Page 25 of Lust & Lollipops

His voice entered my mind for a moment, and I sucked in a sharp breath at the sudden intrusion.

“Well-played, Molly. Good luck.”

Everyone’s eyes were on me when I refocused on where I was, and realized I was still seated while they were all standing.

“Thought I saw a spider,” I said weakly.

Kyle reached for my arm, about to pull me up, but I was on my feet and striding away before he could touch me.

That bastard needed to learn how to keep his hands to himself.

As our group walked back to our shelter, the guys chatted around me like they hadn’t just voted someone off.

I forced myself to focus on Cameron’s plan, and how I’d need to act to make it happen.

I’d thoroughly convinced them that I trusted Julian, or at least trusted him more than I did anyone else. By voting out the person I’d been leaning on, they had basically betrayed me.

They’d taken him out on purpose because of our “connection”, so I needed to be upset by that.

I could do upset.

I stayed silent the whole way back, walking away from anyone who fell into step beside me. The remaining eleven guys sat around the fire when we made it back, Cam stoking it higher with his magic. Kyle threw more logs on it, then strode over to me.

I side-stepped his arm when he tried to drape it over my shoulder.

“Come on, Dolly,” he teased.

The bastard seemed to think he was being playful, but it just made me want to strangle the guy. I didn’t even really like being called Lolli, so Dolly?

Hard pass.

“Fuck off,” I shot back. “You all voted Julian out just because you knew I was starting to trust him.”

Kyle spread his hands out. “It’s the name of the game, Doll.”

“This isn’t a game to me. It’s my life. My future.”

“You’re making it out of this alive no matter what. The rest of us risk death if we walk away alone, so excuse me for not being empathetic,” Kyle drawled.

“I need some air. Don’t follow me,” I snapped, storming away.

“Moron,” someone muttered behind me. I was pretty sure it was Chris.

He’d better have been talking about Kyle.

Even if he wasn’t, I wasn’t going to mate with him. There had to be a better option.

Cam would make it to the end—he had to, because I wasn’t going to tie myself to any of those other bastards at the rate things were going.

five

CAMERON

I waited until a few other guys went off to strategize with their buddies before slipping away. I’d seen the direction Molly was headed, and knew she’d be on her way to our chunk of the beach.

It was a small section, and surrounded by trees that made it difficult for anyone to sneak up on us. I’d hear them coming, the same way I had the night before.

Sure enough, I found her on the sand. Her knees were to her chest, and her eyes were on the ocean.

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