Atonement Retreat

No matter how much she tried to use the campers to separate herself from him, Dylan seemed to keep finding ways to slither up to her. She narrowed her eyes at him, smacking his hand away before walking into cabin four, which was still a fair distance from cabins three and five, isolated enough to give them some space, but not so far that it was a trek to see the others. She popped open the door to see the kids, several of whom that she’d had last year running up and high fiving her as she quickly led Dylan through the cabin.

“So the kids stay in here, this is the bathroom, and then we’re in here.” She didn’t look back to make sure he was getting any of this as she opened the door to their room, quickly picking the farthest of the four beds. Dylan smirked, walking over and setting his suitcase on the bed beside hers. She stood, glaring at him. “Move.”

“Don’t I get my pick of the beds?” He asked.

“Yeah, because if I were picking your bed, it’d be a sleeping bag in the woods.” He clutched at his chest, feigning heartache.

“Don’t be so cold babe.”

“My name’s not babe.” She said simply. He walked up behind her as she unpacked, sitting on his bed and watching her ass move as she unpacked. He bit his lip harshly as her hips swayed back and forth, unable to stop his thoughts of them moving against his own. But as he felt a sharp kick in his shin, he tore his eyes away to see Rian flip him off. He winced, deciding to quickly try and cover his tracks.

“So what is your name then? I mean, we’re working together for the summer, I should probably know.” She let out a long groan, turning to him.

“My name is Adrianne, but my friends all call me Rian.”

“Rian, that’s a lovely name, I’m Dy-”

“Maybe you didn’t hear me.” She interrupted, turning to him. “I said my friends call me that. You call me Adrianne.” She then turned back to her bag, pulling out everything, ignoring his stunned expression. “And don’t bother, I already know your name.”

“Big fan of mine?” He smirked.

“No, I had no idea who you were until I saw you whoring yourself out in some gossip magazine.” He winced at that, trying to get a good look at her face. “Now are you going to move your bag or is it going out the window, superstar?”

“Feisty aren’t we?” He chuckled. She just rolled her eyes as he picked his bag up, tossing them the next bed over, but she shook her head.

“Further.” He rolled his eyes, picking up his suitcase and setting it on the farthest bed before she smirked. “Perfect.” She then grabbed the bed he’d been using, pushing it right up against hers before throwing down a blanket and her sleeping bag. Dylan watched with interest before copying her, smiling as the small, single bed became a twin. He then finally started to unpack, flushing when he saw the dirty magazines and bottle of vodka. He hoped she hadn’t seen, and when she walked into the closet with her things he assumed she hadn’t. But just as he was grabbing his shirt he hand came out of nowhere, snatching the magazines. “This is contraband.”

“I can explain.”

“Really? To one of our ten year old campers when they find this?” He winced again as she shook her head. “Great example to set for America’s youth.” She then narrowed her eyes before her hand delved into his bag again, searching for only a moment before pulling out the vodka. She looked at it for a moment before turning to him, giving him a devilish smile. “Well, at least you have good taste. But make sure it’s somewhere none of the kids are going to find it, and I get a fifty percent cut.” He smiled.

“You’re not mad?” She chuckled.

“Are you kidding? My first year Izzie and I had a stash of tequila under the floorboards. We’d sneak into the auditorium after everyone went to bed and get buzzed.” She smiled at the memory. “It was pretty much those nights that made us such good friends.”

“Well, maybe you and I can have a few drinks and become more than friends.” He cooed. He reached around, setting his hand on her hip, but she smacked it away, her cold exterior returning.

“I see a single kid with this, or one that displays any signs of getting their hands on it, and I will take you on a hike you don’t come back from.”

“Yes ma’am.” He promised. She nodded, keeping her eyes narrowed at him before she turned back to her bag. He smiled, knowing that the two of them having a drink might finally be what it took to get her on his good side as he quickly looked around the room for a place to find the bottle before finding a loose board in the wall. He smiled, pulling at the bottom just enough to hide the vodka behind, along with the whiskey and rum that Rian hadn’t seen. He smiled back at her, making sure she hadn’t seen before he finished unpacking, his eyes staying on the stunning brunette.



Rian was regretting giving Dylan an inch with the whole vodka thing, because for the rest of the day, he seemed determined to make a repeat of the moment. During the icebreaker game he’d repeatedly put his arm around her. On their first nature hike he walked behind her, and Rian had caught him looking at her ass at least twelve times. Then he’d ‘accidently’ run into her during their game of soccer, taking his sweet time getting up and off of her. Even as they were sitting with the campers after all the introductions had been made at the opening night meeting during dinner, Dylan was hip to hip with her. She didn’t want to make the kids uncomfortable by scooting away, but she also didn’t want to set the wrong kind of example for the girls in the group either. She finally scooted away slightly, nudging him in the ribs with her elbow and nodding to the stage.

Nicole stood at the microphone, Paul beside her as she read off the announcements to all of the campers. It was the normal rules and regulations speech she gave every single year. Respect your counselors, we’re glad to have you here, thank you to all our volunteers. Nicole then beamed, her smile wide as she looked away from her sheet of paper.

“Now as some of you may know we have two very special counselors with us this year. Dylan, Tyler, will you stand up please?” She looked over at Dylan as he stood, smiling broadly and Rian could hear some of the older groups of girls, and most the female councilors, cooing and giggling. She rolled her eyes, looking to a few tables over where Tyler was, looking painfully uncomfortable. Rian then let her eyes fall to Izzie, who smiled weakly at her. It was obvious both girls were regretting the guy they’d offered to take as Nicole gushed about how honored she was to have celebrities there and Rian pantomimed various ways of killing herself. Izzie snorted loudly before clearing her throat, looking back at Nicole, who sent Rian a strong glare before continuing.

Finally it was time to go back to the cabins for the night, and Rian couldn’t be more grateful, until she remembered she’d have to sleep in the same room as Dylan. On their way back she fell behind until she was next to Izzie and groaned. “How’s moody?” She asked.

“Quiet.” Izzie shrugged. “He’s hardly said two words and the kids don’t really know what to do with him.” She then sighed. “And neither do I.”

“Maybe he’s just nervous.” Rian tried. “I mean, if I was dude and was shacking up with a babe like you, I would be.” Izzie laughed at that, her head falling back and her blonde curls bouncing slightly.

“That is definitely not what’s going on.” She said through her laughs. “He acts like I’m the antichrist.”

“Ouch.” Rian winced.

“No kidding, Dylan any better?” Rian groaned.

“I made the mistake of letting him keep his vodka and now he thinks I obviously want his-” She stopped as she saw the small children around her, several of them looking at her. “Cookies.” She said, smiling at them. “Dylan has lots and lots of cookies, if you go and tickle him he might tell you where they are.” The children all brightened up before taking off, and as several of them literally tackled Dylan to the ground, she and Izzie couldn’t stop laughing.

“ADRIANNE!” He screamed. “Help!” The rest of their two groups seemed to think this was some sort of game as they joined in, attacking Dylan and quickly assuming Tyler must know the whereabouts of the cookies too. Both men fell, children covering them like ants on a picnic as Izzie and Rian made their way over. Rian could see Dylan’s hand sticking up and patted it.

“Kids, I have some Oreos back in the Super Cool, Totally Awesome, and Just Plain Rad cabin for whoever wants them.” Rian said, chuckling at the name the campers had come up with for their cabin. The kids all looked up, running at Rian and pleading with her for Oreos. She smiled, nodding with Izzie to come with her so her campers could have some too as they made their way down the row of cabins.

After the cookies had been dispersed and Izzie had herded her kids back to cabin four, Tyler lagging behind, Dylan pulled Rian into their room. His lips were pressed together in irritation, his face covered in dust. “That was rude.” He said finally.

“But you should have seen your face.” She laughed. “You looked like you were going to be shanked.” He flushed, and it was obvious that was exactly what he had thought. She laughed. “Just because these kids are from a bad place, it doesn’t mean they’re bad kids Dylan.” She said. “We make sure they don’t become the kind of people who’d shank you over a cookie.”

“It was still rude.” He said, blinking quickly. She laughed, rolling her eyes as she opened the door and quickly shoved him out.

“Then go ask them for an apology, I’m going to change.” She saw Dylan’s eyes darken and groaned, knowing she shouldn’t have said anything, especially since the doors didn’t lock. “Pig.” She then looked past him. “Hey guys, Dylan says he wants to have a pillow fight!” She then quickly closed the door as she heard the kids cheer their approval before the thudding of pillows was accompanied by Dylan screaming. But as she heard it turn into laughter she couldn’t help but smile.

“You’re going down little man!” Dylan cheered, and she heard his heavy footsteps take off down the hallway. She chuckled, leaning on the door and wondered if there was more to superstar then she had first realized. But she decided not to get her hopes up, remembering everything in the magazines and the way he seemed desperate to sleep with her. She sighed, pulling away and quickly getting changed, wishing that Izzie could have gotten someone else.