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After surviving the shipwreck, she’d promised herself a few things. If she really had to spend the rest of her life on this deserted island, she would not only try to survive but also make the most of her stay.
She would try to not fall back into old habits and hide away from the rest of the world whenever something unnerving happens. Facing her fears and insecurities head on, that was the new Adela Martinez.
She smiled at Jack. “Thanks. You were amazing, too.”
Jack gave her a cheeky wink. He probably thought she meant the way he made her come over and over again earlier at the lake.
She brought a hand to her lower back, checking if the four beer cans under her tank top still stuck in the back of her jean shorts.
Her head suddenly pounded, and her throat couldn’t be drier. She couldn’t wait to boil the beer cans filled with lake water.
“Ah, there you are! We figured you two left us to set up a little love nest on your own,” Reed said with a playful slap to her shoulder, sloshing the lake water against her back.
She lifted her tank top and Jack instantly came up behind her, grabbing the first two beer cans from out of her jean shorts.
“Oh, shit. Sorry,” Reed said.
“It’s okay.” She smiled at the handsome quarterback, since there was just something about the endearing big ape that made her unable to get mad at him.
“Here, take this,” Jack said as he handed over the beer cans to Reed.
Reed walked over to the campfire and placed the cans next to the smoldering firewood in the sand. Jack grabbed the other cans from her jean shorts, handing those also to Reed before pulling out a can from each of his pockets.
“I’m afraid there’s not much in these, since a lot sloshed over the sides on our way over here.”
“That’s okay, man,” Zane said as he joined them.
“How are things here?” Jack asked.
Zane pointed to an area where they’d dumped piles of bamboo and palm tree fronds on a heap on the edge of the beach. “Good. Reed and I have been cleaning up a small strip over there. I think it’s far enough from the tide and these bushes will give us a little shelter against a storm. These bamboo poles will have to hold in the dirt ground since I didn’t want to stay near those palm trees and end up with a coconut on our heads.”
“You already have the foundation?” Jack asked. “Where did you find the bamboo without cutting it down?”
She followed the guys as they talked on their way over to the pile Zane and Reed had collected. A growing unease made her unsure how to act around Jack now that they were back at camp.
This day alone with Jack had been magical, and although she’d never experienced such pure bliss before, it also made her feel guilty. While she had the time of her life, her friends were still missing.
Zane interrupted her guilt-ridden thoughts by squeezing her shoulder. “You did good today, Adi. I saw what you’ve towed through the jungle in this insane heat.”
His praise gave her a warm feeling inside. “Thanks, Zane.”
“I mean it. I’m impressed. We can use those for the roof.”
“She’s the best,” Jack said with a proud smile on his face.
“What can I do to help?” she asked no one in particular, just so they would stop praising her.
“Maybe you can weave the palm tree fronds you’ve brought? I can show you what we’ve done with those.” Zane walked over to three fronds that already had been weaved with branches keeping it together on each side, looking like small roofing parts.
“Oh, wow. I’m impressed,” she said.
Zane nodded with a hint of a shy smile, something she hadn’t expected from him.
“Thanks.”
“Come sit next to me, Adi,” Reed padded the spot next to him in the shades, “I’ll show you what Z taught me.”
She sat down next to Reed and watched him flick the third leaflet on the left over the second leaflet and under the first leaflet.
