I wanted to put space between us, but there was nowhere to go in the dark jungle. I scooted a foot from him so our bodies were not touching. Andrew tossed a log onto the fire, and hundreds of red sparks jumped into the night air.
“This was fun, but it won’t work out between us,” I said, my voice breaking on the last word.
Andrew turned to me, propping his shoulder on the wall. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed you would move. Why don’t we take things slow, visit each other when we can, meet in different places, and spend vacations together? We can decide later how to close the distance.”
I shook my head, swallowing a lump in my throat. Why couldn’t he understand?
“Why are you shaking your head?” he said, reaching for my hand.
I shifted out of his reach. “Because you’re some fucking national hero of history who goes to museum openings and fist bumps with royalty and?—”
“Are you kidding me?” Andrew’s palms went up, and he let out a bitter laugh. “Have I ever mentioned mingling with royalty?”
I blinked at him. No, he hadn’t.
“Well, your family have been professors at Cambridge for generations. You’re all educated and fancy… and I don’t even have a college degree. I make stupid financial decisions. And I was born into a white trash family. Your people would laugh at me.”
“Christ, you’re back to this.” Andrew laughed harder now.
“This isn’t funny.” I was on the verge of crying.
“Yes, it is,” Andrew said with a firm tone. “Mypeople.” He returned to leaning his back to the wall, legs crossed at the ankles. He stared straight ahead. “You shouldn’t care if some twat thinks less of you because you didn’t finish college or grew up in a trailer.”
“It’s easy for you to say!” I said louder than I should have, but my old hurt was reaching its peak. “You were born into a highly respected family. Your blood and my blood don’t mix.”
Andrew glanced skyward and released a heavy breath. “I never knew my biological parents. Mum and Dad adopted me when I was a few months old. A year later they adopted Charlotte.” He looked at me, and the ever-present warmth was back in his gaze. “Now please, Adriana, stop using the excuse that we can’t be together because you don’t have blue blood. I don’t care about any of it. I want you for who you are.” His eyes crinkled at the corners. “For all you know, I might have green blood.”
I hadn’t known any of this, and for unexplained reasons, I felt like a jerk. Andrew was right. I shouldn’t care what others thought, but I wasn’t sure how to convince myself I wasn’t damaged goods.
“Why didn’t you tell me you’re adopted?”
“Because I never think of it. I’m simply grateful I had loving parents.”
Leaves rustled and the snap of a branch somewhere in the distance pushed adrenaline through my body as my blood went cold. I shifted back to Andrew as he straightened, grabbing the hunting rifle.
“What was that?” I asked, barely hearing my words over the rushing blood in my ears.
A wild animal? Richard and his gang? Or someone else? A chill crept up my spine one vertebra at a time. Whoever or whatever was roaming in the jungle was probably watching us. I peered into the darkness, hoping not to catch the reflection of our fire in glowing eyes.
For many long minutes we sat motionless, scrutinizing the dark forest encircling us. My throat went dry, but the water bottle was in the backpack which was beyond arm’s reach.
“Probably an animal,” Andrew said, easing up his posture.
Shit, did it smell my dry blood? I’d forgotten about my forearm, and now it started to ache again. I had never been more terrified in my life.
A log in the fire popped, and I flinched. “Should we wave our hands like crazy and yell? Make as much of a racket as we can.”
“If it’s an animal, it will go away.” His fingers brushed off a small twig that had stuck to my face.
“Maybe it’s Richard.”
“I’d rather it was a jaguar,” Andrew said, his voice devoid of humor.
“I’m afraid I’d have to disagree with you,” I said.
Andrew chuckled. “Do you want to make a huge fight out of this so that we can have make-up sex?”
I huffed. “Not really.”
