The Consequence of Revenge

“What the hell?” Rex called out, and pointed behind me. I turned to see Hades trot in my direction.

“Hades!” I scolded. “Go back to the hut, I’ll be home soon.”

Hades hung his head.

“Buddy.” I shuffled toward him. “I know I haven’t been paying much attention to you, what with”—I looked behind me and lowered my voice to a whisper—“Becca staying over, but I swear, we’ll do stuff when I get back.”

His little head popped up.

“Like that, do ya?”

Hades smiled. Okay, so he didn’t smile, but he nodded his head a bit.

“We’ll watch Discovery Channel, I promise. I’ll find you a nice lady goat and who knows, maybe one day you’ll have kids!”

Hades looked like he was grinning, so either he’d just passed gas or he was as horny as I was and the whole idea of procreating had merit. Satisfied, he trotted back toward the hut and sat.

“That goat is . . .” Rex didn’t finish his sentence; he just scratched his head and cleared his throat. “All right, last date of the day before the group date. After this all bets are off. You ready, Max?”

“My mom says I was born ready.” I shrugged. “It’s the truth. Apparently I clapped my hands five minutes after being born. I was a child of promise and all that.”

Rex stared. “Good for you.” With a sigh he ran his hands through his greasy hair and pointed to the beach. “Remember, you get the same amount of time with Becca as the rest of the girls. This date is going to be more . . . intimate than the rest. We need to catch some of the evening on camera, then the rest of it is yours, all right? But, remember, this is TV, so . . .” He elbowed me and waggled his eyebrows. “If you extend past the allotted time . . . allow us to film.”

His eyebrows looked like caterpillars just ready to bolt from his overly large forehead. Gross.

“Yeah, thanks, Rex.” I slapped his back. “I’ll just go get the girl now.”

“You do that.” Rex motioned for the cameras to roll.

“Hey,” I called out, and my voice cracked. Someone shoot me now. Becca turned and then ran toward me.

Let me repeat.

The girl? The really hot one who allowed me to see her naked and then allowed it a second time, ruling out drunken mistakes and insanity? Running. Toward. Me.

I suddenly had a vision of Becca in a red bathing suit.

She’d do Baywatch good, just sayin’.

I caught her just as she flew into the air and wrapped her legs around my waist. When we fell into the sand, I just took her with me. Not caring that yes, our kissing was going to be recorded for the world to see. I wanted her and fine, okay, I was ready to release the card.

Funny how when you finally make a decision to do something, it’s no longer hard, but extremely easy, and then you wonder why the hell you were so stressed out in the first place.

So as my man card fluttered away I didn’t even glance up and wave good-bye. I simply kissed Becca harder, knowing that I’d made the right decision.

She was mine. I was going to keep her. I mean, I’d probably have to divide my time between her, Little G, and Hades, considering I’d gained a freaking animal family on the Island, but still.

I was going to make it work.

When she pulled back and looked into my eyes, I had trouble finding my voice.

“You okay?” she asked.

“I’m great.” I licked my lips and kissed her mouth again. “Now stop attacking me so we can get started on our kick-ass date.”

“You attacked me.” Her eyebrows lifted.

“Not true. I believe it was you that launched yourself through the air and landed on my hotness. I merely caught you. I was afraid you’d sprain your ankle or something.”

“My hero,” Becca said dryly.

“Aw.” I placed my hands on my heart and sighed. “If I had a dollar . . .”

Rolling her eyes, she grabbed my hand. We walked down the beach toward the rock formation on the other side of the huts.

“Did you plan this date?” Becca asked once we’d reached the rocks.

“Yes. All by myself. Can’t you tell? Doesn’t this just scream Max?” I pointed to the rocks.

“I’m confused.” Becca looked around the area. “Where’s the date?”

“Oh, that.” I nodded. “We have to go up.”

“Up what?”

I smiled. “The rocks.”

“As in, we have to . . .” Becca tilted her head. “Climb?”

“You can spider-monkey on my back if that makes you feel better. I’m big enough to carry us both but don’t get pissed if I drop you. I can’t be held responsible if something bites my hand and I lose my grip.”

“Has anyone ever told you how brave you are?” Becca asked. “No?”

“I get so tired of compliments.” I sighed.

“Okay.” Becca clapped her hands together. “I can climb. I can do this. I mean, it’s not like there’s sharks waiting for us up there.”

“If there were, would you scream?” I asked as the professional climbers started putting us in our gear.

“Probably. Why?” Becca pulled off her cover-up and stepped into the harness. Swear she looked like every dream I’d ever had in high school about Xena, warrior princess. White swimsuit with harnesses and rope? Good golly Miss Molly, was there anything better?