“Is that…is that John Paul?”
“Yeah,” I said, trying to keep the feeling of dread washing over me from affecting in my voice. John Paul was waving frantically and screaming something at us, but I couldn’t hear a word he was saying over the noise.
“You should put some clothes on, baby,” I murmured, half in a daze and still staring at the large, black helicopter circling the beach as its pilot tried to figure out the best place to land. She was in the shadows of the coconut palms, for the most part, so I didn’t think her nudity would have been readily obvious from the sky, but they’d be landing soon enough.
“Oh my God!” Raine screeched and ran back into the shelter.
I walked out onto the beach, shielding my eyes as the helicopter blades blew sand all over the fucking place. Standing back out of the way of the blades, I was content to wait for them to stop spinning, or maybe until the occupants decided to change their minds and rise back up into the sky, never to be seen again, but apparently John Paul was not. He leapt out of the vehicle and raced over the sand, ducking slightly to avoid the blades. Suddenly, I was captured in a powerful bear hug and spun around in a circle.
“Holy shit, man!” John Paul screamed into my ear as he spun me around. “I knew it! I knew you weren’t dead! Fuckers didn’t believe me, but I knew you wouldn’t go down – not like that!”
His arms were around my back and crushing my lungs. I could hardly breathe, and all the spinning around in a circle was making me fucking dizzy and completely nauseated. His cowboy hat flew off his head and flopped around in the sand, which at least gave me a better target.
“Fuck, John Paul!” I smacked the back of his head, hard, but it’s not like he noticed. “Breathing is kind of a hobby of mine!”
He dropped me back on the sand but kept his hands on my shoulders. I could breathe again, but the queasy feeling in my stomach stayed with me. It’s not like I wasn’t glad to see him – I mean, I was glad he was alive and appeared to be perfectly healthy. However, that didn’t change the fact that I didn’t want him here. I sure as hell didn’t want him here with a fucking helicopter to ruin what had become my picture-perfect life. If Raine hadn’t already seen him, I might have tried to convince him to just leave quietly.
“You look like a fucking hippie!” he laughed, grabbing the end of my hair in his fist. I punched him on the shoulder and shoved him away from me. He retrieved his hat and fitted it expertly back on his head.
“Fuck you,” I growled. “Do you see a fucking barber shop around here?”
“I think if I had one of those little hair ties, we could make you a ponytail!” John Paul laughed again and then looked over my shoulder. I followed his eyes and watched Raine scurry up towards us, wearing her own shorts and my T-shirt. My fists tightened, and I realized it was because she had chosen to put on her own shorts and not my boxers, and it pissed me off. Ever since I had told her I thought she looked hot in my boxers, she hadn’t worn her own shorts. Why the fuck did she suddenly change into her own clothes?
I knew it would change everything. I fucking knew it. We hadn’t even left the fucking island, and it was already different.
“Hey there, Raine girl!”
Raine girl? I fought the urge to growl as he wrapped her up in his arms, and she hugged him back. He spun her around once and let go of her, which was best for his own health. What I really wanted to do was a combination of tearing his arms off and maybe beating the shit out of him for looking at her. I wondered if he realized she was naked before and just how much he might have seen. My eyes shifted back to John Paul’s, and I glared at him. He looked at me cautiously, raising his eyebrows.
“John Paul! How did you ever find us?” Raine squealed.
“Well, it wasn’t easy,” he admitted. He looked over at me. “You guys didn’t leave much of a trail.”
“I ran out of fucking breadcrumbs,” I snapped at him.
“Bastian!” Raine chastised under her breath.
“Well, what kind of trail did he expect me to fucking leave?” I yelled.
“You don’t have to be like that.” Raine stared me in the eye. “He just saved us!”
I took a deep breath and shook my head.
“Don’t worry, Raine girl,” John Paul said. “I’m used to him being a grump.”
I fought back the urge to slug him – again.
“Who the fuck is that?” I asked, trying to get the focus off my moods. A tall, lanky guy jumped down from the helicopter and walked over to us.
“That’s Nick Sinclair,” John Paul said. “He’s the only pilot who was still willing to look for you two.”
The guy was blond and displayed a big smile as he hurried in our direction. He ran up and pulled Raine into his arms and gave her a big hug. Raine’s obvious surprise told me she didn’t know him, and my first instinct was to move up close enough to pull her away from him – away from his touch – but I didn’t do it. I wanted to, but somewhere between her change of clothes and his hands on her, everything changed. I didn’t fucking know what I was supposed to do. It was happening. It might not have been exactly like my dream, but it was fucking close enough. The only question was whether or not I stayed here alone.
“That’s from Lindsay,” Nick said as he released Raine and took a half step away, his hands still on her hips. My hands clenched into fists, and it took every effort not to reach over and clamp one of them around his neck.
“Lindsay?” Raine cried out. “Where is she?”
“Back on the mainland,” he said. “We can be there in about six hours.”