Page 6 of Hunted (Desert Island Duet #2)

Chapter six

Bower

A creak from a floorboard wakes me, my eyes instantly flying open, looking for a threat.

The past few days have been exhausting. Mentally mostly, but physically, too.

I’m just a normal guy. I know nothing of mercenaries and corporate espionage, or whatever was really going on with The Danver’s Group charity division.

A dark figure exiting the hut has me sitting up, and I glance around, seeing Reece is no longer in the hammock. It must have been him.

I quietly rise to my feet and see Zee fast asleep between King and West. It pulls a small smile to my lips at how content they all look. I wish I had my phone so I could snap a photo for them right now.

Pulling on my jeans and my extra t-shirt, followed by my socks and shoes, I step out into the slowly brightening sky.

It’s still early, the sun has barely risen, and I yawn as I descend the ladder to the ground. I slowly search the area for Reece and just when I start to worry, he steps back into the clearing from behind a tree.

“Oh, hey. I was just taking a piss.”

I chuckle, pointing to some banana leaves. “Take note of these leaves, they’re the ones you’ll want to use if you need to take a shit. ”

He glances at them with a look of disgust. “Let’s hope I’m not out here long enough to need them.”

The thought of being rescued causes a pang of hope to resonate in my chest. “You really think your dad will send a rescue team by tomorrow?”

He nods, stretching his arms above his head as he gazes around. “Definitely. Maybe even today. This isn’t like when you guys went missing. This time, people know where I am.”

I nod my head in relief. Richard Benson was nothing if not a persistent, demanding man. And he loves his son; he’ll make sure Reece is found quickly.

“Bower?”

“Hmm?” I turn back to Reece, realizing I missed what he said.

“I asked if Darla is okay?”

“What do you mean?” I furrow my eyebrows. “You mean after you yelled at her yesterday?” I try not to let the question come out harshly, but I hated the way he spoke to her. If he was anyone else, I would have given him a black eye.

“Yes, no. I dunno…” He pushes his hands through his hair in agitation, glancing up at the hut where she still lies asleep. “I’m just worried about her. This is a lot for her to take in.”

“Luckily, she doesn’t have to go through any of this alone. We’re all here for her.”

He looks back at me, a look of unease covering his face. “Does that include me?”

“That’s up to you and her,” I say with a shrug.

When King and I first considered sharing her, I never imagined Reece a part of that scenario.

I’ve never even seen him with a woman before.

There’s been no flirting, no kissing, no dancing, no longing looks.

Now I try to imagine the five of us, living together, back in our home in San Francisco. The image is blurry.

I always imagined Reece being there, but it’s hard to even imagine him with a woman, let alone simply speaking to one he liked. I’m not convinced he even knows how to talk to her.

I glance over at him. His eyes are glued to the hut, like she might emerge at any second and he doesn’t want to miss a moment of her presence.

“Reece, do you even know how to flirt?”

“What?” He looks at me in confusion. “Of course I do.”

“Are you sure? Have you ever done it before?”

“Fuck off, of course I have,” he says, seeming more embarrassed than angry.

“When? With Darla? When you guys were thirteen?” I ask with a smirk. I don’t want to tease the guy, but what twenty-eight-year-old man who looks like he belongs on the front of a woman’s romance book has never flirted before?

He’s silent for a few seconds before he answers in a huff. “It still counts.”

I can’t stop the chuckle that escapes me, and he glares at me in warning. “Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh. I’m just trying to imagine you flirting. You want some tips?”

“Fuck off, I don’t need your help. You’re likely to tell me to use some terrible pickup lines.”

I rub my chin in thought as I smirk at him. “Hmm, like, you must be a parking ticket, because you’ve got fine written all over you?”

He doesn’t react, so I try again. “Okay, how about, if you were a fruit, you’d be a fine apple? ”

I see the smallest twitch of his lips, so I decide to bring out the big guns. “Okay, what about, do you believe in love at first sight—or should I walk by again? Or, do you have a map? Because I just got lost in your eyes.”

A small smile finally breaks through and his shoulders drop in defeat. He shakes his head as he glares at me, laughter shining through his eyes. “Bower, those are shit. Don’t tell me you actually use those on women?”

“Of course not! I wasn’t gonna give you my best ones.”

He’s quiet for a second before he asks, “What line did you use on Darla?”

“Tink? None. She’s not the kind of woman who responds to a pickup line. She appreciates honesty and kindness. Once you have a real conversation with her, instead of yelling at her, you’ll get it. She’s different.”

“Yeah, I already knew that fifteen years ago,” he huffs.

“Yeah, but I mean, she’s different from other women her age. She’s more na?ve in a lot of ways, but she also had to grow up really fast, so she’s extremely mature and independent. She doesn’t like being told what to do. It’s something we’re working on with her.”

“What do you mean?”

I pull the tie from my hair and start working my fingers through it as I try to explain.

“So a few days ago, she snuck off to climb this huge ass rock wall, just so she could collect some eggs for us to eat. West was furious, we all were. But she didn’t understand the problem, since she did it dozens of times before we got here. ”

“Does she often put herself in unnecessary danger?” he asks with concern.

“Unfortunately. It’s part of the reason she needs us, almost as much as we need her. ”

“Need her? You mean want her?”

“No, man. I fucking need her in my life. Meeting her has changed my brain chemistry or some shit. I’ve never felt even a spec of this with any other girlfriend. I literally feel like I wouldn’t survive without her in my life.”

“Shit.” He exhales and I finish tying my hair up, as he asks, “You love her, don’t you?”

A huge smile splits my face. “To the moon and back.”

“Have you slept with her?” he asks, looking like he’s bracing for impact.

“First of all, if you want to be part of this, you’re gonna have to come around to the thought of her being with us without hurling.”

“I wasn’t—”

"Second of all,” I cut him off, “It’s none of your business.” His face pinches in frustration, so I decide to throw him a bone. “We’ve done… stuff. But not that.”

I watch as he seems to battle with relief and frustration before he finally nods.

“Good morning!” I hear her angelic voice before I see her.

With a huge smile on my face, I turn to see Zee waving down at us from the skywalk, West and King stepping out behind her. King whispers something to her and she nods, then moves to climb down the ladder.

Reece quickly moves over to where she’s climbing down, his hands raised like he’s afraid she’ll fall. I smirk, thinking about how he’ll react when he sees her leap onto a vine.

As soon as she’s low enough, he grabs her by the waist and lifts her down to the ground. “I got you,” he says, as if she was doing something dangerous and not descending a ladder she built and has been climbing for well over a decade.

“Oh, ah, thanks, Reece.”

He just nods and takes a step back, giving the others room to climb down.

King is the last to reach the ground, and as soon as he does, he turns to take us all in, his hands on his hips.

“Okay, so I think today's plan should be making sure someone is always at the beach, on lookout. We probably need to gather more firewood, too, so we can rebuild the wood pile on the beach. We should also fill our waterskins and grab some fruit.”

Jumping in quickly, hoping for some alone time with my girl, I suggest, “Zee and I can fill the canteens and get fruit, if you guys want to head to the beach?”

Three sets of eyes turn to me with a glare, but when nobody verbally protests, I clap my hands together, rocking back on my heels. “Great, I’ll go grab the waterskins and a couple bags.”

“I can help!” Zee says excitedly as she scampers to the ladder and climbs up faster than I can even step up to the bottom. “Got them!” she yells down after I place a foot on the bottom rung.

Chuckling, I step back and shake my head. “You’re so fast, Tink. Like a little fairy!”

“We’ll see you two at the beach when you’re done?” King asks. I turn to see the other two watching Zee climb down while King looks at me in question.

“Yep, we’ll bring breakfast.” He nods and follows the other two out of the clearing. The sound of Zee hitting the ground has me turning around to her beaming face as she holds up all the bags and waterskins .

I grab them all from her and throw them over my arm.

“I can take some,” she protests, trying to grab one back, but I grab her wrists and kiss her palms quickly, smiling down at her.

“Nope, I’ve got them, you can hold my hand.” I wiggle my fingers as she tries to hold back her smile before grabbing my hand and leading me out of the clearing.

We walk in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before she asks, “Is he mad?”

“What? Who?” I ask, wondering where her train of thought is coming from.

“Reece?”

“No, why would you think that?”

She shrugs, looking down as we move towards the waterfall. “I dunno, after last night and this morning, he was pretty quiet.”

“I don’t think he knows how to act around you.”

She frowns up at me, a look of confusion etched in her face.