“What makes me different from other guys, huh?” He shrugged, dropped his elbows to his knees, and let out a sigh.
“Oh,” she blurted, “I think if you lean down that far you’ll get cut off.” She tilted sideways to check the screen. “Actually, no. It’s…perfect.” Her cheeks flushed pink.
“I guess what sets me apart is the fact that I don’t need a bunch of modern day luxuries to be satisfied. Give me a place to lay my head, a fire to roast my latest kill, and I’m a happy man.”
“Your latest kill?” she echoed.
He grinned, hoping the phrase might strike a few nerves with producers.
“You probably already know that our five bachelorettes have already been chosen,” she said. “One of those ladies is vegan and a strong animals rights advocate. Would you be willing to change your meat-eating ways if the two of you were to fall in love?”
A hint of amusement struck him as he considered what she asked. “A vegan, eh? I think it’ssaferto say that your scenario is not realistic. It would never happen. She and I wouldn’t be compatible, which is fine by me. I’m not one to force my opinions, and I’m not about to change my ways.”
He was tempted to leave it there, but the topic was a hot one for him. “I hunt for food, not sport, and I train others to do the same.”
“Which leads us to our next question,” Ivy said. “Tell us what you do for a living.”
This question wouldn’t help or hinder him, Easton supposed. He may as well just answer honestly and spread the word about the program. “I’m a co-founder, co-operator of a survival based rehab center for teens and young adults. We provide a nature based experience, no matter the season, where participants can get treatment for a number of addictions or issues, while teachingphysicallife survival skills along the way.”
“So you’re talking about nights spent in tents and under the stars,” she urged.
He nodded. “And days spent out in the elements too, no matter how hot or cold it might get. We make our own fire, catch our own food, and build our own shelter most months too.
“Adding that component—it takes the focus off their ownpersonalweakness, whatever it might be, and demonstrates how common our human weakness is when faced with the elements. Learning to overcome those challenges, gaining those essential survival skillsets, it gives the kids a real boost.” He willed himself to stop there; he could ramble about that topic all day long.
“That’s…” She cleared her throat and sniffed. “That’s incredible. What gave you a heart for it?”
Easton gave her a subtle look of reprove. He’d let her first follow-up question slip, about the vegan chick, but this was hitting too close to home.
“My own traumatic childhood,” he said, a ring of finality coating his words.
Ivy blanched from the comment, her expression shifting from intrigue to regret. Maybe that would keep her from prying too much. The last thing he wanted to do was get caught in his emotions on camera.
She gave him a slight nod, seeming to acknowledge his intent, then lifted her chin once more. “So your job is to teach them the survival aspect,” she said.
He nodded. “Right. We have skilled therapists from diverse fields to address mental illness, addiction, depression, you name it. But my job goes back to the basics. I get people in touch with their caveman side. You never know when it
might come in handy.”
He glanced up at her pointedly across the barstool. “Heck, you could be all warm and cozy in your big SUV and suddenly get stuck in a blizzard with no means to save your own hide. If you don’t know how to fend and hunt for yourself, you could wind up at the mercy of some heathen.” He shot her a wink.
A giggle seemed to get caught in her throat. “Indeed.” She rubbed at her arms then, and Easton noticed goosebumps had formed over her skin.
“Are you cold?” he asked, wondering if that were even possible. It was quite warm if you asked him. But Ivy only shook her head.
“No. Thank you.” She bit at her lip and glanced down at the phone before lifting those blue eyes back on him. “Tell us about your best relationship experience.”
Easton couldn’t hide the glare that formed across his brow. Not only did he dislike the question in general, he really disliked theuspart. It reminded him that this was, in fact, not just a conversation between the two of them. This was still an audition. An audition he very much needed to botch.
“I can’t say I’ve ever had a great,” he put up finger quotes “relationship experience. A few are less horrible than the others, if that works.”
“In what way?” she pried.
He huffed out a sigh, forcing himself to recall what he liked about his relationship with Luna, one of the counselors who’d spent time at the center. He knew just what set her apart from some of the women he dated. “In the way that she didn’t try to change who I am. And I didn’t try to change her either. We weren’t the same by any means, but we respected what was different about one another, if that makes sense.”
A grin pulled at one corner of her mouth. “That does make sense. Thank you.”
Easton shifted in his seat, anxious for this to be over. And once it was, would it be very wrong of him toaccidentallydrop her phone into the washing bin? Or fling it into the fire?
