Stroke Of Fear (2 page)

   “Aubrey
? Jesus Christ!” Jake yells.

   I clench my muscles and screw my eyes shut.
Anger is not even the word to express how I’m feeling. I could rear back and punch the jerk’s lights out. If I had the strength I would. “Baby, you okay?”

   “Get the
fuck
away from me.”

Jake freezes, his arms outstretched toward me. His eyebrows are pulled down in the middle and a worry line is creasing his forehead.

   “What’s wrong…? I mean are you okay? I’m so—”

      “You fucking asshat
!” Cassie shouts. She comes to a stop in front of me. Her bright blue eyes glassy. “Look what the hell you did, Jake. She can’t swim.”

   “She can swim
,” Tanner says.

  
What?
A pain burns through my chest.
How does he know?
Cassie is helping me to my feet when I glance around and look at Tanner.

   “Who the
fuck are you?” Jake asks.

   “I
can’t
swim,” I say, taking deep breath. “Obviously.”
   Tanner’s face doesn’t change. His strong jaw moves when he swallows. His chest rises and falls in quick jabs. His T-shirt drips puddles on the ground by his feet. If he wasn’t calling me out, I’d ogle that amazing body. “You can. I saw it in your face. You can, but you’re scared.”

  
How fucking dare he
. The weight on my chest increases. Everyone is staring at me. My bottom lip is pressed between my teeth. My body quakes with shivers. “That’s a lie,” I whisper helplessly.

   Tanner raises an eyebrow. “Is it?”

   “Again. Who the
fuck
are you?” Jake yells, throwing his arms wildly in the air.

   “The person
who saved your girlfriend’s life.”

   
Oh hell.
Jake cranes his neck to the side and pops his jaw. Jake likes to fight. It must be imbedded into his DNA or something. I can’t count how many times he’s started shit at parties on campus. Drunk or not… he loves it.

   “Don’t you start, Jake,”
Cassie says, pointing her finger at his chest. “He just saved her life. And he had to because,
you
pushed her off the ledge when she begged you not to.”

   A loud noise
explodes from Tanner’s chest. It’s almost animalistic. “You fuckin’
pushed
her? What kind of man are you? When a fuckin’ woman asks you to stop, you fuckin’ stop.”

   Jake clenches his fists at his side. “Oh, so you’re going to show me how to treat a lady, partner?” he asks, in his best country accent. “Is that how they do it down south?”

   Tanner’s jaw tightens. A husky laugh comes from deep in his throat. “You’ve got a big fuckin’ mouth. I’m gonna beat your ass before this summer is over.”

   “Oh yeah?” Jake takes a step closer. His
knuckles have turned white at his sides.

  
Damnit
. “Stop. I’ve had enough bullshit for today. Can we tone done the testosterone?”

   We all sit in an awkward silence until both g
uys are cooled off. Cassie groans and wraps an arm around my shoulder. “Well, we’re leaving. We’re already late for the meeting. Plus, it’s going to take us ten minutes to walk up to the damned counselor hall.”

   Jake mumbles something underneath his breath but comes around and swoops me into an infant’s cradle.
Damn it.
“Put me down. I don’t want you touching me.”

   I’m staring up at Jake’s chin
, but he doesn’t answer. A frown curls down from the corner of his mouth. He starts to walk, ignoring my request.

   Giving up, I rest my head against Jake’s shoulder. Not because it’s comforting, but because I’m mentally and physically exhausted. My body won’t move. I’ve tried. My head only want
s to rest against the softness of Jake’s shoulder—a shoulder that used to comfort me. A shoulder that was always open and ready. Now it seems frigid and wrong.

  
The sound of chairs scrapping against tile wakes me. The bright florescent lighting is blinding. “What happened to her?” someone yells. The voice sounds familiar but I can’t place it.

   “She had an accident,” Jake says.

   A snort. “Yeah the fuck right. Whose fault is it, big boy?”

   “Shut the fuck up, country. Or I’ll fuck your face up.”

   “Boys. Language. Put her down in this chair. Hold on.” More scrapping against the tile then I feel the hardness of a medal chair against me.

   My eyes flutter open. Ms. Jones is
crouched down in front of me. Her short, gray hair is chopped off around her ears, and her big brown eyes are full of worry. She’s our supervisor for the summer. “Sweetie, are you okay?”

  
Can I nod?
Shit, it sounds like so much work
. “Yes,” I mumble out. “I just…fell into the water. I can’t swim.”

   She gasps and throws a dirty look over her shoulder. “How did you get out? Do you think you need medical attention?”

   Glancing around, I see all of the camp counselors have made a group around me. I groan.
Great
. My side is hurting badly, but I don’t want any fuss over me. I just want to get the hell out of this drafty building and into my bed. “No, I’m just…tired. It took a lot out of me.”

   A small hand slides against my hair. “Okay. Just relax. We’ll get you back to your cabin after the meeting. It shouldn’t take long. Would you like some water?”

   I give her a soft yes.

   With a glass of water in my hand, Ms. Jones
turns to the rest of the group. “Welcome to our first official camp meeting. Go
Camp Awesome.”
Oh, the agony.
“Today we’re going to go over the activities for the week. I’ll pair you with a different partner for different events. I want all of our counselors to have spent time with each other. I’m passing around the schedules now.”

   The papers go around
, and I nearly snatch mine from the person beside me. I scroll down until I see my section on the calendar for the week.

  
Monday – Cassie Miller and Aubrey Depp – soccer practice.

   Tuesday – Jake Rem and Aubrey Depp – canoeing.

   Wednesday – Tanner Young and Aubrey Depp – hiking.

   Thursday – Heath Long and Aubrey Depp – horseback riding.

   Friday – Cassie Miller and Aubrey Depp – movie night.

   Saturday – Tanner Young and Aubrey Depp – campout.

  
Holy shit.
I glance up over my calendar, my fingers shakily holding the paper below my eyes. Not only do I have to work with Jake, who tossed me over the cliff—literally—but I have to work two days with Tanner. In the woods. Alone. A pair of dark gray eyes flutter toward mine and hold. Warmth starts to build in my belly but I push it away.
Not. Going. To. Happen.

  
Who the hell did I kill in a past life?

Chapter Two

Tanner

 
She’s lying. I can see it in her eyes. That fear on her face is an emotion you can’t hide. Her big, hazel eyes were wide. A sense of acceptance was there, too. I’m not sure why. Maybe she was okay with dying. Well, I wasn’t about to let her die. It’d be a shame for someone that fucking gorgeous to die without having the chance to taste her.

  
Her round, plump lips had been opened with a silent plea. The water was lapping at her, hard. She hung on, but with loose arms. She was accepting her fate. That water would take her life.

   “Dude, wake the fuck up. It’s dinner time.” A pillow slams into my face. I sit up and chunk it back over at Eric. He looks fucking ridiculous in his camp uniform. I guess I do too.
These stupid ass khaki shorts and blue polos. I’d rather wear anything else. Mrs. Jones insisted we go change right after our meeting.
It’s good to get in the hang of things,
she said. Whatever helps her sleep at night.

   “I’m up. Stop throwing shit.”
I grab my cell phone and shove it into my pocket before we head out of the door.

   I
took this job because I need the money. Desperately. My own father had fired me from the lumber yard back in Arkansas. Our deal was if he gave me a job, I’d continue to go to college. Well, turns out, college isn’t for me. So, I quit, causing me to be jobless. I was barely making rent each month, so I moved in with my brother here in California.
Pathetic, I fuckin’ know.
He fits in here. He was never cut out for hard, manual labor. He just wasn’t built for it. Me? I love it. More than
anything
. To know you earned the calluses on your hands from a hard day’s work, there isn’t another feeling like that in the world.

   A humid breeze rakes through the air, sending leaves scattering around our path.
It isn’t Arkansas, but I love the woodsy environment. It’s the only reason I applied here. “This place is fucking hot,” Eric says.

   I roll my eyes. Obviously, Eric is from Cali. He hasn’t seen hot, not until you grow up
below the St. Louise line. “It’s not that bad.”

   Eric scoffs. “What the hell was up with that girl today? She fell off the cliff?”

   “No, her jackass boyfriend pushed her.” I swear I wanted to rip his head off. “Who the fuck pushes a girl off of an edge into water?”

   Eric sno
rts. “What an ass. They come by the dozens around here, though. Where you from anyway?”

   “Arkansas.”

   “Is your sister your cousin?”

   “Shut up.”

   He laughs and slaps my back. “Dude, I’m joking. Calm down. I’m sure the girls will love that accent. Girls love accents.”

   I try not to smile. It’s so damn hard not to like Eric. I t
ried, believe me. I don’t normally
hang out
while I’m working. Eric looks like a kid that would get you into trouble. Yesterday when we first got here I ignored him, but he followed me around talking. The entire day. So, I gave up.

   The cafeteria is like a mess hall. There are rows of tables with benches along each side
, a line for the food like in high school, snack machines and outside sitting. The actual building is wood, like the cabins. It’s nice. Homey almost.

  
We get our food and take a table toward the front of the building. The food isn’t as bad as I had planned. The cheese burger isn’t the worst I’ve had either.

   “Oh, cripple at three o clock.”

   Glancing over my shoulder, I see Aubrey walk through the doors. Regardless that she’s with the asshat, I can’t take my eyes off of her. Her short khaki shorts, are….ridiculously short. Not to mention the tight, blue polo. It’s snug across her chest.
Goddamn.
My dick gets hard thinking about it. I nonchalantly try to adjust myself. Grumbling, I turn to face my food. From what I could tell, she’s pissed off at me because I called her out on her swimming. The girl
can
swim. I saw it in her. Those long, tanned legs look like they were made for swimming—or to wrap around my waist.

   “Girls don’t like when you stare. Well, not if they’re crippled.”

   “She’s not crippled, and I’m not staring.” She was limping on her left side. She hit those rocks fucking hard. I take a huge bite of my burger and swallow it slowly.

   Eric shoves half of his in his face and laughs through the food. “I saw you checking her out
, even when she was half-unconscious yesterday. Do you not have any shame?”

   “Says the guy inhaling his food.”

   He barks out a laugh. “Well, looks like it’s your lucky day.”

   Frowning, I glance over
my shoulder. Aubrey, her friend and Asshat are walking over toward our table. Aubrey barely puts any weight on her left side. It must really be hurting. Her gaze flickers up toward mine, and she stops. She takes her bottom lip between her teeth and pulls
. Fuck, she has no idea how sexy that is.
But her friend is dragging her along. She hasn’t stopped talking since they left the line.

   “What’s up
?” Eric says, tossing his head toward the three of them. Our table squeaks underneath their weight.