“Wait,” I blurted.
He turned quickly, and I slammed the door shut, fumbling with the chains. Then I slung the door back open again and almost charged out after him…then waited, suddenly unsure. “You came to see me? Why?”
The look of hope on his face quickly changed to confusion. “Because I like you? Because you’re the most stubborn, smart, funny, clever, and fun girl I’ve ever met? And I want to spend time with you? And I thought you liked me, too? Is that reason enough?”
“No,” I said, though my voice sounded a little sulky, even to myself. I crossed my arms over my chest and didn’t move from the doorway. “How come you never called me? You said you’d call.”
His face lit up with understanding, and Jendan fumbled with his pocket. “So, right before I came out, I totally forgot that I’d dropped my phone when they called me for the show.” He pulled a smartphone out of his pocket and held it out to me.
I took it from him hesitantly. Two thirds of the screen was cracked in a million places. Only the bottom part was intact.
“See,” Jendan said, moving closer to me and leaning over my shoulder. He pointed at the screen and tapped it to unlock it. “It’s all messed up. I can get calls but I can’t dial out.” He punched another button and the keypad displayed. He touched the screen repeatedly, but it never registered.
“Oh,” I said softly.
“I wanted to call you, but it wouldn’t go through. The phone wouldn’t work. And I kept waiting for you to call me—“
“I can’t call you first! I’m a girl!”
“What, it’s against the laws of physics for women to call men?” His mouth crooked in that smile again. “Pretty sure I never learned that in college.”
“That’s not it,” I told him, handing his phone back. I was starting to feel a bit silly. “Girls don’t call guys back first. And, well, I sort of have a bad history with men following up.”
Recognition dawned on his face. “Ah. Kip.”
“Yeah.” I crossed my arms protectively over my chest again. “So you’ll forgive me if I thought the worst when I didn’t hear from you.”
He studied my face, then stepped forward and caressed my cheek. “Have you been crying?”
I brushed his fingers away and averted my gaze. “Maybe. Just a little. No big deal.”
“Oh, Annabelle.” He leaned in to kiss me.
I ducked out of his grasp. “It wasn’t over you!”
“Then who – or what – is making you so upset? Tell me, so I can go punch that person in the balls.”
“Okay…I lied. It was you.” I snuck a glance at him and then gestured. “Punch away.”
His mouth quirked. “I was kind of hoping you’d want to do something more productive with my balls.”
I started to laugh, then stifled it again with a sigh. “You couldn’t have borrowed a friend’s phone?”
“I should have,” he admitted with a grimace and rubbed his neck. “I wasn’t thinking clearly. All I could imagine was coming back out here to spend more time with you. To be with you again like we were in Fiji. And I kept thinking that if this meant something to me, I needed to act on it. So I spent the last few days going through my crap and tying up loose threads. I ditched all my stuff to come here to be with you.”
For the first time, I noticed black straps on his shoulders. I frowned and tugged at his arm, looking at his back. There was a backpack there. “What’s that?”
“Just the stuff I couldn’t live without. Mostly underwear and a change of clothes.”
I blinked rapidly. “You…really got rid of your stuff? All of it?”
“All of it,” he agreed. “My roommate back in LA kept most of it, but yeah, I ditched the rest of my crap and bought a ticket out here.”
I just stared at him.
Jendan gave me a sheepish look. “For once I do something impulsive in my life and it seems like it backfired on me. I don’t think impulsive is my thing.”
“It’s not,” I agreed, even as I moved toward him and curled my fingers in the front of his t-shirt. “So what are you going to do now?”
He licked his lips, and that small motion made my heart begin to pound all over again. “Well… I see this as going either one of two ways. One, I get to come in and kiss those tears away, or two, I find the nearest airport and figure out what the hell to do with myself—“
I pulled his mouth to mine before he could even finish the statement. I kissed him fiercely, my lips and tongue claiming him for myself. I let that kiss be my apology. And when we broke free, I gave a happy little sigh and wrapped my arms around his neck.
“I…guess we’re going with number one?”
I nodded. “Wanna come inside and make up on my couch?”
“Love to.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Would I come back and play again? That depends…can I pick my partner? Because I can think of only one person I’d like to be stuck on an island with again.” – Jendan Abercrombie, Post-Game Interview, Endurance Island: Power Players
I dragged him into my apartment and we barely shut the door before we were on each other, kissing and ripping at each other’s clothes. “My Annabelle,” he murmured as he tore off my t-shirt. “God, I missed you. The last four days have seemed like forever. At least when we were on the island, I got to watch you play.”
“You did?” I asked between kisses, fumbling with his belt. God, belts were so inconvenient!
“Yeah, I sat with the camera crews when they’d let us. We weren’t allowed to see the camp stuff, but I could view the challenge footage.” His mouth kissed every inch of my skin he could reach. “I loved watching you. And not just because you were naked – though that certainly helped things.”
I giggled, finally undoing his belt buckle and moving on to his fly. I paused to raise my arms above my head as he stripped my top off, then worked on my bra. He unclasped it and tugged it down my arms, and then my breasts were free. Immediately, his hands went to them, cupping them and rolling the nipples against his thumbs. “You’re so beautiful, Annabelle. I love touching you.”
I clutched at his clothing, moaning as twin streaks of desire rocketed through me. “Oh, Jendan, I missed you. I missed you so much.”
He continued to rub and stroke my nipples as he leaned in for a kiss. “Missed you too, baby. Felt like forever.”
“Next time, fucking call,” I told him breathlessly as I pressed my breasts against his hands.
“I will,” he said, bending down to take a nipple into his mouth. “Couldn’t think about anything but getting to you again.”
Good answer, I decided, and shoved his jeans and boxers down. “Condoms?”
“Condoms,” he agreed, sitting down on my couch and dragging me along with him. “Straddle me, Annabelle. I need to be inside you.”
I pulled free from his arms long enough to shimmy out of my sweatpants and panties. “Sorry I’m not wearing anything sexy.” Self-consciously, I touched my hair. “I probably look like a wreck—“
He turned quickly, and I slammed the door shut, fumbling with the chains. Then I slung the door back open again and almost charged out after him…then waited, suddenly unsure. “You came to see me? Why?”
The look of hope on his face quickly changed to confusion. “Because I like you? Because you’re the most stubborn, smart, funny, clever, and fun girl I’ve ever met? And I want to spend time with you? And I thought you liked me, too? Is that reason enough?”
“No,” I said, though my voice sounded a little sulky, even to myself. I crossed my arms over my chest and didn’t move from the doorway. “How come you never called me? You said you’d call.”
His face lit up with understanding, and Jendan fumbled with his pocket. “So, right before I came out, I totally forgot that I’d dropped my phone when they called me for the show.” He pulled a smartphone out of his pocket and held it out to me.
I took it from him hesitantly. Two thirds of the screen was cracked in a million places. Only the bottom part was intact.
“See,” Jendan said, moving closer to me and leaning over my shoulder. He pointed at the screen and tapped it to unlock it. “It’s all messed up. I can get calls but I can’t dial out.” He punched another button and the keypad displayed. He touched the screen repeatedly, but it never registered.
“Oh,” I said softly.
“I wanted to call you, but it wouldn’t go through. The phone wouldn’t work. And I kept waiting for you to call me—“
“I can’t call you first! I’m a girl!”
“What, it’s against the laws of physics for women to call men?” His mouth crooked in that smile again. “Pretty sure I never learned that in college.”
“That’s not it,” I told him, handing his phone back. I was starting to feel a bit silly. “Girls don’t call guys back first. And, well, I sort of have a bad history with men following up.”
Recognition dawned on his face. “Ah. Kip.”
“Yeah.” I crossed my arms protectively over my chest again. “So you’ll forgive me if I thought the worst when I didn’t hear from you.”
He studied my face, then stepped forward and caressed my cheek. “Have you been crying?”
I brushed his fingers away and averted my gaze. “Maybe. Just a little. No big deal.”
“Oh, Annabelle.” He leaned in to kiss me.
I ducked out of his grasp. “It wasn’t over you!”
“Then who – or what – is making you so upset? Tell me, so I can go punch that person in the balls.”
“Okay…I lied. It was you.” I snuck a glance at him and then gestured. “Punch away.”
His mouth quirked. “I was kind of hoping you’d want to do something more productive with my balls.”
I started to laugh, then stifled it again with a sigh. “You couldn’t have borrowed a friend’s phone?”
“I should have,” he admitted with a grimace and rubbed his neck. “I wasn’t thinking clearly. All I could imagine was coming back out here to spend more time with you. To be with you again like we were in Fiji. And I kept thinking that if this meant something to me, I needed to act on it. So I spent the last few days going through my crap and tying up loose threads. I ditched all my stuff to come here to be with you.”
For the first time, I noticed black straps on his shoulders. I frowned and tugged at his arm, looking at his back. There was a backpack there. “What’s that?”
“Just the stuff I couldn’t live without. Mostly underwear and a change of clothes.”
I blinked rapidly. “You…really got rid of your stuff? All of it?”
“All of it,” he agreed. “My roommate back in LA kept most of it, but yeah, I ditched the rest of my crap and bought a ticket out here.”
I just stared at him.
Jendan gave me a sheepish look. “For once I do something impulsive in my life and it seems like it backfired on me. I don’t think impulsive is my thing.”
“It’s not,” I agreed, even as I moved toward him and curled my fingers in the front of his t-shirt. “So what are you going to do now?”
He licked his lips, and that small motion made my heart begin to pound all over again. “Well… I see this as going either one of two ways. One, I get to come in and kiss those tears away, or two, I find the nearest airport and figure out what the hell to do with myself—“
I pulled his mouth to mine before he could even finish the statement. I kissed him fiercely, my lips and tongue claiming him for myself. I let that kiss be my apology. And when we broke free, I gave a happy little sigh and wrapped my arms around his neck.
“I…guess we’re going with number one?”
I nodded. “Wanna come inside and make up on my couch?”
“Love to.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Would I come back and play again? That depends…can I pick my partner? Because I can think of only one person I’d like to be stuck on an island with again.” – Jendan Abercrombie, Post-Game Interview, Endurance Island: Power Players
I dragged him into my apartment and we barely shut the door before we were on each other, kissing and ripping at each other’s clothes. “My Annabelle,” he murmured as he tore off my t-shirt. “God, I missed you. The last four days have seemed like forever. At least when we were on the island, I got to watch you play.”
“You did?” I asked between kisses, fumbling with his belt. God, belts were so inconvenient!
“Yeah, I sat with the camera crews when they’d let us. We weren’t allowed to see the camp stuff, but I could view the challenge footage.” His mouth kissed every inch of my skin he could reach. “I loved watching you. And not just because you were naked – though that certainly helped things.”
I giggled, finally undoing his belt buckle and moving on to his fly. I paused to raise my arms above my head as he stripped my top off, then worked on my bra. He unclasped it and tugged it down my arms, and then my breasts were free. Immediately, his hands went to them, cupping them and rolling the nipples against his thumbs. “You’re so beautiful, Annabelle. I love touching you.”
I clutched at his clothing, moaning as twin streaks of desire rocketed through me. “Oh, Jendan, I missed you. I missed you so much.”
He continued to rub and stroke my nipples as he leaned in for a kiss. “Missed you too, baby. Felt like forever.”
“Next time, fucking call,” I told him breathlessly as I pressed my breasts against his hands.
“I will,” he said, bending down to take a nipple into his mouth. “Couldn’t think about anything but getting to you again.”
Good answer, I decided, and shoved his jeans and boxers down. “Condoms?”
“Condoms,” he agreed, sitting down on my couch and dragging me along with him. “Straddle me, Annabelle. I need to be inside you.”
I pulled free from his arms long enough to shimmy out of my sweatpants and panties. “Sorry I’m not wearing anything sexy.” Self-consciously, I touched my hair. “I probably look like a wreck—“
