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He shrugged one broad shoulder and took another step towards her. She’d been hoping that if he did draw closer she would see that she’d exaggerated his size, his masculine energy, his handsomeness.
But no.
He burned brighter, the closer he got.
“Sorry helps nothing,” he said.
“It’s not about helping. It’s just about letting someone know they aren’t alone.”
But they both were.
Together.
The rain continued to pour and her dress was completely stuck to her body. She became very aware of both her choice to not wear a bra, and the effect the cold was probably having on her body.
As if her thoughts had cued him, he looked her over. The perusal was slow and somehow made her feel...heated.
There was something about him. She felt like she knew him, while at the same time he felt utterly unknown. It was a strange push and pull. Safety mixed with danger in a way she couldn’t define.
Not real danger. She felt safer with this man than she’d ever felt before.
The danger was in her.
As if he had awakened something in her she hadn’t known was there.
“Well, then since we are not alone, tell me. What sort of friends go off, and leave one of their own stranded in a monsoon?”
She had nothing else to do other than talk to him. He was her only way back to civilization.
Her phone didn’t have data, so she couldn’t look anything up. She didn’t have a backup plan that wasn’t...her flaky friends, which she supposed made her an idiot. So why not?
“I don’t actually think they’re my friends,” she said.
And realized that was true the minute she said the words.
“That seems apparent to me.”
“Well, Jaia was my roommate. Is my roommate? Back at home. The other two are her friends, and as soon as we got with them...”
“Old friends taking precedence over new. I see.”
“I guess so. I mean, I hadn’t really realized how much Jaia was...well she’s a flake. This whole trip has been deeply disorganized, and once it started raining they left. Or they met men and they left. Or something. With them, who can say?”
“But no one made sure you were all right?”
“More fool me, I was actually seeing to what we’d discussed doing. I was...” It sounded silly now.
“Yes?”
“I saw this as an opportunity to have a spiritual time.” It sounded so dumb and immature, it made her feel exposed, especially next to this man who had an air of worldly sophistication about him. She just sounded like what she was. A silly girl. But she wanted him to understand her, as foolish as that seemed. “By myself. I’ve... My life has been one long series of struggles and I’ve finally reached a place where I wasn’t so... Where it wasn’t so hard. I had some money saved up and I thought I’d come here and experience something new. I thought I’d come and feed my soul for a while because I’ve always been so focused on survival that part of me has been denied.”
“I was here for the same reason,” he said, looking up, the rain rolling down his face.
He looked back at her, and she was sure he could see straight through her.
“Oh.”
It didn’t feel silly, then. It felt like, at least she’d been right about one thing.
