Page 86 of Wild Like Us
“Something wrong?” I ask.
He looks up and lets out a dry laugh. “Other than the fact that we both like the same girl?”
I flip the pancake again, looks golden. “Other than that unfortunate thing, yeah.”
“Unfortunate is an understatement,” Akara replies into a sigh. “I hate that we’re competing for her attention…her affection. Because I want it, but I’m also going to feel badly when you don’t get it. And I’m going to feel like even worse shit when you do and I don’t.”
“Same here.” I bounce my head, a migraine shooting pain in my left eye. I try not to close it. “Guess that’s what happens when someone you care about falls for the girl you like.”
“Yeah.” He runs a hand through his hair and then answers my earlier question. “I’ve been having dreams.”
I tense and scan him quickly. “That’s what’s bothering you?”
He nods once, then swigs from a water bottle. He’s about to reply, but Sulli zips herself out of the tent. She’s already dressed in workout gear and carries a perfectly coiled rope. “Hey, guys. That smells good.”
Before it burns, I toss the golden pancake onto a plate. “Lower your expectations. Akara’s food review came in and it wasn’t good.” I sprinkle the top of the pancake with yellow gummy bears. Standing up, I walk over to Sulli.
“Akara’s not a good food critic, so it’s probably amazing.”
“Hey, I’m a great food critic for mainstream tastes,” Akara defends. “Not your sweet-tooth concoctions.”
She smiles at him, then really looks at the plate I hand her. “Did you only put the yellow gummy bears on here?”
“Yeah,” I say. “Aren’t they your favorite?”
Her smile is on me now. “Yeah. I just…thanks.” She nods a lot. “That was really fucking sweet.”
My chest rises. It’s not often a girl calls mesweet.
Akara cuts in, “Wait until you taste it before you give him the five-star, Sul.”
“He can get five-stars for the fucking delivery and presentation.” She nudges Akara’s knee with her foot.
Akara smiles at me. “She’s giving you a participation trophy.”
I close one eye.Fuck this migraine.“That’s one more trophy than she’s given you.”
Akara flips me off.
I flip him off.
“Alright—none of that in my fucking presence,” Sulli says in panic. She wasn’t here earlier to catch our heart-to-heart. “All friendships must remainintactand survive the duration of Yellowstone. I have annihilated too many friendships already—I don’t want to be known as the fucking Friendship Assassin.”
We laugh, and Akara says, “That’s too cute not to call you that.”
“Stop,” she groans.
He feigns hurt. “But my Friendship Assassin.”
“Kits.” Sulli tries not to laugh. “I want to be thelover, not the fighter, definitely not the killer.”
The air heats as the wordloverhangs for a much longer beat.
Sulli shifts her weight, her face brighter red. “Not that I know how to make love, but one day, I probably will.”
I tip my head, wondering why she addedprobably—like she’s still not sure if she’ll ever lose her virginity. So I tell her, “You will.”
Sulli gives me a once-over, flushing more.
