Page 127 of Wild Like Us

And the rulebook—I wonder what else is inside. So I fucking go for it and ask, “When can I see this rulebook?”

Akara rounds the tent to the front, overhearing me. “When you become a bodyguard.”

I huff. “So never.”

He smiles at me, then tells Banks, “Let’s clear the snakes and pull everything from the tent. I have to figure out how they put them in here.”

My stomach curdles. I figured someone intentionally placed them in the tent, but hearing Akara confirm the presence ofcreepscreeping over our things is disturbing.

While I near the tent’s entryway, I tell them, “I can help.” A gray snake with long yellow stripes lies motionless at the zippered flaps. Oh fuck…

My stomach sinks.

I recognize this snake. I stepped on it before Akara pulled me out of the tent.

“Sulli?” Akara frowns.

“I squished it to death,” I breathe softly. “What are the fucking odds?”

“Damn high,” Banks says gruffly as he wrangles a couple more snakes in his hands. “I think there are close to four-dozen in here.”

My estimation was a whole dozen off—and how the fuck did they even find four dozen snakes?! This waspremeditated.I burn up. Pissed off that some jackasses infiltrated the place where I sleep for a prank.

So funny.

So cute.

So fucking hilarious. Let’s frighten little ole Sullivan Minnie Meadows and hear herscream.

Not happening. If this was supposed to scare me away from the camp, it’s doing the opposite. I’m going to build afortresshere and never leave.

Takethat, assholes.

I carry the dead snake to the woods and lay its carcass down next to a rock.Carcass.Fuck, can I have any worse tact? What else am I supposed to call its dead body though?

A dead body, Sulli.

Right.

I’m gentle with the dead body—thesnake’sdead body. At our campsite, it takes some time for all of us to empty the tent of snakesandour gear.

By the time we find the slit in the back of the tent, I realize the reason Team Apex left the camp. They didn’t want to be around when my bodyguards realized they pulled this prank.

“We should sleep in the Jeep tonight,” Akara tells me as I duct tape the hole.

“They’re not here.” I squat, ripping tape with my teeth. “I don’t want to run away from a stupid joke.” How much I want to stand my ground—I’m kind of surprising myself. Normally, I’d remove myself from situations that involve pranksters, but I’d rather stay and risk a confrontation.

Patting tape to the hole, I add, “And if they wanted to hurt me, Kits, they would have put rattlesnakes in the tent.”

Banks pipes in, “I don’t think they’re comin’ back for the night.” His South Philly lilt sounds thicker. “They seemed like fuckbags, but not idiots. Best guess: they’ll return when they know we’ll be hiking to the rock face.”

“And,” I say to Akara as I stand up, “your elbow shouldn’t be cramped up in Booger all night. You’ll break your sti—”

He covers my mouth with his hand. “And thatwas the last time you’re allowed to baby me overstitches.”

I smile underneath his palm, and then he drops his hand to flick my hair at my face. “Okay, string bean. We’ll sleep in the tent.” He looks to Banks. “But we take shifts.”

“I’m good with that,” Banks says.