Page 45 of Stranded

“We can’t use that in there, it’ll contaminate the water,” I tell him, gesturing to the pond.

“That’s why we have these,” Kingsley says, holding up a bag to show me.

“Alright, Tink. You have two choices,” Bower tells me as he sets down the bottles and pulls some clothing from his bag. “You can wear this spare shirt and boxers to shower in, or you’re more than welcome to shower naked and we will do our best not to look. But I’ll warn you, we’ll have to keep filling up our bags with water so we can’t exactly do it with our eyes closed the entire time.”

As nice as it would be to clean my body, my hair is way more important right now.

“I’ll wear these,” I tell him, taking the offered clothes.

“We’ll all face the waterfall and give you a chance to change,” Kingsley says as the three of them move between me and the water, giving me their backs.

I don’t hesitate to quickly strip off my skirt and top and pull on his clothes. I let out a moan as the soft fabric touches my skin. The boxers, in particular, feel amazing. I’ve been feeling my thighs rub together for the past fifteen years.

“You okay there, Tink?” Bower asks, reminding me that they can hear me.

“Ah, yeah, sorry, you can look now.”

They all turn around and Bower eyes me up and down, a smile slowly covering his face. I’m more covered up than I was a moment ago, but the way he’s looking at me right now says something about this outfit is tohis liking. I lick my dry lips and glance at the others, who are also looking at me in a similar fashion.

“What? Why are you all looking at me like that?” I ask, glancing down at myself, worrying I’m wearing it wrong somehow.

“You look good in my clothes,” Bower says, surprising me. “Real good.” We stare at each other for a moment and I sense something spark between us.

“Alright, why don’t we get started?” Kingsley suggests, breaking the tension.

We pick a spot close enough to the pond for the guys to repeatedly fill the water, while making sure none of it would flow back in.

“I’m gonna go in the pond to get my hair wet first,” I tell them as I pull my hair free from its braid. Once in, I submerge my whole body and use my fingers to make sure all of my hair is wet. When I get out, I feel the weight of my hair pulling on my scalp, but there’s nothing I can do about it. I’ve tried cutting it with McStabby before, but it ended up being more hassle than it’s worth.

I get in place and Bower holds up the first bag of water over me, then Weston uses his knife to stab a few small holes in the bottom, essentially creating a shower head. A giggle escapes me as it starts to rain down over me.

“Can I?” I open my eyes and see Kingsley holding the bottle of shampoo and pointing to my head.

“Oh, I can wash it,” I tell him, reaching for the bottle, but he pulls it out of my reach.

“I know youcan, but you have a lot of hair and we want you to enjoy this. You’ve helped us so much already, please let me wash it for you?” He asks it like it's a simple question and not one that has my heart flutteringin my chest like I’ve just been asked to prom by the cutest boy in school. Not that I knew what that felt like.

Finally, I nod and watch as he moves behind me. I close my eyes again and tilt my head back as Weston replaces the first empty bag with a second as Bower goes to refill his.

The moment Kingsley’s fingers press against my scalp, I let out an embarrassing moan. But I don’t even care, feeling his fingers work the shampoo through my head is the most amazing thing I’ve felt in my life. “Sweet baby fingers, that feels amazing.” Bower chuckles, reminding me they’re all watching me.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying it, sweetheart,” Kingsley says quietly from behind me. My cheeks heat, even through the water raining down on me, but I keep my eyes shut, afraid if I do anything, he’ll stop.

After a couple of minutes, the water stops flowing over me and his fingers move away from my head and down my mass of hair.

“We’ll resume once King’s finished washing your hair,” Bower tells me from my side and I nod in understanding. They’d probably have to refill the bags thirty times before Kingsley gets through all my hair.

Bower’s fingers press into the side of my head, surprising me. “Wha—” I cut myself off when Weston does the same on the other side, making me moan instead. I should probably feel embarrassed at the noises I’m making, but having the two of them massage my head while Kingsley washes my hair is the most magical thing I’ve ever felt.

After a few minutes, they all stop, and the water starts to rain over me again. Fingers work through my head and hair continuously. It puts me in such a relaxed state that I literally fall asleep, only a strong arm around my waist stops me from falling over.

“What happened?” I ask, blinking up at Bower’s smiling face.

“I think you were so relaxed you fell asleep for a second there.”

“Crap, sorry,” I say, trying to stand up and push myself away from his chest. His very hard, firm chest that I find my palms plastered too. I stare at my fingers as they dig into his wet shirt. I realize he hasn't let me go, but I’ve also stopped trying to push away.

I glance up at him and the fire I see in his eyes has my breath hitch. In this moment, I want him to kiss me, and that scares me. I don’t know if I’m ready for that. The last time I kissed a boy, I was only thirteen, and I have a feeling kissing as a twenty-eight year old was very different. I drop my head before I do something stupid and he slowly releases me, letting me take a step back.

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