Chapter Two ~ Zoey
1230 Words
Chapter Two ~ Zoey
“s**t, s**t, shitty, s**t!” I didn’t realize I’d chanted that out loud until I heard the two gorgeous male specimens in front of me start chuckling.
I mean seriously, what outer dimension did I just walk into? Were these guys genetically modified or something? One was tall, dark, and looked deliciously like Superman, and the other was an insanely tall Viking with blond hair and ice-blue eyes.
Maybe this was a male Stepford camp or something.
“Excuse my language,” I muttered, because my mother would be horrified to know I’d sworn in “public.” I guess that’s what I get for hibernating in my cave and not double checking the details with Chloe before I left. I paced back and forth as I rambled on, “I’m just usually so great at annotating my calendar correctly.”
One of them cleared their throat, causing me to stop pacing and extract the thumb I’d been chewing on as I tried to figure out how to resolve my current predicament.
“I’m sorry you came all this way, but like I said, camp doesn’t start until next week…”
“Do you guys work here or something?” I asked, unable to contain my curiosity.
“Yeah,” the blond one answered. “There’s a group of us here making sure the camp is ready for opening and hanging out for the week. If you’d like, you’re welcome to join us.”
Superman turned to his buddy, a look of surprise showing on his face before he masked it and turned back to me.
“Um, of course, you probably have to clear things with your job, since you got the weeks mixed up,” he said, not quite offering to let me stay like his friend had.
“Oh, I’m a writer and editor, so I make my own schedule. I was planning to write at night, after the kids went to bed … I guess I can go to the nearest town and rent a room for the week.”
I started pacing again as I thought of all the work I could get done in a week away. I might even get the first draft done….
A throat cleared again, putting a halt to my musings.
“The nearest town’s an hour away, and the only nice place they have would cost a mint. Reardon’s right,” Superman said, and I assumed he was referring to the Viking. “Since you’re already here, there’s no reason you can’t stay on. That’ll save you some money, and you can still get some work done.”
“That’s very generous, but…” I tried to think of a good reason why I couldn’t stay here with two random dudes that wouldn’t sound rude.
I don’t want to be a burden…
What would we eat?
Are you the only two here, or are there more Adonises wandering around?
Is ravaging a possibility…
“Don’t worry,” Superman said, reading the questions on my face. “Two of our cousins are women, so you wouldn’t be alone with us. It’s just the five of us, and we have plenty of food. One more mouth won’t hurt. Although, we don’t have Wifi, so if you need it for your work, that may cause a problem.”
“A week of writing with no internet to distract me?” I was talking to myself again, and began to worry that they’d think I was mental and take back their offer. I couldn’t let that happen; I needed to lock this down right now. “Thank you so much, that would be great. I can help out however you need … with cooking, or getting the camp ready. I don’t want to take advantage, but a week away with no internet would actually help me out a tremendous amount.”
Reardon grinned, stepped forward, and held out his hand.
“Glad to help. Now, can we know the name of the beauty who’ll be joining us for the next week?”
“Oh, sorry,” I said with a frown as I shook his massive hand. “I can’t believe I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Zoey.”
If they realized I left off my last name, they were too gentlemanly to pry. It was a last-minute decision that would help give me the break from reality that I needed.
“Nice to meet you Zoey,” Superman said, stepping forward when Reardon stepped back, and offering me his hand. I looked up, and noticed for the first time how deep brown his eyes were. Like melted chocolate. Suddenly hungry, I reached out and took his hand, then gasped when a white-hot flash ran through me on contact. “Like I said, this is Reardon, my cousin, and I’m Gabe. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too,” I replied, my voice whisper soft. I’d obviously been in the cave too long if one touch from Superman’s … er, I mean, Gabe’s … hand left me feeling like the Kraken was about to be released after being dormant for too long.
“If you’ll take us back to your car, we can take you around to staff parking and get you set up in a cabin.”
At Gabe’s words, I was suddenly struck with a terrifying thought. What if they weren’t actually associated with the camp? What if they were going to lure me away and chop me to bits, or worse? Make me watch The Matrix movies. Don’t get me wrong, I love Keanu Reeves, but The Matrix just didn’t do it for me…
My writer’s brain was at work, thinking up a million different reasons why I was crazy to even be considering getting into a car with these two, when we all turned at the sound of running feet and saw a gorgeous redhead rush down the path and launch herself in Reardon’s arms.
“What’s up, Ass?” she squealed, giving him a bear hug, then pulling back to slap him playfully on the cheek. “I’ve missed your ugly mug.”
“Do you know what it’s like driving eight hours with that much exuberance in the car? God, I thought we’d never get here.”
I turned to see a handsome man, who looked a whole lot like the woman, except his hair was more of a deep auburn, whereas hers was fire-red, walking casually down the same path she’d just burst through.
“You should’ve known better than to try to contain Jazzy for that long,” Reardon said as she jumped from his arms to crash into Gabe’s.
The new arrival noticed me standing off to the side and walked over quietly.
“And who do we have here?” he asked with a kind smile. “I’m Dillon, cousin to those two and twin to the girl with the disposition of a Jack Russell Terrier.”
I laughed at his wit and shook his offered hand.
“Zoey, vagabond and interloper.”
Dillon had a deep laugh that made me smile, and when I turned my head, I was surprised to see Gabe watching us with a frown.
“Hi, Zoey, I’m Jasmine,” the perky redhead said, bouncing over and shocking me when, rather than shaking my hand, she threw her arms around me and gave me a quick, but firm, hug. “Are you staying with us?”
I looked around at the group of freakishly gorgeous, but really nice people, and decided that my earlier worries were due to my wild imagination. I decided to trust that these people were who they said they were, and stay the week to get some work done … but just in case, I’d text my sister to let her know where I was and that if I didn’t check in every night at nine, to send the police.
“Yup, I’m staying.”
- Writer
