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Four hours and I was already fucking exhausted.
I’d gone through all my reserves just keeping an eye on Neri as she laughed at something Joel said and shot him a heated look when he touched her bare waist.
I’d almost ripped his arm off for that.
I’d almost snatched Neri, thrown her into the Ute, and driven away.
But I hadn’t because I’d made a promise.
A promise to keep her safe. To have fun.
Fuck.
Fun?
This was an utter nightmare.
I’d rather be anywhere but here.
I’d rather be scrubbing barnacles off the bottom of The Fluke than be forced to watch Neri flirt and dance, humming with sexual invitation and recklessness.
My gut clenched.
My blood turned white-hot at the thought of one of the guys taking Neri’s hand and disappearing down the overgrown path to Noah Beach.
At least my visions of sleeping in a dense jungle with no facilities or help for miles had been wrong. The trip here had taken almost two hours, but I was grateful to find a proper campground with toilets and other campers who took it upon themselves to police any newcomers, making sure we obeyed the rules of no bonfires or drunken idiocy.
That ought to appease me.
I should be able to enjoy Joel’s slightly-flat beer and accept that this was my new home for three days.
But...she had made that impossible.
I’d begun to suspect she’d lied the moment she’d ordered Jack to drop us off at Zara’s house. Jack drove away with a smile, leaving us alone with all our gear dumped on Zara’s front lawn.
The front door had opened.
Zara had shot out and whisked Neri up in a hug with a fair amount of excited screaming.
I’d stood with my hands jammed into my cargo short pockets, not saying a word.
I’d met Zara over the past few years as she came round for play dates and a couple of sleepovers with Neri. The first time I’d met her, she’d been floating around the pool on a zebra lilo, high on sugar, and giggling the way only thirteen-year-old girls could do, celebrating Neri’s birthday.
She’d grown up since then.
She was taller, prettier, with breasts on full display in a tight turquoise bikini, short-shorts, and a baggy grey tank-top that gaped every time she bent forward.
While Nerida reminded me a little of my lost sister with her kind heart, intelligent eyes, and desire to be good, Zara reminded me of my cousin with her sly brown eyes and desire to be older than she was. Despite the fact that Afet had black hair and Zara was blonde, the similarities in their moods and disregard for rules made me sick.
I might be the reason my family died on that boat, but my cousin was the reason we were there to begin with.
While I watched Neri and Zara giggle and gossip, I waited for Zara’s parents to appear, only...that never happened.
Joel had marched out of the house, chucked all our gear into the back of his dinged-up blue Holden Ute, then commanded we all hop in.
Neri had leapt in the back with Zara.
I’d climbed reluctantly in the front with Joel.
We’d met up with two other cars as we’d driven out of suburbia, hit the highways, and it became abundantly clear that these three days would have no parental supervision whatsoever.
Jack was right to send me to watch her.
Only problem was, I didn’t know how long I could stand just watching. I had an awful suspicion that I’d end up doing something she’d hate me for, all because I would do absolutely anything to keep her safe.
And these assholes were not safe.
They’d come here to drink, party, and fuck.
And Neri was far, far too fucking young for that.
My teeth ground together.
“Yo, mate. Allan, is it?”
I blinked back my anger and stared at the guys a few metres away.
Keeping half my attention on Neri as she figured out how to light the camp stove that Zara had set up to cook on, I focused on the shaved-head guy who’d already had enough beers to be well over the limit.
“It’s Aslan.”
“Cool name.” He toasted me with his half-empty bottle.
“Isn’t that the name of the lion in the The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe?” one of the girls sitting by Joel’s feet asked, flicking me a smile. “Narnia or some shit.”
“It’s not shit,” Neri piped up, glaring at the girl. “The Chronicles of Narnia are a classic.”
“The witch was pretty hot, I’ll admit.” Joel laughed. “Especially when she turned all those creatures into ice. Or was it stone? Either way, she was an unapologetic bitch.”
Joel’s mate snickered, cocking his chin at me. “My name’s Gareth, and this is Hadleigh.”
I nodded. “Hey.”
“I’m Rita, and this is Molly.” The redhead wearing a bikini wrapped around her torso with a thousand gemstone strings smiled. “We all go to the same school. We’re two years above Neri and Zara but figured...they’re sensible enough to drink responsibly.” She laughed as if she was hilarious.
