Chapter 11 #2
“Ah.” He relaxes back in his chair, no longer facing me. “Right. I try not to think about how many people…you know, talk about me in regular conversation. It’s weird.”
“Weird that people talk about you? I agree.”
He chuckles. “So you think I need to find love if I want to survive my celebrity status?”
Without seeing his face, I can’t tell how he feels about the idea, which bugs me more than it should. Derek has allegedly been single for almost a year and a half. For a regular human, that’s pretty normal. For someone constantly in the limelight? He’s just begging to be stalked by rabid fans.
As the college crew start heading to their tents with sleepy goodnights, I take a deep breath and try to figure out what response Derek needs to hear. Everyone learns something different while on the river, but what does a guy who has everything need to learn about himself?
Though I remind myself that I should end this conversation and stop letting him get me talking, it’s too late. My heart is aching to help him, and I’m not going to be able to walk away. Not without doing what I can.
Silently cursing, I take a slow breath and brace myself for whatever might come.
“Here’s what I think.” The WanderLove group is winding down too now that it’s dark, so I keep my voice low.
“Love isn’t for everyone, and it’s certainly not something I need in my life, but some people really benefit from having someone in their corner. ”
“Why?”
“Because they—”
“Sorry, I mean why don’t you want to fall in love?” He asks it so easily, even though it’s a heavy question.
Do I want to answer? Not in the slightest. And yet the words are on the tip of my tongue, begging to be set free. “Because—”
A flashlight shines in our faces, serendipitously interrupting our conversation.
“Oops!” one of the gals says, giggling a bit. “Sorry! We’re all going to bed, and I noticed you don’t have a flashlight, Derek. I can light the way to your tent if you’d like!”
Wow, she’s bold. Whoever she is.
Derek clears his throat, eyes meeting mine.
His expression is guarded, a blank mask, but something pulls at the corners of his eyes.
Twitches in his eyebrows. It’s almost like he’s waiting for me to answer his question, or like he thinks he might read it on my face, and I hold my breath, waiting to see what he finds as the silence stretches on.
“So?” the girl says, and I tear my eyes from Derek’s face to look at her. Morgan, the redhead who won’t go down without a fight when it comes to gaining Derek’s attention.
When I look at him again, Derek’s lips purse the smallest bit. His eyebrows pull down, and then he stands. “Thanks, Morgan.” Man that he is, he offers his arm to her and walks with her to the sea of tents, looking back only once.
Lightheaded, I exhale and silently scold myself for being so weak. Just because Derek is easy to talk to, that shouldn’t be enough for me to trust him. I might not be a threat to him, but he’s always going to be dangerous for me.
Alone at last, I listen as Derek checks the girls’ tent for scorpions, assuring them that they’ll be safe tonight if they keep their tent zipped.
“You’re so nice, Derek Riley!” one of the girls says.
“Just Derek is fine,” he replies.
“Utah doesn’t have scorpions,” one of the guys declares loudly. Wrongly. I’ll have to remind the group tomorrow about wearing shoes at camp, especially at night, though I can’t help but snicker as I wiggle my bare toes in the cool sand. “You girls are being paranoid.”
“Never hurts to check,” Derek says kindly. “Better safe than—oh, it actually looks like there might be one right by your f—”
The squeal that interrupts his sentence is so loud that I jump, and a chorus of feminine screams fills the air, followed by a very sleepy Hunter shouting, “Derek!” and the sound of someone struggling with a tent zipper.
“Everything is fine!” Derek shouts amid all the noise and wild flashlights, and I wonder if he’s saying that to me or Hunter.
I should really go check on everyone, but curiosity keeps me planted in my chair.
Waiting to see what he’ll do. “Scorpions are nocturnal, so we should all stay inside our tents until morning. Hey! No, don’t pick it up!
Hunter! It’s fine!” Those last two words come out strangled.
I sigh and get to my feet. If the bodyguard is going to be stupid and try to touch a scorpion, it’s time to intervene. I only make it two steps toward the tents when Derek comes into view and the cause of the strangling sound becomes clear.
Actual strangling, in fact.
Morgan has jumped onto Derek’s back, her arms around his neck, and Hunter is attempting to pry her off his boss while Maverick assures the other women that they’re fine.
Morgan’s holding tight—I’m assuming whatever is in Maverick’s cupped hands is the source of her terrified expression—and Derek looks just as scared as the woman clinging to him.
Maverick tosses his handful of sand into the bushes, prompting more screams from the girls, and rolls his eyes. “There,” he grumbles. “It’s gone. Can we go to bed now?” He claps a pale Cody on his bare chest and slips into his tent.
“Off,” Hunter commands in a grunt, and Morgan finally relents, letting him pull her from Derek’s back.
Derek chokes in a breath, looking around at the people surrounding him. “Everyone good?” he gasps.
Everyone nods, a few people mumble things, and slowly they all climb into their tents. Including Derek and Hunter, who give each other weighty looks before disappearing into the tent they barely fit inside. Flashlights turn off one by one.
And I’m over here grinning like a fool because what in the world did I just witness? And why did it make me realize I might actually be starting to like Derek?
That’s a bad idea.