I groan, running a hand down my face. “You’re grown men. You are aware that you can actually talk to each other, right?”
But Derek’s frown only deepens. “So he did tell you something.”
“If he did,” I reply, “I take river confidentiality very seriously. Client-guide privileges. Oathkeeper loyalty.” That last one slips out, and I grimace as Derek’s lips twist into a hesitant smile.
“That was from—”
“Yes, I know it was fromOathbreaker,” I snap. I’m blaming him entirely for that accidental quote from one of my movies. Then I sigh because his crooked little smile makes it impossible to be angry with him. Maybe a small part of me is glad that he finally knows. It’s one less secret between us. One less thing to hide. “With how much of a fan you claim to be,” I grumble, “you’d think you would have made the connection sooner.”
Derek takes a careful step forward, judging my reaction before taking another. “In my defense,” he says as slowly as he’s moving, “no one would have expected to find you in a place like this. And you look a lot different than you used to.”
I’m aware of that, but clearly not different enough, based on the attention I get from guys. I did well on screen only partly because of my acting skills; a large chunk of why I succeeded is because of my genetics.
Something no fourteen-year-old should have to concern herself with.
Derek gets close enough that he could tuck a hand around my waist, but he keeps his big hands to himself. Thankfully. But he leans in, still not touching me, but I feel the heat of his skin against my face as hewhispers, “I take river confidentiality seriously too, Donovan Tate. And you should know that my crush on Nova isn’t as dead as I thought. It grew up just like she did and evolved into something…” He leans back and lets his eyes roam over me in a slow, blazing perusal. “…better. Brighter.Bolder.”
With a soft smile on his face, he leaves me weak-kneed and shivering where I stand as he heads over to one of the college friend couples and starts up a conversation.
I’m in serious trouble. No matter how firmly I believe Derek and I can never be in a relationship, I’m starting to wish I was wrong.
Chapter Eighteen
Derek
Afterarestlessnightof dreaming that I was on a movie set with Donovan but kept messing up my lines, therefore preventing us from getting to the kiss scene, this could be the most exhausted I’ve ever been. The last thing I want to do is climb a cliff, but Donovan practically pushed me out of the boat to join the half of the group who opted to do the hike. I’m pretty sure her forcefulness was due to her being more than tired of my constant commentary on her old movies once we’d gotten far enough ahead of the other three boats.
So now I’m here, scrambling over rocks as we follow Farah over the saddle of a canyon wall splitting the river. Donovan and everyone else will meet us at the bottom on the other side, since the river loops around. I can’t be too mad—I don’t get to hike as often as I would like—but there’s an empty boat down there that I could be rowing instead ofit dragging behind Mason’s boat. There’s four miles where I could be practicing my rowing technique instead of sweating in the full sun with people who are all too eager to talk to me.
And there’s a grumpy bodyguard walking a few feet behind me and grumbling about how I need to do more movies set in the Caribbean.
“You didn’t have to hike,” I tell him for the third time. “You could have stayed on the boat.”
“Because that’s better,” he mutters, swatting a buzzing cicada that flies past his face.
He slept as poorly as I did in our tent that wasn’t built for two men over six feet. And since Hunter isn’t an outdoorsy sort of person, he’s not willing to open the tent door to make more room for our feet or get a breeze coming in. As he put it last night when I suggested leaving the door unzipped, he would rather be cramped and hot than have his toes eaten by bugs.
I’m not sure what bugs he thinks are out here, but I’d rather keep him happy where I can after indirectly forcing him to come on this trip with me. At least he’s talking to me again, which is a nice improvement over yesterday.
“I know what you mean about the boat,” Maverick says. He’s right in front of me and glances back to share a look with Hunter. “Three days is a long time to sit like that with no escape.”
Hunter grunts but softens a bit when he meets Maverick’s gaze, and a knowing look passes between them. I haven’t really paid attention to who’s been on which boat, but I wonder if Hunter talks to anyone while I’m on my own with Donovan. He’d better not be spending all day with only his own thoughts for company.
That’s the worst. Though, maybe I’m the only one who has a problem with being alone. Most other people seem to do it just fine.
“Derek had the right idea when it comes to the boats,” Brody says behind Hunter, smirking when I look back at him. “You get to have Donovan all to yourself.”
Something hot and heavy bubbles to life inside me, and while I hate being rude, I ignore his second comment and focus on the first thing he said. “I don’t know. It would keep things interesting to have more people around during the day. You guys must have some good conversations happening.”
“That’s true,” Maverick agrees. In front of him, Zahra trips over a rock, and he reaches out to steady her. “You good?”
She turns slightly pink as she nods and keeps going, following Farah up the steep slope. Farah said this hike was only a mile long, but it’s pretty much straight up and straight down once we get over the top, with only a couple of switchbacks on either side. Our small group is among the faster hikers, with a slower group below us, but it looks like everyone is having to put in effort to get to the top.
“Thanks,” Zahra mumbles with a quick smile at Maverick.
He gives her a brief smile in return but doesn’t seem to have the same interest she evidently has in him. Hopefully that doesn’t mean Zahra will be disappointed at the end of the trip, though it’s hard to say how the WanderLove crew will pair up when they get back home. It’s an interesting concept, matching people in a place like this, but it’s not like I can argue that a river is an unromantic location.
I just hope Zahra has more luck than I do, or I might end up needing to check out WanderLove myself.
