Page 9 of Glamour & Gumballs

Chaos, huh?

For the first time since we landed, something made me kind of excited.

And yeah, it was the possibility of chaos.

“Sorry, Er.” Kyle pronounced the attempted nickname like “air”. “Is it okay if I call you that?”

It was better than the nickname he’d given Molly.

And he had actually asked if he could use it, which was far preferable than just going for it. But yeah, that wasn’t happening.

“No,” I said. “My name is Erin.”

Kyle nodded. “No nicknames. Got it.” He looked back at Reid. “The look Erin gave Jim told me she doesn’t like him, and we all know Rhett will refuse if she chooses him in the end. What would be the point of working with you when I can stick with them, and increase the odds of winning?”

My eyebrows lifted.

Kyle had noticed that I didn’t like Jim?

How?

When?

He hadn’t seemed perceptive on the last season. Not in the episodes I’d seen, at least.

And would Rhett actually refuse if I chose him?

I thought about him sitting on the sand, letting go of his vote without a second thought.

Yeah, he probably would turn me down.

“I have Ev, Julian, and Colt” Reid said. “That’s seven between our two alliances. Six tonight, without Rhett’s vote, which is still a majority. We can get rid of everyone else until we’re the final seven, then battle it out for the final three. Since no one expects you and your people to win, everyone will want to take you with them.”

Kyle nodded slowly. “Sounds pretty simple.”

“Exactly,” Reid agreed.

The boat continued driving around, weaving between and around small islands while rain fell on us. It wasn’t pouring, but it definitely wasn’t sprinkling anymore.

Kyle and Reid continued talking strategy while I stared out at the horizon, willing the rain to stop.

It didn’t.

I felt like a popsicle when the boat finally docked at the island we would call home. It was the same island they’d used the last season, but everything they had built seemed to have been destroyed.

The men kept working on a shelter as we walked up the beach, though a few of them greeted me.

Though I’d expected Rhett to be brooding on the beach, I found him cutting bamboo with murder in his eyes.

He was obviously still unhappy about where he’d ended up.

So was I.

After a waved greeting, I told the cluster of men that I needed some air. After dropping my soaked bag, socks, and shoes at the base of a large tree, I headed down the beach.

All my things were soaked.

I was already cold, and it was still the middle of the day. That would get much worse if the rain didn’t stop when the sun went down.

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