his brows as he stared at me and I just shrugged.

  “I felt like someone needed to be sober while Hannah was getting wasted.”

  Drew stopped the waitress as she walked by and murmured something to her. She nodded and walked away, only to reappear a few minutes later with six shot glasses on her tray. Drew gave her some cash and thanked her before turning to me. He reached for one with a grin.

  “Let’s go, Shay. Bottom’s up.”

  I turned my head to look at Hannah and she was getting a dart lesson from Jordan. A small smile touched my lips and I picked up the shot glass in front of me. I tipped it back and resisted coughing as the tequila set my throat on fire.

  “Jesus,” I said with a scrunched up face as I slammed my glass back down. “That’s disgusting.”

  Drew chuckled and pushed another one towards me. “Let’s do another.”

  I did. We each did three shots before getting up to play darts with Jordan and Hannah but none of us remembered to keep score. I don’t know how long we played before Hannah almost took out my eye and I just laughed uncaringly.

  “Let’s do something else. Let’s go dancing.”

  Jordon wrapped his arm around Hannah’s shoulder as she nodded quickly.

  “Dancing sounds fun. Let’s go.”

  I looked to Drew and he just shrugged with a lazy smile on his face. “I’m game. There’s a club down the street that plays that crap that’s on the radio now.”

  We all followed Drew out of the bar and into the muggy air. My feet felt uncoordinated as I walked next to him and I snickered each time I accidently nudged his shoulder. Hannah and Jordan walked behind us, Jordan keeping her in a straight line, and Hannah giggled when she caught my eye.

  “Whoa, Shay,” Drew said as I stumbled off the curb. He wrapped his arm around my waist and held me steady until we’d made it to a building that was shaking from the loud music. There wasn’t a line to get in, so we just flashed our IDs and walked through the door.

  All four of us immediately went towards the bar and I ordered us two rounds of tequila shots. My throat no longer burned when it went down and the tip of my nose was numb as the world permanently tilted on its axis. The dance floor was crowded but the four of us managed to dance together to trendy music that I’d never listen to normally.

  Drew and I eventually transitioned so we were dancing with each other, our bodies pressed together in multiple spots. At some point, we had another round of shots, bringing me to a total of six. I felt good out on the dance floor, happy and free, and for the first time, I realized that Drew wasn’t horrible.

  We agreed to stop the flow of alcohol sometime before midnight and it was after one in the morning when we all walked in the door of the lobby to the hotel. After checking in at the counter, we took the elevator to the fourth floor. Hannah and Jordan disappeared into the first room and they shut the door behind them without saying a word to Drew or me. I looked at him and shrugged before taking the key from him and opening the door that was six down from theirs.

  “Guess it’s just you and me,” I said over my shoulder, my words lazy and carefree. I could feel Drew at my heels as I walked into the room and he ran into me when I stopped to kick my sandals off.

  “There’s just one bed,” he pointed out as he looked at the king bed that took up most of the space in the small room.

  I shrugged my shoulders and reached under my shirt to unhook my bra. “So? It’s a big bed, Drew.”

  He stared at me as he leaned into the wall for support. “What are you doing?”

  “Getting comfortable,” I replied simply as I tugged the straps down my arms, pulled my bra out from under my shirt, and tossed it to the floor. “You try wearing a bra all day long.”

  Drew didn’t move from where he was as he stared at me. His normally bright eyes were dark and his chest was rising quickly. I slowly moved across the room until we were almost toe-to-toe and I studied him for a second.

  “You want to kiss me.” My words were clear and purposeful as I made my statement and Drew nodded his head slowly.

  “So badly.”

  “But you have a girlfriend.”

  He shook his head before the sentence was completely spoken. “She’s not my girlfriend.”

  Despite all of the alcohol we’d had earlier, I didn’t feel like a drunken mess. I was definitely tipsy and I would have been in trouble if I’d tried to operate heavy machinery, but I was aware of everything we had done. And everything we might do.

  I took one more step and we were so close that his upper body brushed mine with every breath. My hands ran up his stomach until they were at his chest and I had two fistfuls of his shirt.

  “Then kiss me.”

  I didn’t have to tell him twice. Drew leaned down and brushed his lips against mine softly in a very tender kiss. Even through the fog that had me thinking a bit slower, it surprised me. I had envisioned him to be a take-all and take it fast kind of guy but the kiss was anything but.

  Our lips moved slowly against one another and after a moment, he parted his so our tongues could meet. He tasted like tequila and something unidentifiable but amazing all the same. A low moan sounded and it took me a second to realize it’d come from me. I tugged on Drew’s t-shirt and our mouths broke apart long enough for me to pull it over his head, knocking his cap to the floor, too.

  That broke the dam. Our kiss turned feverish and Drew all but devoured my mouth with his. My shirt came off next and he worked on the button to my shorts as his mouth trailed down my jaw and sucked on a sensitive patch of skin on my neck. I gripped his shoulders like I would float away if I didn’t hold on and his lips closed around one of my sensitive nipples, causing a cry to slip past my lips.

  Once my shorts were around my feet, our mouths reconnected and Drew walked me backwards towards the bed. When the backs of my calves hit the mattress, he gently pushed me down onto my back before making quick work of his own pants and boxers. I watched as he bent down and pulled a condom out of his wallet before straightening up and staring at me. I let my eyes appreciate his very naked and very handsome body before my eyes met his.

  “You’ve been drinking, Shaylee,” he said quietly and I just nodded as a smile hit my lips.

  “So have you, Drew.”

  He crawled up the bed, his lips kissing a trail from my stomach, between my breasts, and up my chin. His fingers ran over the necklace that was at my throat for a moment before his eyes bored into mine. “I need you to tell me that you’re sure before we do this. Tell me what you want.”

  I could feel him, hard and ready, against my thigh and I arched my back in an attempt to press against him. My arms moved to wrap around his back and Drew pinned them to my side as he shook his head.

  “You need to say the words, Shay.”

  His eyes were almost black and his breathing was heavy as it mimi
cked mine. I stretched my neck so I could kiss him once and nodded.

  “I want you, Drew. I want to have sex with you.”

  That had been what he needed because Drew’s lips slammed to mine before he was pulling my underwear off and rolling the condom on. When he used his hands to spread my legs, I sucked in a breath that I only released when he pushed himself inside of me.

  “Shit,” he whispered, our cheeks pressed together. “Why does this feel so great?”

  “It’d feel better if you moved,” I replied quietly as I wrapped my legs around his waist. I was rewarded with a throaty groan from him and he began to move in and out of me slowly. As his actions quickened, Drew rolled our bodies so I was on top of him and he continued thrusting into me from below. I met his movements with my own as we kissed and my body was slowly overcome with sensation. My already fuzzy brain stopped working completely and I wanted the moment to last forever.

  When I finally regained a sense of rational thinking, I was back under Drew and he had collapsed onto my chest. Both of us were sweaty and breathing heavily as I pressed my lips to his forehead. Drew tilted his head so our mouths could meet briefly before he rolled over and stood from the bed. He was gone for a moment before the light went out and he returned to the spot next to me. He pulled me to his chest and covered us with the blanket.

  Neither of us said anything and sleep found me quickly.

  Chapter Nine

  Drew and I woke up several times during the night to explore each other’s bodies. We never said anything to the other but words weren’t needed for what we were doing. When I cracked my eyes open after our exhausting night, the sun streaming in through the crack in the curtain hurt my head and I rolled to my back before pulling a pillow over my face.