Summer Seduction

by Rachel Van Dyken

He cupped a hand over my mouth. “Don’t make them more nervous with the shouting.”

  “That’s a ton of auditions!”

  “You’re telling me.” He reached into the staff bag at his feet and pulled out a silver flask. “It’s also why I came prepared.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You’re going to be wasted in minutes.”

  “I plan on it.” He gulped and flashed me a playful grin then completely sobered when Jen made her way over.

  Wordlessly, he handed her a clipboard.

  She gave me a sad smile, glared at him, and walked off.

  “Jackson!” I poked him with my pen. “What the hell did you do?”

  “What I always do.” He shrugged. “Fucked up. Saw something pretty, told myself it would make me feel better. Same ol’, same ol’.”

  “You slept with Jen?”

  “No, I slept with DeeDee. Not that any sleeping was really involved.”

  I smacked him and then smacked him again. “You asshole! Who the hell is DeeDee? And furthermore, who sleeps with a DeeDee?”

  “It’s weird how well you know my thoughts because all I kept thinking as I slid in and out was just that. Why the fuck am I fucking a DeeDee?”

  I hit him again. Because I could.

  Another staff member approached. She had pretty cropped black hair and short jean shorts. He handed her a clipboard. She hit him over the head with it and walked off.

  “Ah,” I nodded in understanding. “Would that be DeeDee?”

  “Isn’t she a gem?” He rubbed his head.

  “Well!” I threw my hands into the air. “What did you expect? That you’d sleep with DeeDee, and she’d thank you for screaming Jen’s name while you climaxed!”

  His eyes got wide. “Who told?”

  I covered my face with my hands. “You didn’t. Oh God, tell me you didn’t.”

  “I was… confused?” He frowned.

  “Don’t make me hit you again. You need to go apologize to Jen. NOW.”

  “And say what? ‘Sorry that I slept with yet another staff member that wasn’t you, but hey, bonus points for imagining you while I plundered her cave. We cool?’”

  I groaned. “Don’t say plunder, or cave, ever… ever again.”

  “It’s for the best. Trust me, the last girl I even— Whatever. It doesn’t matter. I’m not good for her. She knows it. I know it. The universe with its cruel tricks knows it.”

  “Why not just be the better guy, be deserving of her?” I wondered aloud as the lights hit the stage.

  “Why not just tell Marlo you’re scared, and that you’ve been in love with him since high school?” he countered smoothly.

  I froze. My entire body went stiff.

  “Uh-huh,” he whispered as Marlo made his way onto the stage.

  God, he was too masculine and pretty for his own good.

  “That’s what I thought. Easy to hand out advice. Hard to take it.”

  “At least…” I ignored the choking sensation around my throat. “…at least try with Jen. Why can’t you try?”

  “Why can’t you?”

  “Stop deflecting!” I hissed under my breath, earning a dark chuckle from him as Marlo glared at us from his spot on stage.

  I flashed him a smile and straightened.

  He didn’t smile back.

  My resolve crumbled a bit.

  My fault.

  I’d done something wrong.

  And yet, I still wanted to lash out and say “You started it!”

  But I knew that would accomplish nothing.

  Were we always going to be at odds? Enemies or friends?

  “Welcome to auditions!” Marlo said in a happy tone that was in no way because of me. “This is how things are going to go. You’ll come up, read your own audition to the best of your ability. We’ll pick the best candidates and post results in the morning. Immediately following, we have our annual cookout near the water where we attempt to steal the seal from the other side of the lake!”

  Cheers erupted.

  “Wait, the seal?” I whispered under my breath.

  “It’s plastic. Chill out,” Jackson drank from his flask and hid it back in his bag. “And it’s attached to the main mess hall at the camp across the lake. We steal it then bring it back in special decorations. Last year was mafia. We gave it blood, knuckles, and a cigar. The powers that be were not amused with our choice.”

  I smiled to myself. “And what do you get if you steal it?”

  “Duh, honor.” He scoffed. “And you get a favor from the camp director.”

  I froze. “A favor?”

  “Not that kind of favor.” He barked out a laugh. “I mean, unless you steal it. Then I guess anything goes. But for anyone else, more like ‘Hey, can I have a private audition with such and such agent or producer?” But if that’s not important to you, you can always steal the seal and ask Marlo for something more… personal.”

  My thoughts wandered more than they should have.

  And then the first auditionee was walking onto stage.

  I had a brief flashback to watching Pitch Perfect the first time as she sat cross-legged and started her performance. She was cute, angsty, and had some great lines about high school that made my chest ache. When her music turned on, she danced a contemporary that took my breath away. When she was finished, I was ready to stand and clap.

  “She was amazing,” I whispered under my breath.

  Jackson sighed. “She’s also blown half the guys here already. Rumor is, that’s how she gets her dancing ability.” His face wrinkled in a grimace of distaste. “Meh. Next.”

  Every audition was better than the last until I sat there slack-jawed like an idiot.

  Three hours of entertainment later.

  I was side-eyeing Jackson’s flask as if it was the last piece of chocolate cake. Marlo made his way back on the stage amidst all the claps.

  “All right! And to finish, we have our staff auditions.”

  I tilted my head at Jackson and mouthed, “Say what?”

  He just grinned and stared down at his clipboard, letting out a low whistle.

  “Nominations were taken at lunch today.”

  I’d missed lunch. I had been practicing.

  Shit. Shit. Shit. Is that why Marlo looked so pissed?

  “And…” He gritted his teeth, his eyes landing on me. “It looks like you guys voted for both Ray and myself to show you how it’s done.”

  My eyes widened. HOW WHAT’S DONE?

  I elbowed Jackson, who was laughing so hard I was ready to strangle him with my bare hands. “What the hell!”

  He stood and started clapping. “Woohoo, yeah, Ray! Marlo-o-o!”

  People followed suit.

  I officially had no friends.

  I shoved him out of the way as I nervously walked toward the stage and stared daggers through Marlo.

  When I got to his side all I said was “Hate you.”

  “Ah, feeling’s entirely mutual. Believe me,” he said through a frozen smile.

  “I’m suffocating you in your sleep tonight.” I grinned up at him.

  He just gave me a bored expression and said. “I dipped your toothbrush in the toilet.”

  I gasped.

  “Twice.”

  “You have a tiny dick.”

  “Small tits.”

  “Skinny legs.”

  “No ass.”

  The clapping stopped.

  He held up the microphone to his mouth. “You guys voted, and it seems as if the people who weren’t in choreography when we showed the original duet felt left out…”

  “Get it, MARLON!” Jackson shouted.

  I mouthed, “Dead to me.”

  It just made him grin harder.

  “That is, unless Ray isn’t feeling up to it?” Marlo turned to me.

  I was ready to hyperventilate.

  And his eyes heated, as if he knew he was better than me, as if he knew that I would bail because I was afraid.

  So, I took
the microphone from him and said, “Try to keep up.”

  “Oh-h-h!” The crowd loved it.

  Meanwhile, I was having an internal meltdown.

  I had major stage fright.

  Marlo knew this!

  My hands started to sweat, my blood pressure spiked, and I could taste fear on my own tongue, like bitter metal.

  And then the lights on the stage darkened just enough to give it a sensual effect as Marlo took the microphone and put it back in the stand then handed me a freaking watermelon.

  No-o-o-o.

  Music erupted around me, and all of the teens watching jumped to their feet and literally re-created the Dirty Dancing scene perfectly, as if they’d been studying the musical since the womb.

  Jackson hopped on stage and elbowed me. “That’s my cousin Johnny…”

  And all I could think of was I carried the watermelon.

  I gulped and then watched as Jen jumped on stage and started dancing to Odis Redding with Marlo.

  Damn it, they looked surreal.

  She was… amazing.

  The song faded in order to make it possible for people to hear the dialogue. Everyone clapped and cheered, and that was when I lost every ounce of pride I had, which wasn’t mine.

  Marlo approached, his hips swiveling. Why the hell is he channeling Patrick Swayze while I am holding a watermelon?

  The lines flew by on stage and then my “I carried a watermelon” just spilled forth, earning laughter from the crowd while I squeezed my eyes shut in embarrassment, real embarrassment.

  Marlo moved back to Jen. They danced down the line of people, and then his eyes were on me again as he crooked his finger, wearing a show-me-your-stuff smirk.

  Watermelon gone, I walked over to him and stiffened as he placed his hands on my hips. “Move them this way. All right, that’s good…”

  I sucked in a breath as he grinned down at me. God, he made me feel as if it was real. I didn’t want to leave his arms. I forgot about the arguing, about the constant push and pull, and just let him — for once — lead me without me objecting or crying or yelling.

  “Watch me. Watch my eyes,” he encouraged. “Good, that’s better.”

  He grabbed me, and I pretended as if I didn’t want to curl my body into his and let his hips thrust me wherever the hell they wanted to. He backed up and then slid his leg between mine as we moved back and forth.

  I didn’t take my eyes away from his.

  And I was one-hundred-percent sure he wouldn’t have let me.

  I allowed him to lead me.

  I was helpless against the power of his hips. Dear God, what is happening to me?

  Hands on my hips, he ground against me.

  In front of everyone. The. Entire. Camp.

  My eyes widened a fraction as he leaned forward and thrust against me again. I knew it was part of the dance, but still, I felt vulnerable as every hard inch of him pressed against me, heated, hungry. I shuddered as the music ended.

  And stumbled a bit as he released me.

  Applause.

  And I stood there stunned, eyes wide as Jackson released everyone to the cookout by the lake.

  Of course, that was the time Marlo walked by with his judgmental eyes and whispered, “D-plus.”

  I jumped after him.

  Jackson caught me by the waist and spun me around. “I was thinking more C-minus, but who am I to judge?”

  I gritted my teeth. “I was caught off guard!”

  “It should have made you better.” He stared me down. “Instead, it made you worse. He’ll crack you. He always does.”

  My heart sank. “So, he does this to all the staff members that suck?”

  Jackson burst out laughing. “I was talking about his students. He doesn’t… well, since—” He paled. “Let’s just say it’s been a while since he’s been with a staff member here.” He looked ready to puke. “Go enjoy the cookout, yeah?”

  “Where are you going?”

  He grinned. “Refill!”

  Right. Refill. The guy was going to drink himself into a stupor. Part of me wanted to help, but the other part of my heart that needed protecting said if I helped even more, he’d want to help me, and I didn’t want help. Not yet. I wanted protection.

  And every person I turned to wanted me to jump off the cliff.

  As if they weren’t completely damaged.

  I snorted and walked slowly to the lake and watched as teens jumped into canoes and paddled across.

  My eyes narrowed.

  A favor.

  One favor.

  As dumb girls did, I daydreamed about asking Marlo a favor. “Kiss me, make sweet love to me under the stars.”

  My body heated.

  One favor.

  One seal.

  No revenge sex.

  This time it would be all on my terms.

  I slowly grinned and ran after the last canoe.

  I was just pushing it off when Jen jumped in after me. “Oh no, you don’t. You need two to paddle.”

  “I’ve never paddled a canoe.”

  “Dip it in the water and pray we go straight.” She handed me the oar, and off we went.

  “JACKSON, YOU SEEN Ray?” I yelled over the bonfire on the beach. His eyes were glassy. Shit, the guy had been spiraling ever since the anniversary of her death. It was always hard on him, this time of year, but he’d never been this bad, drinking during the day, missing teaching some of his voice lessons with the students.

  He shook his head no then jumped to his feet. “Shit!”

  “What?”

  “I think she’s going to try to steal the seal.” He ran toward me. Well, at least he had coordination under the influence, or maybe he wasn’t as drunk as he looked.

  “Why the hell would she do that?”

  “Because I may have told her about the favor thing…” He gave me a “whoops” look. “If she’s not in her cabin…”

  “She’s not in her cabin period,” I said, not explaining further. Most her stuff was at mine, so she wouldn’t be in her cabin. She loved my coffee too much.

  Hell, am I really getting used for my comfortable bed and coffee?

  Do I care?

  Not really, as long as she is beside me.

  Two of the canoes made their way back to camp; another three were visible. Meaning, we were missing one.

  “Let’s go.” I ran toward the canoe while Jackson jumped in. We had enough staff watching things, but still it made me nervous leaving everyone.

  “Could you paddle any slower?” Jackson complained.

  “Could you be any drunker?” I snapped right back.

  He sobered and put his back into it. “I’m fine.”

  “Yeah, you look fine. You’d probably drown in your own vomit if I left you by the campfire.”

  He rowed harder. “It’s been a shit week. It’s always a shit week during these seven days,” he said softly.

  He didn’t meet my eyes. “I know you miss her.”

  “She was a great human. You remember that. She just had… demons.”

  “Don’t we all,” I said without humor.

  And then silence enveloped us along with the inky black darkness of the sky, the stars shining over us, and the irritation that Ray had paddled across into enemy territory without saying anything.

  It was not like anything could really happen to her. It was just that Jackson had neglected to tell her one specific detail.

  The other camp fucking captured prospective thieves and staff members and then asked for something in order to return them.

  The last time someone got kidnapped he’d been forced to swim across the lake naked, all the while being subjected to harmless hazing that still left him traumatized every time he heard the word pineapple.

  Needless to say, it had been harmless. But I didn’t want to take any chances.

  Screaming erupted from hip-hop camp.

  Jackson gave me a wide-eyed look as we both started paddling in sync as if we were abou
t to lose the Olympic gold.

  We reached the beach just as the girls came running toward us, fucking seal in hand and legit pitchforks and torches chasing them — well, not just the objects, but the hands attached to bodies that were screaming and—

  Holy shit, do they have war paint on?

  Jen and Ray jumped into their canoe and started paddling toward us.

  “Reverse!” Jackson roared.

  We quickly changed directions and fell into sync with the girls as teens shouted profanities from the beach and some threw their torches onto the sand.

  “Holy shit!” Ray yelled from her canoe. “That was intense! They have guard chickens!”

  “You’re shitting us!” Jackson yelled. “You can’t train fucking chickens!”

  “YOU CAN’T TRAIN FUCKING CHICKENS!” Jen repeated, flashing her arm.

  “Are those peck marks?” Jackson looked ready to puke and then turned to me. “Dude, you know how I feel about chickens.”

  “You got chased once, as a child!” I scoffed.

  “IT WANTED MY SOUL!” he yelled, clearly drunk. “JEN!” More yelling. “YOU LIVED TO TELL YOUR STORY!”

  Ray fell into fits of laughter. “Oh, we lived all right. We got the seal, and I got a pet!” She pulled something out of her jacket.

  “SATAN!” Jackson screamed, dropping his oar and then scrambling for it and rowing away from them. “Marlo, tell her! Drown the thing or we’re sending her back!”

  “No!” She held the chicken close. “It’s mine now!”

  “And so is the seal!” Jen raised it in triumph.

  But I was too focused on the way Ray held the possessed chicken as if it was the best thing she’d ever accomplished.

  Stolen a pet chicken — guard chicken? — from the enemy camp and paddled it across the lake.

  “That’s not staying with us.” I shook my head. “Not a chance in hell.”

  “We’ll see.” She glared at me.

  “Us?” Jen asked.

  Jackson tilted his head at me.

  “Let’s get back to camp!” I changed the subject.

  And by the time I made it to the campfire, I was wiped.

  Teens yelled and cheered with Jen as she lifted the seal into the air, and naturally, that was when Ray managed to hold the chicken out as if it was our annual sacrifice.

  Jackson gave the chicken a wide berth. At one point, he made a cross over his chest and then mouthed what appeared to be a prayer.