AKARA PUTS his baseball cap on backwards. “Moffy, you only have three hours until this is all over. Do you have to confront them?”
“Yes.” It’s my only answer.
We huddle around the canoe rack by the lake’s dock. Not that far away, camp-goers break down their tents and pack their bags, getting ready for the final breakfast.
Sulli and Jane stand on either side of me, our three bodyguards opposing us. Orange leaves crunch beneath our boots.
“If you heard what they said,” I continue, “you’d be pushing me towards them.”
Akara doesn’t blink. “I doubt that. We’re the ones who are supposed to handle this.” He gestures to himself, Farrow, and Quinn.
“Not you,” Farrow says for good measure, his gaze set hard on me like no fucking way in hell are you confronting someone without me, Maximoff.
I get that they’re security. I’m the celebrity. But I can’t call in reinforcements to fight all of my battles. I can’t stand like a voiceless statue. Neither can Janie. Not in this instance.
“You can come with us. Farrow can come with us. Christ, bring Quinn too. But as the CEO of this charity, I’m not going to let this Camp-Away end without saying something to them.”
Jane nods strongly in agreement.
This morning Brad, Tyler, and whatever the other three fucking guys are named—they were making lewd gestures about Jane again. Only they mentioned hogtying and fucking her, and I’m proud of the fact that I didn’t flip out on them in the moment.
I walked away with Jane. I cooled down. We came up with a plan.
But Akara doesn’t see this as progress on my part.
“I’m joining him,” Jane reminds our bodyguards. “I need to say something too. There are hundreds of girls here, and if those guys leave thinking it’s okay to say things like that—then we’ve failed. We can’t stay silent.”
Sulli stretches her arm behind me to hold Janie’s hand. “If you need me, I’m there.”
“Thank you.” Jane breaks from my side, and the two girls share a long hug.
“And?” I ask Farrow.
He lays easy-going eyes on me. Probably because I said the magic words come with me. “I think that you’re not going to change your mind.”
Yep.
He turns to Akara. “If we approach them together, it’ll seem like an attack.”
Akara considers the options. “Those guys like you.”
Farrow rolls his eyes but nods.
“You go with Jane and Maximoff.” He leaves out Sulli. I’m guessing he doesn’t want her near this altercation. Akara looks at me. “Don’t get into a fistfight.” To Farrow, he says, “Don’t let him.”
“I won’t.”
Akara emphasizes his point to me. “You’ve done good work here, Moffy. You throw a punch, and that’s all the media will talk about. Not the success. Not the money you made. Please just stay calm while you talk to them. If you can’t do that—then let Farrow, Quinn, and me handle it ourselves.”
“I’ll be calm.”
Farrow tries not to smile. “What does that look like?”
“We’re about to find out.” I look to Janie who hoists her head high, shoulders pulled back, standing tall. Like the woman who raised her. And I don’t need to ask if she’s ready.
Let’s go kick some ass.
Civilly.
WE GATHER Brad and his four friends by the row of log cabins that Camp Calloway uses for summer camps. Some people linger close to watch the interaction. There’s no privacy, but if we brought them into the camp’s office, I’m afraid I’d let my anger best me.
Janie speaks first.
“I’ve heard all the things you’ve been saying about me in particular these past few days.” She adjusts the strap of a pumpkin-shaped purse that slips down her shoulder. “That’s not how you should speak about another human being. Period.”
Brad scratches his blond hair by the temple, smirking. “So…you wouldn’t want to be hogtied then?”
His friends laugh.
Farrow has a hand on my shoulder, and his fingers dig into my muscle.
Rage bangs at my chest. My arms stay crossed. I don’t move.
“No,” Jane refutes, “and that’s not something you should be asking. It’s not kind. It’s not appropriate. If you did that to another girl—”
“Whoa.” Brad holds up his hands. “I’d never say that to another chick. But you ask for it. You’re always talking about BDSM on that show. I mean, you’re inviting this shit. It’s your fault.”
“She talks about how she’s not into BDSM,” I snap. “Because guys like you can’t seem to understand that she’s not her mom.”
Jane adds, “And you guys don’t seem to understand the meaning of consent. Even if I enjoyed BDSM like my mom, you shouldn’t be speaking to me or her like that. Don’t be a vile person. Is it that dreadfully difficult for you?”
“Did she just compare herself to her mom?” Tyler laughs to Brad.
Brad chuckles. “I’ve seen Rose Calloway’s sex tapes and…” He motions to Jane’s body. “That’s a cheap imitation.” Fuck them.
Jane almost steps forward, but Farrow rests a hand on her shoulder now.
How is he not ready to swing? My blood is boiling. My biceps flexed, hands in fists. I swallow a thousand times to try and remind myself, do not fight them.
Do not move.
It solves nothing.
Farrow keeps his voice even-keeled and asks, “What’s the point of saying that? They’re all telling you it’s hurtful. Listen.”
Tyler nods to Jane. “Get thicker skin.”
“Fuck you,” I growl. “You’re a guest here.”
Brad smirks, but his tone changes—hostility mounting. “No, we won a raffle that we paid for.”
I grind my teeth. Calm. Be calm. I breathe out before I ask calmly, “Why even enter the raffle if you hate us? Why come here and take the opportunity away from other people who would’ve loved to be where you are?”
Brad extends his arms. “Free camping trip.”
I have no words. Full disclosure: I don’t understand them. I can’t relate. I can’t empathize. I don’t know if it’s because I stand on a platform, a pedestal too high to see from their perspective. I don’t know if it’s because as I try to jump down, into their shoes, I’m just flooded with rage.
My gaze daggers. Burning and churning, and my face is all blades. All sharp, brutal edges.
Tyler snickers. “Did you all really just pull us aside to lecture us?”
Brad snorts. “They did.” He smacks his friend’s chest, and they chuckle again.
Tyler shakes his head. “It’s almost like they think they’re so much better than us. The entitlement that you two have is honestly disgusting.”
In my peripheral, I notice people filming the interaction. Phones whipping out and pointed at us. This has traveled in a direction I never thought it’d actually go.
Sometimes I can’t predict what people will think. What the public thinks. Where’s Jack Highland when you need him?
Jane raises her chin. “We just believe that you should be kinder. Don’t tell a girl that she should be hogtied, even if it’s someone you see on TV. Even if they say they like it—they’re not saying they want to be hogtied by you.” She takes a deep breath. “If you consider that entitled, then…okay. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t fucking apologize,” I tell her. They’ve been beating her down for three days. I’m not going to let that stand.
“Oohh,” Brad says. “We’ve struck a cord.”
I growl, “You’ve struck nothing, asshole.”
“Maximoff,” Farrow warns in the pit of my ear.
I point at these guys. “I sincerely hope that you don’t ever talk to women like that in your everyday life,” I growl. “Fuck it, you shouldn’t talk to anyone like that. And if you can’t see right from wrong, then remove your heads from your asses.”
As soon as the words escape my mouth, phones buzz and chime and ring all around us. People whisper, casting glances our direction. Even my cell vibrates madly in my pocket. It’s like someone flipped a switched and shrouded us in darkness.
What the fuck is going on?
Eyes begin to zero in on Janie and me. Like we’ve just undressed in the middle of the field. Naked. Bare. My pulse speeds.
Brad practically cackles, glancing from his phone, then to me, back to his phone. Then to me. “No wonder you’re so defensive of Jane Cobalt,” he says. “You’re fucking her.”
I lunge.
“Nope.” Farrow grabs me around the waist. I’m all boiling wrath. I point at Brad, my feet dragging in the dirt as Farrow restrains me.
“You’re a piece of shit,” I sneer.
“You think I’m a piece of shit?” He laughs. “Dude, I’m not fucking my cousin.”
“I’m not fucking her!” I scream, my lungs on fire.
“Moffy,” Jane says in warning, her voice trailing ominously. She’s staring haunted at her phone.
What the fuck happened?
