Camp Jameson (21 page)

“Touchdown by Aria!” Travis
called out into the microphone.

“Get off me,” I barked.

“Make me,” he said wiping mud
away from my brow. I squirmed under him and he pressed me to the ground harder.
I could feel the cold mud soaking through my shirt but my body burned from the
feel of his body. Avery felt my shiver but I wasn’t going to give him the
satisfaction of knowing he turned me on. I slid my leg out and rolled Avery to
the side. He looked surprised as I rolled him to his back but as I tried to
straddle him my knees slid out from under me and I fell into him. I tried to
stand up again but my shoes kept slipping in the mud.

The rain was coming down
stronger and the field was a giant mess. Avery tried to get up but his feet
failed quickly. We rolled around the mud pit until finally, I rolled to my back
next to him and we both lay there trying to catch our breath. His eyes danced
over me.

“You’re so beautiful, Aria,” he
said softly pulling a wet strand of my hair away from my eyes. I blinked in
disbelief.
I was a muddy mess.
I felt his warm hand on my face and
leaned into it.
God, his touch was electric. It always sucked me back in.
His eyes bored into me and I squirmed under his stare.

“What?” I asked.

“You playing quarterback is the
sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. You made me fall in love with football all over
again.”

I cringed at his choice of
words.
Avery had hurt me.
My guard immediately went back up.

“Is that right?” My eyes fell
away and I tilted my head away. “Look who’s finally feeling with his heart.”

Colt and Sean ran up next to us.

“Need help?” Colt asked.

I turned away from Avery,
instantly feeling bad for what I’d said.

Avery and I both tried to get up
again but quickly slipped and we both fell face first this time. I could hear
the teams laughing at us. We rolled onto our backs and broke out into laughter.
The tense conversation was now gone as our pathetic attempt to get to our feet
only made things worse.

Colt planted his feet next to
Avery’s and instead of helping Avery up, Colt’s feet lost traction and he fell
into Avery. Avery cried out as Colt’s knee slammed into Avery’s groin. Avery
jerked back and smacked my chin. I grabbed my chin and cursed.

“Fuck!” Sean’s eyes lit up when
my leg tripped him and his feet went out from under him. We held our sides in
laughter as Pierce made his way over to us.

“Don’t!” We all shouted at him
at the same time.

“Idiots,” Pierce chuckled, and
reached out for my hands. He dragged me a few feet out of the shallow mud pit
and pulled me to my feet. He did the same thing to the others. That only made
us laugh harder.
Why didn’t we think of that?



“Colts win!” he announced. And
just like that the competitive side to the game was gone. The game was over and
I made my way to the sidelines for some water.

Sara and Colt both slapped my
hand and cheered at our victory. I was so happy to have my friends. Avery
congratulated all of us on our win. My knees shook with weakness. I forced
myself not to look back over my shoulder. I didn’t want to see the hurt in
Avery’s eyes. I was mean to him and I felt like hell about it now.
Damn, I
have no filter.



I let Ethan and Wren take turns
spinning me around. Each one saying what a great job I did. Ethan had his arm
around me when Avery spoke.

“Be at the cocktail lounge at
ten o’clock.” His eyes landed on mine. “All of you.”

I gulped nervously. He was a
jerk to me that night of the Ball. But god, he was beautiful, sexy, and
desirable. I tried hard to find the silver lining in all of this. At least this
time we weren’t going to be alone.

DAY TWELVE:

FRIDAY NIGHT

COCKTAIL PARTY

I
t
was just before ten that evening when Sara and I walked up the back deck stairs
toward the second floor cocktail lounge. The blanket of radiant stars flickered
like diamonds glimmering in the moonlight above.

I stepped up to the deck in
Sara’s stilettos to see that it was decorated in very expensive lighting with
delicate curves in the carved wood. All the women were in heels and little
black dresses. I ran through several scenarios in my head as I was putting on
my new gorgeous black dress that Sara had also bought me, thinking of ways to get
out of this tonight. But I couldn’t muster the energy to come up with a good
excuse. And I definitely didn’t have the strength to tell her the truth about
what was going on between Avery and me.

I let my hands fall over my hips
and readjusted my dress in hoping that I looked as good as Sara.
I liked
this dress.
It was cinched tight at the waist and just covered my bottom by
an inch. The shoulders of the dress set just off my shoulders and hugged my
breasts tightly so I opted not to wear a bra. I didn’t bother with stockings,
preferring to show off my tanned legs.

I let my lungs fill and let out
a deep breath slowly hoping tonight I could avoid Avery at all costs. I stepped
to the doorway and let Sara go first. As I stepped in, I was met with applause
and cheering.

“There’s our star quarterback,”
Colt announced.

I cringed knowing Avery had
everything to do with the beauty of this night. I plastered on my fake smile
and glanced around the room. Twinkling white lights draped from the ceiling and
the lights were dim for a more intimate setting. Sienna scooped me up and spun
me around.

“You were so awesome. Thank you
for not letting Caitlyn win this one. She is seething. You’ve burned her twice
now.”
Great, just what I needed. I’ll be sure not to stumble out on the lawn
to pee tonight. Just in case she’s lurking in the shadows waiting to get me
back.

Our small team of sexy ladies,
with Colt and Sean, moved to the bar beside the back windows. I tried to keep
my eyes to the floor as I searched for Avery. I didn’t want him to think I was
looking for him.
Because I wasn’t
. I just wanted to make sure I kept my
distance.

Sara handed me a glass of
champagne and I sipped on it slowly, trying hard not to have a repeat of my
birthday or the masquerade party. Sara and Colt were reenacting the powder puff
game with Sean, Sienna, Tyler, and Maya and I let myself step back against the
bar, letting my gaze drift out to the forest that lay behind the great lodge.
Fireflies flitted around the back lawn like tiny little explosions of canary-colored
light. It was soothing as a gentle breeze wafted through my hair with the
remnants of the storm system that had moved through earlier today.

The night was humid and I could
feel my skin beginning to swelter when the breeze died down. I let my thoughts
reflect on the past couple of weeks of camp. Never in my best fantasies could I
have come up with this lifestyle.

I let my shoulders relax
realizing how comfortable I was growing in all my endeavors. I liked my new
friends. I liked the closeness that camp brought us. My sexuality was peaking.
I had learned so much about myself in such a short time and I had only one
person to thank. My eyes registered movement next to me. I glanced up to see
Avery stepping toward me.
Damn, he was gorgeous.

“To you, beautiful Aria,” he
said clinking his glass with mine. I smiled softly in awe of him. I knew then
that I could never truly hate this man. I was still under his spell.

“Thank you.” I tried to ignore
the sparkle in his eyes. I sipped my champagne, keeping my eyes locked onto
his. “Avery, I’m sorry about the mean things I said earlier,” I rushed to say.

“I deserved that. It’s
forgotten, Aria,” he said, holding my gaze. “Will you walk with me?”

I looked to my team to see their
backs were to us. I nodded shyly and stepped in front of him. We walked the
length of the room in silence and up a couple of steps to his private deck. I
could feel the chilled glass in the palm of my hand. Crickets sang out in
harmony throughout the night. I wobbled in my heels and Avery reached out to
steady me.

“Thanks.” He guided me to the
railing and I took in the beauty of this night. His hand that still rested on
me brushed up my arm and I turned to look up at him. “Please don’t. I’m trying
my hardest not to run from you, all of this, how you make me feel. When you
touch me, my guard that I’ve worked so hard to put in place, shatters.”

His eyes broadened. “Your
honesty is overwhelming at times. But I like it. Don’t ever lose that,” he said
softly lowering his hand. My eyes drifted to his half-unbuttoned soft grey
dress shirt and I found myself tracing the curves of his muscular chest below.

“I won’t.” I swallowed dryly
then took another sip of my champagne. “What do you want from me, Avery?”

“I wanted to apologize. I’m
sorry for the night of the masquerade ball. I never wanted you to get hurt. I
don’t get emotionally involved with my guests. I crossed a line with you that I
never intended to cross.”

“I get it. Really I do. Are we
done here? I want to get back to the party.”

Avery let his head fall back,
closed his eyes and breathed deeply, taking in the sounds of the night. He
exhaled then opened his eyes and looked to me again. I could see something he
was trying to shield me from.

“Was the song you sang at my
birthday party about me?” I asked.

“Yes…it was.”

“Why?” I said more forcefully
than I intended. His eyes shifted back and forth searching mine for something.
I could tell he was struggling with opening up to me.

“Avery, Aria, appetizers are
being served,” Pierce said, breaking through our private moment. Avery stepped
away looking defeated.

“Be right there, Pierce. Give us
a minute,” he said not taking his eyes off me. I could see Peirce studying us
for a moment then he turned and walked away. I tried to fight the tears that were
pooling up in my eyes but this was all too much.

“Just tell me why you’re
fighting this. Us,” I whispered as a tear fell down my cheek to my lips. He
reached up and wiped it away. All I could do was stare up into his eyes waiting
for his answer. I could see the fear in his eyes like a child afraid of the
darkness that surrounded him knowing that at any moment the monster in the closest
was going to step out.

He ran his hand through his hair
in frustration. Laughter rang out as the noise of the party on the deck below
seemed to break our private moment.

“I can’t be that guy for you, Aria.
I’m sorry, I really am.”

I watched the man I was falling
in love with run away from me, again. It proved once and for all to my heart
that he didn’t love me.
There was never any room for you in his world,
my wicked subconscious reminded me.

Anger boiled inside of me.
Fuck
this!
I hated how Avery made me weak. I was not a weak person. I was a
strong, independent woman for Christ’s sake
. But if I was so independent,
then why did I care so much?

I pushed away the snide mental
comment that I could always count on from my subconscious, straightened my
shoulders, and made my way back toward the bar. I needed a drink. And you can
be damned sure it won’t have Avery’s last name on the bottle.
I think I’ll
switch over to Jack Daniels tonight. He seemed friendly enough.

DAY THIRTEEN:

SATURDAY NIGHT

NAUGHTY FAIRY TALES
THEME PARTY

T
he
next afternoon, after nursing yet another hangover, we were in our cabin
getting ready for the Naughty Fairy Tales theme party. I didn’t want to think
of Avery anymore. I promised myself I would concentrate on a man that wanted me
instead of one that ran away. I was done with Avery Jameson. There were forty
Cubs in this camp and I could be with any of them.
If I really wanted to.

Sara met my eyes in the mirror
and I quickly diverted them away and smoothed out my dress and petticoat. At
tonight’s party, I would be naughty Cinderella. I had on a brocade corset dress
with a crown brooch and embroidered accents, a venise lace trimmed underskirt
with a white tulle petticoat and a satin bustle bow. The black choker was a
contrast to the white elbow length gloves and a satin light blue headband with
white trim accents. Lastly, I wore white thigh highs with bows. The length of
it hardly constituted it as a dress.

“Jello wrestling and the final
qualifying rounds of the pole dancing are tonight. Can’t wait for Jello
wrestling,” Sara squealed.

“Jello wrestling?” I quirked my
eyebrow questionably at her. Sara threw her head back and laughed.

“Read the fucking camp manual
already,” Sara urged.

“No. I refuse to read or study.
I’m on break until the end of August.” We both laughed.

“Anyways,” she said, unplugging
the curling iron and setting it down on the dresser. “I softened the look of
your bangs by curling them a bit so they tucked under.” I looked to see that
Sara pulled my hair up onto the top of my head and curled the ends. I smiled
widely at her. “You’re ready Cinderella. Now scoot, so I can get ready.”

“What are you going as?” I asked
standing up from my chair.

“Princess Jasmine. I thought it
would be fitting,” she grinned.

“Cute,” I said. I looked to my
best friend and I could see how much she glowed. This place really made her
happy. She was in her natural element. I went to put on my black platform shoes
and couldn’t help but wonder why I still felt like a fish out of water.

As Sara and I entered the Main
Lodge, I noticed seven Cinderella’s and three other Princess Jasmine’s but for
the most part everyone kept a nice mix of fairy tale characters.

The music helped to take away
some of my stress. Everything was doused in silver and gold decor. Avery even
had a large chandelier installed in the center of the room. The only thing
missing was my Prince Charming.

“Tonight is the second night of
the qualifying rounds for the pole dancing contest and for a little more fun,
tonight’s the first qualifying round of Kitten Jello wrestling,” Avery
announced.

I looked at the green-eyed
heartless man and his eyes found mine through the sea of fantasy characters.

“The Winner of tonight’s Jello
wrestling event gets a once in a lifetime bungee jumping trip with me as your
host,” Avery hummed.

I saw Tara’s husband elbow her
like he wanted her to win the prize. But she quickly shook him off.
That a
girl.

Avery smiled that slow seductive smile at me and gave me that
heated look that almost melted my panties right off.
Seriously?



It took everything in me to move
my feet. I had to keep my distance from him. He was like an emotional vampire
calling out to me but I wasn’t going to enter a Jello contest with the prize
being an evening spent with him
. No fucking way am I putting myself through
that.



I finally turned my back to him
and found Kim, the bartender. She smiled politely to me and nodded, knowing
that I always ordered the same thing.

As I waited for my shot, Caitlyn
arrived with Lucy and Becca flanking her.
The wonder triplets,
I thought
to myself
.

Caitlyn wore a Belle of the Ball
costume. It was a satin yellow corset dress with off-the-shoulder sleeves and a
small red rose applique. Her red chunky high heels accented the red petticoat.

Lucy wore a divine little red
riding hood costume. Her mini dress was trimmed in black ribbon and lace-up
bodice and a black petticoat. It had see through puff sleeves and an attached
hood and she accented it with black gloves and black fishnet stockings.

Becca wore a pink Sleeping
Beauty costume with off the-shoulder sleeves, lace-up front, pale pink under
skirt with silver trim detail and white petticoat. A long pink over skirt
draped down behind her. She even wore the matching crown headpiece. Amber ran
up to them squealing in delight.

“You guys look awesome,” Amber
said. Amber wore a purple fairy costume with a shimmer baby-doll dress with
luminescent fiber optic lights. At her waist was a silver rope belt. She had
her hair curled and accented with a headband. She even had the white glittery
wings and a light-up wand.

“I know. Right,” Caitlyn said in
her scratchy voice. I could tell she was throwing looks of steely contempt my
way.

Nate appeared out of nowhere
wrapping his arms around Caitlyn’s waist and pulled her against him. She smiled
like they shared a secret and I suddenly felt more determined to get drunk.

I downed my double then nodded
for her to pour me another. She winked at me and handed me another shot and a
beer. I downed my second double and smiled widely to her.
Thank you, Kim.

I carried the beer with me to
our table. The alcohol hit me hard. I needed to eat. My eyes fell to Avery
sitting at our table. He was talking to Travis about the Jello wrestling match
and I did everything I could to avoid his gaze. I nervously sipped my beer.

Sara and Sienna were talking
fashion. Sienna wore an evil queen costume. It was a black and purple mini
dress and it had a black chocker. She even wore the crown.

Maya was Snow White. She wore a
dark blue stretch velvet knit dress with red satin ribbon and a lace up front.
Maya was laughing at something Sean whispered in her ear.

Colt sat next to me and handed
me another beer. I thanked him. I took the last gulp of my first beer as Colt
joined in the conversation with Avery and Travis.

Pierce was letting an
instructor, Meredith, lick a dollop of whipped cream from his finger.

As we ate dinner, I couldn’t
help but let my foggy thoughts drift to Avery as he sat across from me. I
hadn’t thanked him for sending me the bouquet of wild orchids. I couldn’t.
Why
did he send them anyway?
He got what he wanted from me already. Frankly,
the man confused the hell out of me.

I found myself staring at
Avery’s lips as Colt brushed his elbow against my arm. Avery was looking right
at me with a knowing smirk like he knew what I was thinking.
Damn it.

“Aria, your opponent is Lucy?”
Colt asked.

I blinked over at him. “For
what?”
I slurred that a bit.

“You haven’t heard a word I just
said have you? No more shots for you tonight,” he grumbled. “You’re in
tonight’s first tier. You’re taking on Lucy in the first round. If you win, you
proceed to tonight’s second round and wrestle the winner of Kennedy and Tara.
Sara, you’re in next week’s tier, wrestling Amber. The winners of these tiers
advance to wrestle in the final rounds at the camp Olympics. You did say you
wanted to win that trip to Hawaii didn’t you?”

I totally spaced out again. Avery
had licked his lips and that was all I could concentrate on.
Wait, so I have
to wrestle in Jello?

Colt cleared his throat. I
nervously glanced around the table. I was grateful that everyone was looking at
Colt and not at me drooling over Avery. I scolded myself. I needed to move on
from Avery. He made it plain and simple when he said that he didn’t want me.

“Don’t make me do this. Oh,
please. No, I’m too fucked up,” I begged.

“Hey, if you win you may get a
shot to kick Caitlyn’s ass, she was raised wrestling in Jello,” Sara jumped in.

“How many rounds are there
tonight?” I asked.

Colt rolled his eyes at me and
set a glass of water in front of me.

“Here, drink this. I need you to
sober up. The match starts just after the pole dancing qualifying rounds.”

I mentally shook myself. It
wasn’t the alcohol. I just didn’t want another evening with Avery but I
couldn’t tell him that. Nobody knew that I let Avery have his way with me and I
wasn’t going to start trouble between Colt and his friend. I knew Sara and Colt
would protect me. They always did. Sara and Colt both warned me not to get
involved with Avery. But here I was involved and regretting that decision.

“Two rounds, Aria. We have three
pools set up. It should go fairly quickly. Got it?”

“Yep,” I chirped. “Wait. When
does it start?”

Colt sighed and looked to Sara.
“I got this.” Sara stood and pulled me up to the bar. She ordered me an energy
drink and an ice water. Sara quickly made me down them both, then we made our
way back to the table.

The DJ called the judges to the
center table and I was relieved when Avery left our table. I was better already
since I didn’t have Avery’s eyes distracting my every thought.

The second round pole-dancing
contest quickly got underway and I was still buzzed, even after dinner. I kept
myself busy with conversation with Sara, and Sienna’s boyfriend Sean.

In my haze, I looked at Sean. He
was wearing a black button up dress shirt that was unbuttoned twice at the
collar, revealing his chest, and black dress pants. I could see his eyes shift
to me and his lips curved into a crooked smile. These theme parties were
definitely about the women. The men simply dressed up either in suits or
collared shirts and dress pants that usually favored black.

“You like what you see, Aria?”
Sean’s sultry voice said.

“Yes,” I stated confidently.

“Me too, baby,” he winked and
deep down in my groin I felt a burning desire.

“I think we have Jameson to
thank for bringing Aria out of her shell,” Sara winked to me.

“What?” I barked. My eyes lit
up.
Did they know about Avery and me?

“The whiskey, Aria,” Sara
replied.
Oh.
I felt my face heat up. Sara wore a light blue Princess
Jasmine costume with a blue short-sleeved mesh top accented with a gold pattern
and blue waist see through harem trousers to reveal blue lace panties. The hat
with a veil complimented it.

I looked around the room at all
the sexy fairy tale costumes. A sexy wolf costume caught my eye and I grinned
when I realized it was Tara as she waved to me and strutted to the DJ booth to
request her song.

Tara was the last to finish up
the pole dancing contest and the crowd cheered and whistled. She had some sexy
moves. She really had blossomed here at camp. Avery announced the three winners
and I smiled when he announced Tara as one of the winners.

Avery called the participants
for Jello wrestling over to the side. Three large pools were set up on the side
of the ballroom. They were circular but a square boxing ring type enclosure
encased each pool with the main ring for the last bout featured in the center.
The earlier qualifying rounds would be in the smaller pools on either side of
it. Small bleachers were set up on the far side of the pools nearest the wall
and tables lined the other side where I was sitting. The lights all danced to
the beat of the music with lasers banding about rhythms on the floors and walls.
It was sensory overload.

Begrudgingly, I stepped out of
my high heels and stockings and waited for Colt and Lucy to make their way to
ringside. Lucy unzipped her revealing little red riding hood costume and took
off her black fishnet stockings. Her body was gorgeous.

The spectators moved closer to
us and idle chatter filled the crowd. My anxiety spiked high as most of the
camp had spilled into the ballroom of the Lodge for these events. Music poured
out from the overhead sound system.

“Strip,” Colt said, coming up
beside me. I glared at him. He chuckled. “Take off your costume. You can leave
your bra and underwear on. But you can’t do this fully clothed.”

I nodded and shimmied out of my
very short dress.

“Good girl,” Colt said, not
trying to hide his smile as he stepped to the side of the wrestling pools to
announce the rules of the competition.

I kept my eyes to the ground. I
didn’t want to know if anyone was looking at me.

“Hello, ladies. The rules for
this event are as follows: Remember to be nice or be disqualified. No head
butting, hair pulling, biting, kneeing, kicking, gouging, or choking. If you
slide out it’s an automatic point for the other person. Referees, as always,
have the final say. Pin your opponent and you win the round. The winner moves
on to the second round. Be safe, be silly, and have fun. Got it?” Colt asked,
looking at all four of us.

“Ready, Kittens?” Colt said.
Damn,
this was really happening.
I really didn’t want to win this contest. I
didn’t want to be in the contest in the first place. But Colt didn’t leave me
much choice. I would do anything for him, all he had to do was ask. We all
nodded.

“On my count, three, two, one,
go,” Colt shouted.

Colt urged Lucy and me forward.
We slipped our feet into the cold lime-green Jello and I only had a second to
get used to it. It was so squishy.

Lucy didn’t hesitate. She nailed
me with a good clothesline to the chest. I slipped and landed on my back in the
Jello. I rose up at my waist and ran my hand over my face trying to clear my
vision and then rolled onto my knees just as Lucy fell toward me.
Instinctively, I rolled onto my side away from her and I heard the crowd hiss
as Lucy glided hard into the side of the kiddie pool with her body halfway out.