Page 25 of Stranded

“What about other people?” Weston asks gently.

I don't answer straight away. Part of me wants to lie, say there are others here with me. They are less likely to do anything if they think I’m not alone, right?

He crouches down in front of me, trying to make me meet his eyes. “Zee?” I continue tying the knots, refusing to look at him. “Zee, we’re not going to hurt you, I promise. We just want to help.”

I pull the last knot tight and jump to my feet, taking a few steps back from them. He stands slowly as I answer him. “I don’t need your help.”

A flash of uncertainty crosses his face. Why would he think I need help?

“You’re right,” he says with a nod, looking down at Brutus. “But we could definitely use yours.” His eyes return to mine as he tries to read my expression. “We could trade for it?”

He wants to give me something for helping them? I pinch my lips in distaste. Helping someone shouldn’t come at a cost.

I shake my head. “No.”

“You won’t help us?” Kingsley asks, his voice laced with disappointment.

“No, I meant, I don’t want to trade for it. I’ll help you, but there’s no cost.”

“Marry me,” Bower blurts out, not for the first time. My eyes widen in surprise.What’s with this guy?

“Bower…” Weston growls in warning.

“What?! She’s gorgeousandgenerous? She’s perfect, I need to lock her down.” Bower says with a big smile. My cheeks heat with embarrassment at his words. He barely knows me.

But as much as I try to fight my reaction to him, something about his happy demeanor, especially when it’s aimed at me, makes a smile form on my lips.

“Fuck me, you're stunning when you smile,” he says seriously, startling me into taking a step back, my smile quickly dropping.

His expression turns to alarm when he sees my reaction, and he quickly tries to apologize. “I’m sorry, I—”

“We need to hang him now,” I say, cutting him off and trying to ignore how uncomfortable I just made everything. “He’s too heavy for me to hoist on my own.” I wave at the end of the vines in front of me. “One of you needs to help—”

Before I can finish my sentence, Weston silently grabs all the vines and splits them between himself and the other two. “Ready, and heave… Heave,” he calls as they all pull in unison. I step back with wide eyes to give them room.

I watch his biceps bulge against his dark green t-shirt, wondering if it’s about to split open from the sheer strength of him.

Sweet baby biceps! He’sripped! I wipe my mouth, afraid I might actually be drooling and my eyes move to Bower. “Fuck,” I whisper quietly when I see his thick thighs pressing against his jeans, which look ready to burst at the seams. Kingsley has his back to me, but his tight shirt also shows the muscles working, not to forget his ass as it moves towards me. “Dear lord!” I whisper, turning around before I make a fool of myself.

You think I’d never seen grown men before.Not since you were a teenager, I remind myself.

“How high do we need it, Zee?” Weston asks, making me turn back around to face them.

“That’s good, he only needs to be a few inches from the ground so the blood can drain out of him, tie it around the trunk, it should be long enough,” I tell them and watch as they follow my instructions and work as a team to tie him off.

“I could have helped hoist him,” I tell them, wanting them to know I was strong enough to do it, too.

“You probably could have done it on your own, but why would you? You’ve got us now,” Kingsley says calmly.

You’ve got us now.

Those words stir something inside of me. I wish that was actually true. I’ve been lonely for so long, I’m desperate to believe them. But I’m not prepared to accept that,I can’t.

Wanting to distract my thoughts, I kneel at Brutus’s head, pull out my knife and slit his throat, stepping back as the blood starts pouring out of him.

“That was bad ass, Tink!” Bower says cheerfully. I turn to him and his eyes dim as they look over my body. “Uh, you got a little…” he trails off, pointing at my chest and face.

I glance down and realize I got sprayed with Brutus’s blood. I touch my face and my fingers come away red. Suddenly, a memory from my past comes flooding in.

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