28. Overboard
Chapter 28
Overboard
Easton
T he water rejuvenates me. I’ve floated away from the rest of them. I’m calm and at peace with this island here in the ocean. And that’s fucking crazy. I’m happier shipwrecked with a bunch of strangers and no food than being back in the boardroom with my dad.
Fuck. I hope he’s okay. Emily too. Damn it. I hate that I don’t know what’s going on with them. That they don’t know I’m alive. But I can’t control it.
I let it go. I ride the waves with my eyes closed and release my anxiety. I’m not like Calvin. I can make out every pent-up frustration in the strain of his thick neck. Thankfully, Haley’s convinced Calvin we’d all fall apart without a break. But I know it’s Dante who put the bug in her ear. And thank fuck.
I helped Dante into the water. He told me he was good, so I let him go.
The waves are gentle, and there’s no riptide. I for one am glad for the moment to relax. Because I’m no fool—the second we’re done with this swim, we’re not just gathering palm fronds but skinning a pig. And whatever else Robinson Crusoe shit Calvin has planned.
I start making my way over to Haley. She’s clinging to Zane, and they’re laughing. Her laugh almost outweighs the weird noise Zane is making. I dive under the water and swim below the waves to where Zane and Haley are. I break the surface but end up getting a good eyeful of Zane’s junk first.
A wave crashes over us, separating Haley from Zane. Now I’m laughing, and so are they. Zane’s more thrashing in the water than swimming, but he’s staying up mostly. I’m not going to criticize his technique; the guy killed a beast with a twig.
I reach out to take Haley’s hand, but she reaches past me. “Dante.” Her eyes are wide.
A splash behind me makes me turn, and fuck, the chef is sinking like a rock. A big breath, and I dive down. His arms are flailing around, but we’re barely in eight feet of water. Hell, if Calvin wanted to stand, he probably could. I pull the water away from me and grasp Dante from behind, hauling him up by his chest. He’s stop thrashing, but he is coughing.
“Fucker,” Dante spits out. He coughs more, and I swim with him to shore.
I’ve never had to pull anyone from the water before, but I’ve seen it. Sometimes they fight the rescuer; Dante doesn’t. He’s clinging to me but not getting in the way of me getting him to shore.
“I’m good. I’m good. Really.” The coughs keep coming while I’m pulling him in. When our feet hit the sand, I don’t let him go. Instead, I help him almost all the way back to the fire. He stops a few steps short of it, his hands resting on his knees. Doubled over, he coughs a few more times before we stumble together to the fire.
“You okay?” I’m next to him, waiting to see if he goes down.
Calvin places Haley down next to us. “Next time...” He sounds more like my dad than a leader.
“Next time we land on a desert island and decide to go for a swim?” Dante gets out between coughs. “I’m fine. I was laughing at the wave taking out Zane. It was the first good moment I’ve had in a few days, and I got a mouthful of seawater. Next thing, I’m sinking. But Goldie here saved me.”
I shake my head. No way I’m answering to Goldie. Swimmer Boy is bad enough.
“Dante, are you sure you’re okay? Sit down over here.” Haley hops over to the closest log and brushes the sand off it.
“I’m good, Sassy.” And he almost sounds okay.
I take a towel hanging from the side of the raft and wipe my face. “Best thing ever.” I’m super grateful for the towel. I toss it to Zane, and he does the same.
“Thanks.” Zane hangs it up.
Calvin’s made his way back over to Haley, like some oversized shadow. He shakes his hair dry like a dog. A damn dog.
Haley giggles. “Stop.”
And now I’m fuming inside. “I’m going to get more wood for the cooking fire,” I growl.
“I’m going to keep Haley from causing any more problems.” Dante laughs, but Zane and Calvin are squinting at him. I feel the same.
Haley stands up with her crutch under her arm. “Well, I’m going to dry out the inside of the raft. Unless you think we should bed down somewhere else?”
“No. It’s better for the bugs and the other things.” Calvin gives her a nod. Who the fuck knows what the other things are?
I’m the first to move. “Let me help you into the raft.”
She sighs and glances behind me. “Okay. But I’m helping.”
“We are all going to have to pull our fair share.” Calvin glares first at me and then at Dante.
Dante points the stick he’s using to tend the fire at Calvin. “What, I’m injured, and he just saved me. So back down, big guy. We’re doing our share.” He puts the stick back into the fire, pushing the embers around.
Calvin grunts, but I ignore it. It’s only a few steps, but having her in my arms is definitely better than any shit Calvin is about to make me do. I lift her over the edge of the raft. Admittedly, I don’t want to let go, even though I know she’s stable on her good leg. “Let me get you a towel to wipe down the raft.”
She shakes her head. “I’m going to use the water collection sponge. I don’t know about you, but I’m glad we didn’t have to drink from the sponge.” She sighs.
“Damn straight,” I agree.
“Ready? We need more wood and fronds.” Calvin is standing over the other side of the fire, glaring at me like a damn Russian-born swim coach.
“Yeah.” I trudge after him. The wind changes when we enter the jungle. I love the beach—the water—but there’s something about the jungle here; it feels safer, even with the murder pigs. There are a ton of palm trees and coconuts along the edge of the woods. But inward, closer to the fresh water, the trees get massive. Smooth bark. Big. They’re nothing like the redwoods of California. Big but not that huge.
“We’re after palm fronds,” Calvin commands. “Not staring at the trees.”
“Sure.” Saying anything else to the brute is pointless.
Calvin has the hatchet from the emergency kit. He chops off the palm fronds, and I gather them up. But I can’t stop staring at the big trees.
He carries twice as many palm fronds as I have when we go back to the beach. It’s getting hotter out in the open.
The next hour makes me grateful my dad liked fishing and not hunting. We’re back in the woods, and I look up over half of the butchered boar. As bossy as the asshole is, I’m also grateful we have him with us. But that reminds me of Emily, and I shiver. I hope my sister is okay. And as stupid as it was, I’m holding on to Zane’s Schrodinger’s cat theory. Until I know she’s dead, she’s alive. And that’s what I’m going to go with.
Zane has come and gone a bunch of times with more and more firewood, and now he’s back again.
“Stop.” Calvin leans against a massive tree.
I’m holding the bunch of bananas Zane handed down from the tree he shimmied up. He drops to the ground with a big stack of leaves under his arm, but he’s frowning like he knows what Calvin’s going to talk about.
“Haley,” Zane says. Like I should understand.
“Exactly.” Calvin nods.
“What about her? Her ankle will heal. A day or two of rest. She’ll be fine.” I’m ready to walk back to the fire now that the boar is dangling from the tree.
“Yes. She’s going to be fine. But you like her.” Calvin scowls at me.
“Yeah, I like her.” If this is some sort of Neanderthal claiming of the damsel, I’m out of here. Not that I can leave.
“We all like her,” Calvin says.
“Obviously. What’s there not to like?” I agree with the giant. Haley’s kind, smart, and has curves I would like to know a heck of a lot better.
“No, we all like her, like her. And if any of us go after her to form a relationship, it’s going to be an issue.” Zane cocks his head to the beach.
I scowl. “How is it an issue? The girl likes who she likes, and that’s it.”
“Exactly. I’m glad you’re on board.” Calvin crosses his arms, the hatchet resting on his bicep.
“On board?”
Zane nods. “If she wants to date all of us, or some of us?—”
Calvin interrupts, “Or none of us.”
“Or none of us, we need to be cool with that. Are you good with that?” Zane continues.
None of us? No way in hell is that going to be a thing. I want her. And I always work hard for what I want. My heart slams into my stomach. I thought about maybe asking Haley out on a proper date once we were back in Florida. But the word here seems preposterous. Date? “I suppose. As long as it’s up to her. Did anyone talk to Dante?”
Calvin laughs. “It was his idea.”
“Of course it was,” I say.
“Like Swimmer Boy said, it’s up to her.” Calvin puts another palm frond under the swinging carcass. I can’t help thinking it’s a lot cooler in the woods.
I glance at the boar in the tree.
“This will work.” Calvin cocks his head. And I’m not sure if he’s talking about the meat or Haley. I nod, but I’m not sure I mean it.
We trudge our load back to our little camp.
“We need to smoke some of the meat.” Dante points to the tree and stands. He moves stiffly but joins us around the fire. “We can roast it in the ground. Hell, we can do that tomorrow, maybe.”
“We can dig the hole now, get it started. Tomorrow we work on making jerky.” Calvin’s got a stripe of boar blood across his chest. He looks like a warrior Viking ready for battle.
“Or we get some rest and then we can smoke the shit out of it tomorrow.” I raise my eyebrows.
A few minutes later, Zane and I are on our knees digging a hole. We’re down three feet.
“That’s good.” Dante’s standing on the edge of the pit. “I’ll get some more fronds.”
I look up at Dante, but he’s gone. “Awesome. Don’t go too far into the woods.”
Zane and I neaten the hole up. Calvin’s back and forth from the woods with armloads of wood.
“We can do it today. If it works, it works. If it doesn’t, what did we lose?” Calvin points at the pit.
“Sleep?” Zane answers.
“We’re going to be rescued.” I say it the same way I would tell myself I’m going to win the race.
Haley cups her hands around her mouth, yelling at us from the fire. “When you guys are done, wash up. Dinner’s ready.” She’s using her chief stew voice. Like we’re about to sit down to a five-course meal.
I’ve lost track of how much time has gone by or how hungry I am. I scrub as much sand off my hands as I can in the shallow waves. As I wade out of the ocean, the sun is almost down and there’s a chill to the air. The wind changes, and something smells delicious from the fire. I find my shirt. Someone has hung it over the edge of the raft. Dante’s pushing at the fire where one large stone is sitting on coals. He’s got a smaller one on top of it. Around the fire is a mat of fresh palm fronds far enough back to keep embers off. Five large rocks circle the fire, and on top of them are hollowed-out coconut bowls set on banana leaves.
“Bloody lovely, Dante. This smells amazing.” Zane plops down next to Haley. “I’m knackered. Thank you for cooking. Both of you.” He touches her shoulder, but he does that with everyone. Zane’s comfortable with everyone, it seems. Not me. It takes a lot for me to get comfortable with people. It always seems that people have an ulterior motive. They want money or to be attached to the limited amount of fame I have as an Olympian. But then I didn’t seem to have any problem getting comfortable last night.
“Yes, it’s good. Thank you.” I sit next to Dante.
“This isn’t half bad.” Calvin takes the last spot between Zane and me. He puts the hatchet down next to him, within easy reach. It’s become attached to his hand. But I don’t blame him. We need to be protected if we get attacked again.
Dante uses two sticks like giant chopsticks to move the top stones from the slice of meat on the rock and replaces them with new ones. “The thicker pieces are almost done. But here’s some to start.” He passes a thick leaf with small chunks of meat on it to me. I take a few and pass it to Calvin, who takes the smallest one before handing it off to Zane.
“You need more.” Zane pushes the leaf back to Calvin.
“I’m good.”
“There’s tons,” Haley says. “Literally.” And she laughs.
“Okay, thanks.” He puts some more in his bowl.
I hadn’t noticed, but there’s cooked coconut pieces in the bowl. It’s salty, crunchy, and a tad sweet. “Wow, this is delicious.” I glance around.
“Thanks.” Dante inclines his head. “Our lovely chief stew did a lot of the work.”
Haley smiles. “Zane found a couple of bananas. Wild ones are full of seeds, but Dante removed them and some?—”
“Don’t give away all my secrets, darling, or they’ll vote me off the island.” Dante laughs.
“It’s good.” Calvin frowns. His eyes flit along the horizon.
When I haven’t been in a deep pit, I’ve been watching too. Nothing. Not a plane or blip of movement on the ocean horizon.
The food is good, and we eat in silence. Another round of meat is passed between us. We finish off everything we have. I think none of us are confident that what’s in the tree will be good tomorrow. But we’ll see at first light.
My body is shutting down as the stars start their show. I missed them the last two nights. We had the windows closed up, all but a small part for the person on watch. Which was mostly Calvin. The man’s got issues.
“I’ll wash up.” I take the coconuts from everyone and rinse them out in the shallow waves. The wind is blowing onto the beach, and it’s almost high tide. I’m glad we have cover for the night. I scrub the leftover bits out of the cups and bring them back to the fire.
Calvin’s sitting by the fire when I get back, but the other three are in the raft. “I’ll take first watch.” He’s gruff as he inclines his head at the raft.
“You sure? I can.” As much as Calvin wants to control everything, he is an asset to our team, and I’m not going to let him overwork himself.
“I’ve got it.” It’s more of a “I don’t trust the fuck out of you to not fall asleep and let the fire go out.” It took him a long time to make the fire, even with the lighter Dante had in his pocket, one he’d used to light the gas stove on the yacht.
“I can keep the fire going. You sure you don’t want to sleep first?”
“I’m good. I hear one thing out of her that sounds like distress, I’m coming in and making you pay. Don’t scare her.”
“Only good sounds, got it.” I try not to smirk.
“Slow is the only way this will work,” Calvin grunts at me like I’m going to attack her.
The inside of the raft smells like leftover fish guts and sweat.
“All I’m saying is you could let Haley use the cushion.” Zane’s pointing to the one cushion we have.
“I’m fine, Zane.” Haley has her life vest bundled up as a pillow. “Dante’s still injured. Let him use it.”
“So are you. And he doesn’t need to be a cushion hog.” Zane is sitting still; he’s laying it on thick.
“Well, I’m staying out of Cushion Gate. You can use me as a pillow if you need, Haley.” I lie down between her and Dante. The fool took a cushion over the girl. But I didn’t have a chance to talk to Dante alone. Perhaps that’s part of the plan.
She laughs. “You’re hardly a cushion, Easton. More like steel.”
“Man of gold and steel. Just what we need to feed his ego,” Dante quips, but he’s snoring not long after.
“Well, none of you are squishy like me,” Haley whispers.
Dante snores and mumbles something in his sleep. He might look healed, but he’s not. He rolls away from us and snores again.
“You’re not squishy,” I whisper. She’s facing away from me. “But maybe I need a pillow, then?” I reach out and pull her to me. I wrap my arm around her waist, pulling her ass to my front. It’s presumptive and a bit of an asshole thing to do, but after last night, I don’t care. Hell, I may never care. I want her. Right now I want a lot of things I might never get, but I’m a winner—that’s what I tell myself.
And when she pushes herself flush with me, I know I am a winner.