《The Player Next Door》21 | Photo
Advertisement
Blue lips un-kissed.
My lips were blue from the cold lake. And un-kissed because they had been so close to his but just missed.
Someone I had mistreated by not trusting - by falling for stereotypes instead of falling for him.
Someone so hot it hurt.
"Here you go," Tamara handed me a hot cup of tea.
I thanked her, confused by everything that had happened. Stacey was taking care of all our campers, settling them in to bed. Alicia and Dupree had taken hot showers and were dressed in warm pajamas and socks.
Tamara walked towards Luke, offering him a cup of tea as well. He shook his head and she reached out to touch his arm.
"Why is she here?" Tony pointed up at Stacey, as he was being ushered to bed by her.
The kids knew why Tamara hung around, but Stacey was new.
"Malik asked her to dance," I said. And she'd used it as the perfect excuse to come over and see Luke.
Luke's head raised. "Stacey?!" he asked Malik directly, "That's the girl you like?"
Welcome to the party, Luke.
We probably should've asked that before helping him approach a girl twice his age. Stacey beamed, hoping that Malik's crush on her would make Luke envious.
I stared at her like she was insane.
She may actually be insane.
He's 8-years-old. And Luke is a grown man.
"Hey Malik," I whispered, while all the attention was on Stacey, "Come over here."
Malik padded over to me in his thick socks.
I whispered into his ear, "Can you count to 60 and then distract your girlfriend for a few minutes?"
He grinned and nodded. He didn't ask any follow-up questions. Rare.
A lot of weird things had happened tonight – Dupree's obsession with fishing, Alicia not listening when I asked her to stay at the dance, Malik's crush on Stacey, Tamara acting like an angel post their near-death experience – but one mystery remained bigger than all.
Advertisement
Why Luke broke up with Tamara because of me.
Something about a photo.
I sipped my tea as I walked over to the sink. Stacey was by the kitchen counter now, listening to the conversation around her while she absentmindedly scrolled through Instagram. Her phone was on the table and her manicured nail tapped the screen.
"In all this madness," Tamara declared, "is anyone going to ask why an 8-year-old was fishing in the middle of the night?"
She had a point.
It was my fault. I should've let him stick to his iPad. Two kids almost drowning is what I get for trying to be a proactive counselor.
"57 mississippi, 58 mississippi, 59 mississippi, 60," Malik counted a little bit louder than I expected, "Stacey! Can I show you the camper's leaderboard? I got 4 stars this week for winning games."
She looked up and smiled at Malik, agreeing to see the leaderboard on the other side of the room.
"Do you also want to see it Luke?" she asked flirtatiously.
He's seen it. He lives here. Keep moving, girl.
She left her phone by the counter as Malik lead her over. Before the phone could lock, I slid across to where she had been and quickly double tapped the screen.
I accidentally liked a picture of a cat in toilet paper.
I clicked out of her Instagram, and slid the phone off the counter. I turned my back on everyone else as I opened her camera roll. This was sneaky I'll admit, but Stacey had covertly taken a photo of me that she was planning to use for extortion/humiliation/defamation of character.
The photo had been taken on the camping trip yesterday so it couldn't be too far back.
I underestimated Stacey's fondness for selfies.
Advertisement
There were 25 from today only.
And then...
I found it. I stared at it. My instinctual reaction was to scream. But I contained myself. I knew it was the one as soon as I came across it.
It was a picture of me.
That night on the camping trip, after the bear had mauled my bag with my clothes inside, I didn't have anything to change into at night. So I wore a fleece over my bra and slept like that. The girls had unzipped my sleeping bag (which is why so many bugs bit me) and unzipped my fleece so that my body was bare, and my bra was showing.
They then took a photo shoot of me like that.
They put a $1 bill in my bra and captioned the photo about me being a stripper. A comatose stripper.
I felt mortified and harassed. Nothing about this environment felt like a safe space anymore.
With shaky fingers, I deleted all the photos of me. I didn't care if Stacey found out I was in her phone. I didn't care if she already had backup. I wanted it gone from my view. I wanted to yell at her.
My eyes stung with unshed tears. I put the phone back on the counter and leaned over the kitchen sink. I took a deep breath to steady myself emotionally and turned around.
Blue eyes were on me.
I felt them sink into me and as I looked up, I locked gaze with Luke from across the room.
His jaw clenched. He knew.
"Everyone out," he growled, "Thanks for the help but get out."
The girls were surprised but he walked to the door and held it open for them. They said a few words of goodbye, leaving tea cups on the counter as they left. He closed the door behind them. Malik slipped into his room, the last of the campers to go to sleep.
I locked the front door behind the girls.
We were alone in the room now; Luke and I. Blankets were discarded over chairs and empty mugs were left on the table.
"You saw it?" Luke's voice was a shell of its usual self.
I nodded. I didn't really have the words. I was so embarrassed.
He let me take my time. I wrapped the blanket tightly around my shoulders, "I'm sorry."
"Why are you apologizing?" His blue eyes stared deeply into mine, "It's not your fault."
He closed the distance between us in two long strides.
"I reacted quickly against you. I judged you wrong."
I remembered how quickly I had insulted him. I told him he used girls... when really he was protecting one. Me.
The blanket slipped from my shoulders and he caught it, wrapping it securely back around me.
"You didn't," he said, "I'm exactly what you said I was. I avoid relationships and I hurt girls by doing that."
It's funny how he avoided the word player. Because that's exactly what he was describing.
"I just wasn't doing it this time," he smirked.
"You're feeling smug about that aren't you?"
"It's not every day you apologize."
"Don't get used to it."
"Too late."
I couldn't help but smile. There it was again. Luke's ability to take me out of any bad mood.
Advertisement
- In Serial6 Chapters
She Became The Devil’s Stepmother Who’s About To Be Killed
“I’ll kill you! Do you want to die?”
8 418 - In Serial7 Chapters
I Dream of Spiders
The move to the remote town of Quarry Hill, Pennsylvania was supposed to help Griffin McGuire start over and forget the two people who betrayed him. As a paramedic at the local hospital, he would still have to interact with people, but the rest of the time he could hole himself away in the secluded cabin he was renting. It was perfect. For the first time in over a year, he felt like he could finally breathe. That was until he met her. A woman who doesn’t know her own name or why she was covered in blood and standing in the middle of the road when he found her. Griffin knows he should contact the police, but something is preventing him from going to the authorities. It doesn’t take long for him to realize that he was correct in trusting his instincts. Every time she falls asleep, she dreams and another memory is unlocked. Memories that are horrific and make him want to protect and hide her from the world.
8 176 - In Serial81 Chapters
Mr Reigns
I was going to die on the stairs. Before I could actually feel the other steps of the stairs, I felt hands wrapped themselves around my waist. My eyes were closed. Why do we close our eyes when there were some dangers? That was stupid. As if with closed eyes, we weren't going to feel any pain. "Fuck. Are you okay?" I opened my eyes quickly when I heard this deep sexy voice. My eyes widened at the sexy piece of human standing in front of me. No human had the right to be that sexy. "God?" I asked. When he rose one of his perfect eyebrows in confusion, I realized how stupid I sounded. His perfect face was everything. His well trimmed beard made him look so handsome. His green eyes was hypnotizing. As his body was pressed against mine, I could feel how muscular he was. He helped up stand up and roughly let go of me. His eyes trailed to the floor. I followed his eyes to see a cigarette on the floor. "I'm sorry?" I more like questioned. Was I supposed to apologize for the wasted cigarette which was going to ruin his health? "Thank you" I said when I decided to look at him again. He was already staring at me. He was wearing a black suit. His hair was perfectly fixed. I wonder how would he look if his hair was messy and he was wearing a Jean. Noticing that he was not going to say anything else, I stared at the stairs. "I'm going to go" I simply said and walked down the stairs carefully. When I was on the grass, I gently lifted my dress so that it wouldn't be ruined and walked bare feet on the grass. I turned my head slightly to look at the man, who seemed to be observing me. He was still on the stairs, his eyes on me. He was model worthy. He did seem to the snobby type of man. I quickly turned around to face the woods. That man could take the breath away just by his looks.
8 903 - In Serial40 Chapters
Alpha Of Blood
Alexia wanted a mate, but what happens when her Mate doesn't want her.Every year, The Red-Moon pack would host a Party, for the unmated wolves. Little does Lexi Know is that she isn't leaving without a mate.But what will happen, will they have their happily ever after?Will they forever act like rejected mates?Or will something else occur?
8 519 - In Serial25 Chapters
Contract Marriage with Mr. Kim Taehyung
y/n is a poor girl who lives with her auntie and uncle. who doesn't care about her . But they need her cause they gonna use her for their business by getting her married with a bad person Mr. Kim Taehyung the biggest businessman . Taehyung is a cold person and a playboy and doesn't care about Y/n .Will Y/n ever able to change him ? Or she gonna fall in love with the monster ? What if she got pregnant but her husband doesn't know ?
8 87 - In Serial7 Chapters
Kuro x Mahiru
It's Mahiru's Birthday and he doesn't know it and I'm just going to let you read to figure it out.
8 158

