Page 26 of Marks of Rebellion
I lean into his ear. "What if they're jealous?"
He arches an eyebrow. "Jealous?"
"Yeah. I did have the hottest guy out of the entire crew rescue me."
He grins. "Can you tell Dirk that?"
I laugh. "Maybe if you play your cards right."
He pecks me on the lips then sits me up on the rock. "All right, Flower. Let's get cleaned up and dried off. If any of the guys come down here and you're naked, I'll have to put a bullet in their head."
I look at him in horror.
"I'm kidding," he adds then mumbles, "Sort of."
Carlos would say things like that.
He scrunches his face. "Did I say the wrong thing?"
I force a smile. "No. Let's finish."
He grabs the shampoo and soap off the rock, and we go deeper into the river.
The current is hard to wash and paddle in. He drags me through the water to him. "Wrap your legs around me."
I do, and he braces my back with his arm and guides me backward to get my hair wet. He lifts me. "Hold on to me."
I wrap my arms around his shoulders.
He takes the shampoo and massages it into my scalp.
"Maybe you should work at a salon."
He grunts. "Only for you." He massages my head some more. "Time to rinse."
I lay back in the water until my hair is clean then he helps me back up. When we're done, we head back to the riverbank. He dries me off with his towel, and I put his T-shirt back on.
"I forgot to wash my clothes."
"We have stuff back at the camp. You can do it there."
"Okay."
He nervously shifts.
"What is it?" I ask.
"Can I please look at your wrists and ankles and anywhere else you have injuries? I want to put new bandages on, too."
My heart races.
He's trying to help me. Let him look.
It's not safe.
Yes, it is. He is safe.
I take his hand, walk over to the tree trunk, and sit down, then take a few deep breaths.
