Unlikely Allies

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 bu

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 sufficiently cut off the airflow,” he added, indicating Mason’s beat-red nose.

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

Rick chuckled, clearly not buying my halfhearted 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 stumbled over starting my first campfire in the survival training, and joked that I couldn’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 ready to either dig a hole and bury 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 superglue 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 crayons and glue sticks," she teased, sitting beside me.

"Ugh, Amy, he's driving me nuts!" I said, ru

"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 who said he looked like a Greek god."

"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 tugging on a lock of my hair.

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

"Yeah, really," he said, chuckling.

"Hey, Rick," Travis called. "We need some help with the storage shed."

"I'll be right there," Rick said over his shoulder, looking back apologetically. "Duty calls. Good job, kid," he added before striding away.

"Thanks," I said to his retreating back.

I looked around for Amy and my eyes collided with Mason's. I had the unsettling feeling that I was once again committing some kind of crime in his eyes. Resisting the urge to stick my tongue out at him, I turned away.

"There you are," Amy said, joining me.

"Sorry, I was chatting with my dad. Do we need to lug more stuff out?"

"No, it's all set up. Come on, it's time to get our bonfire on," she said, mischievously dragging me closer to the fire pit where Rick and Louise were handing out hot dogs to roast.

An hour later, I was stuffed and content as I sat on the ground next to Amy with my back leaning against one of the benches. The cool air teased my back while the fire warmed my face. The camp life was definitely growing on me. Of course, the kids hadn't arrived yet, and I'd be most likely eating those thoughts two days from now.