“What are you doing?” I swallowed hard and stared up at him.

“Sorry, I got a bit carried away.” He licked his lips and stared back at me. “We should probably get out now.”

“I agree.” I nodded.

“You go first. I’ll wait here with my back turned so you can put on your bra and panties.”

“Thank you.” I swam away from him quickly and ran out of the water. I wrung as much water as I could out of my underwear and slipped them on. They were cold and clammy, but I knew they would dry out quickly in the hot sun. I also knew not wearing them was not even a possibility.

“I’m ready.” I called out to Jakob and watched as he swam back to shore. He moved like a champion swimmer, and his body was made for the water. I stared at him as he exited the ocean, and this time, I didn’t tell myself not to look. I gasped as I saw his cock was hard and jutting out. Jakob looked up at me as he put his briefs back on, and we stared at each other for a few seconds before he walked over to me.

“Ready to go to the jungle?” he asked me lightly, and I nodded, grateful that he hadn’t made a comment about my checking him out.

We walked in silence toward the jungle. I could feel my heart racing as I realized that I was about to enter the unknown. I thought back to one of my history classes where we’d talked about American Indian tribes who had never had contact with Westerners.

“I really hope we don’t happen upon any native tribes who want to kill us.” I shivered.

“Don’t be stupid, Bianca.” Jakob shook his head.

“Fine. I hope we don’t happen upon any native tribes who want to kill you.” I glared at him.

“Keep your eyes open and your ears keen, then,” he responded pompously. “If anyone is waiting to kill us, it’s Steve.”

“What do you mean?” I frowned at him, still feeling annoyed by his imperious nature.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll worry about Steve.” He gave me a condescending look. “Just keep your eyes open for water, and your ears as well.” He spoke slowly and arrogantly, and I wondered how I had allowed myself to be even slightly intimate with him. “At the same time, let me know if you see any Indians with bows and arrows.”

“You’re an asshole.”

“I’m an asshole who doesn’t want us to get further dehydrated.”

“You really think we’re going to find fresh water?”

“We’re pretty screwed if we don’t.” He looked at me then and sighed. “Please don’t cry.”

I stared at him for two seconds before ignoring him and increasing my pace. He was such an asshole. Please don’t cry, my ass. I hadn’t cried since we’d been here.

“Wait up.” He hurried behind me and grabbed my arm. “I told you already that you need to wait for me.”

“You’re not the boss of me.” I shrugged his hand off. “And the last I heard, we weren’t colonists. We didn’t start a democracy, and I didn’t vote for you to be governor or president.” I gave him a haughty look. “So in case you don’t get it, I’m not listening to what you say.”

“Bianca,” he started, and half-smiled.

“What?” I snapped, and then tripped over something and fell to my knees. “Ouch.” I landed on the sand with a thud, my face burning up in shame.

“You okay?” He reached his hand out to help me up. “I was trying to warn you about that branch.”

“I’m fine.” I jumped up, ignored his hand, and then brushed the sand off my legs. I looked up and found Jakob staring at me with darkened eyes.

“Is it going to be like this the whole time we’re here?”

“We’re not here to repopulate the planet, so I wouldn’t worry about it,” I huffed out, and then paused. “Oh my God, you don’t think we’re here for some secret project? Maybe they want us to start a new colony and repopulate a new population to see if we can survive on another planet.”

“Another planet?”

“You know, somewhere other than Earth.”

“We’re on Earth, Bianca.”

“Duh. I meant, maybe they plan on sending us to another planet after we have kids.” I sighed as if he were the slow one and then started laughing. “I’m joking, Jakob.”

I could see his lips trembling as he listened to me, and I could tell that he wanted to join me in my laugh. Finally, he couldn’t stop himself and he started laughing as well. We laughed for a good couple of minutes, and I felt tears running out of my eyes.

“Okay, I know how ridiculous that sounded,” I finally choked out through laughs. “You should have seen your face when you thought I was being serious.”

“I’m glad you realized that we don’t have to worry about life on Mars, though I wouldn’t be averse to trying for the kids.” He winked at me, and my face flushed. “What say you?”

“I say no.” I marched ahead of him, and he grabbed my arm.

“What are we going to do to get off of the island?” His voice was serious, and I knew that the joking part of the morning was done. “We also need to think about how we’re going to protect ourselves. Just in case.”

“Oh God, I feel like I’m Katniss and you’re Peeta. Only, I don’t know how to shoot a bow and arrow. Not that I have a bow and arrow, and I don’t think you know how to bake bread.”