Flirting with Fire: A Summer Camp Swingers novel

“Remember things my dad told me when I was your age. He was right about most of them, but it took me a while to realize it. Anyway, the advice… Your mom and I don’t treat you a certain way and then hope you’ll act like it. It’s the other way around. So, if you want us to treat you like a grown-up…”

She sighed in resignation. “I’m supposed to act like it?”

“Yep.”

“Unh! That isn’t fair.”

“Maybe, maybe not. But think about this… Have you ever won a trophy before you swam in the race?”

“No,” she sulked.

“Exactly. The race comes first. Then the recognition. That’s the way the world works. You’ll figure it out. Hopefully sooner than I did.”

“I suppose.”

“You will,” I said. “I have faith in you. And I love you.”

“I love you too, Dad.”

“I’m serious, though… be nice to your mom.”

“I’ll try.”

“Ah-ah,” I corrected. “Do or do not. There is no try.”

The girls had all grown up watching the original Star Wars movies with me, so Laurie knew exactly what I was talking about.

“Yoda? Seriously?”

I did a passable impression, “Good advice it is.”

She laughed, which was what I’d wanted.

“Okay,” she said. “I will.”

“Thank you.”

We talked for a moment longer and then said goodbye.

I thought about going back to sleep—it was Sunday, after all—but I was too awake. I decided to go for a swim instead. I rolled out of bed and felt a guilty sense of relief that Allie and her girls hadn’t spent the night, since I didn’t need to bother with a suit. The air was already warm and sticky when I stepped onto the patio, but the water felt nice.

Emily and Molly emerged from the pool house a little while later. I wiped my eyes and slicked the water out of my hair.

“Good morning, Froggy,” I said.

She was wearing a Naval Academy T-shirt that Rich had given her. Christy and I slept in the nude, but we wanted the girls to sleep in nightshirts or pajamas, at least until they were Laurie’s age. Then they could decide for themselves.

Emily rubbed an eye and brushed back her sleep-tousled hair. It had already started to lighten from its normal blonde. It would be the color of flax by the end of the summer, and her skin would turn a rich honey-brown, even if she wore sunscreen. (Christy and the older girls used it to prevent skin cancer. Susie and I used SPF 1,000 to prevent third-degree lobster jokes. Sometimes I really hated my pale ancestors. But I digress.)

“Care to join me?” I offered.

“Do I have to wear a suit?”

“I’m not.”

She took off her shirt and laid it neatly on a lounge chair. Then she skinned off her panties and tossed them on top of her shirt.

“Come on, Mols.” The dog obediently joined her and splashed down the steps. Emily gasped, “Oh my gosh, it’s cold!”

“Eh, you get used to it.”

“I know. At least it’s not as cold as the lake. At camp, I mean. But you’re sort of ready for it there.”

Emily waded toward me, while Molly dog-paddled confidently beside her. The girl wasn’t much bigger than the dog, and the water came to just below her chest.

“Hey, Dad…?” she said.

Molly paddled over and checked me out, just to be sure. I could’ve been a stranger with a full-body disguise, after all. I smelled like me, so she circled back to Emily.

“Hey, Dad,” she repeated, “I was thinking… Do you think we could invite Madison and Carly to camp?”

My eyebrows rose a notch. “What do you mean?”

“Only that I was talking to her yesterday. Madison, I mean. She asked what we were doing after dance camp, and I told her. She said it sounds fun.”

“I don’t think so,” I said automatically.

“Why not? She said her mom goes nude around the house sometimes, especially now that her dad isn’t there.”

“It’s a bit more complicated than that,” I said.

“Why?”

“Because they aren’t nudists.”

“Madison wants to try, though. Carly too. They said so. Yesterday, I mean. Only, not just yesterday. We’ve talked about it before. You said it was okay, remember?”

“I remember,” I said calmly. We normally didn’t tell other people we were nudists, but Allie and her girls were an exception.

“So… can we?” Emily pressed. “Invite them, I mean.”

“We’ll see.”

She huffed. “That’s what you always say, ‘We’ll see,’ when you really mean, ‘No.’” She had a point.

“Tell you what,” I said, “I’ll talk to Madison’s mom and see what she thinks. No promises,” I stressed. “I meant what I said, it’s a bit more complicated, especially for grown-ups.”

“Why? Sex stuff?”

My eyes didn’t quite pop out of my head, but they certainly tried.

“’Cause I know all about it,” Emily continued with child-like confidence.

I kept my expression neutral. “Oh, you do? Okay.”

“Yeah. I know it’s what grown-ups do. Normally, I mean. When they’re naked.”

“Sometimes,” I agreed, “but not always. I mean, your mom and I are nude all the time. The same with our friends. Sometimes we just like to hang out that way.”

“Yeah, but that’s ’cause we’re nudists. I’m talking about being naked. I know all about it. We learned in Health and Wellness. The sex stuff, I mean, and why it’s complicated.”

I knew better than to step on that little land mine, especially with my eleven-year-old daughter.