Page 37 of Totally Wrecked
“Just like that?”
“Yeah, just like that.” Leander reaches out a hand and holds my face. “Everything is going to be better, just like that. The raft probably got caught in the same current as us. Rex and Gray could be washed up on this island, just around the corner!”
“And Killian.” My hand goes to my neck and I realize the beads he gave me are missing.
Oh Killian, please be OK.
I can’t believe I have enough moisture in my body to produce a tear, but one trails down my cheek.
“Right, Killian. And Harvey. If they are here, they’ll find us. And they’ll have a raft full of emergency supplies. Until then, we’ll survive just fine.” He stands up and strips off his sex-instructor shirt, his shorts, and underwear.
Wading into the water, his back to me. I get an eyeful of contoured muscle, bubble butt, and the elegant curve of his spine as he dips his head in the water. When he stands up again, water runs off his hair, pulling his curls down so the length of it nearly reaches his shoulder blades. Leander gives a groan.
“Fucking heaven, really. Girls, you need to do this.”
I watch as he lowers himself down to chin level, then pulls his clothes off the rocks to swill them around in the freshwater. My clothes are stiff with salt. My whole body feels raw with stinging salt.
“Come on, sweetpea, let’s get in.”
“Too tired.”
“It’ll help, promise.”
Unbuttoning my shirt, I throw it on the ground, then step out of the shorts. Underneath, I am wearing my own underwear, not Brooke’s. She is a sports bra and boxer brief kinda gal. My matching set is white with little blue flowers all over, and lace trim. Both pieces are also quite skimpy.
“Hands up, Keyara.” She flops her arms up and I help her out of her summer dress, then taking her little hand, we step into the water.
“Cold!”
“But good,” I grin at her.
Leander turns around and does a double-take.
“You look mighty delicate for an iron-women.”
I give a sigh and wade into the water. There is no point keeping this secret any longer; it’s ridiculous.
As I watch Keyara dunk her face for another drink, I tell him the truth. “I’m not an iron-woman. Or a marathon runner. Or a spelunker. I am a children’s librarian.”
The look on Leander’s face would be hilarious if I wasn't so tired and scared. Keyara puts her head up. “You like books.”
“I do like books,” I reply. “I like reading action adventures, not living them. My sister,” I continue, “is ‘Brooke ‘Action' Jackson, not me. We are identical twins, and she broke her leg last week. So I’m secretly taking her place in this stupid competition. Or was, anyway.”
Leander gapes at me. “This is the next level! So if you’re not Brooke, what’s your name then?”
“Daisy.”
“Whoa, sweet Daisy—just, wow! How’d she talk you into it?”
“I owe her a big favor, and she called it in, so what was I to do?”
I really did owe her big.
“And I'm a pushover,” I tell him. “I crumble under sustained argument.”
Keyara seems a lot livelier now, and goes to examine the small waterfall.
Leander swims closer to me. “So you were going to live by yourself on a deserted island for a week and do all those weird puzzles and tasks they dream up? Do you think you could have handled it?”
