Page 15 of Lust & Lollipops

“He’s old?”

“Yeah. Won’t live much longer without taking a mate.”

My throat constricted slightly. “Why didn’t he go on Bachelorette, then?”

Julian shrugged. “Probably the possessiveness, but I never asked.”

The possessive bit didn’t make sense, so it went in one ear and out the next.

But I had never asked him either.

Maybe I should.

I’d assumed he was young and had plenty of time. I didn’t know how long fae lived without taking mates to ensure the immortality thing, but had assumed they’d physically look aged as they approached the end of their lives.

Guess I’d assumed wrong.

“Well he’s obviously not winning this game,” I said.

Julian chuckled and didn’t say anything else.

It was kind of nice that he didn’t try to sell himself to me or convince me how great he was. Made it seem more like he wanted to see if he was interested in me before pushing.

Or maybe he just realized that me choosing between the last three contestants wasn’t much of a choice, and thought he’d have the upper hand if he let me breathe when the other guys didn’t.

Everyone probably had an ulterior motive.

But that thought made me wonder if Cameron did. Because Cam? The guy had to be thinking something. He wasn’t a moron.

And if he wasn’t interested in winning the contest or just seeing what happened to me, he wouldn’t be on the island. Period.

But what did that mean for me?

I had no idea.

My body and stomach both ached fiercely by the time the sun finally set. The temperature dropped when it did.

Exhaustion had set in hours earlier, but our shelter was made of bamboo, and looked the opposite of comfortable. So, even when the guys told me to rest, I kept weaving palm fronds.

Someone cooked all the rice and most of the vegetables while I was making a visit to the place we’d designated as the bathroom (no, it did not smell grand), so that was shitty.

Everyone only got a few bites of food.

A few of the guys offered me their portion, Cam not included, but I politely turned them down.

The last thing I wanted was to owe a debt to someone on that island.

I tried not to, but couldn’t stop myself from noticing when Cameron slipped away after dinner. Some of the fae guys were barraging me with questions about my life, and didn’t want to take no for an answer.

Though I played along for a while, my frustration grew when they refused to leave me alone, and I finally made a show of saying that I needed to use the bathroom for a few minutes. Alone.

I must’ve sounded almost as annoyed as I felt, because the men let me go.

Rhett would follow me at a distance to keep me safe, so it wasn’t like it was dangerous for me to abandon the group and the campfire.

As soon as I was out of the group’s view, I headed in another direction, toward a part of the beach I hadn’t seen anyone explore yet. Most people had been sticking close to each other all day—and close to me too.

When I stepped through the trees and onto the stretch of beach, I stopped.

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