‘Thanks,’ I murmur, slowly directing my foot over it. But apparently I didn’t look closely enough at where he pointed, and I realise a moment too late that there’s a resistance at the tip of my right foot. With my weight already moving directly forward, I start to tumble towards Elliot with an ‘oof’. I reach my hand out to grasp the edge of his jacket sleeve, feeling my shoulder already start to pummel against a wall of hard muscle.
I hear a sharp intake of breath when two warm hands circle my ribs firmly as he catches me mid-air with ease. The sensation of his hands on me combined with the proximity of his body next to mine make me stutter for air.
He places me carefully down back in front of him and I can’t help the nervous laugh that falls out of me.
‘This evening is turning out to be a series of trust exercises,’ I whisper.
His face is set in a frown. ‘You okay?’
‘Yeah, I’m okay. Sorry.’
He rolls his eyes with a smirk and turns around to keep walking when his body suddenly goes still, and his head whips back to me to stare wide-eyed at the drumstick sitting in my hand.
I look down at it with him.
‘Oh,’ I say quietly. I hadn’t even realised he’d let go of it.
It hits me with a jolt that this means our deal could officially be over. I could use this as an excuse for my win and take the drumstick home. Technically, it would be fair.
Hedidlet go, a distant voice whispers inside me with delight.
His shoulders slump in defeat as he tips his face up to the sky, shaking his head with a grim smile. It’s almost unbearable to watch. I suppress a frustrated sigh. This would have been somuch easier if he hadn’t let go of the stick to catch me and save me from potentially breaking a leg on a tent peg.
For fuck’s sake.
Knowing I’ll probably regret this later, I thrust out my hand and offer the drumstick toward him. He looks at me with an arched brow.
‘Really? I thought you’d be running with it by now,’ he says disbelievingly.
I guffaw. ‘Oh come on, I’m not a total dick. You just saved me from almost certain death by tent peg. It’s the least I can do.’
I wiggle the stick impatiently. He eyes it with that small smile returning.
‘The offer will expire shortly,’ I say tightly.
He takes his time stepping towards me, his eyes never leaving mine. He reaches forward and grabs onto the drumstick once again with a smile of – what looks like – victory. I gasp as he tugs it towards himself, dragging me with it. He leans across it, his face excruciatingly close to mine, and whispers, ‘How about you watch where you’re going, princess?’
The air pauses in my lungs as his breath tickles my lips.
He turns away briskly and starts walking with me in tow once again.
‘Stop calling me that,’ I huff in a whisper.
11
‘Well… uh, welcome home,’ Elliot murmurs, unzipping the door of a large, dark-blue tent. I step inside where my attention is grabbed immediately by the double air mattress sitting right in the centre with a sleeping bag arranged neatly on it.
Well, shit.
As I stare at the single sleeping bag, it strikes me that I hadn’t thought about our sleeping arrangement in a very real way. Judging from Elliot’s sudden slowness and general resistance to look in my direction, I’m guessing that the reality of our situation has hit him at the same time.
‘So… how should we do this?’ he asks.
‘Um, how about we just unzip the sleeping bag and we can have it over us? And lie straight on the mattress?’
He rubs the back of his neck. ‘Sure, that should work.’
I step around the mattress carefully, still sharing the drumstick with him.
