Read Online Before He Was Gone: Starstruck Book 2 by Becky Wicks - Free Book Online
Authors: Becky Wicks
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We’ve covered it sufficiently enough to keep out any rain, I made sure of that, too. I had to build something similar one time when I was out in Utah, assisting a crazy cowboy with a horseback wilderness adventure tour.
Everyone’s starting to crawl inside now. Veteran Mike flashes a look I don’t miss at Shan when he almost bumps into him. ‘I ain’t sleeping with no one’s crotch or nose up in my face so if it’s OK with you, I’ll take the end spot,’ he announces. We all watch as he throws his bag at the far end near the bamboo wall and then lies down. I look around the group. Everyone’s eyebrows are raised.
‘Guess I’ll sleep next to you then, Mike,’ I say, ‘though I can’t promise I won’t snuggle up to you if it does get cold.’
‘I also have a range of night time services,’ Shan adds.
‘You just try it,’ Mike scowls, folding his arms and shoving his bag under his head as a pillow.
Stephanie throws her own bag down. ‘Mind if I go next to you, Joshua?’ she says. I shrug, keep my face neutral as she directs her blue gaze at me, blowing her bangs out of her eyes. She’s on all fours. She’s caught the sun on her cheeks, too.
‘Sleep where you like, there's a spot for all of us,’ I tell her and Alyssa’s eyebrows raise like Shan’s do in the direction of a fixed camera pointing straight at us from above. They attached it as soon as we were done building. We’ve been told to ignore it, same as all the cameras. We’re not supposed to look straight at them and even if we attempt to talk to any of the crew, we’re told they won’t talk back. I guess Alyssa The Greek is used to cameras in her face, though, dating that drummer dude from Noah Lockton’s band. She hasn't thrown any hissy fits yet. In fact, for the most part she's been the one who's looked the most excited to be here.
‘I should take the other end,’ Jaxx cuts in to my thoughts. ‘I’m six foot five and I weigh two hundred and fifty-five pounds. I should probably lessen my chances of flattening someone in the night.’
‘You can flatten me anytime, Abercrombie,’ Shan tells him and Jaxx frowns.
‘Does it really matter where we sleep, seriously?’ Punk pipes up, wiping his sweater over his forehead as he crouches in the entrance. He’s so pasty white he’s almost transparent. ‘We’re all going to be lying awake starving unless we start cooking some of that rice.’
‘He’s right,’ the mother-figure Mia says from outside. ‘I volunteer as chef.’
‘I volunteer as second chef,’ Alyssa follows, crawling out and jogging off to where we’ve already stacked our limited cooking gear near the unlit fire. I notice how she almost trips on her falling pant legs as she runs and I hide a smile as I follow her. So does a camera guy who’s been hovering outside.
There are, I think they said, almost seventy camera-operators here, and that’s not including the team who’ve also been sent to set up the challenges we’re going to have to take part in. There’s hair and make up for Ed Bernstein; there’s the catering crew, the pilot who flies the helicopter over us periodically to get aerial shots. I think the crew must be staying on another island close by. There’s only one we can see from here. I took myself on a recce of our surroundings when we got here and it looks like we’re alone on this one; though I spotted a couple of closed-off areas.
Already the sun is lowering ahead of us. Yellow streaks are splashed across the sky, making the ocean orange. It’s so damn remote here that the only things we can hear when everyone stops talking are the waves and the rustling palm trees. I’ve seen a lot of the U.S, but there’s nothing there like this that I’ve ever seen. Not even in Hawaii.
Alyssa helps Mia arrange the cooking pots. Jaxx and Mike fetch the flint to try to make the fire. ‘Get the insect repellent!’ Stephanie shouts after them as they wander off towards the necessities box,
Everyone’s starting to crawl inside now. Veteran Mike flashes a look I don’t miss at Shan when he almost bumps into him. ‘I ain’t sleeping with no one’s crotch or nose up in my face so if it’s OK with you, I’ll take the end spot,’ he announces. We all watch as he throws his bag at the far end near the bamboo wall and then lies down. I look around the group. Everyone’s eyebrows are raised.
‘Guess I’ll sleep next to you then, Mike,’ I say, ‘though I can’t promise I won’t snuggle up to you if it does get cold.’
‘I also have a range of night time services,’ Shan adds.
‘You just try it,’ Mike scowls, folding his arms and shoving his bag under his head as a pillow.
Stephanie throws her own bag down. ‘Mind if I go next to you, Joshua?’ she says. I shrug, keep my face neutral as she directs her blue gaze at me, blowing her bangs out of her eyes. She’s on all fours. She’s caught the sun on her cheeks, too.
‘Sleep where you like, there's a spot for all of us,’ I tell her and Alyssa’s eyebrows raise like Shan’s do in the direction of a fixed camera pointing straight at us from above. They attached it as soon as we were done building. We’ve been told to ignore it, same as all the cameras. We’re not supposed to look straight at them and even if we attempt to talk to any of the crew, we’re told they won’t talk back. I guess Alyssa The Greek is used to cameras in her face, though, dating that drummer dude from Noah Lockton’s band. She hasn't thrown any hissy fits yet. In fact, for the most part she's been the one who's looked the most excited to be here.
‘I should take the other end,’ Jaxx cuts in to my thoughts. ‘I’m six foot five and I weigh two hundred and fifty-five pounds. I should probably lessen my chances of flattening someone in the night.’
‘You can flatten me anytime, Abercrombie,’ Shan tells him and Jaxx frowns.
‘Does it really matter where we sleep, seriously?’ Punk pipes up, wiping his sweater over his forehead as he crouches in the entrance. He’s so pasty white he’s almost transparent. ‘We’re all going to be lying awake starving unless we start cooking some of that rice.’
‘He’s right,’ the mother-figure Mia says from outside. ‘I volunteer as chef.’
‘I volunteer as second chef,’ Alyssa follows, crawling out and jogging off to where we’ve already stacked our limited cooking gear near the unlit fire. I notice how she almost trips on her falling pant legs as she runs and I hide a smile as I follow her. So does a camera guy who’s been hovering outside.
There are, I think they said, almost seventy camera-operators here, and that’s not including the team who’ve also been sent to set up the challenges we’re going to have to take part in. There’s hair and make up for Ed Bernstein; there’s the catering crew, the pilot who flies the helicopter over us periodically to get aerial shots. I think the crew must be staying on another island close by. There’s only one we can see from here. I took myself on a recce of our surroundings when we got here and it looks like we’re alone on this one; though I spotted a couple of closed-off areas.
Already the sun is lowering ahead of us. Yellow streaks are splashed across the sky, making the ocean orange. It’s so damn remote here that the only things we can hear when everyone stops talking are the waves and the rustling palm trees. I’ve seen a lot of the U.S, but there’s nothing there like this that I’ve ever seen. Not even in Hawaii.
Alyssa helps Mia arrange the cooking pots. Jaxx and Mike fetch the flint to try to make the fire. ‘Get the insect repellent!’ Stephanie shouts after them as they wander off towards the necessities box,
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