That Steamy Summer

Rina wiped a film of sweat from her forehead with a damp cloth, sucking in a mouthful of stuffy air, her green eyes flickering with annoyance. Destiny, this bratty little girl with skin the color of iced coffee, was holding up her pink Bratz boombox and whining for her mommy to get her an orange Fizzy Pop drink. Her mother, a wiry-looking woman wearing horn-rimmed glasses and purple lipstick, rolled her eyes dramatically as she slapped a crisp five dollar bill on the glass counter. 1

“I’ll get the stupid Fizzy Pop”, she said curtly. “Is that all, Destiny?”2

“And an Oreo ice cream sandwich, please”, Destiny giggled. 3

“That’ll be three dollars and ninety five cents”, Rina said in a brisk, fake-happy voice, giving the stern mother her most dazzling smile. Working at Camp Crowfoot during the summer was, to put it frankly, as entertaining as pulling the wings out of a horsefly. Even though it was a beautiful, serene location by the sparkling ocean, which was blue as the mid-August sky, it was working the brain-numbing shifts at the Snack Corner that made Rina wish she was back at home in Toronto, sunning herself on a lawn chair while flipping through endless stacks of Vogue magazines or those National Geographic ones with the stunning pictures of emaciated African children. Here, in stifling hot Crowfoot Beach, she spent her days at the register, reading out the rules of the camp to teeny boppers and their disapproving mothers, sneaking cigs on her breaks, dozing off at her cabin, or just avoiding Darren Holdon; the sickeningly gorgeous life guard and swimming instructor, a Baywatch hunk with deeply bronzed skin, an amazing body, and way too much time on his hands. Rina hated to admit it, but secretly she had a slight crush on Darren, and whenever he drove off to the lake with friends in his mud-splattered Ford—she imagined herself in a bikini sitting next to him, drinking an ice-cold Mike’s hard lemonade as he played with her hair. She could already smell the pungent aroma of sea salt and gulls, the baked smell of Coppertone, good beer, bonfires, marshmallows, late-night partying, bare skin, soft caresses in the moonlight, and the rotting logs that littered the beach like the corpses of long-lost soldiers. 4

“Can I listen to my music?” The girl was suddenly asking, gesturing to the Bratz boombox. “I’ll keep the volume low, I promise.”5

“Sorry, I’d let you listen to your tunes but I don’t run the place.” Rina lifted her shoulders in apology. “You’ll have to ask Eliza. Actually, she’s on her break right now, but if you come back in fifteen minutes—”6

“It’s alright”, the flustered mother interrupted, pulling her pouting daughter by the elbow outside. “Thanks for your help.”7

“Hey, no problem”, Rina beamed. “Enjoy your stay at Camp Crowfoot!”8

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The sweltering heat progressed into the night, casting a sticky blanket of humidity into the pine-smelling cabins, making the flimsy white bed sheets glue to your skin in that syrupy warmth that prevented sleep. Sweating buckets, Rina tossed and turned in her bed, her face angelic as a child’s in the honey-yellow glow of the moonlight. She felt like she was swimming through a sea of taffy, her arms and legs stuck, dissolving into the liquid warmth that was threatening to engulf her. Rina had had these dreams before; bizarre, panicky dreams that never failed to make her head spin in the cool mornings when the gentle breeze wafted into her room. Once Rina had even dreamt of drowning, her lips pursed into a peaceful smile as she was pulled deeper and deeper into the emerald water, her ears popping under the pressure. In those vivid water dreams she would always wake up gasping, covered in sweat, wide-eyed and grasping the tangled sheets until the thunderous pounding of her heart ceased to a muted rhythm. She stared at her roommate, Chelsea, snoring softly in her bunk. What would she be dreaming about? Boys, romance movies, cotton candy? Chelsea had always been such a gushy girlie-girl, squirming wildly when she saw a mayfly on her leg, talking in that sickly sweet voice if a guy she liked wanted to make conversation. But, unlike Rina, she didn’t have any dreadful memories she kept buried at the back of her mind. Chelsea didn’t dream of drowning in a beautiful green ocean, looking up to the light through listless eyes, hair a cascade of floating jellyfish tendrils. 10

Her alarm buzzed to life. Groggy and annoyed, Rina let her hand fall like a sledgehammer onto the bleeping thing, tossing it onto the floor with a groan. It couldn’t be seven o’clock already, could it? She rubbed sleep from her eyes and rolled out of bed, grateful that Chelsea had already gotten showered and dressed so she wouldn’t have to listen to her overwhelming babble first thing in the morning. Snooping through the baby-blue duffel bag, Rina found an appealing assortment of skinny jeans, tube tops, strapless bras, electric pink thongs, dainty sandals, more funky-looking bras, a glittery black T-shirt and an adorable wrap-around skirt that must’ve been worth some money. Chelsea was always telling Rina to dress better, especially now that she was only eighteen and could use a sexy pair of jeans and a few short skirts, sporting her shapely legs to the hunky lifeguards that had been rumored to do some “suggestive” stuff off-duty. The problem was Rina just didn’t feel sexy. The closest experience she had had to losing her virginity was back in eleventh grade, at some girl’s birthday party. There was this really good-looking boy who complimented her on the borrowed minidress, and she had started making out with him when he suggested they go upstairs. Of course, being the self-cautious person she was, flat-out refused and avoided him the rest of the party. Now, at eighteen, Rina hated her pudgy body, the rolls of fat that hung out the back of her jeans and the wideness of her thighs. It must have been so easy for Chelsea, with her slinky body and fashionable clothes. But, when it came to boys, Rina had as much skill as she did with calculus. Her non-existent sex life would be a lifelong failure, just like her single mother, who had given up on men the instant her husband walked out the door with his suit and briefcase. 11

“Finally, cave dweller decided to wake up”, an eerily familiar female voice penetrated the silence. Rina whirled around to find Angelica, another Snack Corner cashier, standing there with her tanned arms folded across her chest. She was Chelsea’s best friend as well as Rina’s worst enemy, harassing her for the smallest things, sneering when she accidentally gave out the wrong change or showed up five minutes late for the staff meetings. Aside from her callous personality, Angelica had been dubbed the Crowfoot “slut”, apparently screwing every guy in her cabin after dark. As if things couldn’t be much worse, the little bitch knew about Rina’s infatuation with Darren, and loved nothing more than to rub it in her face. 12

“You slept in”, she said bitterly, giving her a disgusted up-and-down look at her outfit that consisted of baggy sweatpants and the bland green T-shirt with its ugly Camp Crowfoot logo. “We’re looking especially frumpy today, aren’t we? Why can’t you dress like a normal teenager?”13

“This is what you’re supposed to wear on the job”, Rina retorted, spraying a bit of perfume on her neck. “And anyways, who am I supposed to impress? The sailing instructor?”14

“I don’t know, like Darren Holdon?” Angelica snorted. “You’re lucky he’s a chubby chaser, pound cake, I even offered to give him a blow job in the staff room but he said he didn’t like skinny girls. Cute guys are funny, aren’t they? They either want the thin ones or the chubby chickens.”15

“Get out of my cabin”, Rina hissed at her, tying back her short dark hair in a ponytail. “You’re just a whore, Angelica. I don’t need to put up with your crap everyday. Shouldn’t you be working?”16

“My shift’s over, honeybunch”, she smiled wolfishly, leaning over to examine one of Chelsea’s rosy D cup bras. “Oh wow, if only you had something glitzy like that, huh? Darren would have his cock inside you lickity-split. If you wear somethin’ like that, honey, you might just get your cherry popped tonight.”17

“Are you finished now?” Smoldering with rage, Rina threw a tube of lipstick at her before trudging out the cabin, preparing herself for the stale pancakes she would have to eat with her chummy staff friends. 18

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In the stuffy, extremely noisy kitchen the thick smell of maple syrup, burnt hash browns, oatmeal, pancake batter and orange juice swamped Rina’s nostrils. She flopped down on the chair across from a red-haired, geeky looking girl with shiny blue braces, her freckled hands waving wildly in the air as she prattled on about some supernatural experience. Clustered around Darren in the corner was a giddy flock of four or five girls, each one ranging from slim to obese, their faces animated as they all talked at once between mouthfuls of breakfast. Darren, Rina realized, wasn’t wearing his Crowfoot T-shirt but a tight black one that accentuated his chiseled chest and hard, washboard stomach that he’d gotten from swimming lengths. Dusted on one golden, bulging bicep was this intricate tattoo of a purple-black raven that looked as if it had been plucked from a First Nations art gallery. Long legs hanging over his seat, he gave Rina an intense, azure gaze that made her feel as if he were inspecting every inch of her body. Blushing, she plunged the plastic fork into her pancake and chewed it slowly, not wanting to look into those electric, hazy blue eyes that could talk a girl into doing dirty, unthinkable things. 20

“He’s checking you out, Rina”, whispered Braces Girl breathlessly.21

“I’m aware of that”, Rina said, downing her orange juice in one sickening slurp. 22

“Why don’t you talk to him? My god, I’d totally die if he so much as looked at me…”23

“Because I don’t need a guy complicating my life right now. And besides, it looks like he’s got his own little fan club going on. Every girl in that circle would be more than willing to keep him warm at night.”24

“Rule twenty three, ‘thou shall not have sex with other campers’”, Braces Girl said in a monotone voice. Rina couldn’t help but laugh out loud, which made Darren and his female admirers swivel around to stare. 25

“Hey, Rina!” Darren called out in his deep, velvety voice that made her skin break out in gooseflesh. “Why don’t you drag your chair over here and join us? There’s plenty of room.”26

“She’s such a dyke”, Angelica laughed, wrapping her arms around his wide, godly shoulders. Damn, the guy was barely twenty-two and already looked like someone had carved him out of marble. He had an air of arrogance about him, a little rocking of the hips when he moved. Rina crossed her legs tight when Angelica nibbled his earlobe, brushing the invitingly full, sulky bottom of his lip before she leaned in for a kiss. Gaping at them, Rina suddenly felt as if she were on the rugby team and someone had knocked the wind out of her lungs. Angelica had claimed Darren’s lush mouth and they were making out, right there at the breakfast table, tasting his delicious saliva, touching his flawless skin…27

“What a bunch of lame-O’s”, Braces Girl shook her head with a laugh, balled up a napkin and threw it at Rina. “Come on, you gonna watch these sappy lovebirds all day or help me outside with the volleyball nets?”28

“I’m right behind you”, Rina forced a smile, cringing slightly at the sight of the Crowfoot slut, who was now sitting in Darren’s lap grinning from ear to ear. What ever happened to him not liking skinny girls, huh? 29

Floating from the cabin to the Snack Corner Rina couldn't help but spy on Darren, wearing nothing but a pair of black low-slung jeans, his thick, dirty blonde hair shining as gold as his skin in the sunlight. He was tossing a football with the other staff on the wide expanse of the neatly-trimmed lawn, his powerful arms spreading wide like eagle wings as the football sailed towards him in a perfect arc. It was as if Darren was a piece of delicious, high-calorie chocolate cake that was sitting on a plate in the kitchen, sinful in its taste yet oh-so-tempting. Rina imagined herself eating that cake, licking the icing off the top, savoring its rich creaminess as it slid down her throat. His bare skin gleamed with sweat in the stifling heat; that ripped stomach flexing every time he leapt forward like a gazelle to catch the football, the smooth muscles in his biceps rippling nicely. 30

"You spying on me, Rina?"31

Startled, she jumped back when he caught her looking; the football tucked neatly under one arm as he walked towards her in that hip-rocking strut of his. Inches away, she could smell the sunscreen on his velvet skin, the baked scent of sand; of hair gel and Irish liquor (God knows where he got that). Those wonderfully intense, gorgeous blue eyes focused on her face, then slid lower to her heaving breasts, hips, and her long coltish bare legs. 32

"I was watching you play football", Rina said quickly, tossing her head like it was no big deal. "You're really good at it."33

"Was a quarterback in high school", he grinned, showing off bleached white, perfectly straight teeth. "Feel up to chilling out with me and a few friends on the beach? I'm bringing beer and some music."34

"We're not allowed to drink beer on the beach", Rina reminded him with a scowl. "Is it your day off today or something?"35

"I'm making good use of this one", he said, suddenly taking her arm and pulling her close. She blinked up at him in bewilderment, his kissable lips beckoning her, his bare chest right there for her to caress. How many girls would want this? 36

"I-I have lots of work today." Rina withdrew from his steely grasp, praying to God that Angelica or her sickening friends hadn't seen them together. 37

"You just gonna sit in that hot cabin all day?" He sighed in frustration, backing off a little. "You're such a workaholic, Rina; they don't pay you enough around here. You should RELAX."38

"I'll relax when I'm dead", she laughed at him, turning to leave. "See you later, pretty boy."39

"You'll come back around", Darren mumbled under his breath as she walked back to the cabin. "They always do."40

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It was a eerily beautiful night. The sky was jet black, speckled with stars, the full yellow moon lit up like a lantern behind a cluster of wraith-like clouds. Rina breathed in the ocean and the dew-pearled grass, standing in her lacy nightgown in the doorway of her empty cabin. As usual, Chelsea was out in the woods where the staff went almost every night to light their stupid bonfires, singing nursery rhymes as they got drunk and high, howling to the moon like idiots. Outside it was darker than usual, even warmer now than the night before, although the pale glow of the moon made everything all the more lovely to look at. Rina ran a hand over her bare skin, about to slip into jeans and a sweatshirt to join the bastards when - all of a sudden - there was someone calling out to her in the darkness. 42

"See, I knew you'd spend all day in your dumb cabin", Darren chuckled. He stood before her in the same dark jeans, only he was wearing a dark blue sleeveless shirt, the moonlight making his boyishly handsome face all the harder to resist. 43

"You're totally stalking me", Rina exclaimed, pushing him back. "I can't believe this...do you follow every girl to their cabin?"44

"Only during business hours", he said, smiling playfully. She was about to tell him to leave when he held up a bottle of vodka. "Thought I'd bring you this."45

"I don't DRINK", Rina growled angrily. "God, what do you think I am?"46

He pulled a face. "Geez, Rina, you should have some fun once in a while. A good girl like you should break some rules; have a little taste of what it's like to grab life by the horns."47

"If I have a little swig, will you leave?"48

"Why, is it past your bedtime?" He shot back. 49

"No", Rina fumed, snatching the vodka away from him with a sneer. Unscrewing the cap, she took a tiny sip, wincing when the sour, medicine-bitter taste of the warm liquid washed down her throat. Licking a few droplets off the tip, she met Darren's hungry gaze, noticing with a spark of longing the way his body filled up the doorway of her cabin, how badly she wanted to unbutton his jeans and have those lean hips thrust into her tonight...just in spite of Angelica and all those vicious girls who lived to tease her chubby, slovenly self; how she was still a sorry virgin.50

"That stuff is disgusting", she put the vodka down on the floor, then slowly ambled off towards her bed in the sexiest, most seductive walk she could muster. Throwing a wink over her shoulder, she noticed with glee Darren was flabbergasted. He sauntered after her, smiling, waiting like a patient cat for her to emerge from the bathroom. After climbing out of the thin white nightgown, Rina bolted to the bed stark-naked, climbing under the covers when Darren straddled her down. 51

"You're all mine now", he said in a husky whisper, sealing his lips on hers. Shuddering, she accepted the kiss, absorbing his taste, the rough velvet of his probing tongue. They remained in the same position, holding one another like lovers in the watery moonlight. Rina started to caress his impossibly smooth, deeply bronzed skin when Darren lowered his head to suck her breast. She arched her back slightly, letting out a ghostly moan when he tugged at her hardened nipple with his teeth. He then licked at the rosy bead, sucking at it hard until Rina writhed wildly, her slippery warmth making her vagina slick and secretly pleading for Darren to enter. Throwing off his T-shirt, he slid his lips down from her full, swollen breasts to the paunch of her belly, licking her bellybutton before trailing lower, discovering with pride the honey-sticky wetness that had never failed to soak her inner thighs the instant she had met him. Rina remembered seeing Darren with the whistle around his neck, bare-chested and beautiful up on the lifeguard chair, whistling at pretty girls while looking like a babe in his three hundred dollar sunglasses. 52

"Easy, cowboy", Rina said when he spread open her legs, inserting a finger into the welcoming wetness. She closed her eyes, shuddering visibly now, tiny bursts of pleasure tearing through every inch of her body. He slipped two fingers inside, began to pump her agonizingly slowly, relishing her loud, frightened cries of sheer ecstasy. Removing his fingers, he licked her juices off of them as if she were a melting popsicle. She watched in heart-slamming silence as he hastily unzipped his jeans, now just in his underwear with a very evident (and impressively large) bulge. She stroked him, rubbing her fingers up and down his shaft until he threw his head back in a shaky moan, gripping the damp mattress as the pleasure built up rapidly inside him. She tightened her grip on him, drawing rough circles around his head, making him spastic. After hearing this was the most sensitive part of the male anatomy, Rina thought it would be interesting to torture the bratty hunk with sheer, relentless pleasure that she could enslave him with all day and night, making him limp and so sated he couldn't move. 53

"Fuck", he breathed out loud, covering her hand with his big warm one as her movements grew faster, making every gorgeous muscle in his cut body grow tighter than steel. Sensing he was about to erupt, she drew her hand back automatically, leaving him winded and screaming for orgasm. Yanking off the soaked fabric, he drove his hips against hers, filling her up so completely she let out a small scream of surprise into his mouth. She ran her fingers feather-soft along the sweaty skin of his hard bicep, touched the high arc of his cheekbone. God, he was so silky smooth and tantalizing, like an ice cream slowly melting into her, saturating her vagina and breasts. She clamped her hands down on his firm, tanned buttocks, pulling him so deep inside her she sucked in another tortured breath of pleasure. 54

"It hurts a little", she whimpered softly in his ear. 55

"It will for a few seconds", he said, a bead of sweat dripping off his chin. "But don't worry, babe, in a few seconds you won't want me to stop."56

"You've obviously had lots of experience", Rina chuckled, sighing blissfully as she stroked his broad shoulders the same way Angelica had. The entire cabin smelled of sex, sweat, cologne and vodka. She could suddenly see Chelsea walking in, dressed in her stupid sparkly black T-shirt and skinny jeans, her mouth an O of surprise when she caught sight of Darren Holdon pumping into Snack Corner cashier Rina, her legs wrapped tightly around his waist as he moved back and forth, grunting like an animal. After what seemed like hours of sticky-skin-against skin and labored breathing, Rina turned her eyes up to the ceiling when Darren started to thrust. She opened her mouth to gasp, then suddenly her gasping turned to shrieking, the pleasure that was building up inside her so shatteringly intense she surrendered herself entirely to Darren's hard, grinding movements. After one last deep, violent thrust Rina finally came, her orgasm so powerful her body convulsed and she cried out wildly. Darren exploded inside her, growing weak and sated as the pleasure consumed him. He rolled off of her, chest heaving, soaked to the bones with sweat. 57

"I guess you know where to find me when you're off duty", Rina said sweetly, snuggling up against him. She liked hearing his heart beating, the feel of his damp skin against her's. She had done a raw, daring thing; a dangerous little affair that could get her fired from her job as well as every girl in the whole damn camp plotting to throw her body in the lake. But, alas, nobody had walked in on them, and Rina swore to keep it her own steamy secret. 58

"Thanks for the shag", Darren said, his face flushed from the sex. He slipped back into his jeans and shirt, picked up his vodka and swept outside as silently as he had came. 59