Unlikely Allies (5 page)

Rick led our group out to the clearing between all the cabins and the mess hal
l. I sat on a bench by the fire
pit with Amy while Mason and Travis unloaded the CPR gear. I was relieved wh
en I saw them pull out the life
like CPR dummy.

At least we wouldn’t have to practice on each other.

“All right, I know all of you with the exception of Kimberly have taken CPR before. The state requires you take a refresher course every two years. I require that you take it every year. Saving a life is no joking matter. We’ve been lucky over the years, but that does not mean an accident can’t happen,” Rick said, placing the dummy on one of the benches. “I’m going to go over the basic moves and then all of you will pair up and go through the maneuvers.”

My stomach dropped at his words. I looked around horrified, expecting everyone to share my dismay, but no one
else seemed surprised. Great, I was the only prude in the whole group.

“Okay, the important thing to remember is that any CPR is better than no CPR. There has always been a required regiment cycle that they felt needed to be mastered, but over the years they’ve also realized that any help is better than nothing. So, the first thing you do when you see someone laying unconscious is to see if they’re breathing. You shake them and ask if they are all right. If you get no response and are not alone
,
you tell the other person to call
9
11, while you tilt the victims head back like this,” he said, using his finger to tilt the head back of the practice dummy. “Once their head is tilted back, you rest your hands on this soft spot right below the ribs. Place your hands over each other
,
linking your fingers like this,” he said, holding
up his linked hands
so we could see. “It’s three pushes down and then a breath. When you’re doing the breath, you pinch the victim’s nose closed like this, and blow into their mouth once, and then do three more pushes on their stomach. You repeat these steps until help arrives. If you run out of steam and are not alone, switch off so that you can provide the best care possible. Does anyone have any questions?” he asked, looking directly at me.

I shook my head.
I was surprised
it was so simple.

“All right.
Mason, why d
on’t we let you give an example?
” Rick asked
.

“Sure thing,” Mason answered, sauntering over to where Rick stood.

“Kimberly, why don’t you come up and help him,” Rick said, jotting something down on his clipboard.

Mason looked at me sardonically as I sat there for a second, trying to figure out the most tactful way to protest, other than to just shout out, “hell no!” I would rather crawl through a pile of broken glass than play doctor with that jerk, but Rick stood there, staring at me with a hopeful look on his face, so I had to suck it up. Besides, when our eyes met, I could see that Mason expected me to chicken out and I definitely wasn’t going to give him that satisfaction.

Every swear word I knew ran
through my head as I reluctantly
stood up. This was no big deal. I’d been kissed before. I could get through this and prove to Mason who was the adult here, and who was the creep.

“Okay, good,” Rick said, thankfully. “
Kimmie
, we'll have you be the victim first so you can see Ma
son go through the motions
, and then you can go next,” Rick added like it was no big deal.

“Fine,” I said, glaring at Mason as he smirked at me.

As I lay there on the rough bench, w
ishing more than ever that I were
back home at the beach, I could feel everyone’s eyes on focused on me.

“It might be hard to pretend you can’t breathe with all the air in your head,” Mason quietly mocked for my ears only as he leaned over me.

I fought the urge to smack him in his nose. I figured it wouldn’t win me any brownie points to bloody Rick’s star pupil’s nose in front of everyone.

“Enjoy the moment
, pretty boy.
I’m sure this is the most action you’ve gotten in a
while,” I added, lacing my voice with sweetness.

His eyes narrowed and I couldn’t help smiling in satisfaction.

Everything changed when he moved into position over me. My smile quickly disappeared and I felt a tingle as my body reacted to being so close to him. I was expecting to be disgusted, considering he blatantly thought so little of me, but I found myself lost in his blue eyes as they focused on mine. I continued my gaze down his face and settled on his lips, anticipating how they would feel on mine. I could hear Rick going over the procedures again, but his voice seemed to trail off in the distance as Mason placed his hands between my ribs. My pulse quickene
d at his touch and my confusion-
laced eyes met his. What was happening here? I hated him and yet, I wanted the heat of his hands to never leave me. Using the techniques Rick had given us, he pushed on my torso three times before moving up to pinch my nose closed. I was surprised at his gentle touch and couldn’t stop my body from tensing as his lips moved closer to mine. I nervously moistened my lips with my tongue and watched as his eyes followed, focusing on my mouth. He was a breath away and I parted my lips, ready to know if his were as soft as they looked. He
paused above my mouth, blowing out slightly before abruptly moving away from my face. Confused, I felt him place his hands on my torso again and push down three more time
s
before lightly pinching my nose and blowing on my face again.

I waited for Rick to criticize him for cheating on the breathing step, but it slowly became obvious to me that I was the only one dumb e
nough to think Mason
was actually going to place his lips on mine.

I wanted to die I was so mortified, and my red face made it obvious. Our eyes met and he flashed me a grin, making it clear he knew what I had been expecting. I mentally kicked myself for dropping my guard and giving him the upper hand like that.

“Very good,” Rick proclaimed, cutting through my mental meltdown.
“Okay, now switch positions and Mason, you be the victim.”

I bolted upright at his words and swung my legs over the side of the bench, anxious to put a little distance between us so I could gather my wits.

“Okay, beach bunny, don’t forget,
it’s
three breaths,” Mason mumbled as he laid down. “Wait, did they teach
you how to count that high in Beach B
unny 101?” he asked.

I glowered down at him, debating if smothering him would be frowned upon in a lifesaving course.

Ignoring his verbal jab, I placed my hands on his rock hard abs, trying to ignore the way he felt beneath my hands.
Now it was payback time. I pushed harder on his stomach than was needed and smiled when he grunted. In quick succession, I did the three pushes on his torso and then moved up for the mock breath. I roughly pinched his nose closed, challenging him to protest. His only response was to grin at me. I completed the motions three more times before turning away in disgust for letting him get so completely under my skin as Rick called our turn to a halt.

“Good job,
Kimmie
,” he said, slinging an arm around my shoulder. “Of course, next time a light pinch will suffic
iently cut off the air
flow,” he
added, indicating Mason’s beat-
red nose.

“Oops, I’ll be more careful next time,” I said, trying to look remorseful.

Rick chuck
led, clearly not buying my half
hearted apology. “Right,” he said, patting my back.

I sauntered back to my seat, not sparing Mason another look. I was still embarrassed that he had made me feel so stupid, but I pasted a smile on my face like nothing had happened.

“Talk about sizzle,” Amy whispered as I sat next to her.

“What?” I asked, trying to act like I didn’t have a clue what she was insinuating.

“Please, I saw the way you two looked at each other. I swear I thought he was going to make a move or something,” she whispered as Rick called up another pair to do their demonstration.

“No, he was trying to make me look like a fool,” I whispered back.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night
,
chica.
To my eyes, he was definitely getting a lay of the land, if you catch my drift.

I shook my head in denial. “I think the mountain air is muddling your brain. The only thing Mason would like to do to me is throw me off a cliff,” I said, ignoring her dubious expression.

Chapter 4

My words appeared to be true as Mason and I continued our verbal battle over the next few days. He criticized everything I did. My first aid skills were “as helpful as a man with his hands tied behind his back and his eyes blindfolded.” He openly mocked me when I stumb
led over starting my first camp
fire in the survival training, and joked that I co
uldn’t tie my own shoes in knot-
tying class. He always seemed to be ready and willing to point out my many flaws. By the time my second full day came to a close, I was rea
dy to either dig a hole and bur
y him in it, or pack my bags and leave. Only the thought of disappointing Rick held me back. Instead, I decided to just ignore him like he wasn’t alive.

I was lying on my bed, contemplating Mason's death when Amy strolled into our cabin.

"Hey, what are you doing
?
"

"Wondering what would cause more damage, a paintbrush in the eye or a putty knife shoved up someone's nostril," I answered, scowling at the ceiling.

"Oh, I'm in. Who are we maiming with art supplies? Or need I ask?"

"I swear, I want to super
glue his mouth closed," I muttered, swinging my legs off the bed and sitting up.

"You know, there are
other
ways to harm someone than with c
rayons and glue sticks," she teased, sitting beside me.

"Ugh, Amy
,
he's driving me nuts!" I said, running my hands through my hair.

"Face it
,
girl, there's some sparks between you and
Greeky
, and they're going to continue to simmer until you do something about it."

"You're a
wack
," I said laughing at her reference to him. "I do like the name
'
Greeky
,'
though."

"Well, you're the one w
ho said he looked like a Greek g
od."

"True, too bad he acts like a slug."

"Well, enough of this CW drama. Let's go," she said, tugging on my hand.

"Fine, but I'm bringing glue with me just in case."

She giggled "Death by glue, I can see the
fuc
... I mean the focking headlines now."

We arrived at the mess hall just in time to see all the guys and Louise carrying stuff out.

"What's going on?" I asked as Amy began to bounce up and down with excitement. "We're having a cookout," she said, heading to the kitchen.

"That's cool," I said, feeling her enthusiasm.

"It is. Hot dogs, marshmallows and ghost stories," she said, with sparkling eyes.

"Really?"
I said, raising my eyebrows doubtfully.

"Trust me
,
chick-a-
roo
. You haven't heard a really scary story until you hear one of your dad
'
s out here in the woods. Last year he told one that scared the
shiznit
out of me for weeks."

"Um, Amy, you know they're just stories, right?" I teased, grabbing a couple bottles of ketchup and mustard off the counter.

"Ha, we'll see what tune you're singing later tonight," she said, sashaying out of the kitchen ahead of me.

The bonfire was already burning brightly by the time Amy and I deposited our condiments on the long folding table.

"Hey,
Kimmie
," Rick said, coming up to join us.

"Hey," I said, smiling at him tentatively. The last few days had been so crazy busy that I really hadn't had much of a chance to be alone with him. I tried not to let it bother me, but I had hoped we'd have more time together.

"How’s all your training going?" he asked, handing me a stick that had been sharpened on the end with a knife.

"Not bad," I said, not sure how much Mason had told him about my downfalls.

"Not bad? I heard you're doing really well," he said,
proudly
tugg
ing on a lock of my hair
.

"Seriously?"
I asked, thinking I was the butt of a joke.