Page 17 of Surviving Love

“A little. There were bugs buzzing in my ears all night, so that was awesome.” Rob sighed. “It’s funny how coming out here seemed like a good idea when I was at home. Now, I keep asking myself what I’m doing here.”

I frowned. “But it’s only day two.”

“I know. It’s harder than I realized.”

Jack and Harold walked into camp as he finished speaking, and I stiffened. I assumed they’d been talking strategy away from the rest of us. Jack had assured me I’d be safe this week, but next week, who knew what would happen?

Harold approached me, looking sheepish. “Are you still not talking to me?”

I shook my head. “I overreacted. It’s a game, and you were just playing it.”

“Exactly.” He appeared relieved.

I was surprised when Jack joined us. I’d expected he’d go back to ignoring me every chance he got. Maybe because he needed my vote, he’d decided to be nicer to me. Who knew with Jack? I couldn’t read him well.

“I was happy to see the fire going this morning,” I said.

Jack shrugged. “We need to eat before we go up against the Karangalan tribe. They have some very athletic people on their side.”

“Yeah, but we have you.” Sherry gave Jack a flirty smile.

I expected him to beam from the compliment, but he actually looked uncomfortable. “I’m just one guy. Everyone will have to pull their weight today.”

“I’ll do my best.” Harold grimaced.

“Do you have any idea what the challenge is?” Lydia asked.

Harold shook his head. “Holly said there will be swimming and a puzzle involved. Other than that, she wouldn’t give me details.”

“No, they want us as confused as possible,” I said softly. “It’s better TV that way. The more we suffer, the more people tune in.”

Jack glanced at me. “You can’t blame them for knowing what their audience wants.”

“I’m not blaming them.” I frowned. “I’m simply acknowledging what’s going on.”

“We’re all fans of the show, so we should have known what to expect,” he added, as if he hadn’t heard me.

I found his lecturing tone annoying. “Again, I was simply making an observation. In no way was I criticizing the show.”

Harold gave a gruff laugh. “Before I was picked to be on the show, I definitely tuned in to see the contestants struggle. How boring would it be if nobody ever split their lip or whined about being hungry? I wouldn’t watch a show where everything was perfect.”

“There is no reality show where everything is perfect.” Lydia laughed.

Rob grinned. “Nope.”

The guy who’d still been sleeping in the shelter came out, looking groggy. Luciano was a heavyset man, probably in his forties, who talked a lot about his Italian heritage. He seemed the tightest with Rob and Lydia.

“Good morning,” Sherry called out brightly when he made his appearance.

Luciano looked up, rubbing his eyes. “Oh, buon giorno. I guess I overslept.”

“Not much else to do around here.” Sherry smiled.

Jack grunted. “Actually, there’s plenty to do. We need to finish the shelter. There were way too many leaks last night. We also need to keep this fire going, which means we need to build some sort of cover for it. Judging from the clouds in the distance, there’s more rain on the way.”

“Boo.” Lydia sighed. “I’m already tired of the rain.”

I was continually amazed at how unprepared these people seemed for this experience. Supposedly they were all fans of the show, and yet none of them expected to suffer?Devious Islandwas famous for torturing its contestants. There were nineteen seasons down, and not one had escaped having atleastone person airlifted out early for medical reasons.