Chapter 22
Adrian
W ith all of us now dressed in dry clothes—one thing I never thought I’d feel this grateful for—we sit around the campfire.
“Stella! I’d been trying to protect you! How dare you splash water on me!” Layla jokes as Isa starts the fire we’re all sitting around. With her power, she manipulates and creates fire, the flames growing and warming all of us in seconds.
“Hey! I knew you could block it if you needed to. I didn’t think everyone would jump in with me.” Stella giggles.
“And you ,” Layla says, turning to Sam, who’s sitting next to her on the tree. “I thought you were hiding away from everyone. How dare you try to splash me ?”
Sam chuckles. “It was a great plot twist, don’t you think?”
Layla laughs, and I grin. It’s so rare to see her laugh that I always cherish those moments.
Isa’s eyes zero in on Jay and his burn with challenge. Oh boy .
I just know chaos is about to erupt.
“By the way, why did you target me from the beginning, you cocky asshole? I was going to avoid you the whole time, but you just had to target me right from the start.”
“Well, I couldn’t let it all end with me losing, could I?” he says with a wide grin.
Isa rolls her eyes. “Of course. You needed revenge on a victory I had when we were teenagers—”
“One of your few victories, might I add.”
“Shut up. You couldn’t let me have one of the few victories I earned from our competition as teenagers?”
“Of course not. Don’t think I don’t know you didn’t target me from the start because you knew I’d beat you—”
“I did not .”
“Yes, you did. You knew I’d win so you refused to play with fire, fireheart. ”
“Unlike you, you arrogant bastard, I don’t see every loss to you from our teenage years as a blow to my ego.”
Jay snorts. “Sure, you don’t.”
“Obviously, I don’t—”
Hazel and Nate arrive with the warm dinner they prepared.
“Noodle soup to warm us all up after this afternoon,” Nate calls as he arrives with the last bowls.
“Yeah. The water was so cold. But it was worth it,” Stella says as Hazel hands over her bowl with a smile.
Three . . .
Two . . .
One . . .
“Your ego must have turned blue from all the blows I gave it over the course of our lives, mustn’t it, Jay?”
Of course, they had to keep going.
Who am I kidding? These two never stopped messing with each other.
So much that I’m able to predict how long they can stay quiet .
Stella’s eyes meet mine from across the fire, and a slow smile is spreading across her face from withheld laughter. I grin back.
“Oh, you’re talking about my ego? Why don’t we talk about yours ? Considering I won our last competition here, it’s only fair we talk about how bruised your ego must be,” Jay calls back.
“Please.” My sister snorts. “As if I’d let my ego take a blow from losing to you. ”
“Then how do you explain not having attacked me earlier until I splashed you? Hmmm? I would call it fear, or doubt, or a bruised ego. Or even better yet, the knowledge that you would have lost.”
The whole camp turns silent at Jay’s taunt, with only the crackling fire filling the silence.
Isa places her bowl on the ground, clasps her hands together in a firm grip and leans in on her knees. Her challenging gaze draws all our attention.
What’s my sister going to start now?
Even after all these years of watching their animosity, I can’t help the curiosity that bubbles to the surface.
She stays silent, letting the fire’s annoying crackling in, making the tension become unbearable.
Finally, with a voice almost deathly lethal, Isabella says, “You know what, Jay? I don’t live in the past. So, what do you say we settle this whole mess with one final competition? ”
Jay’s eyes shine with challenge and confidence—or arrogance, we could say. “Game on. What do you have in mind?”
My sister smirks. “A new, final competition. Here and now. This time, the winner gets bragging rights, which, mind you, was not in the terms in our first competition, meaning you’re claiming something you haven’t earned, asshole.”
My best friend smirks. “I’m in. I’ll have no problem winning this competition all over again.”
Isabella’s laugh drips with humor as she replies, “Oh, Jay, Jay, Jay . . . Whoever said this competition was between the two of us?”
I stand up. I can tell where her head went. “Hold up. None of us here accepted to be in the middle of your battle over here.”
My sister completely ignores my comment, her eyes full of fire, completely fixed on Jay’s. “What? You scared you won’t be able to actually work in teams?”
Jay laughs a true laugh that actually makes all tension disappear. “ I won’t have any trouble with collaboration. What’s your plan for the teams?”
Isabella breaks her eye contact with Jay and looks at all of us. “I suggest we do it this way: Jay and I choose someone to be on our team, then the chosen one chooses someone else, so on and so forth.”
Were we really letting Jay and Isabella’s urge to compete in everything involve us all?
Hazel, Nate, and Stella rise up.
“Okay. Let’s do this,” Stella says, breaking the previous silence.
I stand up, laughing to myself. How did I let these two involve me in their animosity? Seeing all of us standing around the fire, I know the answer is yes, we really let them involve us.
This is going to be one hell of a vacation.
“I’m starting,” Isabella declares.
“No way. You’re going to choose Adrian and it won’t be fair,” Jay objects.
Isabella smirks. “You really think I’m that predictable?”
Silence stretches.
“Stella,” Isa calls out.
As she walks over to stand next to Isabella, we all stay silent, stunned. What’s your plan, Bella?
Jay smirks at my sister. “Adrian.”
As I walk over to my best friend’s side, Isabella snorts. “And you call me predictable.”
I look over to Stella, who’s looking at everyone around us, clearly looking to see who to choose.
“Hazel.”
My little sister’s whole face lights up as she runs over to Stella. God, it makes my heart ache.
Well. It’s clear Nate won’t be on our team. I couldn’t rip my sister’s best friend away from her, even from this stupid competition. It would hurt me too much to do that to her.
So, it only leaves me with Layla or Sam.
Stella’s gaze meets mine and holds it. There’s a gleam in her eyes, some sort of silent plea. Her eyes fly in Layla’s direction and I understand what it meant.
I smile, looking into her bright green eyes. “Sam.”
Isabella laughs. “Come on. Don’t make this a guys versus girls thing. You’re better than that.”
Hazel’s eyes are bright as she chooses the last member of her team. “Nate.”
As Nate walks over to their side, I watch as Stella’s cheeks heat.
I can read her so clearly. She hadn’t considered Hazel would choose Nate and was sure she’d pick Layla, which explains the plea from earlier.
I smile at her and, when her eyes connect with mine, the embarrassment fades from her face as she grins.
“So,” Isabella claps her hands, “starting tomorrow, the competition begins.”
The air crackles with tension. Why the hell are we letting tension between the two of them affect all of us?
“God.” Stella laughs. “No need to make it sound so ominous. It’s just a friendly competition between friends.”
Isabella rolls her eyes. “Come on, Stella. Never call a competition against this man friendly.”
Jay laughs.
Everyone heads to bed after that.