Love and Decay, Episode 10 by Rachel Higginson

when I made an executive decision. I couldn’t wash him. I couldn’t cross that line with him. He might try to run, but I had no doubt these men would shoot him dead without question.
    Pulling out my hunting knife, I grasped his hands and held them steady while I carefully snipped the tight plastic with the tip of my sharp knife. Kane gaped at me while he shook out his hands, rubbing them at the wrists, struggling to get feeling back into them.
    I took a step back and my first real breath since I’d been with Kane in his cell. “I’m leaving this up to you,” I announced gesturing at the creek.
    The guards were far enough away that we weren’t exactly in ear shot, but all it would take was one fast scream from me and they would be here immediately.
    “You trust me?” he gaped.
    “No,” I answered honestly. “But I know you’d rather be here with me then out in those woods by yourself, without clothes and without a weapon.”
    His mouth broke into a boyish grin and he admitted, “You’re right about that.”
    “Besides, your dad will be here in two days to take you back home. You don’t want to miss out on that opportunity.”
    His smile faltered and his eyes flickered up to mine at the same time he walked deeper into the water. The creek came up to about mid-thigh on him and the first thing he did was sink down and submerge his entire body into the lolling current. He popped back out of the water, running a hand through his hair, that startling smile back in place on his chiseled face.
    “My dad is coming here?” he asked in true confusion.
    “I guess; Gage has some annual meeting with him?”
    “Oh, right,” Kane’s brow furrowed but he caught the small bottle of shampoo when I tossed it to him. He proceeded to wash his hair and face, running his hands over his chest and arms and…. lower. I averted my eyes and decided that watching the small white rapids rush over protruding rocks and branches along the shore was the single most interesting thing I’d ever seen. “What are you going to do when he comes?”
    Here was my chance to lie to him, to tell him exactly what we weren’t going to be doing. “Oh, we won’t be here.” I worked to sound as causal as possible. I felt the power of his gaze before I even chanced a look his direction.
    “Where will you be?” His words were hard stone and he stopped being gentle with his body.
    “Anywhere but here,” I whispered. He stepped toward me and I rushed to justify my lie. “You can’t expect me to stay, Kane. There is nothing between us. And we have to get Miller and Tyler out of here before your dad shows up. This was never permanent. We weren’t keeping you for a pet. You were always going back home.”
    “Reagan, I never planned to stay with you and your merry band of misfits. I always planned to go back home.” He stepped out of the water and ran a thin towel quickly over his body before I had a chance to look away.
    Ok, I probably had a chance or two to look away. Ahem.
    He was yanking on his clothes again before I could dress his wounds. “Wait, I need to put something on your injuries!”
    “Forget it,” he growled with a muffled voice while he hunted for the opening of his long sleeved gray Polo. “I’ll be home in two days where I can get real medical attention. I’ll be fine.”
    “You won’t be…”
    “Reagan, stop. I don’t want to talk about my injuries right now.” He finally figured out his shirt and yanked it on. His jeans were next and he hopped into them while trying to keep his muddy feet from ruining them. I watched him, rapt with his frustrated, jerky movements and angry scowl. He was kind of…. adorable- in that scary, serial killer way. He pulled up the legs of his jeans and then went about re-washing his feet, drying them one at a time and dressing them carefully with socks and his bloody black boots.
    Finally, he stood back up and faced me.
    His pants were still undone.
    Seriously?
    But before I could point