Stroke Of Fear (16 page)

  
Three more knocks. “Jesus,” Tanner spits out.

   “What?” I nearly yell.

   Cassie laughs. “They insist you come out now. Sorry, I even tried to bribe them. They’re not budging.”
   Closing my eyes, I press my cheek against Tanner’s chest. “I’m sorry.”

   He groans. “
Just wait a second.” He closes his eyes.

   “What are you doing?”

   “Thinking about dead puppies.”

    “What? Why?”

   He glares at me and then I remember. I laugh, loudly. “I guess there are advantages about being a girl.” I jump down from the counter and grab my towel. “Let’s get this over with.”

   Jake pac
es the floor, and Mrs. Jones is standing next to the door. They both look up and exhale at the same time. “What happened?” Jake says, walking toward me. I’m still in my towel since I didn’t bring any clothes in with me. His mouth drops open a tad bit, but he stops. I’m guessing Tanner’s walked out behind me.

  
Heat swarms my body.
How fucking embarrassing.
“Oh, I just had…a personal problem.” I should have thought this out before.

   Mrs. Jones cocks a brow and brushes her gray hair from her eyes. “Well, Jake called me and told me he thought he’d heard you crying
—”

   “Wait, why was Jake creepin’ around her cabin?” Tanner asks.

   “Oh, don’t even fucking go there with me, country. I had her first. She’s mine.”

   Tanner snorts and clenches his fists. “The hell she is.”

   Cassie snickers below her fingernail and moves her eyebrows up and down at me.

   “Boys, stop the nonsense.” Mrs. Jones slams her hands down on her hips. “Are you okay, Aubrey?”

   I nod. “Cramps. I have really bad cramps.”

   She frowns and gives Jake the evil eye. “Well, take some medicine and put a heating pad on
it. You’ll be fine in the morning. As for you two”—she looks back and forth between Tanner and Jake—“get to your cabins and stay there.” She gives us a stern look and leaves without a glance back.

   “I’m sorry, Aubrey. I heard you crying and I knew you wouldn’t talk to me
—”

   “It’s okay, Jake. Thanks.”

   He doesn’t look like he wants to leave. He’s pressing the toe of his shoe onto a smudge on our floor. “Did you get my flowers?”
   Wait, what?
“You sent those?” I glance over at Tanner. His eyes are narrowed, but I see him sigh a bit.

   Running his hands through his
dark blond hair, he shrugs. “Yeah, who did you think sent them?”

   I give him a half shrug. “I had no idea.”

   No one says anything for a few long, tortuous moments. Cassie fakes a yawn and stretches. “Well, I guess I’m getting ready to go to bed. That means leave.”

  
Jake rolls his eyes and gives Tanner and me another long look. I can tell he wants to say something. But, he doesn’t. He just walks out.

  
Cassie scoffs. “Well, we know that if anyone is lurking around Jake will see ‘em. Since he’s stalking you now? What the hell is going on in his head?”

   “God, I don’t want to know.”

   Tanner wraps his arms around me and rests his head on my shoulder. Turning his face toward my ear, he nibbles on the lobe. “You need to get some rest.”

   As much as I want to protest, I don’t. I’m suddenly so tired. My limbs feel heavy, my eyes trying to shut. “Okay. Will you stay with me?” I whisper.

   He nods against the side of my head. “Always.”

Chapter Thirteen

Tanner

   “Run, Bridget,” I yell, pointing toward the goal at the opposite end. She’s barely running. I groan and kick up a tornado of dust. These kids are so far from caring about this soccer game. My co-counselor is texting on her phone, and she hasn’t looked up the entire game.

   I throw my hands in the air. “No, the other way, Bridget. Jesus Christ
…” I fade out, catching a glimpse of Aubrey walking down the hill. I’ve nearly taken all of her clothes off ten times since the incident in the shower. It’s been two weeks. And we still haven’t had the chance to get any alone time.

   Her
dirty blonde hair is down today, hanging down past her breasts. We’re set for a swim lesson soon. She’s getting a little
too
used to the boat. I’ve told her eighty times I’m not making love to her in the damned boat. Not the first time at least. We need somewhere where I can get to her. Take care of her the way she deserves.

  
I glance back at the field and two of the boys are at each other’s throat, pushing one another. “Holy Hell,” I mumble. “Hey, cut it out or you’ll get sent to the isolation cabin. Now.” Both boys break it apart and they start the game at my whistle. “Kids,” I groan.

   Two soft, slender hands wrap around my waist, and I turn to look down at Aubrey. She has a devilish smile on her mouth. God that mouth, I
’m going to do bad things to that mouth. “What do I have to do to get sent to the isolation cabin, sir?” She pokes her lip out and flutters her eyelashes.

   “I
think I can think of something for you to do, and they’ll start with that mouth.”

   Red flushes underneath her skin, but she keeps her chin up.
“I think we can arrange something like that.”

   “Excuse me,” someone says. My co-counselor, which I can’t remember her
name, is tapping me on the shoulder. “Is practice over? Can they leave?” She’s smacking her gum, her red painted fingernail is pointed toward the kids running around the field.

  
“Yeah. Sure. It’s over.”

   Aubrey laughs. “You’re very easily distracted. You didn’t have to end practice.”

   “Ah, but I did.” I lean down to kiss her neck. “Because we both have the afternoon off. I think we need to go get showers and meet up,” I whisper against her neck. I’ve wanted to take care of her for weeks, and she’s wanted it. Just thinking about it gets my dick hard.
   Her hazel eyes widen. “That sounds like a great idea. What time?”

   “Seven?” I ask.

   She nods and lifts on her toes to kiss my mouth. “I’ll see you then.” She turns and walks back over to Cassie who’s talking to a camper.
Goddamn, I’m going to have to talk to her about her shorts.

***

   At five I’m showered, in my cabin and drying off my hair. Eric promised to stay the fuck away until I gave him an “okay” text. I’m sure he’ll find something to do. I pull on some jeans and a T-shirt and sit on my made bed. Maybe I should mess it up; it’ll be easier to get underneath the covers. Then she’ll think I’m a slob.
Stop acting like a fuckin’ girl. Who cares what your bed looks like? She’s going to be lying in it in two hours.

  
Standing up, I go toward the door. I left my cell phone in my truck.

   The camp is empty when I get out. Most of the kids are in the cafeteria or still in late activities for the day.
The door of my truck squeaks when I open it. My phone is sitting in the cup holder. I have a missed call from my mom and a text from Aubrey. Sliding into the driver’s seat, I reach back to grab a jacket since the wind is picking up. My phone slips from my grip and fumbles to the floor.
Great
. Crawling over the console, I reach under the seat until my fingers curl around something. What the…? I pull it out and sit it in my lap.

   Fuck.
I realize what it is. Amanda’s box. A box full of her things. Her mother even gave me some things from her room. Pictures of us, key chains, C.Ds. A dull ache forms in my chest
. Christ. I deserve this. I deserve to be happy. I know I do. But the ache in my chest tells me otherwise
. She’s dead because I texted her. And I’m out here caring for someone else.

   No, no, no.
Squeezing the box between my hands, I toss it into the backseat and hit the steering wheel with my fists as hard as I fucking can. My fingers burn from the impact, but I’m hurting too bad to care. I reach underneath my seat and grab the second flask hidden in my truck.

   It burns going down my throat, but I chug it anyway. Resting my head against the back of the seat, I close my eyes and clutch the flask in my hand. I don’t know how long I drink, or sit there. I’m mumbling to myself when I feel someone slap the side of my head.

   “What the…?” I slur, nearly falling out of my truck. Austin is standing inside the door, staring down at me.

   “Get up, Tanner. Don’t do this. Don’t.”

   Anger travels up my neck and heats my skin. “I’m an adult. D—don’t tell me what to do.”

   “Right, because you really look like an adult now
, slurring your words and shit. Get a fucking grip, Tanner. You’ve got an amazing girl here. Why would you go and drink yourself to sleep?”
   Shaking my head, I slam my hands down on the steering wheel. “You don’t understand! You don’t! You’ve had everything your entire life. Nothing’s ever been taken away from y-you.”

   He laughs, but it’s humorless. Gripping my shoulders, he pulls me up and pushes me against the opened door of my truck. “I lost you! Mom! I lost my home in Arkansas. Do you think I wanted to move hundreds of miles away from you? No
. Dad made me, I had no choice. Don’t talk to me about being lost. You’re not the only person that’s lost something.”

  
Damn.
Guilt starts to weigh on my chest. I always thought he wanted to move. He never told me any different. Shutting my eyes, I rest my head against the window. “Austin, it’s not the simple.”

   He presses his lips together and throws his
arms in the air. “Whatever.” He turns on his heel and leaves me leaning against my truck, sulking like a fucking woman. I know that I’m being ridiculous, but the pain is too much to ignore. I loved Amanda, but she’s not coming back. It’s something that haunts me. Until I met Aubrey, I hurt all the time. She masks it somehow. It buries itself away from me and I slowly dig it back up.

   I hold back the tears. I remember her lying
in the casket. Her face was swollen; she didn’t look like herself at all. I stroked her hair, her cheek. My mother had to pry me away from her. I went straight to work the next day and worked until my body couldn’t physically work anymore. My dad had to pick my body off the lumberyard floor. It was the only fatherly thing he’s done in years.

  
I slump against my truck. My flask is empty. Austin knocked half of it out when he jerked me up. The stars stare down at me through the crowded trees. It reminds me of Aubrey. She loves to look at the stars.

   “Tanner.”

   Fuck, I can even hear her.

   “Tanner.” Lo
uder this time. Opening one eye, I glance up. Aubrey is standing in front of me, her hands on her slender hips. She’s pissed.
Goddamn it’s sexy.
“Are you real?”

   She scoffs and offer
s me her hand. “Stand up. I want you to stand up when I tell you this.”

   Standing up may be a problem. Using her hand, I
get to my feet until I’m hovering over her. She smells so good. “You should be fucking ashamed of yourself, Tanner.”

   I laugh. “You’re so fuckin’ hot when you’re mad. Come here.” I try to grab her cheek
, but she pushes it away. A frown is curling down on her mouth.

   “Tanner,” she says, it’s almost a plea. “You’re drunk.”

   “No, I-I’m not…” I whisper, draping my arm around her shoulder. She presses her head into the crook of my neck.

   “Get in the truck, Tanner.”

   “Why?”

   “Just get in.” She gets in the driver’s seat
, and I have to say it’s sexy as hell. I slide into the passenger side and lean my head back against the seat. She’s mumbling to herself, but she puts the truck in drive and goes.

   I don’t ask her where we
’re going. My stomach is churning from taking these curves. “Slow down, I’m gonna be sick.”

   “Well, should have thought about that,” she says, turning up the radio. I don’t say anything else, because she’s right. I’m acting like an ass. Like my father. I should know firsthand alcohol doesn’t change anything. It only hides the pain for a little while.

   We make a few turns and then I know where were going. Aubrey pulls into the field and shuts the truck off. Without saying a word to me, she gets out and goes around to the back of my truck. The blankets are still there and I’m glad. I’m sobering up now and I’m suddenly humiliated. Aubrey is lying on her back looking up at the sky when I jump into the bed of my truck.