"I miss you, Kylie," he said, ignoring what she'd said to him. "Real y miss you." He reached up and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. She swal owed. "I miss you, too, but-"
He leaned in and placed a soft kiss beside her lips. Whatever she was about to say got lost in her head. She closed her eyes and even while a little voice inside her told her to stop him, she didn't want to stop this. She wanted him to kiss her, to make her forget. Oh, yes, she wanted to forget.
His mouth touched hers, slow at first, as if making sure she wanted it, and then he slipped his tongue into her mouth. She loved it when he kissed her like that.
The next thing Kylie knew, Trey had his hand up the back of her shirt and if she didn't stop him, she knew what came next. He would undo her bra. He would touch her breasts, and it always felt so good when he touched her. There was even that one time that she'd let him take her shirt off. She felt his hands on her bra hook. He deepened the kiss, as if to distract her. She decided to let him do it, too. But then what? The question bounced around her head. She would stop him, right? She always stopped him. That was the reason he'd dumped her, the reason he'd hooked up with that other girl.
That was when he'd broken her heart.
Opening her eyes, Kylie broke the kiss.
His eyelids fluttered open and she stared at his eyes, searching for a reason not to stop him this time. She wanted to lose herself in his eyes ...
to see the gold flecks sparkle.
Oh crap! Trey didn't have gold flecks in his green eyes. Derek had the eyes that pul ed her in. Shocked, she put a hand on Trey's chest and recal ed how good it had felt to lean against Derek's chest just this morning-how she had felt safe and accepted. "I ... maybe we shouldn't-"
"Shh. Please don't say it." He put his finger over her lips. "This feels so good, Kylie. And I want to hold you like this, I want to touch you." His hand shifted around to her front and softly passed over her bra, making her breast feel tight. "What's wrong with us being together if we love each other?
And you know that's how I feel, don't you? I love you."
I love you. Those three little words played like a slow song in her head. He moved in again for another kiss. She wanted to be loved so badly. And it did feel good, Kylie admitted to herself. It helped her forget.
She let herself become lost in his kisses again. Lost in how his hands moved over her naked skin over her back up to the bra latch. Unlike before, he had her bra unclasped in seconds.
Probably because he'd had practice. Okay, that thought put an end to the warm emotions swirling inside her. Or was it the cold that suddenly invaded the room? Oh, gawd, Soldier Dude was back.
Here.
Now.
Watching her make out with Trey.
"Okay, sorry. I can't do this." She pul ed away and stood beside the bed, not looking anywhere but at Trey. Go away, she told the coldness, and squeezed her eyes closed.
When she opened her eyes, she felt the chil fade. She focused again on Trey, stretched out on the bed frowning at the ceiling.
"Not again," Trey muttered, and he sounded angry. He always got a little mad when she first stopped him. One time, he even dropped her off at her house without speaking to her.
Without wanting to, she found herself comparing him to Derek. Not just his body, in that Derek won hands down, but his attitude. For some reason, she didn't think Derek would pressure her so hard to give it up.
And then pout like a spoiled brat when she refused.
A tiny ribbon of anger swirled around her other emotions, overpowering passion and hunger and even her fear. "Who do you think you are, Trey?
You can't just come into camp and expect me to have sex with you, especial y after everything that's happened."
He sat up and brushed a hand over his face. "I didn't come here expecting to have sex." He let go of a deep gush of air. "I came to talk. Fine ...
yeah, I want sex, too. And I don't understand why you keep-"
"You want it enough that you'd break up with me and find someone who would give it to you?" Why she'd asked that she didn't know, because it had already happened.
He frowned.
"Did you sleep with her?" Kylie asked. In her heart she already knew the answer, but for some reason she needed it confirmed. He didn't say a word. He didn't have to. The confirmation was al over his face.
"Did you tel her you loved her, too?" The thought stung like a paper cut right across the heart. Even more guilt fil ed his eyes, and then he shook his head and fel face-first into denial. "No, I didn't sleep with her. And why would I tel her I love her, when I love you?"
Kylie didn't have Del a's super lie-detecting skil , but she knew he'd just lied to her. Knew it with certainty and she wanted to throw something at him. "Don't lie, Derek."
"Derek?" He sat up in bed. "Who the hel is Derek?"
"Trey," she snapped.
"Who's Derek?" Trey asked again.
She shook her head. "It doesn't matter. We ... you and I aren't together anymore."
"So you're together with him?"
She shook her head. Then, realizing what a mistake this had been, she faced the fact that this was partly her fault. "I'm sorry. I should have just told you no when you asked if I would see you. I can't see you now or next week."
He looked so hurt. Just as she'd known he'd been lying about sleeping with that girl, Kylie knew the hurt on his face was real. Trey did care about her. He'd just cared about having sex more.
"Are you seeing someone else? Is that who Derek is?" He jumped off the bed and stopped right in front of her. "I know I screwed up, Kylie. But ...
please, give me another chance. I real y miss you." He reached out to touch her.
She pushed his hand back. "I believe you miss me, Trey. I do. But I can't do this now."
"We don't have to have sex. We can just talk, okay? I'l wait until you're ready, I swear. Let me take you out for a pizza or something. I drove my dad's truck and-"
"I already ate dinner. Where did you park the truck?"
"At the front gate, but please..."
"I can't," she said.
"Don't tel me you don't care about me anymore. We dated for almost a year."
"I don't know what I feel." She reached back under her shirt and rehooked her bra. "I'm confused about everything right now ... except that I know you hurt me, Trey. When school starts up, maybe we can ... talk. But right now I have to get you out of this camp before something bad happens."
"Like what?" he asked. Something close to disgust crossed his face. "Is it true what they say about this place?"