Camp Paramore Read online

  Camp Paramore

  ∞

  THE CAMP JAMESON SERIES

  BOOK II

  WENDY LEA THOMAS

  with Euphymbus Melkior

  ALSO BY

  WENDY LEA THOMAS

  & Euphymbus Melkior

  ≈

  Book One

  CAMP JAMESON

  Copyright

  Copyright © 2016 by Wendy Lea Thomas

  www.wendyleathomas.com

  Edited by: Mick Corcoran

  Proofreader: Tina Lucas

  Cover design by: Mick Corcoran Designs

  Girl photo: iStockphoto

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems – except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or review – without permission in writing from the author herself.

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  ISBN-13: 978-1534755260

  ISBN-10: 15347755268

  THANKS

  To our friend Brian, whose fantastic adventures provided the inspiration for this novel. Yes, it’s true; this book is inspired by true events.

  To my Mom;

  Thank you for showing me your passion & love of books.

  Dedicated to:

  My favorite rock band

  Chasing Seven

  I can only hope my readers will find their way to you & see how truly amazing you guys are.

  The following songs provide the soundtrack for Aria’s adventures:

  1. This is What Heaven’s Like

  2. Somebody Save Me

  3. I Need You

  4. Freak

  5. Haunting Me

  6. Pictures of You

  Visit:

  http://www.chasingseven.com

  or

  Download their music on iTunes or Amazon

  https://itunes.com/chasingseven

  Camp Paramore Chapter Summary

  Chapter 1 - Cheeseburger in Paradise

  Chapter 2 - Whiskey Girl

  Chapter 3 - Bad Moon Rising

  Chapter 4 - This is What Heaven’s Like

  Chapter 5 - Home Sweet Home

  Chapter 6 - Harvest Moon

  Chapter 7 - The Crow and the Butterfly

  Chapter 8 - Come Fly with Me

  Chapter 9 - The Eyes of a Stranger

  Chapter 10 - Hysteria

  Chapter 11 - The Majestic Tale (of a Madman in a Box)

  Chapter 12 - Girl all the Bad Guys Want

  Chapter 13 - The Lodger

  Chapter 14 - The Ultimate Sin

  Chapter 15 - By-Tor and the Snow Dog

  Chapter 16 - Rope

  Chapter 17 - Keep Talking

  Chapter 18 - Fire & Ice

  Chapter 19 - Last Night

  Chapter 20 - Candyland

  Chapter 21 - Casino Royale

  Chapter 22 - Payphone

  Chapter 23 - East Bound & Down

  Chapter 24 - Prison Song

  Chapter 25 - White Wedding

  Chapter 26 - Come Undone

  Chapter 27 - Somebody Save Me

  Chapter 28 - Stranger Than Paradise

  Chapter 29 - Big Balls

  Chapter 30 - Skyfall

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  ∞

  CHAPTER 1

  CHEESEBURGER IN PARADISE

  Tuesday, Aug 14 - Day Two of the Winner’s Trip to Maui

  There are a few moments in your life that will define you. A series of intertwining seconds where divine providence will set you forward on a course of events that will change your life entirely. One moment you are an innocent little girl, naïve to the larger world around you, and in the next moment, you blossom into a beautiful woman, fearing nothing, and craving everything this new world begs you to taste.

  I wouldn’t have met Avery eight weeks ago if my best friends, Sara and Colt, hadn’t lured me to Camp Jameson under false pretenses. But things had a funny way of working out because that was where I became a woman and finally met the man of my dreams…Avery Jameson.

  This was our second day in Hawaii and we were on Avery’s new forty-four foot fishing boat, named the Nemo. We were anchored just off a small beach near Oneloa Bay in Maui where he swore was the best fishing spot in the area. Avery had called the marina on the flight out here, and had them throw in the Nemo as a little bonus when he bought his luxury yacht. He did it just so he could take me fishing this morning. The boat was a little older showing some signs of wear, but over all, it wasn’t too bad.

  Avery kept saying how he wanted to make today special for me, since we were celebrating my winning the Camp Jameson Olympics. He planned on concluding the evening with a special dinner in my honor where he and Colt would prepare whatever seafood we caught today. Then, we would go for a midnight cruise on his yacht and party until the sun came up.

  I was looking forward to this final week of partying before I got slammed with work when school started up again next week.

  I sat awestruck as the gentle breeze whisked through my light brown hair while the apricot sun rose quietly in the distance. It was so peaceful. Here, the water was clear as crystal, not like the lakes back in Ohio that churned with silt, muck, and sported an olive green tinge.

  I sighed, as Avery stood like a tanned god before me, wrestling the ropes and pulling out fishing gear. I watched coyly as Avery pulled off his shirt and buckled on his fishing belt.

  “You seem awfully happy this morning,” Avery said as he moved over to me and slung a large brown fishing belt around my waist. It was hideous and mostly covered my bikini bottoms. I was glad Sara couldn’t see me wearing this contraption. I looked like a fat walrus in it.

  But still I smiled like a Cheshire cat as I drooled over Avery in his forest green board shorts and tight white t-shirt. I replied casually. “I’m just enjoying the view.”

  “The best view is that way, Kitten.” He pointed toward the ocean sunrise, but my eyes continued following him. The breeze disheveled his brown hair, and I found that I loved hanging out with vacation Avery. He was so relaxed out here on the water.

  “Depends on who you ask,” I teased.

  Avery grinned and readied our large ocean fishing poles. He loved the outdoors and wanted to share this experience with me, although he could have at least waited until I slept off last night’s hangover. I really needed to slow down my drinking. We partied late last night and both Pierce, Avery’s brother, and Colt kept refilling our drinks until Sara and I passed out.

  As Avery steadied my pole, he reached into his shorts and unclipped his .357, still sheathed in its coffee colored holster, and handed it to me.

  “Please put this inside on the bench near the helm. It’s pinching me with this fishing belt on,” he said as I eyed it speculatively.

  To my chagrin, Avery insisted on bringing it along. He felt it was needed for a billionaire to have some protection when security wasn’t around.

  I placed the revolver on the padded bench inside the cabin and turned to head out. My pulse raced as I looked out from the cabin and studied Avery’s glistening abs. I inhaled deeply, decided it was hair-of-the-dog time, and grabbed two beers out of the small fridge.

  I quickly opened my beer, grabbed Avery’s, and headed back over to him.

  He eyed me in my white bikini and hideous brown fishing belt. I did my best to sway my hips and look sexy but it looked like I had an elephant’s trunk attached to my vagina.

  The sun bounced off the water, coloring my skin in a golden hue. So, I had that mu
ch going for me.

  Avery smirked, and swapped a beer for my pole, taking time to show me how to cast it properly and then how to anchor it inside my belt holster.

  There was something so sexy about Avery when he taught me new things. He always did it with such passion. It made me think of a few short weeks ago when I spent the morning with him at the waterfall by his cabin, and he talked about his interest in architecture and business. But he always carefully steered the conversation away from any past relationships. He wasn’t quite comfortable enough with me to open up yet and I hoped that this vacation would help us grow closer.

  The boat rocked gently over the waves as the water lapped beneath us. We were a couple miles from the marina in a secluded cove.

  Ahead, I could see a private beach owned by a wealthy friend that Avery knew as Diego Gaines. He wasn’t due in until Saturday but since we were leaving by then, I wouldn’t get to meet him, but Avery said that Diego often boasted that this was the perfect fishing spot.

  As the sun rose higher in the sky, I couldn’t help but cherish these quiet moments with Avery. No distractions. Just us. My heart swelled knowing that Avery was all mine. I promised myself right then, that I would do my best to never disappoint him. All I wanted was to make him happy.

  Several beers later, and after sharing some stale stories about myself, I decided I wanted to know more about the man I was falling for.

  “Tell me about your family,” I asked, holding onto my lifeless fishing pole and staring out into the beautiful ocean.

  “What do you want to know?” he responded gripping his pole and casting the line out into the water.

  “Anything. Everything. All your secrets,” I said. “I believe you promised to tell me more about yourself when we got to Hawaii, isn’t that right?”

  Avery shifted in his seat. He didn’t like to talk about his past very often. I had to catch him in the right mood.

  “Well, I grew up in Pennsylvania. My mother’s name is Natalie. She’s a lawyer. My father’s name is Mathew. He works in international finance and owns his own firm. My sister’s name is Emily; she’s a lawyer also and lives near Pittsburgh. And you’ve met Pierce,” he said.

  “Do any of them know you own a sex camp besides Pierce?”

  “Emily does. I don’t like to hide who I am from the people that I love but sometimes you have to,” his voice seared.

  I snickered. “I believe that. I would have an easier time getting into Fort Knox than getting you to share your past,” I quipped.

  Avery gave me a crooked smile. “You’re one to talk. You’re extremely shy, until you get a few drinks in you.”

  I giggled like a schoolgirl. “True,” I replied.

  The fact was, we really didn’t know that much about each other and that worried me. We had both been hurt before and each had our guard up.

  “So, tell me about your last relationship. Why am I the first girl you allowed into your heart, since whatever happened? You know you can open up to me. I won’t hurt you,” I pleaded.

  “How can you possibly predict that?” he asked in a rugged voice.

  Silence fell over us and I tried to think of how to end this uncomfortable lull, but thankfully, he quickly ended the silence.

  “This is the first time we’ve had a chance to be all alone in awhile. I’m sorry if I’m a little edgy. I just want today to be perfect for you...and it looks like we’re going to get a little bad weather,” he said interrupting his thought and pointing to the horizon. We watched for a few seconds as the clouds darkened.

  “Okay, I’ll tell you everything you want to know. I just need to get another beer first,” he said, placing his pole into the saddle on the side of his chair. Then he stood and moved towards the fridge inside the cabin. The wind shifted and the boat swayed underneath Avery as he walked.

  I tucked a strand of my light brown hair behind my ear that came loose from my ponytail. I thought about what my first question was going to be as I noted the dark clouds on the horizon moving towards us. I glanced back to Avery. I could see the weight of the world on his shoulders, as if he were silently weighing whether it was time for him to come clean about his last relationship and how it hurt him so badly.

  Suddenly, my pole began to heave and bend. I hooked something and it felt large.

  “Avery!” I shrieked. The fishing pole tugged toward the water and rocked the boat. Avery dropped his beer and ran up behind me to steady my arms.

  “Don’t tense up! Let him run,” his deep voice bellowed. “Give him slack…stay with it.”

  My arms ached as I braced and reeled in slowly, but as it got closer, my dodgy adversary would lurch again and steal more line as I held my ground.

  I began a push-and-pull with the mysterious fish. With Avery’s help, we tugged and reeled, bringing the large fish closer. It had to be the size of a Volkswagen.

  After about twenty minutes of fighting, it tired and we lured it in closer. Using all of our might we tugged, pulled, and finally edged it up onto the deck.

  I gasped. It was dark green and yellow with a pug-nosed face and razor backed fins. It stared at us with its black fishy stare as it tried to breathe.

  “It’s a Mahi-Mahi. It’s one of the biggest I’ve ever seen. It’s got to be some kind of record!” Avery exclaimed.

  It was extremely slimy and slick as it flopped and twitched around the deck.

  “Hurry, get me something to hold it,” Avery yelled. Avery did his best to keep it in the boat, as it convulsed and thrashed violently in its fight for life.

  “Like what?” I asked. I ran around the boat in circles losing my balance as the ocean shifted beneath us while the waves picked up.

  “Anything,” he shouted. Avery tried with desperation to use his body weight to calm the fish.

  I reached out for a beach towel, hoping to use it like a net, while Avery rolled around the deck with the fish trying desperately not to lose his grip on it.

  I kneeled and spread the towel over the fish to help contain it, but I got a little too close and its tail reared up and slapped me across the face.

  Dazed, I fell backwards and landed hard on the deck. I knocked my head into the open tackle box and spilled its lures everywhere.

  I shook my head as my face reddened. I climbed up from my knees and stood. This was war.

  I scrambled and dug through the benches looking for anything to bash it in the head with. I was pissed.

  “Hurry!” Avery yelled.

  A flashlight? No, that wouldn’t do. I wanted a hammer.

  Damn. All I could find were life vests. Seriously? Was safety the only thing that Avery ever thought about? We were the only two people on this boat and we had twenty-two life vests. And the boat only held twelve people!

  My fingertips brushed past the metal barrel of Avery’s handgun. Just what the doctor ordered.

  I reached down, grabbed Avery’s holster, and unsheathed his gun.

  The boat rocked unsteadily as the breeze sped up further. Somehow, I managed to stagger out onto the deck just as the fish escaped Avery’s grasp.

  The sea shifted the boat once again and tossed Avery to the side. He rolled over the fishing lures and hooks that lay open on the deck.

  “Oww,” he shouted as they pricked into his arms and legs. That’s it. I had enough.

  I pointed the revolver at the desperate fish and cocked the trigger. Avery’s eyes widened.

  “Nooooooooo!” he mouthed the words in what felt like slow motion. But I had already squeezed the trigger and a thunderous explosion flashed out of the barrel and blanketed over the water.

  I wasn’t prepared for the revolver’s kick as the boat shifted again getting hit by a large wave. I lost my footing, and my feet slipped out from under me. I fell backwards into the cabin, landing on the pile of life vests left in the wake of my searching.

  The handgun’s thunderous echo bounced off the distant cliffs as it stung my ears. I had never fired a gun without ear protection before, and
it was freaking loud.

  I regained my composure and sat up as Avery’s eyes flashed over to me in horror.

  “Uh-oh,” I said innocently, just as water gushed from the fresh hole underneath the unmoving fish. Avery lay there in a stupor then blinked.

  “What did you do?” he gasped out of breath and in shock.

  “I killed the fish?” I questioned nervously.

  “You just killed the boat!” Avery sat stunned.

  Water began to rush in through the bottom of the boat, and to make matters worse, the older wood crumbled as the ocean carved its way through.

  The force of the water soon opened the bullet hole to the size of a large man’s fist.

  “Quick, find something to plug that hole,” he shrieked.

  I pulled myself up and moved out of the cabin to help Avery. To make matters worse, I tossed the gun to the deck as I left the cabin. Now, this goes without saying, but you should never toss a gun to the ground. It fired again, piercing the side of the vessel and allowing even more water to flood in.

  I screamed and scrambled hoping to find something to stop the onset of ocean water.

  “Use your fingers to block the holes!” I shouted as I hurriedly scanned the boat for some kind of anti-sinking device.

  “My fingers? Do you think they’re big enough to plug any of these holes? Because I would need huge sausage fingers to stop those leaks and then everyone would call me the big sausage finger guy!”

  “Do you have any flex-seal?” I asked, not acknowledging his last comment.

  “Flex-seal? No! I don’t have any fucking flex-seal!” he barked in near panic.

  The water was around our ankles now and the boat was filling fast. Avery’s breathing became quickened.

  “Well, the commercial said you could use it to seal leaks in a boat,” I retorted.

  “Not if you shoot two big fucking holes in it!” he barked sarcastically, pointing at the geysers that I created.

  Damn, this sucks, I thought.

  Avery rose up and joined me, looking forward and aft for a solution as he took in the burgeoning disaster around us. He scampered to the far bench and pulled out a large orange squared duffel bag. Then he ripped at the emergency cord and inflated the object. This wasn’t good if Avery had to inflate a life raft.