by Ava Harrison
That alone probably means he would rock my world.
Enough.
Head out of the gutter, Phoenix.
You cannot keep thinking about him like that. You’re tired, scared, and horny now. You’ll probably die in a few days too.
I try to shut off this train of thought by drinking, and as I guzzle the water, I close my eyes. When I open them, I notice something in the distance. Something yellow.
Holy crap.
I set off to check it out, hoping and praying I’m not wrong.
By the time I get to the tree, I might actually cry.
A fruit.
There is freaking fruit here.
This is a dream, right?
I’m not sure what they are, but they must be edible. It looks like an enormous football with pointed ridges. In my head, I try to catalog the fruits I have eaten when I went to the Caribbean. Starfruit? Maybe. Alaric would know.
They’re too high for me to grab, but maybe I can be like Alaric.
I should just go get him and bring him back, but my damn stubbornness will be my downfall.
On tiptoes, I raise my body. Not enough.
If I can just put my foot here …
Lifting again, I try to use the trunk for leverage as my fingers grab the fruit and throw it toward the ground.
Unfortunately, only one comes down. I’m going to have to do this all over again. I move a few feet and try to grab it from a different angle.
This time, I’m not so lucky. As my finger grabs the fruit, my leg loses its hold, and I fall with a thud.
My ankle screams with each step I take. This is bad. I hope I didn’t break something.
Being stuck on an island with a broken leg or foot would be just my luck. I stop my movements and look down. It’s not swollen yet, and the color hasn’t changed.
No. I didn’t break it. I let out a sigh of relief. But it’s definitely twisted.
If that’s not bad enough, blood leaks from a small gash on my leg.
Alaric will have a field day with this.
I will never hear the end of it.
Why did you climb the tree?
No part of me is interested in listening to a lecture on what I should and shouldn’t have done.
I’m just going to tell him I tripped.
Except for the fruit in my hand, he’d probably believe it.
The damn fruit.
A part of me wonders if I should have left them there, so he wouldn’t know what I was up to.
But then my stomach growls, and I know I have no choice. I need to bring them back to camp and hope he doesn’t tease me too much.
We’re on a truce. Maybe he won’t be a complete dick about it.
For someone as brooding as he was when I first met him, he certainly has a sarcastic sense of humor.
If it were anyone else, I’d probably like it.
Who are you kidding? You do.
I try to shoo the thoughts away. The only problem is without my brain occupied with thoughts of Alaric, the pain radiates more intensely.
Think of something else.
Anything else.
I try to imagine anything, but all I can see is Alaric walking naked toward the water. His body looks like it was cut from marble.
Yep.
I have issues.
Each step is harder than the next, and the feeling of blood trickling down my leg has me taking the steps slower.
Finally, I push through into the clearing of the beach.
Alaric must hear me because he turns in my direction and rushes over to me.
“What happened to you?”
“Would you believe me if I said I fell?”
His right eyebrow lifts, and he gives me a look that says no.
“It was worth a try.” I take another step, and now I’m standing directly in front of him.
I lift my hand to show him what I have. “I got fruit, though.” I groan.
Before I know what’s happening, Alaric has lifted me into his arms, pressing me into his chest, and carries me bridal style.
If this couldn’t be any more embarrassing, my body shivers at his warm hands on my skin.
Apparently, my good sense has taken a back seat, and my hormones are driving because I can’t seem to keep myself in check.
With each step he takes, I can feel how his muscles flex and his heart beats. I can feel everything, and I need him to put me down.
“You don’t have to carry me.”
“I do. You looked like you were in pain, and seeing as we are on an island, and I’m not sure how long we will be here, I can’t risk you getting more hurt.”
He’s right—I know he’s right—but it doesn’t make it any easier to admit.
I don’t want him to help me.
But unfortunately, I need him to. Which sucks.
Someone tell me this is not my life.
I let out a long, drawn-out sigh. One that tells him I know he’s right, and he chuckles.
When we are back to the makeshift raft bed, he sets me down. “Lie down so I can look at it.”
“You want me to lie down in there. Where we sleep?”
“Any other suggestions? I have to clean it, and seeing as I don’t want any sand getting into the wounds, our locations for this procedure are limited.”
Again, he’s right. Always the voice of reason. He’s freaking perfect and smart, and a giant ass—
“Down,” he orders again, and this time, I listen. I get into the raft and recline.
I don’t fully lie down; I want to see him when he looks at my ankle.
He steps in and then sits next to me. My breath comes out choppy as he reaches forward and places my leg on his lap.
I swear to God it feels like there is a belt around my chest that tightens with each touch of his fingers.
He lifts my ankle, rotating it slowly. Pain shoots through me, and I cringe.
“What about this?” He does the same movement in the other direction. This time, it doesn’t hurt.
“It’s just twisted. No breaks. No sprain. But I’m going to wrap it with a bandage for the rest of the day, just in case.”
“Can I walk on it?”
“I wouldn’t suggest it. Wait until tomorrow.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah, it sucks, but at least it will heal. I’m not sure what will happen, but we can’t afford for it to get worse, so you’ll have to take it easy and let me take care of you.”
His words shouldn’t warm me. They shouldn’t make butterflies take flight in my stomach, but they do.
I will them to stop, but they have a mind of their own.
“Now let me clean this off, and then I’ll get you something to eat.”
He’s so gentle as he takes my leg and slowly cleans off the cut. When he places a bandage on my cut and then wraps my ankle, I swear I think I might cry. No one has treated me so delicately in my entire life. Not even my father. Sure, I know he loves me, but he was never like this.
He never treated me like I needed taking care of. Maybe it’s because I would never have allowed it. I had to fend for myself for so long.
But I would be lying to myself if I don’t admit Alaric is giving me exactly what I need.
My mind is at war with my body as Alaric sits down beside me after he cracks open a coconut.
He hands me one side and takes the other for himself.
Then he hands me a bottle of water, but what’s inside isn’t water.
“It’s the milk from the coconut. I opened and drained it.”
“Wow. Okay. Thanks,” I say like an idiot.
I don’t know how to handle him being nice. I know we had a truce, but this feels different than that.
It feels strangely intimate, our bodies touching, drinking from the same bottle.
“I’ll make more tomorrow. I was going to do the rest, but then I saw you.”
“It’s okay. This is perfect.”
We settle into a comfortable silence as we both eat the fleshy
part.
I groan on the first bite, and he laughs.
“It’s good, right?”
“Not that I want to complain because I’m grateful you had the presence of mind to make the survival kit, but those bars are pretty nasty.”
“That they are. They do the trick, though. But yeah, this is much better.”
I lean back, getting more comfortable.
Alaric had started a fire, and now its blazes warm around us.
“How do you know how to do all this?” I ask.
“I just do.”
“Come on, that’s not really an answer. Climbing. Fires, first aid …” I look up at him, and he’s staring intensely at me.
“It’s just something I know.”
He’s holding something back. I know it. He knows it. But it’s obvious he’s not willing to tell me his secrets. Not that I would fault him for that. Yes, maybe right now, we are on the same team, but I can understand if he’s still wary.
“If you don’t want to talk about that, then what do you want to talk about?”
“Who says I want to talk at all?” His gaze is penetrating. It’s unnerving.
“What then?”
“We can enjoy the silence together.”
“Oh.”
“It's not that I don’t want to talk to you, but do you ever feel like it might be nice just to enjoy nothing with someone?”
I cock my head but continue to look at him.
“Yeah,” I whisper back, understanding exactly what he means.
He settles next to me, our bodies still close but not quite touching, with both of our heads tipped back to look at the sky.
I’m not sure how long we stay like this, but it’s exactly what I need right now.
Silence. A moment to calm down, calm my mind, and just stare at the stars.
Tomorrow, I’ll go back to analyzing everything and probably hating him too. But tonight, I’ll just be.
Whatever that means.
Bright sunlight streams down, making my lids flutter. For a brief second, I forget where I am. Then it all comes crashing down, like an early morning wave beating against the rocks. I’m still here.
I’m living my own version of groundhog’s day. Waking the same way each morning, hoping the outcome will be different, or that maybe none of this is real.
But none of this is a dream.
No one is coming to look for us.
My heart races, and I sit up from where I was lying. Alaric is nowhere to be seen.
I have gotten used to him being missing in the morning, but after the temporary reprieve from our hatred yesterday, I assumed maybe he’d be here.
How ridiculous am I?
Just because we didn’t kill each other yesterday, and he was kind to me, does not wash away the past.
I’m not sure how to move forward from here.
A part of me wants to put the past behind us for now, revisit it once we are off this island. Another part can’t.
We might never get off here. Can I live the rest of my life holding onto this in my chest?
The idea of being stuck here forever has me feeling suffocated. I move to stand, but then I remember how tight my ankle is. Removing the bandage, I look at it.
Normal.
There’s no swelling. I just need to figure out a way to work out the muscle without hurting myself more.
What would I do if I was back home?
Water.
I remember when Hannah hurt herself back at school, her physical therapist had her do exercises in the water to loosen her tight muscles.
That’s what I’ll do.
Today, I opt to swim in my bra and panties, not wanting to chance Alaric coming back early and seeing me naked.
I’m surprised how much better my body already feels today. Yes, it’s still tight, but I’m sure it will be better soon.
My toes are the first to hit the water. Even though it’s summer and the water’s warm, it still takes a minute to adjust to the temperature.
Slowly, I walk farther in. Once I’m submerged to my chest, I lift my injured leg up and move my ankle around.
In the water, I don’t feel pain. The movements are fluid and easy, and I can feel the muscles loosening.
From where I’m swimming, it’s almost as if I’m on vacation. The tropical landscape a picturesque backdrop that one would pay good money to relax in.
It’s not the case for us.
No matter how beautiful and lush the palm trees are, there isn’t enough food to make this island sustainable for long.
Someone could build here and make it livable, but it feels like a waste.
How do you destroy something so beautiful?
For some unknown reason, Alaric’s blue eyes come to mind. The way he laughs, but his gaze always seems so far away.
Beautiful, but broken.
There’s more to the story there with him.
I can tell, and although I shouldn’t want to hear it, I’m desperate to understand him.
From a distance, a noise startles me. My eyes scan the beach in front of me until I catch Alaric running toward the ocean. His arms are waving in the air, and he’s shouting, but I can’t make out what he’s trying to say.
He looks frantic.
Instantly, I’m on edge and looking around me to what has him scared.
Then I see it. In the distance, a fin. A dark-gray fin peeks ominously out from the choppy waters.
I can’t breathe. It feels like hands are wrapped around my neck, and someone is choking me.
Adrenaline flows through my veins, making my heart ping pong around in my chest.
The horror of the situation has me paralyzed as my limbs fail to get the memo that I need to swim.
“Get out of the water,” I hear him shout, but still, I can’t.
It’s getting closer, and I can’t move.
The sound of Alaric’s screams gets closer and closer, and the next thing I know, his arms wrap around me and are pulling me toward the beach.
We flop onto the sand, our chests both heaving as I glance back to where I was previously swimming.
The fin is there now, circling, but then it pops out more, and a giggle escapes my chest.
“That’s not a shark.” I laugh with the nervous energy that’s pouring out of me. “It’s a dolphin.”
Still in Alaric’s arms, my head turns to face him. The look on his face is scary. His jaw is set tight enough that it could crack. “You were lucky this time,” he mutters through gritted teeth. “Next time you won’t be. Do not go into the ocean alone.” Abruptly, he stands, letting me go and causing me to drop onto the sand. That went well.
26
Alaric
After the incident in the water, we don’t speak. I spend the rest of the day acting like a complete douche, but I couldn’t face her.
When I thought it was a shark and thought she would die, I thought I had failed her too. Even though I haven’t known her long, I feel responsible for her. She might hate me and want me dead, but I can’t let anything happen to her.
I fish and cook for us, and then when we finish eating, we both fall asleep.
Now I’m up, and she’s not, and I am using my time to fish. Again.
As many coconuts as I got, we don’t have enough to chance it. As soon as Phoenix is able to, we need to head back to where she fell and collect more fruit. There are probably other things we can eat here. We just have to look.
With the sun low in the sky, I’m hoping to catch something. I’m happy she’s asleep. I don’t want to leave her when she’s awake to do this.
I’m on the beach with a makeshift net. The sun beats down on my head and shoulders.
As I wait for a fish to swim by, I turn to watch her. She’s really something. All fire and equal measures of bite.
What’s her story?
She’s been hidden for a long time. Michael never even said he had a daughter. Hell, I didn’t even know he had children at all until recently.
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I’m interested in finding out, but she’s a nosy one. If I ask, she will want answers of her own. Am I willing to part with my own story to fulfill this crazy desire to know more about hers?
Maybe.
I’m torn.
On the one hand, who knows how long we will be here, so what harm is it?
On the other, I don’t like to let people in.
But would I have to?
I could tell her a little about me without telling her anything her father could use against me … if we ever get out of this mess.
As if she can hear me thinking about her, she moves in her sleep. She inches toward where I was. As if her body is seeking me out.
She would hate to know that she’s doing it. A part of me wants to tease her for it, but another part doesn’t want to do that at all.
That part finds her fascinating.
That part finds her beautiful. The part that wishes things could be easier, and I could lose myself in her body briefly.
I shake my head and realize I haven’t been paying attention to the fish. I need to do that if we are going to eat.
Time has no relevance on this island. But from what I can tell from where the sun sits in the sky, I have been at this for at least an hour, with only one fish to show for it.
Better than nothing, I guess.
Deciding to call it a day, I lift my net and head back to the campsite.
Phoenix is stirring when I finally arrive.
Her hands reach up to wipe the sleep from her eyes.
“What do you have there?” she asks.
“Lunch and maybe dinner.” I laugh.
“You can cook too?”
I nod, and she chuckles. “Of course you can. There is nothing you can’t do.”
“I can’t build a radio out of a coconut,” I respond flatly.
“Few can.”
I place the fish down and then move to sit back next to her.
“How does the ankle feel?” Without waiting for her to speak, I reach my hand out and take her leg in my hands. My fingers trace circles on her skin as I wait for her to answer.
As I make the motion, her cheeks flush.
“I—I don’t know. Fine. I guess.”
“Does this hurt?” I move her ankle, and she shakes her head. “What about this?”
“Nope.”
“Okay, good. I’m sure you’ll be fine. Today, I want you to stay here, though. Do not go into the ocean.”