Page 71 of Surviving Love

Sherry appeared beside Jack. “What are you guys talking about?”

Jack glanced at her. “I was just wondering why Mason was chatting up that guy from the other tribe.”

“What guy?” she asked.

“Larry.” Harold shrugged. “I told Jack I didn’t see anything wrong with talking to the other people on that tribe.”

Nodding, Sherry said, “I doubt it would hurt anything.”

“Your boyfriend disagrees,” I said, regretting the words the second they left my mouth. I had no idea why I’d even said that. Number one, it made me look childish, and secondly, the last thing I needed was to alienate Sherry. She was one of the most popular people on our tribe.

Good going, idiot.

Sherry’s face flushed pink. “That’s not very nice, Mason.”

Gritting my teeth, I touched her arm. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I’m in a grumpy mood because I’m hungry.”

“Oh, well, it’s okay,” she said softly.

Jack narrowed his eyes. “Maybe instead of wasting all of your goodwill on the other tribe, you could try being nicer to your own tribe.”

My face warmed, but I didn’t respond. What could I say? I had been rude to Sherry, and I wasn’t about to remind him in front of the others about just howniceI’d been to himtwice. I had no clue why he seemed to dislike Larry, but he definitely seemed to have a problem with the other guy. Unless it was all an act? Who knew with Jack?

When we got back to camp, I avoided Jack. I went down to the beach with Harold, Sherry, and Billy, where I washed the mud off while they chatted about all the things they’d love to eat when we finally got back to civilization. It was nice to relax after expending all my energy in the challenge.

Once the sun began to lower, we made our way back to camp to cook rice for dinner. Jack appeared at one point, with Sherry in tow. She was laughing uproariously at something he’d said, which for whatever reason bugged me. He had five fish on a line, and he stopped near the fire.

“Who wants to clean the fish I caught?” Jack asked.

Billy sighed. “I guess I can do it. Although, I kind of butchered the fish last time.”

Jack ignored Billy and instead pinned his gaze on me. “How about you, Mason? I don’t think I’ve seen you do it yet.”

My stomach dropped because gutting and cleaning fish wasn’t something I wanted to do. I did everything else around camp but that. I’d never gutted an animal in my life, and I suspected Jack knew that and disapproved.

“Oh, I’ll do it,” Sherry said. “I don’t think Mason likes cleaning the fish.”

“Too bad.” Jack’s voice was hard. “Everyone has to pull their weight.”

Frowning, I said, “I pull my weight around camp.” If he was being obnoxious on purpose, I wished he’d take it down a notch.

“Do you pull your weight?” Jack arched one brow.

“Yes,” I snapped. “I gather wood and get water for the tribe every single day.”

Sherry laughed uneasily. “I really don’t mind cleaning the fish, Jack.”

“There’s no reason Mason shouldn’t also do it,” Jack said softly.

I held Jack’s dark gaze, resentment simmering in my gut. Was he pushing this, hoping I’d wimp out and look weak in front of the tribe? Well, he could go fuck himself. I wasn’t letting him get away with trying to embarrass me, just because he didn’t like me talking to the other tribe. “No, Sherry. That’s fine. I’ll clean the fish.”

“Are you sure?” She grimaced. “It’s a pretty disgusting job.”

“Yes.” I smiled at her, feeling like my face was going to crack. “I don’t want anyone thinking I’m not working hard enough.”

“We know you’re working hard, Mason.” Sherry frowned.

Harold chuckled. “Mason, you work your ass off around camp. Jack is just being a grump because he didn’t like you talking to Larry earlier.”