Before He Was Gone: Starstruck Book 2 by Becky Wicks

they’ve split us up.
    ‘Now listen! Each person in your team must carry each fish at least once between here …’ Ed points to our target, ‘and there . The prize? Swimsuits for your team of five, a beach BBQ and an open bar. Now, we know how much some of you could do with a drink already.’
    Shan’s nodding his head. Alyssa’s squeezing Stephanie’s hand. Mike folds his arms, throws me a look. It’s obvious what they’re doing; stirring up animosity between us, forcing us into two tribes. The losers of this challenge will have to sit around watching the others having fun and what better way to get us all wound up at each other instead of pulling together? Not that some people aren’t wound up already.
    There’s been Mike, stomping around trying to get us all to agree to vote Shan out first. ‘He’s a threat,’ he said to me on the reef, when he joined me in attempting to spear a fish. He shot about nine dead aims before letting me do it, but the guy’s persistent.
    ‘Why’s he a threat?’ I asked.
    ‘Him and Alyssa. If he wasn’t more camp than our camp I’d say they were screwing already, but any kind of friendship like that needs to be shot down ASAP in a situation like this.’
    ‘They’ve known each other five seconds,’ I told him. ‘And anyway, people are bound to join forces, Mike, we’re in the middle of nowhere. What’s this really about?’
    He didn’t answer me; just stared at the ocean from the rocks with his flabby sand fly bitten stomach rolling over his army pants, but we all know what it’s really about. No one else here wants Shan out first and I’m pretty sure America wouldn’t either.
    ‘OK ya’ll, who’s fast?’ Stephanie’s saying now, ushering us all closer and looking between us. Her blue eyes are fierce. Her forehead’s striped in blue paint. My team huddles – me, her, Mike, Karin and Alyssa. The stench of fish is already up in my nostrils.
    ‘They called me the pocket rocket,’ Karin pipes up. ‘I ran track.’
    ‘OK, but can you hack it when it comes to grabbing fish in your teeth?’ Stephanie says. Karin salutes her, pigtails bouncing beneath her tied bandana. ‘Awesome, then you pass them to me, I’ll pass to Alyssa. Alyssa, you pass to The Animal… I mean, Joshua,’ she grins, ‘and Joshua, pass to Mike. You gotta get those fish in that bucket, Mike. Is everyone OK with that?’
    No one argues. I raise my eyebrows. She’s like two different people, this bossy little Southern chick. And they’ve been calling me The Animal since we got here. I haven’t asked why – most people wind up with some kind of nickname on Deserted . Alyssa’s still wearing her damn purple lacy bra and Shan’s been calling her Double G. Allegedly it stands for Greek Goddess and has nothing to do with her cup size. I don’t know much about cup sizes but all things considered, with her charm and personality on top, Alyssa’s without doubt the most dangerous female in this game.
    ‘How’s your foot for running on?’ I ask her now, motioning to her ankle as we walk to our starting points next to each other.
    ‘It’s fine, thank you, Joshua,’ she shoots back. I don’t miss the look she gives me; a secret smile as she flexes out her arms, ready for battle. ‘I don’t even know what you’re talking about.’
    Alyssa is sexy as hell, but more than that I’m realizing she’s razor sharp - and clever. She never mentioned what happened on the reef to the others. As far as I know she dabbed some lotion on her scratch from the necessities box and acted like nothing happened. She knows any sign of weakness will be noted. Also, she never talks about the things other people want her to talk about.
    ‘What’s it really like dating a rock star?’ Karin asked her last night as the three of us were preparing the fish I caught.
    ‘Rock stars are people, too,’ she replied, glancing at the camera and taking the snapper I’d just gutted. She sliced it expertly into