Page 44 of Stranded

“Your surprise! Remember? We were going to do it yesterday, but…” he trails off, obviously not wanting to call me out on running away.

I do recall him saying something about a surprise, but with everything that’s happened in the past day, I completely forgot.

“Right, so… what is it?” I ask, glancing around for a clue, but all I see is his backpack on the ground, which looks full.

“I’ll tell you when we get to the waterfall, come on.” He reaches for my hand, but stops before he makes contact. Then he just holds his hand there and waits, giving me the chance to say no.

I try to stop myself from smiling at his attempt to not freak me out but end up twisting my lips in what I’m sure is a strange expression. Itake his offered hand, and a full-blown smile covers his face, once again reminding me how handsome he is. His hair is pulled back in a messy bun and the stubble around his jaw just adds to his rugged good looks.

He grabs his bag and swings it over his shoulder, then pulls me with him down the path, the other two right behind us. Sometimes he seems so relaxed here, it’s hard to imagine him doing anything else. Unlike the other two, he seems much more calm about being stranded on a deserted island.

“Bower?”

“Yes, Tink?”

“What do you do, you know, back in the real world? Did you have a job?”

I see a spark of surprise in his eyes before he nods. “I do, King, Reece and I created our own tech company, Titan Tech. We specialize in advanced AI.”

“AI?” I ask in confusion

“Yeah, you know, artificial intelligence?”

“Oh, right, of course.” I try not to let him see the confusion on my face, because I have no idea what that means and I’m afraid that by asking it might make him question how long I’ve been here, and that’s just not something I’m ready to talk about yet. Instead, I shift the conversation in another direction.

“Who’s Reece?”

“He’s King and my best friend. We’ve known each other for most of our lives. We own Titan Tech together, and we live together.”

“Oh.Ohhh.You guys are liketogether,together?” I ask as a pang of jealousy goes through my chest.

“No! God, no,” he says with a chuckle. “Nothing like that. King and I are definitely only attracted to women.” I sense him look at me out of the corner of my eye, but I choose to ignore him as heat creeps up my neck.

“And Reece?” I ask, since he didn’t include him in that statement.

“Reece doesn't like anyone.”

“But, I mean he must be attracted to some people?” I ask in curiosity.

“I’m sure he finds women attractive, but he has no interest in relationships. Casual or serious.”

“That sounds lonely,” I say from experience.

“That’s why King and I befriended him. He was an angry kid, but we saw he was dealing with grief. I had lost both my parents a couple years earlier and King lost his father the year before, so we understood him. We wouldn't leave him alone until he agreed to befriend us.”

“I’m sorry you lost your parents.”

“Thanks, Tink. Anyway, when we met Reece, we understood him, even if he didn’t, and we refused to let him suffer alone.”

I smile. Considering how much they were pushing to be around me, I could see them doing that to some grumpy kid on the playground, too.

“Here we are!” he says as the waterfall comes into sight.

We stop near the edge of the pond, and he drops his bag and opens it up. Only then do I notice the other two holding some of my other, weaker attempts at bags.

“What are you doing with those?” I ask in confusion.

“Well, Tink, how do you feel about having a shower and washing your hair?” Bower asks as he stands up, showing me a bottle of shampoo and conditioner in one hand and a bottle of body wash in the other. I lickmy lips at the thought of finally washing my hair… with shampoo. It’s tempting, that’s for sure.

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