Page 91 of Chasing Paradise

“They’re really cute,” Wick agreed.

“Oh, oh, they’re gonna swim,” I cooed, crossing my legs to watch as the mom slid into the water, followed by all her little babies, swimming around happily for a few moments before climbing back out. “Are you seeing this?” I asked.

“Yeah, duchess,” he said, but when I turned, I found his gaze watching me, not the capybaras. “I’m seeing it.”

I was going to say something. Maybe even talk about what was happening with us.

When my stomach let out the growl to top all growls, making Wick’s lips curve up. “I guess I should feed you, huh?”

“Wait, you’re not leaving, are you?” I asked when he started to get to his feet.

“I won’t go far. I think I saw an açai tree not too far away.”

“We should stay put,” I insisted.

“You are going to,” he said. He grabbed one of the plastic bags from his pack, but left the backpack itself.

“Wick, we shouldn’t split up.”

“I know where you are.”

“But what if—“

“If you hear something, you stay your ass in here, do you hear me?”

“Wick…”

“We don’t both need to die.”

“Um, I’m pretty sure I’d die without you here too. I’m not exactly Rainforest Survival Barbie here,” I reminded him.

“You don’t give yourself enough credit. But I don’t plan on dying out there. So just wait for me, okay?”

“Fine,” I grumbled, feeling a little guilty about how much I wanted to stay put.

“I won’t be long,” he assured me, giving my hip a squeeze. He looked like he wanted to kiss me, but neither of us had gotten a chance to brush our teeth yet.

“I’ll be here,” I told him, reaching to give him a bottle of water.

Then he was gone.

I watched him through the waterfall as he disappeared, then went ahead and brushed my teeth, not wanting to miss another opportunity to kiss Wick if it popped up.

Finished with that, I sat back down and worried a lot more than I could have anticipated.

I was so lost in my worst-case scenarios that I nearly jumped out of my skin when a strange squeak sounded right near me.

“Jesus Chri—oh,” I said, pressing a hand to my racing heart when I saw the source of the sound.

A little… frog? I mean, I was pretty sure that was a frog. It was hideously cute, looking more like a little ball with an angry face than a normal frog.

“Listen, I’m cool with you being here so long as you don’t try to, like, wipe me with your hallucinogenic goo or something.” To that, I got another squeak. “You sound like a dog toy,” I told him when he let out another surprisingly loud squeak for such a little dude.

Seeing something, he hopped forward, giving me a view of his backend.

“Oh, my God. You have little butt cheeks,” I said, letting out a strangled little laugh. I was pretty sure I’d never seen a frog with cheeks before.

The frog, oblivious to my delight, kept hopping forward. His little pink tongue flashed out, grabbing some sort of insect, and pulling it into his mouth, munching away.

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