Page 25 of Anyone But You
We need to find a way to carry more water back with us. Rationing 50 ounces of water between three adults a day isn’t ideal, but neither is making a six-hour round-trip journey for water every day. We can hollow out the coconuts and fill them with water, but carrying them will be a pain in the ass. Knowing Josh, he’ll probably trip and drop his coconuts onthe ground. We won’t be in bad shape if we find some young coconuts.
We gathered our belongings and dressed—the men opting to make the journey back to the beach shirtless.
I’ll give it a month before I’m walking around in a grass skirt with my titties out. I don’t give a fuck.
We began our hike with renewed vigor. We were hydrated, cooled down, and had scrubbed away all traces of dirt, grime, and sweat from our misadventures.
“Knox, give me your shirt.”
“Why?”
“Because I said so.”
“Because I said so…please,” he taunted, tossing me his shirt. I rolled my eyes and tucked my lips in to hide my smirk as I tied the arms of his dress shirt around my waist. “What are you doing?”
“I’m bringing coconuts back to the beach. We might not be able to drink them; however, we can hollow them out and use them for bowls and—”
Josh shrieked. “Oh, what the hell? What the hell?”
“What is the matter with you, kid?” Knox growled.
“Th-there was a snake!”
“And you didn’t kill it?” I asked.
“Kill it? I wouldn’t go anywhere near it!”
I sucked my teeth in disappointment. “Well, there goes our dinner.”
“I’m not eating snake,” he argued. I shrugged.
“That’s fine with me—more for me and Knox. If you want to starve, then be my guest.”
“Josh, if you see another snake, instead of crying like a little bitch, you need to let either me or Victoria know so that we can take care of it. Eating a snake may not be ideal, but it’s proteinthat our bodies will need to survive. It’s no big deal. I heard it tastes like chicken.”
“I second that,” I agreed, moving through the vegetation.
Ten minutes later, Josh had located a berry bush. “These look delicious,” he said, picking a few of the berries off the bush. He was about to toss a few in his mouth when I stopped him.
“Don’t eat those!”
“Why not?” he snapped, becoming frustrated.
“Let me see them.” He begrudgingly handed the berries over, and I sniffed them. “No. These aren’t good.”
“Why not?”
“Stop asking questions and listen to what she says,” Knox drawled, unamused by Josh’s endless inquiry.
“Don’t discourage him, Knox. He has a right to ask questions,” I said.
“Okay, NatGeo,” he snorted.
“It’sDiscovery Channel; get it straight. Anyway…where was I?”
“Denying me food once again,” Josh whined. I narrowed my eyes at him.
I’m trying to be patient with this little boy, but he’s about to get punched in the stomach, too.
