Page 17 of Heat & Hard Candies

When he confirmed that he had, we had a long discussion about the pros and cons of the whole series. The conversation continued, loudly, on the speedboat back to theSurvivalisland.

It caught me off guard when we arrived, because I was so excited about the chat.

My gaze caught on Kyle’s as we got off the boat, and I found his eyes narrowed.

Shit.

He was usually calm and collected, no matter what.

He had to know that I wasn’tinterestedin Oz—I just liked having someone to talk about books with.

But I couldn’t come out and tell him that. If we went off alone, red flags would rise immediately. That wasn’t even an option.

So, fear clenched my abdomen as I watched him force his usual laid-back demeanor.

He smacked Oz on the shoulder to welcome him back, then winked at me before sauntering off with the other guys.

My stomach clenched tighter.

I hadn’t even checked to see which guy was gone, but I didn’t give a damn. I needed to talk to Kyle… and I couldn’t.

six

LAUNA

The tension lingeredthrough that day, and the day and a half that followed. Parker was gone, which didn’t bother me in the slightest.

There was never a moment for us to slip away together.

Avoiding the other guys meant avoiding Kyle too.

The next challenge was a classic—mud wrestling—and I didn’t even need to watch to know who was going to come out on top.

Ididwatch, though.

I watched closely.

There was something ridiculously hot about seeing Kyle fight with, and defeat, a bunch of massive, gorgeous fae.

He was the biggest, and the strongest.

The man was absolutelycoveredwith mud when the challenge ended, but he grabbed my hand and lifted it high in the air as he whooped about his victory the way he always did in the past seasons.

The other guys laughed and shook their heads.

Typical Kyle, they were thinking.

They had no idea what had happened between us—and that made my toes curl into the sand a little.

Kyle’s hand was on my back as he led me to the helicopter that would take us to the volcanic hot springs we were spending the rest of the day at.

That touch was typical for him, too. Typical enough that no one would think twice about it.

Despite it being normal for him, and despite the mud all over his hands, I relished the touch.

It had been a long, lonely ten days since our time together. My chest ached, and my stomach hurt.

As soon as the helicopter’s door shut, he sat down on the bench seat and pulled me with him. His side pressed against mine, and his muddy hand gripped my thigh as the helicopter rose from the ground.

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