Definitely not Tamsyn.
“No, that’s mountain, not sky.”
“It doesn’t fit there.”
“Boomerang!” Aggie cried.
“Here!” Isla said, snapping the curved brown piece into place beneath the letter.
Then Petra slid the last ridge piece in with a satisfying click, and Isla could practically taste the reward.
“Blue team!” Vivian shouted, one arm shooting victoriously into the air. “Congratulations! You are the winner of today’s reward challenge!”
A wild roar of cheers exploded from the blue team. Petra leaped into Nadine’s arms. Josie tackled Aggie, who actually managed to lift her clean off the ground before they swapped. Petra grabbed Josie next, nearly suffocating her, and then Aggie thumped Isla on the back so hard that she nearly choked. On the third swap, Isla had barely noticed when Tamsyn’s arms wrapped around her neck.
But then she did, and she couldn’t make herself not notice.
Tamsyn’s body was so warm it was like hugging the sun. And yet, her hands on Isla’s bare back were ice water against her skin. Isla’s brain was struggling to process the whole thing. And her body wasn’t doing much better. She couldn’t decide whether to pull back or to melt into Tamsyn. Truthfully, she wanted to feel Tamsyn’s body on hers and smell her neck.
But then Tamsyn muttered, “Let’s be friends,” in Isla’s ear, and Isla stepped back, blinking. Friends? After everything, was that even possible? And yet they had no choice. If they wanted to make it to the end of this game, they had to at least be friendly.
“Yes, there’s no reason why we can’t be friends,” Isla said before she could change her mind.
“None that I can think of,” Tamsyn agreed, smiling softly.
“Friends,” Isla repeated, sticking out her hand even though they’d just hugged. Even though the cameras were trained on them and the crew behind the lenses were probably wondering what the hell was going on. But it seemed right. Fitting. Like they were making a pact of sorts.
Tamsyn grinned, taking her hand. “Friends.”
Chapter Eight
Tamsyn knew the rewards after the challenges usually involved contestants engorging themselves with ridiculous amounts of delicious food. She’d seen it on television plenty of times. The groaning, the promises to stop after one bite and then not stopping, the inevitable stomachaches that came from indulging in rich, salty, buttery things after surviving on bland rice and beans for days. But experiencing it in real life was a whole other level.
“This was so worth getting nailed by that rope swing,” Tamsyn said, barely even feeling the sting of a small scrape along her palm. Not only was the food a welcome numbing agent, but the fact that she and Isla were going to give the whole friendship thing a bash helped too. Tamsyn was more than prepared to put their past behind them for the sake of the game, and the obvious choice was to be friends. Just friends. Not two people who had once hooked up. Not two people who had spent the first day out here playing a particularly vicious game of silent treatment.
Just friends.
“I thought my shoulders were going to pop out of their sockets,” Petra added, swinging her arms as they walked toward a long wooden table stretched out beneath two towering red gums where platters and platters of food lay waiting. The reward was a delectable feast overlooking the ranges at sunset.
Tamsyn couldn’t be more ecstatic.
By the time she climbed over the bench and settled into a sun-bleached teal cushion, her mouth was watering. The smell alone was enough to make her dizzy. Slow-roasted lambrested on a carving board, with juices pooling beneath it. There were thick wedges of damper bread wrapped in cloth, a bowl of whipped butter melting at the edges, and a jar of tomato chutney. Plates of grilled halloumi sat beside roasted pumpkin and charred corn, and Aggie, who was the only one still standing, was opening a bottle of unlabeled white wine.
“This. Is. Amazing,” Josie said, tying back her short brown bob into the smallest ponytail Tamsyn had ever seen. “Should we dig right in? Or is there some kind of protocol?” She glanced back at the camera crew who were, as always, trying to look inconspicuous. The first day at camp had felt awkward with them following everyone around, but now Tamsyn barely noticed them.
Petra reached for a cube of grilled halloumi. “Why not?”
“How about we toast first?” Aggie asked, reaching for a wineglass. She poured a generous amount of sparkling wine into the glass and had to open another bottle to fill up all six. Then she proceeded to hand them out with a ceremonial slowness that made Tamsyn’s eyes twitch.
All Tamsyn wanted was to dig in. Her fingers were itching under the table. She had to keep them on her lap. Isla did too, it seemed. Tamsyn glimpsed her across the table, staring so intently at the slow-roasted lamb that she seemed to have forgotten how to blink. Tamsyn tried to catch her eye, but nothing. She was locked in. Tamsyn couldn’t blame her. She’d never expected to feel this hungry after only two days out here. That egg-mayo bagel she had eaten felt like a lifetime ago.
“I agree,” Aggie said, flicking a thick strand of blue hair out of her eye. “A toast. To the six of us who hung off big, scary ropes and nearly dislocated shoulders and still managed to look hot doing it.” She looked at Petra, who nodded solemnly.
They all clinked their glasses. And then it was chaos.
Tamsyn didn’t even pretend to pace herself. She tore off a thick piece of damper and used it to mop up the lamb juices pooling on the carving board before finally cutting herself a slice of meat. She layered on a tomato chutney and then took a bite so big she had to put her hand in front of her mouth.
“The last time I played, I only got my first reward ten days in. Can you imagine eating only rice and beans for ten days?” Petra said between mouthfuls of pumpkin.
