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I’m horrified. He’s torn up a book? That’s sacrilegious.
And then I get a closer look at the book.
“Oh my god!” I cry out. “Where did you get that?”
He bites his lip, avoiding my eyes.
“Tai! Is that my book? Is that The Devilish Rake?”
“Look,” he says defensively. “I saw it lying on the beach, I didn’t know it was yours.”
“Yes you did! I had put it on the beach along with all my other stuff, trying to signal for help!”
“It’s just a book,” he says, and I gasp even louder. “You already read it, I saw you read it!”
“We’re on a deserted island, it may be one of the only books I’ll ever get to read again!”
As if to make his point, the pages catch fire and start burning.
“I can’t believe you did that,” I practically whimper, watching the pages curl.
“Give me a break,” he says with a roll of his eyes. “Do you want to wipe your ass with poisonous leaves or not?”
I gesture to the jungle. “I’m sure there are other options!”
“Suit yourself,” he says, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out the copy of the paperback, a lot of the pages already torn out. “Here, you can have it back. Probably did the book a favor by making it shorter.”
“Now you’re just trying to be a dick. Book burner.”
“Boat sinker.”
Asshole. He knows he’s got me with that one. It hits deep, right between the ribs. I don’t even have anything to say to that except sorry and I know my apologies are worthless to him.
So I turn around and start walking off, down the beach to my SOS sign to see what else he ruined.
It all looks fine.
Until I realize he replaced the book with my vibrator, making up part of the S.
Dear god.
I whip around and storm back across the beach to Tai, who is trying not to laugh.
Asshole again.
“You found my vibrator!” I yell, knowing I’m probably waking up Lacey and Richard, and boy, what a way to wake up.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says, rubbing his lips together. His poker face is still terrible.
“Yes you do! I hid it in my shoe!”
“Gingersnap, there was no hiding that thing. Sweet Jesus, way to give a guy a complex.”
“You know perfectly well that your, uh, that it’s comparable.”
A dark brow arches. “Oh is it?”
“I’m not comfortable complimenting you right now.”
“I see,” he says, taking a step toward me. “It’s hard not to do, isn’t it?”
“Shut up.”
“I am curious as to why you had to pack that for the life raft. Were you going to use it as a paddle, or…?” he trails off, licking his lips.
Ugh. Can he please stop being sexy for like one second so I can be mad at him?
“I panicked, okay?” I smile wickedly. “Don’t tell me you’re threatened.”
“Whatever makes you sleep at night,” he says, heading back to camp.
“I didn’t sleep!” I yell at him. “Lacey and Little Dicky were being nauseating.”
“Don’t be jealous!” I hear Lacey yell from beyond the palm trees. Guess they’re up.
I sigh and look at the book in my hands. Well, since it’s already been ripped apart, if you can’t beat them, join them.
It isn’t until after breakfast, which is tomato soup and crackers, not the worst of the meals but not the best, that Tai announces he’s going to go on an expedition across the island.
“I’m coming,” Richard says, raising his hand like he’s in class.
“You’re not,” Tai says. “You can barely see. You’ll be a danger to yourself and I am not carrying you back here. Maybe later, when I get a better look at the terrain.”
“Then Lacey should go,” Richard says. “She knows the fauna here.” He adds in a low voice, “You obviously can’t be trusted around it.”
“I’m not leaving you,” Lacey says. “You’re still a bit dizzy from,” she gestures to his mangled face, “all this.”
“I’ll go!” I say, jumping to my feet.
Tai’s brows knit together. “You? Gilligan? I don’t think so.”
“Stop calling me Gilligan,” I tell him, following him as he walks back to camp. “I’m going with you.”
“Only if I can call you Gilligan,” he says, drinking from a bottle of water. He hands it to me. “And only if you don’t talk to me. I’m not really in the mood.”
“You’re never in the mood,” I tell him, taking a sip. “Thanks.” I eye the rest of the water supply. “We’re going to run low soon, aren’t we?”
He nods grimly, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Another reason to head inland. This place is big enough, and the elevation over there high enough, to have a stream, maybe even a pond or a lake. Don’t know how long it will be until the next weather system passes through and gives us rain. Least if we find some water, we can use the purification tablets.”
