Chaos Theory (Nerds of Paradise #2)(61)

“Wow,” Laura commented from the campfire as Melody limped over on her sore ankle to join her. “Has Will been like that the whole time you’ve been out here?”

“What, stubborn, anal-retentive, and argumentative?” Melody grumbled, tossing her handful of wild herbs into the tin pot beside the fire.

“No,” Laura said. “Relaxed and friendly and…and loose.”

Melody snorted. She glanced to Will, ready to make some kind of comment about how if that was loose, then he’d probably explode when he tensed up again. But Will was loose. The way he moved was so much more fluid than even their ill-fated jogging excursion the day before the competition. His face was scruffy from not shaving, and that paired with his glasses made him look almost like…almost like her dad in photos from years ago. He had the top few buttons of his shirt undone as well, and his trousers were still creased and wet from where they’d been rolled up while he was in the lake.

“Huh,” she said at length, tilting her head to the side as she studied him. “It must be because we—” She stopped herself from blabbing about their embryonic sex life in the nick of time.

Laura gasped as though she’d spilled the whole thing. “Did you guys do it?” she whispered. Melody blushed, but didn’t say anything. “Because Ben had condoms in his backpack. Like, official, Paradise Space Flight brand condoms.” She started to giggle.

Melody’s brow rose to her hairline. “Did you and Ben?”

Laura shook her head, making a face as though that was ridiculous. “We’re just friends. And Ben has his eye on a local girl.”

“Don’t tell Howie,” Melody laughed. “He’s likely to disqualify you guys from the competition.”

“Well, he made no secret about this being a matchmaking event. He wants people to hook up so badly that I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts arranging marriages for us all.”

“The Haskell family has a long and storied history of doing just that.”

“But apparently it worked where you and Will are concerned,” Laura went on, her grin growing. “I can’t believe you two actually hooked up. I didn’t think he had it in him.”

“He did, but you didn’t hear it from me. And there’s more going on, a lot more, but it’s all new and brittle, so….” She mimed closing a zipper across her lips.

Laura nodded and winked and gave her the thumbs up. “Good for you. He needs it. Bad.”

“I shouldn’t have said anything,” Melody finished. “But yeah, he does.”

She giggled. Laura caught it, and together the two of them dissolved into a fit worthy of teenagers. It felt good to confide in someone. Just knowing that a friend of Will’s approved of the whole hanky-panky situation went miles in Melody’s book.

The guys were able to catch two fish, and within a relatively short period of time, the six of them were sitting around the campfire, grilling fish and boiling water for the dehydrated food and soup.

“Use as few of those as you can,” Sandy gestured toward the small stack of silver, foil packets. “Whoever isn’t checking out of the competition could use them.”

“Are you sure you want to check out?” Melody looked up halfway through adding sliced-up wild onions to the makeshift fish soup boiling over the fire.

“Damn straight, I want to get out of here.” Sandy glanced to Jogi.

Jogi sighed and shrugged. “I’ll do whatever Sandy wants. Honestly, I don’t think I’m cut out for this level of competition.”

“Are you cut out for any level of competition?” Sandy shot at him, the corner of her mouth twitching up.

Jogi sent her a sheepish look. “I’m a lover, not a fighter.” He picked up his camera from where it sat beside him and snapped a picture of her.

“Mmm hmm.” Sandy crossed her arms. Her eyes glittered.

Melody’s brow lifted farther, and she glanced to Laura. Laura must have had the same thought. She was already staring at Melody with wide, knowing eyes. Maybe Melody and Will weren’t the only ones in the forest to put the PSF condoms to good use.

“We’ll call for the helicopter as soon as we finish lunch,” Jogi agreed.

“We might as well hitch a ride with you,” Ben said. “I’m not sure how much more of this I can take.”

“Peaceful camping it’s not,” Laura said, shaking out of her teasing exchange with Melody.

“Aw, you guys too?” Melody asked. She sent a look Will’s way, but Will was focused on tending the fish. He didn’t look even a little surprised, though.

“What about you two?” Laura asked. “You might want to have that ankle looked at, if it’s hurting as much as you said it is.”

Will snapped his head up from cooking, and sent Melody a frown.

“It’s not hurting all that much really,” she blurted before Will could get it in his head that she was ready to go home too. “And I’m not giving up until I drag Will here across the finish line.”

The others grinned and chuckled. Melody’s smile for Will widened.

“If your ankle really is hurt,” he began.

“It’s not bad.” She cut him off. “It feels good to rest it now, but I’ll be ship-shape in no time.”