31. Chart
Chapter 31
Chart
Calvin
H aley’s glaring at me like I’m the only one not telling her. She’s not wrong. In fact, I’m currently still trying to figure out a way to not tell her. Because hope is an important thing.
Zane’s sitting next to her, and he takes her hand. “We didn’t tell Dante either.”
“Not until I came across them.” Dante pokes at the coals.
“What in the world are you talking about?” Haley turns to me, her blue eyes wide. “Calvin?” Her chest heaves. And the memory of her taste on my lips shakes me.
I shake my head. Going around the circle, each of the guys glares at me. I let out a long breath. “It’s better if we just show you, I guess. It’s getting dark, but we have a little time. How’s your ankle?”
“It’s almost healed,” she lies.
I turn to Easton, the closest thing we have to a doctor, anyway. “You’re not going to climb up to let her see, are you?” he says.
“No,” I growl.
“So what does it matter, then?” Easton shrugs his shoulders.
“Let’s go, Little Bird.” Zane stands up and offers her his back, ending the debate. Haley grips him around his shoulders.
We’re off into the woods. It isn’t too far down the beaten trail from our frequent trips back here. I stop at the largest tree. Its trunk is too big for even me to fit my arms around. “Put her down.”
Zane lets her slowly down to her good leg. We stand around the trunk, one of the two longer ropes we have attached to the lowest limbs.
“Wait, what’s that?” Haley wraps her hand around the rope.
“This is what we brought you out to see.” Easton’s got the same regretful look on his face. Damn this girl; she’s going to want to climb up and take a look for herself.
Her eyes are on the trunk, but she hasn’t let the rope go.
“We’ve copied the sea charts onto the trunk of this tree. We don’t have enough paper, and paper can get wet. Easton’s battery is only going to last so long. Mine’s already dead, even though I’ve been turning it off. So you see, this is where we think we are.” Zane points to the little X far up the tree. “But this would be our logical position for anyone to search for us.” He taps another spot on the tree.
“And you’re sure?” Haley gives a nod, her hand on the tree.
“We are,” he says. “When you’re better, we can show you.”
And I want to muzzle him. “No. You don’t need to go up there. It’s too dangerous.”
“You know climbing a rope is about upper body strength and not ankles, right?” She cocks her head at me, the purple bandana wrapped in her hair. “I can climb a rope. Or at least, I could in high school.”
“I have no doubt, Little Bird, but—” Zane begins.
“What Zane means is there’s more—” Easton butts in.
“No.” I cut him off. She doesn’t need to worry about where we might be.
“No what?” She turns to me. Her finger is in the air, and she puts it in the middle of my chest.
“Fuck.” I cover my mouth.
She pokes me in the chest. Hard. “Calvin. What are you not telling me?”
I stare down at her. Fucking hell, we didn’t even make it two days without telling her. “It’s been five nights. But the thing is, no one is coming for us. We’re too far off course. The only way we’re ever getting off this island is by chance. A container ship sees our fire.”
“I kind of thought so.” Haley is staring at the rope like she understands there’s more and there’s also much more.
“And...?” Dante leads, and I want to give him a matching goose egg on the other side of his head.
“And?” Haley glances from him to me.
I nod at Zane.
“We’re here.” Zane touches the little X.
“Okay?”
“But from the top of the tree, we can see things.”
“Zane. Tell me what the heck you’re getting at.” Her voice shakes. This is exactly what I didn’t want to happen: we’re scaring her. “What can you see?”
“It’s a chain of islands. Small ones. About the size of the one we’re on.”
“But we couldn’t see anything on the way in.”
“They’re right behind this one. We’re in disagreement about whether there’s three or four more.”
“That’s a good thing, isn’t it? Maybe there’s someone on one of the other islands?”
I take a big breath. “That’s the problem, Haley. There’s no cooking fire smoke. So no natives. But if Zane’s positioning on the map is correct, we think these might be a chain of islands that are known for smuggling. And pirates. Even if a boat sees us calling for help, they’re not going to stop?—”
“Because they will be scared of us, thinking we’re smugglers.” Haley hugs herself.
“And if they do stop, we might be in more danger.”
“What do we have to steal that they would want?” Haley asks. But I see the moment she figures it out for herself. The moment when she knows—she’s the prize.
“I would think the authorities will look for us for three weeks. And after that, I’m not sure we want to be found.”
“We have fourteen more days.” She’s still holding on to the rope hanging from the tree.
“Thirteen,” Easton says. “We just have to be hopeful.”
“And cautious.” I glance up at the tree. “If we built a platform, we could station someone with a flare gun. To stay the night.”
“You aren’t staying in a tree all night.” Haley taps me in the chest again.
“I said on the platform. I’ll build it tomorrow.” I cock my head back at her, grabbing her finger off my chest. There are things I want her to do with that little hand of hers, but they don’t include stabbing me with it. “Careful, Haley, or I’ll find something else for that finger to do.”
She blinks at me, and I’m not sure if she’s turned on or pissed. For a moment, the other guys fade into the forest.
“Be careful there, Calvin. Our little tiger has got big fangs.” Dante laughs, and a bird takes off not far from where we stand. “She might eat you.”
“She’s more of a kitten,” Easton says.
Zane shakes his head. “Want a ride back to camp, Haley?”
She glares at him. I know she wants to walk. Damn, right now I know she wants to climb up the rope and ding the invisible bell. Her chin down, she nods. “Please.”
We head back. It’s quiet, and the sun has sunk below the horizon. I expect they’ll all climb into the raft-turned-tent, but Easton sets Haley down by the fire and sits next to her. Zane and Dante crawl into the raft.
Easton’s watching me. And while I hate the fucker, I don’t hate him when it comes to Haley. And that’s confusing as hell. I’m in grind mode. There’s a lot to do. And these feelings I’m having, I don’t need them.
The three of us stare at each other over the fire, and I wait for them to go to bed. I’ve collected twenty decent-sized sticks I want to sharpen to start making an enclosure. Dante wants another spoon. But more than that, I want to watch the horizon from the other side of the beach. Where I can let my eyes focus on the darkness. There’s no one coming. I know that. But that doesn’t stop me from searching. Because if we get off this island later, it’s sure to be in a trafficker’s ship.
“I’m going to head to bed. Are you coming, Haley?” Easton stands and looks down at her for a minute.
“I’ll be there soon. I can manage with my cru?—”
“I’ll help her.” I grit the back of my molars. “Get some sleep. We’re going to have a lot to do making the platform.”
“Fine. Let me know if you need help, Haley.” He crawls into the raft. There’s no graceful way to do it, but he makes it look not so bad. He jumps and then scoots at the same time. He and Zane are up to something, and there’s no doubt in my mind it has to do with Haley.
“I won’t need any help, but thank you.” Her voice is firm, and while she’s talking to Easton, she’s looking right at me.
He nods from inside the raft. It needs the air topped off. I’ll pump it up tomorrow morning. “Good night, Cal. And good luck. Don’t stay up too late, Haley.” Easton drops the flap.
Both Haley and I stare at it. I have to admit I’m holding my breath. Because I’m going to need some luck. I’ve had one long-term girlfriend, but she wouldn’t leave Chicago and I can’t leave the ocean. She got all weird and obsessive about me being gone for so long, and finally my brother told me about how she had cheated on me. Over and over. With other guys and then with him. They’re married now with two kids, a dog. And I don’t go home anymore. I’m not even sure I understand the concept of home.
Haley’s back is to the ocean. She’s glaring at me, the whites of her eyes glowing in the low light. The moon won’t rise for a few hours. During the darkest part of the night, I watch. If I can find a shipping lane, maybe Zane and I are wrong about where we are.
“You really don’t think we’re going to be rescued, do you?”
“No.” I want to protect her, but I’m not going to lie.
“And you think if we aren’t rescued now, what’s going to happen?”
“We stay here.”
“No, that’s not what I meant. What do you think is going to happen?”
I stand and pace behind the cooking station Dante’s made. I glance back at her. She’s waiting. I had this same talk with Zane earlier today. But I haven’t told Easton; he would shut me down. The guy is more Pollyanna than a yoga teacher.
“Calvin?”
I glance back. “I think we’ll be okay for a while. But when hurricane season hits in a few months, we’re going to have a hard time.”
“That makes sense, but we can make a better shelter and hunker down.”
“Maybe.”
“Don’t pussyfoot around me.” It’s getting darker, but I can make out her scowl from the firelight.
“We’ll run out of food, and we’re not going to be able to build a good enough shelter.”
“We butchered a pig. Or rather, you did. Dante smoked it.”
“Yes. Yes, we did, but there are five of us. And how many do you think are on this island?”
“There are goats and fish.”
“But there are only so many near the shore. With the cheap reel.” It was incredible it didn’t break when I caught the tuna on the raft.
“Coconuts.”
“We’re using four or five a day. And it won’t be long before they’re all gone.” I’ll have an answer for everything she brings up. Because they’ve been running through my head from the first hour we were on land.
“You think we’re going to starve to death?”
“All of us? No. Those who make it through the hurricanes and boredom, yes.”
She stands and takes my hand. Hers are so tiny in mine. “But we have skills. I think you’re not seeing the amount we can do.”
Fuck. There’s nothing I can do. This isn’t how I wanted this to go. My chest expands with each deep breath. “We will do what we can. But the reality isn’t easy. We’re not getting out of here. We’ve already had two injuries. And building a shelter? We’ll do it, but we have two pocketknives, a fish knife, and a hatchet. Maybe if we had more supplies from the boat.”
“Boredom. There are lots of things we can do to fight off boredom.” She wraps her hands around my neck. We share a look.
“I’m happy to help you anytime, Haley,” I say.
“And I can do the same back.” She smiles at me.
Shit, I want to pull her up my body and push my dick into her pussy. But I can’t. I’m not sure I can share. Zane and Easton are all for it. But having her be only with me? No fair. Not when she’s interested in all of us. I can tell. I shouldn’t touch her at all, but I can’t stop myself. Not after this morning.
Fuck, she’s on her tiptoes, her lips inches from mine. I hold her head in place. Our lips connect, and I devour her. I’m never going to get enough of her. She lifts one luscious leg around mine. But does she understand what I mean? Her core is inches from my cock, and I want to go back on my vow to myself. I can’t.
I swing her around so her ass is to my front, pinning her to my chest. Then I ease my hand into her leggings, finding her tight bundle of nerves. I’m not careful. I rub with a fierceness and a need until she’s doubled over my arm, mewing. My hard cock is between her butt cheeks. With ease, I could slide into her from behind. Instead, I watch the horizon line for ships. She has to understand who I am.