Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Piper

I've been with the younger kids all day, helping them carve pumpkins and hike a shorter trail than the other -older- campers. I also spent the day staying as far away from Doyle as I could. He's been even more annoying than he was before he was pulled out of the kitchen by Merrik. I'm eventually going to have to do something about him and tell him I have no interest in him whatsoever. Hopefully, then he'll turn his attention somewhere else.

Usually, men like him don't take conversations like that very well. Maybe…Larry can help me when the time comes. I shoot down the idea as soon as I have it. There is no way I would want to put someone in the middle of this. I'll have to take care of Doyle on my own.

And it's that knowledge that keeps me strung tight all day long. Apparently, I'm not the only one either. Annie seems out of sorts and so does Merrik. Maybe they had a fight. I shouldn't be so happy about that, and I feel shitty about it. Annie is my friend. I'm a horrible person for lusting after her fucking boyfriend in the first place but now, I'm getting happy about them having issues. I'm going to hell.

That feeling might have caused the fight, but I like to think that it was something more altruistic on my side. When I come back to the camp's community area and find Merrik yelling at one of my littles, Ralf who is only eleven, I lose it. I stomp over and step in between the two, pushing Ralf behind me.

"What do you think you are doing?"

He straightens to his full height like that's going to stop me from calling him out on bullying a fucking eleven-year-old.

"I'm correcting a behavior that needs to be curbed before Mr. Andrews gets any older."

"A behavior? He's eleven years old. What behavior could you possibly be ‘correcting'?"

He looks at me like he can't believe I would question him. I refuse to back down and wait for his answer with my arms crossed over my chest. His eyes narrow on me and he runs his eyes up and down my body.

"Ralf Andrews is the oldest boy in his…family. As such he needs to make sure he is in a position to represent that family. Fighting with younger boys is not that way."

I turn to look at Ralf who has his head down and he won't look me in the eye. "Ralf…why would you fight with younger kids?"

He doesn't say anything but shrugs his shoulders. I turn back to Merrik standing in front of me with a self-satisfied smirk on his face. He raises his brows at me when our eyes meet.

"That's still no reason to yell at him."

"It most certainly is. That is the only way sometimes."

His answer just rubs me the wrong way.

"No, it's not!"

"Look, you have no idea what you are talking about where this is concerned. You need to just focus on the younger kids and let me handle Ralf."

Now I am livid.

"Excuse me! I don't know what I'm talking about. I don't know what I'm talking about?" I look around at the other campers and counselors who have all come out to see me and Merrik argue. "I don't see your kids running around here."

"All of these kids are my kids."

His answer takes me back for a minute and a look of shocked horror rushes over my face. I take a step back and then another one. There are over twenty children here. And they're all his? It feels like my breath is trapped in my throat and my heart is at my feet. I feel sick, really sick. He must be able to tell exactly what I am thinking because he backs up and restates.

"That came out wrong. These aren't…I don't have any children of my own. But I do see all of these kids as my own to protect and care for."

Okay…that's…more than a little hot. And I might have had a small orgasm just thinking about how hot it is. But that doesn't give him the right to yell nor tell me I don't know what I am talking about.

"The circumstances are…ones you wouldn't understand."

"I…that's bull sh…," I stop myself before I can say the words that aren't ones I want little ears to hear. "There are better ways. There are always better ways."

He throws his hands up in the air and turns, giving me his back and huffing loud enough that everyone around us can hear. "Sometimes there isn't a better one. Sometimes these kids who are starting to hit puberty are all mixed up and they need someone to…

"Don't say straighten them out. Don't be that dou…," damn it! I really want to tell him exactly what I think of him. Will it get me fired? Probably. And more than likely I won't be asked back in the summer, but some things just can't be looked over. "Don't be that kind of Richard."

It takes him a second to realize I've called him a dick but if the word fits…he reaches out and grabs my upper arm, pulling me in closer to him.

"You…are the most infuriating woman I have ever been around."

"And you're the biggest dick I've ever met." Now that I'm closer to him, I can talk low enough only he will hear me.

He narrows his eyes, and I brace myself for the words I know he is going to say next. I'm fired.

He pulls me even closer to him and my heart starts to beat even harder. Things like the way he smells come floating through my head and I can't find that criticizing voice in my head that normally tells me that this is not the opportune moment for such thoughts. But, God, does he smell really good, damn it.

And then he's moving, and I'm lost as our lips connect and the world flips upside down on me. His mouth moves against mine in a surprisingly soft brush. Yet, it causes me to gasp out and he uses that opportunity to deepen the kiss by slipping his tongue inside. The kiss deepens and I feel his arms come around me to pull me even closer to him.

I need to stop this. Pull back and walk away. The last thing I need to do is kiss him back. But that's exactly what I do. As soon as he teaches me what to do. I follow his lead and brush my tongue over his before fighting down the moan that rises up inside my throat. It is over way too soon and he's setting me back on my feet, stunned silence all around us.

My hand comes out to strike him before my brain starts functioning again. The moment I make contact I immediately regret it. It's muscle memory, damn it. I've been so used to keeping people, especially men, at a distance that I don't even think about it anymore. I just act. I jerk my hand back and stare at him with shock and horror in my eyes and maybe some pleading.

Please don't take it the way it seems. Please don't think I didn't like it. Please… don't do it again. You could break my heart.

He spins on his heels and leaves, and I turn on mine and go the opposite direction. Everyone pretty much makes a path for me so I can go somewhere and try to calm the rushing of my heart and let my kiss-swollen lips return to normal.

Oh my God! I kissed him. He kissed me first to be fair but I ended up kissing him back. I'm shaking at the thought and then other thoughts come rushing through my now-functioning mind. Oh shit! I kissed a guy who has a girlfriend. A girlfriend I am supposed to be friends with. I hide behind one of the cabins and lean my head against the hard wooden side as I try to figure out what I need to do first.

When a twig snaps, my eyes jerk open and my heart starts racing for a whole new reason. And then Doyle comes out of the brush like…well, a creeper.

Great! Just what I need. More bridges to light on fire and leave in my destructive wake. Might as well get it all over if this is the last day I'll be here.