Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty Eight
Courtney
“Cora and Andrew, I’m sorry. America has voted, and you two are officially locked out.”
My heart skips a beat when their names are called. Fuck. No.
Cora’s face crumples. She looks like she’s holding back tears as best as she can while Andrew attempts to comfort her, though the disappointment is heavy in his features as well.
Alex cuts both of their bracelets and gives them the same old spiel about saying goodbye and essentially getting the fuck off the island.
I’m the first person that makes it to Cora, and she falls apart into my arms as I hold her tight.
“I’m so sorry, babe,” I whisper into her ear.
She cries as Luna comes over and hugs her as well. We hold her for a moment before Bella walks over and holds out her arms. Cora goes to her, and they whisper to each other as Bella nods in understanding.
I didn’t want to see either of them go, I like them both a lot.
This is the part of the game that sucks.
Now that more and more couples are being eliminated, tensions are rising, and we’re forced to watch our friends go home.
Okay, well, I wouldn’t mind if Savannah, Noah and Angel went.
Sorry, Mason, that means you too by association.
Unfortunately, they’ve all been really solid in the challenges apart from last week, so I don’t think they’re going anywhere anytime soon.
“We’ll help you pack,” Luna offers, and I nod.
Before Cora can respond, two assistants are separating us, ushering Andrew and Cora back to the house as they shake their heads at us.
“No need. We’ve got them handled.”
I go to argue that it’s no trouble, but they’re pulling them so fast they’re practically sprinting. I frown and turn to Luna, who also looks displeased.
“They must be sticking them on a flight, like, immediately.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
I hate that Cora is gone. I didn’t expect it to hit me, but I already really miss her.
We’ve been on the island for a good minute now, and you get used to seeing the same people every day.
It’s like living with all of your friends.
As soon as someone moves away, the dynamic shifts instantly.
We all talk about reconnecting once we return to reality, and I hope we do.
Luna and I are playing a game of ping-pong, and I’m absolutely dominating her when Landon comes walking up to us.
“Morning,” he says, smiling as he hands me some kind of shake.
“What’s this?” I ask as I take it from him.
“Protein shake. Drink up.”
“Why? Is this your way of saying I’m going to need the extra calories?” I ask with an exaggerated wink.
A mischievous smile spreads across his face that makes me instantly wet. Fuck, this man is gorgeous. He knows it too.
“Definitely, but first I thought we could go on a walk.”
“Sure,” I say and set the ping-pong paddle down.
“This isn’t over,” I say to Luna.
She shrugs. “All I’m taking away from this is that you forfeit. I’m undefeated.”
“It’s literally eight to one,” I scoff.
“Don’t be a sore loser, Courtney.”
I laugh and shake my head as Landon offers me his hand.
“Oh, wait. I need to grab my sunglasses. It’s way too fucking bright out here,” I say, then jog inside.
I head for our bedroom when I realize I let Cora borrow them after hers broke. Shit, I hope she didn’t accidently pack them when she left.
Slipping into the bedroom that was hers and Andrew’s, I’m surprised to find it immaculate, like no one was ever here. They certainly didn’t waste any time, did they?
My gaze moves around the room in search of the glasses when I open a drawer and find them sitting alone inside it. Bless.
I grab them, then turn to leave when my sandal catches on something sticking out from beneath the dresser. Frowning, I bend down and see Cora’s yellow stuffed bunny.
Oh no. She loves this thing. It’s, like, her most prized possession. I can’t believe she would leave it.
I grab it, walk out of the room and manage to flag down a cameraman heading outside. “Hey! Excuse me,” I call, jogging to catch up with him.
He turns and looks at me expectantly.
I flash him a quick smile. “Sorry to bug you. This is Cora’s. It’s, like, her baby stuffed animal. It means the world to her, and I know she’ll be freaking out without it. Can you pass it off to someone who can get it back to her, please?”
The guy gives me a weird look and hesitates for a moment before nodding. “Sure. No problem,” he says as he takes the bunny.
I don’t know why he seems so bent out of shape about passing along a stuffed animal. I know it’s not his job, but it’s not that big a deal.
“Thanks,” I say, then make my way outside, where Landon is waiting.
“Took you long enough,” he drawls sarcastically.
I roll my eyes. “Do you want to go on this walk or what?”
“Not if it’s going to take you all damn day,” he sighs with a hint of a smile as he slips his hand in mine.
“Such a baby,” I reply, causing him to smirk as he leads us towards the back end of the house.
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“I found a little walking trail back here. It’s gotta lead to somewhere, right?”
Glancing over my shoulder, I take a sip of the protein shake he made me before looking back to him. “Are we allowed to be back here?”
“Fuck it. They’ll yell at us if we aren’t. It’s not like they aren’t watching our every move 24/7.”
Fair enough.
“So, what’s up?” I ask after a few moments.
Landon’s been leading us along this heavily forested pathway but holds back so he can walk by my side.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I’d like to think I’m getting to know you pretty well. Or at least getting to know your tells. You have something on your mind, so spill,” I say.
He looks at me out of the corner of his eye before glancing above us. The trees are so lush and thick, it’s like a canopy, hiding us away from the outside world.
“I don’t know. Just wanted to check in, I guess.”
“On me?”
Landon shrugs like it’s no big deal, and I can’t help but let a cheesy smile spread across my face.
“Landon, if you wanted me all to yourself, just say that,” I tease.
“Is that such a bad thing?” he asks.
“No, but if you think we’re fucking in the woods, you’ve got another thing coming. I don’t want poison ivy or whatever the hell that stuff is up my pants,” I say, pointing towards a suspicious-looking plant.
A laugh rips out of him. “Believe it or not, sex isn’t always the first thing that comes to my mind.”
“Oh, I get it. You’re like a simp for me, right? Who could blame you? It was only a matter of time,” I say with a dramatic and completely sarcastic hair flip.
Landon scoffs before swatting my ass.
“Ow!” I cry as I attempt to avoid the second swat.
I dodge him for a moment, but he soon gets me again. Knowing I can’t outmaneuver him, I take off running down the path.
He laughs. “You think you can run from me?”
His deep voice rumbles through me, I swear to God, and it takes everything in me not to physically react.
Hello primal kink?
I run as far and as fast as I’m able, managing to avoid each raised branch and stone in my path. Though Landon is extremely athletic, he struggles a little more than I do, which is why I’m able to get a little bit of a lead on him. For a moment.
I see a break in the trees, and it opens up to what looks like a clearing. The instant I see a small lake in front of me, I attempt to slow my steps, but Landon definitely doesn’t. His arms wrap around my waist, and before I know it, we’re both flying into the water.
It’s surprisingly cold and squeezes me like a vise before I make my way to the surface. When I break through, I gasp for breath as Landon surfaces behind me.
He wipes water away from his eyes and looks to me. “Hey, be careful. There’s a lake up ahead.”
I laugh, splashing a little water towards him. “Asshole.”
He grins, tugging me back into his arms, and I wrap my legs around him. The lake isn’t very deep. Just enough that we can bob in the water, touching the ground from time to time as we casually move around. Looking over his shoulder, I point to the huge waterfall pouring into it.
“Look at that! God, it’s beautiful.”
I feel his eyes on me. “Yeah, it is.”
A smile spreads across my face, though I try hard to fight it.
Turning back to face Landon, I loop my arms around his neck. “You’re kinda fucking cheesy, you know that?”
I expect him to scoff at me. Roll his eyes or push me away.
That’s kind of our thing. It’s the balance we’ve found to avoid getting too deep with the emotions.
When one of us is uncomfortable, the other pushes, and we accept it.
The understanding we have for one another without having to share a single word is…
unexpected, to say the least, but like coming up for air.
Like being completely seen when you’ve been drowning in a crowd your whole life.
Instead, though, Landon’s arms tighten around me, holding me closer, his gaze fixed on me.
“I’m trying really hard to go slow with you.”
“You call fucking on the back deck for anyone to see and finger-blasting me in the hot tub slow?” I challenge with a smirk.
A smile spreads across his face as he shakes his head. “Finger-blasting?”
“That’s what it felt like, and it was glorious.”
He chuckles under his breath as his hands slip beneath my wet shirt, and he rubs soft circles against my lower back with his thumbs
“Being with you is easier than I would have expected. Easier than I’m comfortable with,” Landon says, that intense look returning to his face.
I swallow instinctively as my smile eases. “Yeah?” I rasp, my throat suddenly tight.
He nods and glances down at the water before looking back up at me. “If I’d met you at any other point in my life than now, I’d probably have run like hell in the other direction.”
“Why’s that?” I ask.
Landon rolls his lips together like he’s contemplating his answer. Eventually, though, he lets out a slow breath through his nose. “Because I would have known that you’d be the end of it.”
My brows pull together. “End of what?”
“Everything. Life as I knew it. Everything before you would be over, and there wouldn’t be life after you.”
My heart flips in my chest. There’s something so tender behind his words, so raw. It’s all blanketed with a layer of vulnerability, almost sorrow. Like our fate is so bleak.
I pull myself a little closer to him, pressing my body against his as I hold his gaze.
“What if there was no after me, only with me?”
He doesn’t react. In fact, he seems to almost stall out for a moment before he responds.
“Is that… something you would like?”
A small smile lifts my mouth as I raise my shoulders slightly. “Yeah, I think so. What about you?”
Landon nods. “Definitely.”
No other words can be spoken between us before his lips are on mine. My heart is beating out of my chest, and it feels like my body is soaring as he holds me close, our lips moving in perfect synchronization.
We drift through the water, and I can’t help but feel like we’re flying. Gliding through a euphoric, bliss-filled sky. One I hope we never have to come down from.
Out of all the words in the world that he could have picked, of course he picked the most perfect ones. Finding this connection with Landon is the most unexpected surprise of my life, but it’s one I’m growing more and more grateful for with each passing day.
Landon moves us through the water before he trips, dipping us both a little lower. I gasp in surprise as he attempts to regain his footing.
“Shit. Sorry. I don’t know what the fuck that was,” he says as he moves his feet around, his frown deepening by the second.
He lets go of my body, setting me a few feet to the side before he bends down, reaching for something at his feet before pulling it up out of the water. I lean in curiously, but once it emerges, my stomach free-falls and my eyes bulge out of my head.
I’m in shock. Clearly. Or I’m hallucinating because my brain cannot comprehend what my eyes are seeing.
“Is that…?”
“What the fuck?” Landon says as he looks at the severed head he’s holding by the hair.
This can’t be real. I have to be tripping or something. There’s just no way.
“Is that… Andrew?” I choke out.
“Christ!” Landon snaps as it officially sinks in for him.
He lets the pale head go and it plops into the water, a sound that has my skin crawling.
“OH MY FUCKING GOD!” I shout as I begin swim-running out of that lake as fast as fucking possible.
Landon is right behind me by the time I make it to shore, and we take off running back the way we came.
“Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God,” I repeat before stopping a little way down the trail.
I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.
Landon starts rubbing circles on my back. “Are you okay?” he asks, his voice shaky and unnerved.
I can’t even attempt to laugh at the ridiculousness of that question.
“Am I oka— Of course I’m not fucking okay!” I snap. “You just picked up our friend’s head! A head that was no longer attached to a body! We have to tell someone, we have to find help!” I say and move to take off running again.
Landon is quick to grab my shoulders, though, pinning me in place. “We can’t tell anyone.”
“What do you mean?” I shout, outraged.
He glances around us before shaking his head. “Think about it, Courtney. Andrew was voted off last night. Today we found his severed head abandoned in a lake off the beaten path. This wasn’t an accident.”
My mind whirls as I attempt to make sense of his words. “What are you saying? That Andrew was… killed?”
Landon shakes his head again. “I don’t know what to think, but I know that whoever or whatever did that to him, they don’t want people to know.”
“Landon, this is fucking insane! Andrew is dead! Who knows where Cora is!”
That thought sits with me for a moment, and my stomach twists.
“Oh my God,” I whisper. “Do you think she’s dead too?” I ask as tears fill my eyes.
“I don’t know,” Landon admits. “For now, we don’t breathe a word. Okay?”
I agree with a shaky nod, though I still can’t wrap my mind around it all.
“Come on. We need to get the fuck out of here,” Landon says, lacing his fingers in mine and leading the way.
His arms are shaking, or maybe it’s mine that are making his tremble. Either way, we’re both losing our goddamn minds.
We don’t make it more than two hundred feet before a golf cart comes speeding up to us, braking just in time. Several large men jump off it and grab us.
“Let us go!” Landon snarls.
We both fight against them before they shove us onto the cart.
“Shut the fuck up,” one snarls into my face as the driver quickly turns round and begins driving back to the house.
I glance at Landon in concern, and he gives me a similar look in return.
Well, that’s not fucking comforting.