‘You’ve become completely deranged if you think that you haveanyeffect whatsoever on my feathers,’ I snap, desperately fighting the urge to let my eyes drift down to the torso that is now on proud display.
‘Alright, princess, relax. We’ve already got some fellow hunters on our tail,’ he murmurs, his eyes focussing on something behind me. I turn to see a few of the girls that were in the Mirrorball tent.Damn.
One of them tries to contain a giggle behind her hand as she eyes Elliot’s bare chest greedily. Long, perfect blonde curls flow down her back and dark, thick lashes frame her eyes. I taste something sour in the back of my throat as she casts a furtive smile in our direction.
‘Maybe youhaveruffled a few feathers,’ I mutter.
They start to approach us with an eagerness I do not like.
‘Okay, I’m heading in. Any ideas, just shout!’ He hands me his phone and wallet, and quickly jumps over the rope without another word. I consider making a joke about stealing the lot but find myself distracted; my gaze is immediately glued to the lines and muscles that ripple across his back as he walks towards the water. Shaking myself, I force my gaze away from him to surveil our surroundings and check for any potential security staff that might very well escort Elliot off festival grounds for getting in the lake. To my relief, there seems to be none.
Elliot darts into the water without complaint and, to my amusement, immediately finds himself in water that only reaches his knees. As quickly as possible, he wades towards the signpost that looms above him.
Oh my God, his fucking arms. It’s not fair.
I remind myself that I have, indeed, seen arms before. But other arms were not like these arms. Good Lord. How does oneeven acquire biceps like that? Does he regularly deadlift Owen? And Josh? At the same time??
When I hear a light thud, I look down at my feet to see the drumstick on the ground. I yelp and snatch it off the grass with horror.
Maybe I have a thing for arms, fine. Who knew. Not me!
Gripping the stick more tightly, I watch as he approaches the small island in the centre without any struggles. He looks puzzled as he searches around the area, even reaching up to the signpost and running a hand over it. He scratches his head and turns to me.
I shrug and impatiently point with the drumstick back towards the signpost. ‘Keep looking,’ I mouth. I can just about see his eye-roll from where I’m standing.
After a minute more of searching and looking generally flummoxed, he puts his hands on his hips and turns to me with an exaggerated shrug. He retreats back into the water and walks back towards me looking deeply dissatisfied. In fact, he looks pissed.
‘Well, looks like I just did that for absolutely no reason,’ he declares.
‘Seriously? There wasn’t anything? You’re sure?’
‘You want to check it out for yourself, princess?’ he retorts, plucking his t-shirt out of my hands. My eyes betray me and flick down to take in his broad chest before he covers it back up, and I almost want to whisper goodbye to it. For the briefest moment, my gaze drops even lower, to the deep v-lines that run down underneath his waistband.
Christ, he looks like he belongs on upmarket underwear packaging. My heart hammers as I suddenly find my thoughts within reach of dangerous territory.
Fucking hell. It’s becoming very clear that I am not accustomed to spending time with men who are this attractive.
Dragging my gaze back up to his face, I desperately scramble to put my brain into reverse.
‘Where are our friends?’ I blurt.
He just shakes his head and looks around us. ‘Don’t know, I told them we were heading here. Probably bad service.’
Miraculously, his t-shirt is back on and I find myself feeling a little cooler in the face. He retrieves his side of the drumstick before twitching his head towards the exit.
As we walk together, he starts to speak quietly. ‘Just get me to a tap to wash off a bit and I’ll report properly.’
‘Report what?’ I ask, hope rekindling in my chest as I force us to a stop. But he walks onward again, pulling me gently with him.
‘Ssh. We’re surrounded by Queen Ego fans who are desperate for answers, and also desperate to not get in the water. We don’t want them to think we’re about to march off to the next clue.’
My jaw drops with a sly smile. ‘Youdeceiver. Wow, you really had me fooled.’
‘C’mon, don’t give us away. Just… try to look disappointed.’
I’m not much of an actress but I still make an attempt to look downtrodden as we make our way out of The Lakes area. Elliot’s standard unreadable expression would never give away our success to any passers-by anyway.
‘There’s a tap just around the corner here,’ he says as I follow close behind him.
