Page 33 of Stranded

He rubs the back of his head as his eyes move to where she disappeared. “Zee’s my type, to a tee. I didn’t think I had a type, but everything about her appeals to me. Every trait you both listed are things I see in her and want in a woman. Not to mention the natural instinct I seem to have to protect her and care for her.”

“Dibs!” I yell before either of them get any ideas.

They both stare at me unamused.

“What?”

“Bower, you can’t call dibs on a woman,” King says, exasperation lacing his tone.

“What are we supposed to do, then?” I ask as we all eye each other carefully. “I know I should probably back off and let you two figure it out, but I can’t let her go that easily. If she ever lets us get close enough to, you know, express an interest, do we all just throw in our hat and let her pick?”

“Let’s not worry about it now, I don’t think she’s ready for that yet, and for all we know, she won’t be interested,” King says. “Here she comes.”

She swings down to us dressed in her usual skirt and crop top, then pulls her knife from her bag and attaches the sheath to her side.

“You ready to show us how to prep the boar, Zee?” West asks as he steps towards the animal.

An hour later, I sit staring at the meat cooking over the fire in absolute awe. If I wasn’t interested in Tink before this, which I was, for the record, then I damn sure am now. She skinned and cut up that boar like she’s been a professional butcher her whole life. It was gross, and made my stomach turn more than once. But to see her confidence and skill as she worked, was nothing short of amazing. She even took the time to explain what she was doing.

We were all impressed when she let West take a turn, passing him her knife to use. Even if she did stand far away from him until she got her knife back. That was progress though, she was starting to trust us. We were also impressed with how fast she got the fire started with nothing but her knife and a rock.

She told us we’d cook some meat to eat now, then we had to get the fire smoldering to turn the rest into jerky so it would last a few weeks. When I asked if she learned this before coming to the island, she answered with a simple shake to her head, telling us she’s been here long enough to trial and error every part of this process. I can’t imagine how long it would have taken the three of us to learn this if she wasn’t here to teach us.

“Tomorrow, I’ll show you where the mangos are, if you like?” she asks, standing on the other side of the fire, staring at the cooking meat.

“That’d be great, Tink, thanks. I don’t know what we’d do here without you.”

She gives me a shy smile and shrugs a shoulder.

“Eep!” I look up and see Mo-Mo come swinging through the clearing, landing on Zee’s shoulder and nuzzling her neck. She smiles at him fondly, giving him a scratch on his neck while he makes little noises. Watching her interact with him just reinforces how kind and sweet she is.

Mo-Mo points to the cooking meat and she rolls her eyes. “You know I’ll give you some.”

“He’s asking for some of the meat?” I ask with a laugh.

“Yeah, Mo-Mo loves food, he’s always stealing my meals. And he really likes jerky.”

“You must be a good cook,” King says with a smile.

“I don’t know about that. I don’t think he’s particularly picky. He eats insects, after all.”

“Is he the only lemur that’s friendly with you?” West asks, from where he’s sitting beside me. We’ve given her a wide berth, so that she doesn’t feel crowded as the three of us sit on the opposite side of the fire from her.

“Sometimes his family comes around, they’re friendly, too. But Mo-Mo is my best friend, the others don't come without him.”

“Does he have a big family?” I ask curiously.

“There are probably about a hundred lemurs on the island, I’m guessing. Mo-Mo’s immediate family is his girlfriend, Coco, and his buddies Sam and Dean.”

“Sam and Dean, as in the show Supernatural?” I ask with a laugh.

She smiles at me and nods. “Yeah, I used to love that show.”

My eyes dart to the other two in surprise. What she just said proves she didn't grow up on this island. Not that I thought she had, based on the way she doesn’t act like a total savage, but sometimes it’s hard to tell with her, the way she swings from vines and butchers pigs.

“Do they have girlfriends?” King asks, obviously wanting to keep the conversation light.

“Coco is their girlfriend, too,” she says, making me almost choke on the water I’d just tried to swallow.

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