Because I definitely intended on getting rid of Kip.
Heading to the well, I filled the canteens, and then put the lid back on again and sat down on top of it. The carved lid was bumpy and hard, but there weren’t any sand crabs on it, so I didn’t mind. Sitting here gave me a chance to think, and I tried to consider anywhere that the forked tree might have been that I’d missed.
Plus, there was no Kip at the well. Bonus.
As I relaxed, I had a thought. Maybe I hadn’t gone out far enough? I’d assumed the clue meant that the tree was near the well. What if there was other water on the island and I simply hadn’t explored far enough? With that thought in mind, I tucked the canteens under my arm, hopped off the lid, and headed deeper into the trees. I supposed if there was a reward challenge, they’d just have to wait for me to come back.
I hadn’t done much island exploring, mostly because it was frowned on by the production crew, who had to follow us, toting cameras, and because the island was hot, the interior stifling. Within the trees, there was no breeze coming off the water, and I constantly sweated…which meant I needed more water to drink, which meant that I needed to boil more water. It was an ugly, never-ending cycle.
But if the Pandora’s Box clue was further out…it wouldn’t hurt to do a little exploring.
I walked slowly through the dense growth, studying each tree. A cameraman had tailed me, filming a short distance away. I figured he’d have stopped me if I wasn’t supposed to head in this direction, so I continued on. The island wasn’t that big from what I could tell. The beach went around for a fair distance, but I could see bigger islands in the distance. Considering this was someone’s private island, my guess was that it was teeny tiny and just looked bigger because I happened to be living on the beach at the moment. Still, I bet I could cross even a small island and see what was on the other side.
After walking for about fifteen minutes, I heard a rustling noise. Curious, I paused and looked back at the camera man, but he was standing in place and the rustling continued. I tilted my head to hear better and…gasped. It sounded like water.
I pushed through the ferns, heading for the source of the water-sounds. Past a couple more trees, I got a glimpse of a rocky outcropping and what looked like a tiny waterfall. That might have been the island version of a shower, and it sounded awesome to me.
When I pushed into the small clearing where the water was, though, another sight awaited me.
Jendan was there, naked, muscles flexed as he raised his hands and dragged his fingers through his hair. His stomach was taut and tanned, and everything was perfect and, um, protruding.
I froze in place. Oh…oh dear. Heat curled through my body at the sight of him, and I felt my pulse start to slam conspicuously between my legs. Nothing like the sight of a gorgeous man to get the libido racing. It wasn't that Jendan was naked. I'd seen him na**d several times at this point. It was that he was incredibly sensual in his enjoyment of the water. His head was thrown back, face lined with ecstasy as water dribbled over his head.
I should have announced my presence, but I only licked my lips and watched as he ran a big hand down one tanned arm, sluicing water off. The more I vowed to play this game celibate, the more this game made me regret it. Sigh. I cleared my throat. "Um, hi?"
He didn't jerk around like he'd been doing something wrong. Instead, Jendan opened his eyes - those dreamy gray eyes - and gave me a lazy smile that made my ovaries do a flip. "I didn't think anyone was out here."
"I didn't either," I told him. "This your camp?"
"No, I don't know that it's anyone's. Mine is a nice long hike that way." He thumbed behind him, and then wiped a bit more water from his face. "I guess we're on the same island?"
"I guess we are," I said, trying to make my voice light and nonchalant, all the while my loins were crying out like that plant in Little Shop of Horrors. FEED ME, SEYMOUR. "So, um, Endurance Island shower?"
"Yep. I told Sunnie about it but she doesn't like to hike." He shrugged and stepped out of the water. "Not that there's anything else to do all day."
I watched his bu**ocks flex as he turned away and climbed out of the small pool, and my mouth went dry. Man, I sure was thirsty all of a sudden. "Can you, uh, drink it?"
"Don’t know, but it still makes a decent shower, right?" He grinned at me then raised his chin at the cameraman following me. "Are we going to be in trouble if we talk?"
"I don't know." I glanced back at him, but he was still filming. "I know people accidentally ran into each other on earlier seasons, and nobody got booted out of the game. I think we're okay."
"Well, in that case, hi, I'm your neighbor, Jendan." He approached me and stuck his big hand out.
I clasped it and swallowed the girlish titter that rose in my throat. "Annabelle."
"I remember," he said, his smile warm.
“Oh, right.” I grimaced. “The lousy lay.” I wanted to strangle Kip with my bare hands for writing that on my back. I still hadn’t come up with the appropriate revenge yet. Just writing ‘Shrimp Dick’ on his back would be satisfying for all of two seconds, but then it’d be blurred out when the shows aired on television. I needed something better. Something lasting. Something underhanded that he’d never see coming. My mind percolated with possibilities.
Jendan’s smile faded. “You know I don’t think that about you.”
“Of course not,” I said lightly. “We haven’t had sex yet.” Then, my face grew scalding hot. Yet? Yet???? Oh sweet Jesus, Annabelle, don’t talk about sex! “You know what I mean,” I said quickly, recovering. “And Kip’s just pissed because I won’t let him grope me on the beach.”
“He’s trying to grope you?” Jendan stiffened. “Do you want me to say something to the producers?”
“What? No, no,” I said quickly. That might have been a bit of an exaggeration on my part. “I have it handled.” I didn’t want Kip disqualified from the game.
I wanted to beat him and grind his nose into his failure.
Not that I was bitter.
Jendan still looked unsure, so I decided to change the subject. “How’s Sunnie?”
“She’s…hanging in there as much as possible. Sick, though.”
“Why’s she sick?”
He scratched his head. “We haven’t been able to boil our water and she’s been drinking it.”