Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
Amanda wanted nothing more than to crawl inside that hole in the rocks and sleep for days.
But she refused to be the stereotypical city girl…
out of her element in the jungle and all whiny about it.
Besides, everything she’d told Nash had been the truth.
She needed him. Wasn’t getting out of this without him.
He had to stay strong, because she certainly was not.
She was a huge manacle around his ankle, and he had to drag her along every step of the way.
Without her there, he’d be halfway to Guyana by now, she had no doubt. So she’d do whatever it took, sacrifice what she had to, in order for him to stay strong.
It wasn’t that she was unselfish—she wanted to grab one of the cans he was taking out of the backpack he’d stolen and stuff all the food in her mouth as fast as she could—it was more that she was being practical.
She felt a little disconnected as she watched him pull out the cans he’d pilfered. Thank goodness they all had pull tabs and they didn’t need a can opener. Wouldn’t that have just sucked to have all this food and no way of getting into it?
But then again, he had that big-ass knife. He could probably get into a weak little can without any problem with that thing.
“What are you smiling about?” Nash asked as he glanced up.
“Nothing really.”
“No, come on. Tell me,” he urged.
Amanda wasn’t sure she’d ever met a man who actually liked to talk as much as Nash seemed to.
Who encouraged a woman to tell him what she was thinking all the time.
Granted, circumstances right now were very different than normal.
He was probably completely different when he was at home with his friends.
Now that they were in full daylight, she took the time to study him more closely.
His eyes were unusual—a blueish-green color.
And judging by his gaze, he looked as if he had the ability to read her deepest, darkest secrets.
His nose was a little crooked, as if it had been broken at some point.
He had dark hair, short on the sides, longer on the top, with a bit of scruff on his face.
And even though he was wearing one of those flight suit things, which zipped from his crotch to his neck, she could tell he was muscular.
Of course, right now that flight suit was covered in dirt and mud from crawling on the ground. He had streaks of dirt on his face and his hands were just as dirty. Amanda had a feeling she probably looked ten times grubbier than he did.
“Are you always like this?” she blurted.
“Like what?” he asked, with a cute tilt of his head.
No. No, no, no. She couldn’t start thinking of him as cute. He was her rescuer. That was it. Once they got back to Guyana, she’d have a few more months to go in her agreement with the school, then she’d head home and figure out what to do with the rest of her life.
“Chatty,” she said succinctly.
Nash chuckled. “Yup. Drives my friends crazy. It drives my copilot, Obi-Wan, especially crazy.”
“Obi-Wan?”
“Yeah. He’s a huge Star Wars fan. Obviously.”
“I assume he wanted to fly a starfighter growing up.”
“Bingo,” Nash said with a smile.
“Why are you called Buck?”
To Amanda’s surprise, she thought she saw his cheeks flush. Was he embarrassed about his nickname?
“It’s not very interesting,” he said. “Do you want green beans or pinto beans?” he asked, holding up two cans.
“I want to know why your nickname is Buck,” she replied with a grin.
Nash sighed. “Fine. I made a bet with one of my battle buddies when I was in basic training that I could get all of us an extra ten minutes of sleep one morning.”
“Let me guess—for a buck?”
Nash grinned, and it made him seem so much more…approachable…than the serious soldier he’d been so far. “Yup.”
“Did you win?”
“Of course I did. I snuck into the CQ desk while the drill sergeant on duty was in there—sound asleep—and changed the alarm on his phone. Not by much, just the ten minutes, but it was enough to win me the bet…and to get my nickname. The DS never did figure out why all the privates were suddenly calling me Buck, but eventually he and all the other drill sergeants started calling me that too. It stuck.”
“What’s CQ stand for?”
“Charge of quarters. The drill sergeants weren’t supposed to sleep while on overnight duty, but I knew that this guy’s wife had just had twins. And when he went home from work, he wasn’t getting much sleep because of the babies.”
Amanda smiled. The story was silly, but sitting here in the middle of the rainforest, trying to stay ahead of the rebels who would certainly want to kill them both if they found them, it was a nice dose of normalcy.
“Now, do you want green or pinto beans?”
“Green. Please.”
Amanda tried to make the can of beans last, but it was impossible.
As soon as the first bite hit her taste buds, she was shoveling them into her mouth so fast it was ridiculous.
She finished way too quickly, and her belly felt almost bloated, even with the tiny amount of food she’d eaten.
Being so full also made her extremely tired all of a sudden.
So tired she could barely keep her eyes open.
“Go ahead and climb in there,” Nash said gently, as he took the now empty can out of her hand.
Amanda realized she’d been sitting there staring into space almost catatonically for who knew how long. “You’re coming too, right?” she asked suspiciously.
Nash chuckled. “Yes, ma’am. As soon as I secure the pack so no critters can get inside or take off with it. If you can lie on your side, that’ll make it easier for me to get in there with you.”
She nodded, then crawled on her hands and knees and backed herself into the small space between the rocks.
Amanda watched as Nash secured the backpack, putting rocks on top of it, probably to not only keep animals from getting into it, but also as camouflage as well.
He’d already put the lids inside a pocket on the outside of the bag, not wanting to litter, but also in case they could use them for something later and to avoid leaving any trace that they’d been there, in case the rebels were looking for them.
Finally, he took the empty cans and placed them around the backside of the rocks.
Then he was there. Squeezing into the small space. Making her wonder if they’d fit together after all.
They did. Barely.
Nash was curled up behind her, spooning her, with one arm around her waist and the other under her head, providing her with a pillow of sorts.
“Is this okay?” he asked in a whisper. “If not, I can sleep right outside near the pack.”
“It’s fine,” Amanda told him quickly, surprising herself with how fine it really was.
She wasn’t a cuddler. Never had been. She tended to run hot and didn’t like anyone touching her while she slept.
But right now? Even though it was hot and moist as fuck outside, her clothes were sticking to her sweating body, and she felt as grimy and disgusting as she’d ever felt in her life…
having Nash at her back, holding her, made her feel safe.
And not quite so alone. She could finally let down her guard for the first time in over two weeks.
Let someone else take responsibility for the time being.
“Thank you for coming for us,” she said in a barely audible voice. “For not leaving me even after I did something extremely stupid.”
“You’re welcome.”
The two words were simple but heartfelt, and exactly what Amanda needed to hear.
She fell asleep feeling positive for the first time in ages. She was still in deep shit. Had a long way to go before she’d be truly safe. But with Nash at her back, literally, she felt as if it just might be possible.
Amanda wasn’t sure what woke her up. Or even what time it was. But several hours must’ve passed, because it wasn’t nearly as bright outside as it had been when she’d fallen asleep. It looked like that time right before the sun went below the horizon. Kind of greenish and hazy.
She felt sweaty and claustrophobic. Then she remembered why. The heavy arm around her waist was a reminder of where she was and who she was with. The light snoring in her ear was also a good clue. She smiled as she listened to Nash’s deep breaths, glad he was able to get some sleep, as she’d done.
But then another noise made her smile die. Tilting her head back, not wanting to wake Nash up unless it was an emergency, she froze.
About two feet away from their heads was a fox.
It was lying on the ground, ignoring the rain that was falling.
It had its head on its paws and was staring at them with unblinking eyes.
It was matted and dirty, and it seemed to have some sort of injury on its head.
She could see what she thought was blood near its ear.
But it wasn’t moving. Wasn’t growling. Wasn’t acting aggressive in the least. It was simply lying there, staring at her and Nash.
The angle Amanda had wasn’t great. Not with being on her side as she was and smooshed up against a rock.
“Nash,” she whispered, not wanting to agitate the fox if she could help it. If it decided to attack them right now, they’d be fucked. They couldn’t exactly fight back in the tight space.
Amazingly, her soft whisper immediately woke Nash. His arm tightened—and then she felt every muscle in his body tense against her back.
“There’s a fox,” she told him, not wanting him to think the rebels were there or anything.
She felt him lift his head to see what she was talking about—and to her surprise, he whispered, “Hey, boy. What are you doing here?”
Amanda frowned in confusion.
Thankfully, Nash kept talking.
“It’s not a fox. It’s a dog. I saw it when I went to get supplies at the camp. I don’t know if he belongs to one of the rebels or what. But he didn’t look like he was in great shape then, and even less now.”