Page 46 of The Billionaire's Teacher

It felt like hours before we finally reached the shore. I jumped out into the waist-high water, nearly getting sucked completely under by the waves as I did. I snagged the boat and started dragging it the rest of the way up.

Wes hopped out the other side and helped.

With a final heave, we got the boat out of the water. I watched as Wes stumbled, then crashed onto the beach.

“Not the time for drama!” I yelled over the storm. We needed shelter. Dry clothes. We might be on land, but we were nowhere near safe just yet. “Come on, Wes. Get up.”

I rounded the boat and froze.

Blood flowed from a gash in Wes’s head and he lay unmoving beside a jagged rock that jutted out of the beach, his leg twisted in a dangling rope that was caught on something under the boat.

For one, horrifying moment, Luca’s body replaced Wes’s in my vision. I nearly crumpled under the weight of grief and whispered, “I can’t do this.”

13

WES

My head was killing me.

I groaned and shifted, sending lances of pain shooting out from my head and other spots on my body.

What. On. Earth?

“Do you want some water?”

I pried open my eyes. Sunshine’s face filled my vision. She smiled and some of the pain in my head dimmed. “Water is good.”

“Can you sit up?”

“Think so.” I shifted again, ignoring the twinge in my ribs, and after a little struggle, managed to achieve a sitting position. I accepted the plastic cup from Sunny and looked around. “Are we in a house?”

“Such as it is, yeah. It’s in rough shape.”

“But it has walls. And a roof.” That had to be a good thing, right?

“True. In this room, at least. All the windows are broken. I’m pretty sure the birds are annoyed that we’ve moved into their home.” Sunny shrugged. “But I was grateful that I didn’t have to try and build something out of tree branches.”

“How…?” I wasn’t sure how to finish the question. I sipped the water. It was cool and soothing.

“Well, being full of grace and poise, you tripped while helping drag the boat out of the water and managed to crack your head on a rock. You probably need stitches, but I don’t happen to have that ability on me, so I did the best I could with the emergency glue for the inflatable boat.”

I reached up to where pain radiated from my head.

“Don’t touch it.”

I stopped and lowered my hand. “So I knocked myself out?”

Sunshine chuckled. “You did. Which meant I then got the joy of rolling your deadweight into the boat so I could drag you to shelter. Super fun times, let me tell you.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m sorry. If I could go back and do it again, I promise I wouldn’t trip and knock myself unconscious.”

“You say that. But I’ll point out, it got you out of the heavy lifting.” Sunny grinned. “I figure you would’ve done the same for me. But I’m pretty sure the boat’s toast now. It isn’t meant to be dragged over sand and rocks. And I used the repair glue on your head. So we’re going to need to pray that whoever comes to find us has their own way to get to shore.”

“How long was I useless?”

“That’s a loaded question.” Her eyes danced with laughter.

I shook my head and immediately regretted it. “You know what I mean.”

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