Dead of Summer

I’m going to have to deal with this. With him. After my shower, I should find him before he tears the camp apart looking for me. Maybe, if I prove that I’m more serious than he thought I was last night, I can offset some of whatever he wants from me.

Or maybe he was bluffing the whole time.

Yeah right, a voice scoffs in my brain, and I can’t help the rueful, humorless smirk that pulls at my lips under the hot spray. There’s no way he wasn’t telling the truth about his plans or what he’d wanted to do. Not with the ax, the cruelty, and?—

My eyes slam shut and I press my face against the cool tile under the shower head, letting the water cascade over my back. I have a while. Thirty minutes before the water even starts to cool, and since the day was such a busy one, I’m sure my girls are dead asleep.

Or summoning the devil in my absence.

The water feels too good on my back for me to move, and the darkness behind my eyelids is safer than any other part of Camp Crestview tonight, so I don’t open my eyes. My hands flex, uncurling from my shoulders as I press my fingers against the cold tile as well, hoping to give myself an excuse to stop cracking my knuckles and making the ache building there worse.

I should hurry. That thought filters through my head even over the mind-numbingly perfect heat of the water on my skin. I have to find Kayde, to make sure he isn’t hurting anyone. To see?—

The gasp that leaves my throat is closer to a scream than not when fingers curl over my shoulders, digging into my knotted muscles with friendly intent.

“Shhh.” A jaw brushes mine, the sound so close to my skin that I feel it sink into me. “Don’t be so loud, sweetheart.” The fingers tighten, until they’re just on the okay side of painful.

Not that it makes this any better.

My eyes fly open so I can stare at the tile. Though as Kayde pulls back, I jerk my head to the side, gaze wide as I meet his light brown eyes that stare at me from under long, enviable lashes.

There’s no trace of Lassie in him tonight, however. No, this is the Kayde from the woods. Not the one from the pool the first day I’d met him.

“What are you—?” I’m too shocked to fight him as he lightly urges me to turn, and only belatedly do I remember I’m fucking naked in the shower. My arms move quickly, wrapping around my chest as I press my thighs together tightly to hide as much as I can from him.

Not that he seems to share the same sentiment. Kayde stands in the shower completely nude, and I force my eyes to stay on his face instead of allowing them to wander like the macabre fascination in my gut whispers for me to do.

“What am I doing here?” His brows raise by increments, incredulous. “Did you forget about our deal? Did Darcy give you memory loss with that tackle during Capture the Flag?” He reaches out, his fingers smoothing over my cheek where I know I still have the barest hint of an abrasion from today’s games.

“I thought—I just—” No. This won’t work. He steps closer until he’s half under the spray, a look of amusement in his darkening gaze. He enjoys my fear too much for me to let this continue.

Sucking in a breath, I curl my fingers against my palms until my nails bite into my skin. The pain is quick and sharp, and it allows me to take one more breath to ground myself before I lift my chin and let my shoulders fall.

“I didn’t expect for you to be so impatient that you had to follow me into the women’s showers,” I say at last, my tone as cold as I can manage.

If I’d expected, or hoped, for my words to shock him or humiliate him, that flies out the window at the quick grin pulling at his mouth. He reaches out once more, fingers splaying around the base of my neck and pushing me until my back hits the tile.

“You know, Summer. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you’re not a fan of me.” His tone is deceptively mild and strangely friendly, but I don’t give him an answer. “I’d think you’re mad at me, instead of looking forward to our little game.”

“What can I say?” I shrug, my arms still crossed over my chest. “I’m all gamed out after today. I’ve had enough of being on my knees in the dirt.”

“What a pity,” Kayde is quick to respond, like he wants to punish me for my words. “Because I haven’t gotten my fill of seeing you there.”

His words prompt me into inhaling sharply, and I wish I could meld with the wall, or pry off a piece of it to smack him with.

“What do you want?” It’s such a stupid question, but I can’t stop myself from asking it anyway. No matter how dumb it feels on my lips, especially when dark amusement is reflected in his gaze.

“You know what I want. What you told me you’d give me,” Kayde replies, voice low in his chest. “We made a deal, and I’ve come to collect, sweetheart. It’s not really that complicated.” He doesn’t say it sweetly, or playfully. His words are cruel and condescending; like I really am an idiot asking stupid as fuck questions.

“Yeah, but I didn’t quite expect it in the shower,” I hiss back, hoping I don’t sound nearly as terrified as I feel.

He could kill me. That thought bounces around in my skull as he looks me over thoughtfully; not even trying to hide that he’s not looking at my face. Unlike me, he apparently doesn’t care about decency or politeness.

Though unlike me, he knew he wasn’t alone when he stripped out of his clothes and stepped into the shower behind me.

“You should expect me everywhere, Summer.” His hand moves, coming up to grip my chin lightly. “Anywhere you are is somewhere I’d love to play with you. The shower, your cabin, the woods…” He shrugs, his blond hair straight and plastered to his shoulders as he stares down at me. “I’m sure we could think of lots of fun places to play our game.”

More than anything, I want to push him away from me. I hate the way his fingers feel gripping my chin. I hate the simmering of his warm brown gaze as he stares at me like there’s nowhere else he’d rather be. “I’ve been waiting for this,” he murmurs, dragging my attention back to his face from wherever my fantasies of killing him had taken me.