Page 1 of His For the Summer

one

Jay

Thesunwasshiningacross the glistening mountain lake; the wind rustling through the trees.It was beautiful, really.Scenic.People liked scenery, didn’t they?I glanced down at my feet and took a very large step back, crashing into a guy behind me.

I apologized quickly.“Sorry, sorry, there was a… I didn’t mean to step back.There was a thing.”Spider.There was a spider.I wasn’t sure I wanted to admit that, but I also didn’t know that a huge spider would go waltzing through a crowd of humans like it was no big deal.“It’s more afraid of you than you are of it,” I whispered to myself.My mom always said that, but I wasn’t sure I bought it.

“Shh,” the guy I’d crashed into whispered.“Matt’s about to start his speech.”

“Oh yeah, I mean, I love speeches.I bet he’s super inspir—”

“Shh,” he cut me off, right as a tall guy with a man bun climbed onto a picnic table.He looked outdoorsy, like a bit of a hipster, and between the long hair and the beard, his age was difficult to determine.Maybe late twenties or early thirties?Most of the people gathered about were closer to my age—college-aged guys around nineteen or twenty, though there were a few older guys around, too.

“Welcome to Camp Eagle Ridge,” Man Bun yelled, waving his hand.“I’m Matt, your camp director, and boss, though it doesn’t feel much like it.Maybe if you guys would listen to me more.”The crowd of guys around my age cheered and laughed, but I couldn’t summon much enthusiasm.I was here under duress, because my father thought that working a summer as a camp counselor would be good for me.Matt continued to talk, something about being excited to get to know all the new counselors and to welcome back all the returners.Then there was some tangent about the girls’ camp being destroyed by a tree.

As the crowd all groaned in dismay, I stared suspiciously at the trees.They didn’t look destructive.They were tall and majestic, if you found things like that majestic.Which I didn’t.I shoved my hands in my pockets and looked around at the other counselors grouped together in small clusters.Some appeared to know each other, while others, like me, stood alone.I could hear my dad now.“Fresh air and clean living will do you a world of good, Jay!And you get paid for it.What could be better?”

As I swatted a mosquito off my neck, I could think of a hell of a lot of things that could be better.Staying in Stanford and continuing my job in the engineering library for the summer would be the first on my list.But apparently enjoying libraries made my parents worry about me.

Also, I couldn’t afford rent in Stanford, and Camp Eagle Ridge came with free room and board.The salary wasn’t fantastic, but my parents had pointed out that I also wouldn’t be spending much, so it would be easy to save.There was no wasting money on coffee runs or food delivery in these woods.Oh god.What did summer camp coffee taste like?Was I going to survive?

The same mantra had been repeating in my head during the whole drive from my parents’ house in Sammamish, Washington.Think of the money.Forget about the dangers of the wilderness and focus on the cold, hard cash.Forget about your caffeine addiction and imagine having all that extra spending money fall semester.

But what if there was no coffee?

“Hey!Are you Jay Stone?”A deep, rumbly voice startled me out of my spiraling thoughts.I looked up to see two tall, intimidatingly handsome and athletic-looking types standing in front of me.The dark-haired one spoke.“I’m Aiden Yamada, this is Parker Layton.We’re going to be your co-counselors.”

I resisted the urge to touch my chin and make sure my mouth wasn’t hanging open.Aiden Yamada had to be the most beautiful man I’d ever seen in person.And he was staring at me, waiting for me to talk.“Co-counselors?”I squeaked.

“Told you he was tuning Matt out,” Parker said, laughing.Parker looked for all the world like a young Chris Hemsworth, muscles and man bun included.He was pretty, but he had nothing on Aiden, so I was forced to look back toward Aiden.Fate wanted me to look at Aiden some more, to stare at his delicious beauty, to memorize every line of his square jaw and high cheekbones.

Right, I was an idiot, but I was 19 and gay and I had a lot of pent-up hormones.It wasn’t my fault.The guys kept on talking while I ogled them, so I was pretty sure they hadn’t noticed, or maybe they thought I was socially challenged.

“Okay, don’t give him shit.All that get to know you crap is boring,” Aiden said, elbowing his friend.“The four of us are sharing the E counselor’s cabin.”

“Four of us?”I asked, looking around.I’d missed a fourth guy?

Aiden laughed.“We haven’t found the fourth yet.We have two groups of campers between us.You and I have the Blue Heron Cabin, and Parker and Benjamin have the Ravens.”

“Benjamín.”A tallish, lanky Latino guy appeared behind Aiden, saying his name with a Spanish accent.I’d never heard that name sound that sexy, but his deep voice turned it into something completely different.His eyes skimmed over the three of us.

“Ben!”Aiden exclaimed, smiling widely.“We know you.”

“Book boy!”Parker echoed Aiden’s glee.

“You can call me Ben.”With that, he pulled a battered paperback out of his back pocket and started reading.

“Right.So do you guys want to go see the cabin?”Parker asked, saying the word ‘cabin’ with some lively jazz hands.I looked at each of the four guys I’d be living with as they turned and grabbed their bags.This camp counselor job had made me nervous as hell.I wasn’t cut out for the outdoors, didn’t know anything about hiking and camping, and had a moderate fear of wildlife.All wildlife.But the one problem I hadn’t considered?That I’d be in close quarters with three hot guys.Three hot straight guys.

I wanted nothing more to be back in my safe zone, at the job I’d worked since freshman year at the engineering library.Instead, thanks to my dad, I was swatting mosquitoes off my arms and trying not to drool over three sexy men who would probably all find me irritating.

“Is there coffee?”I asked, trying to distract myself.

Aiden turned and grinned, a deep dimple flashing on his left cheek.Fuck, he was stunning.Looking too hard at him was like staring directly into the sun.“You’ll find out about the coffee.”

“No, you don’t understand.I need to know.”

Parker and Aiden laughed, as if I’d said something hilarious, and turned away from me, shouldering big army-style duffel bags and heading off.“Are we supposed to follow?”I asked Ben, turning to find that he was following them already, dragging a massive rolling suitcase behind him, and still reading his book.

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