Page 28 of The Perfect Deal
“Didn’t the basketball tournament go great?” Karrie asked. “I thought the kids had so much fun. They’re so good at throwing the basketball into the basket. Some of them were so good at bouncing the ball, too.”
As an athlete, listening to her talk about basketball in such simplistic terms made me want to push her into the pool and run away. Instead, I said, “Yes, the kids did great.”
I turned and looked at Liberty as she brushed her hair off her shoulder and shifted uncomfortably. I had a feeling she was about to get up and walk away from me, and I wouldn’t be able to handle that. I wanted to keep her right here with me for as long as possible, even though the bathing suit she was wearing reminded me of the dream I had the night before.
Her hand brushed against mine as she adjusted on the deck of the pool. The electricity between us sizzled, and I found myself catching my breath. Visions from my dream the night before came back to me. I could almost feel her skin on mine, her thighs gripping my hips as I slid deep inside of her.
“Josh?” Karrie said, sounding concerned. “Are you okay? You’re turning a little red.”
“I’m fine.” Even though I didn’t want to, I got up, abandoning Liberty the same way I had a hundred times over the years. “I just need to go get a drink.” With one more glance at Liberty, giving her an apologetic smile, I headed to the far end of the pool where there was a snack shack. Mostly, the staff members working there were busy handing out ice cream to the kids, but they had drinks as well. Unfortunately, none of them were the adult kind. I could really use a beer right about now. But I didn’t allow any kind of alcohol on the camp premises. There was too much risk of the kids getting a hold of it, and while most of them were good kids who would never even consider drinking before they turned twenty-one, I couldn’t risk it.
“How are you doing, boss?” Sam asked from behind the counter. “Need an ice cream sandwich?”
“No, just a lemonade, please,” I said, trying not to sigh.
“Everything okay?” Sam asked as one of the other staff members turned around to make my drink.
“Yeah, everything is fine. The kids seem to be having fun.” It was too bad that not all the kids could be here, but the pool wasn’t really big enough for that, so we had to break the kids up into groups in order for them to enjoy the pool. But with any luck, all of the cabins would win a tournament so that they got to participate in the pool party before camp was over. That was my hope anyway.
With my lemonade in hand, I turned to find a new place to hang out, hoping I could get away from Karrie but still find a way to talk to Liberty. Seeing that Liberty was in the pool now with some of the girls, I decided to find an open chair and sit for a few moments. Karrie was also talking to the girls, but more in a scolding way than just interacting with them the way that Liberty was.
Sinking down on the plastic chair, I took a deep breath and a sip of my drink. The tartness mixed with the sweetness perked me up a little. My eyes roamed over the kids in the pool. Most of them were laughing and having fun. A few looked like they were hanging out on the fringes, observing, kind of like I was right now. There wasn’t necessarily anything wrong with that. One thing I always did at camp was try to make sure everyone had a friend so everyone felt included. I’d always been popular and had a lot of friends, but I’d also been taught at a young age to watch for the kids who were not in that situation and to seek them out and make sure they had someone to eat lunch with.
Liberty was playing Marco Polo with the girls, which made me smile. She had a way of blending right in and making friends with everyone. The kids loved her right from the beginning, and I couldn’t blame them. Seeing her glide around the pool in her bathing suit left me breathless. Once again, visions from the dream I’d had came back to me. Liberty was by far the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. I could hardly keep my eyes off her.
I was jolted out of my thoughts by the sound of Karrie’s voice as she yelled, “No roughhousing!” at a couple of boys who were splashing one another. Immediately, the kids stopped and swam away to the other end of the pool away from her.
Sighing, I watched Karrie walk over to a group of coaches and join in their conversation. I hoped she had lost track of me. The last thing I wanted was for her to follow me around the pool. She’d been acting a little weird lately, and I had no idea why. Most of the time at work, we only talked about what was happening at the sports complex. I didn’t know that much about her outside of the fact that she was highly organized and meticulous. She also didn’t know much about sports, I realized. She’d reminded me of that tonight.
Karrie wasn’t the sort of person I ever would’ve hired if I’d been given a choice. But my father had talked me into it as a favor to a friend, so here she was. In some ways, she was a good hire because she thought differently than everyone else. Sometimes, her questions helped the rest of us to see our own faulty thinking. However, most of the time, she just didn’t have any clue what was happening, and it was up to the rest of us to explain it to her—or ignore her as I had earlier.
My focus shifted back to Liberty. She was gliding through the water with some of the girls from her cabin now, and they tried to avoid whoever it was playing the part of Marco. Was that how it went? I hadn’t played that game in ages. Maybe in some ways, I was a bit like Karrie myself. I chuckled, shaking my head. No, this wasn’t a sport.
Liberty was wearing a one-piece, modest bathing suit, but that didn’t prevent me from noticing how great her body looked. Dream aside, I’d seen her in a bikini before. When we were younger, she used to wear them to pool parties in the neighborhood. It had been so difficult for me then to see her walking around in something so skimpy and just pretend like I didn’t notice, like I was practically her brother, like Landon.
When we’d gone to Hawaii last year so that I could help her brother and father open a new office there, I’d had the chance to steal her away from Landon’s watchful eye for a bit. He’d been so distracted by Poppy in a bathing suit on the beach, he’d momentarily forgotten that he’d brought along his sister and his best friend. Damn, that had been quite the trip. If Mr. Johnson hadn’t ruined it all at dinner shortly after our excursion to the beach, who knew what might’ve happened? Landon and Poppy might’ve been so focused on one another, I might’ve had the chance to confirm for Liberty what we both already knew.
God, I wanted her so fucking bad.
I couldn’t keep thinking this way. Not at camp. Not at all. Landon was my best friend. If I betrayed his trust, what kind of a person would that make me? It was bad enough that I’d kissed her at the bonfire. Now, I was thinking of doing other things, seductive things, things that would cross all the lines I’d promised to maintain with her older brother. How could I ever do that in good conscience?
I couldn’t. I had to find a way to just step back from the situation and leave Liberty be. By this point in my life, that seemed impossible. I wanted her more than anything, yet, I was constantly telling myself it couldn’t happen.
Coach Sam walked out of the snack shack and over to the side of the pool, a whistle between his lips. A shrill shriek filled the air as he blew through the device. “All right, kiddos. It’s time to get out and go to your cabins. Great job on the court today. We’ll see you all tomorrow. Get some rest.”
Ordinarily, I’d stick around and make sure that everyone got back to their rooms safely. I’d do fist bumps and high-fives, congratulating the kids on their stellar performances again, and I’d make sure the staff had everything taken care of at the pool.
Not tonight. The last thing I wanted was to sit here and watch Liberty innocently gather up her girls and walk back to their cabin with them, walking away from me yet again, through no fault of her own.
Getting up from my chair, I grabbed a towel and tossed the rest of my lemonade into the trash before I bolted for the nearest gate, heading back to my cabin at a quick pace. Behind me, I heard Karrie’s voice distinctly as she shouted at her girls to make a line. Everyone else trusted the kids to walk in a group to their cabin, but Karrie wanted them in a line like elementary students? I shook my head, wondering if she was going to make Liberty line up, too.
Once I was about halfway to my cabin, I slowed down a little. I’d put a great deal of distance between myself and the students. My cabin was off by itself, which was one of the reasons why it was my cabin and not still a place the kids could sleep. We had remodeled it, but there were still a few bunk beds in an adjoining room in case we ever needed the overflow. I hoped that never happened because I really liked sleeping in there without the distraction of students and other adults. It was the only time I had to myself to decompress and plan. While some folks might say it wasn’t fair for me to have my own room, I needed it. Camp was a lot of pressure for me. Being in charge of everyone’s safety and making sure they had fun didn’t come without consequences.
“Hey, where are you running off to?” a voice said not far behind me. I recognized it immediately, and my breath caught in my throat as I slowly turned around.
I was almost to my cabin door. Maybe I could’ve pretended not to hear and dart inside, but I didn’t. Instead, I slowly turned to face her.
Moonlight caught the blonde streaks in Liberty’s hair as she inched closer to me, her skin still wet from the pool. She hadn’t bothered to grab a towel like me, and her body looked amazing. I wanted to run to her, to take her in my arms, and carry her inside my private cabin to finally show her exactly how much I cared for her.