Stranded with the Rockstar (Rockstar #1)

3. Harry

His arms are completely numb by the time they reach the shore. Forget dumbbells and bench presses, his trainer should just have him steer a raft the size of a truck bed across two miles of wavy ocean.

They both jump out as soon as they are able and work together to drag it the rest of the way up the sand. As soon as it's safe from floating back out, Harry collapses onto the beach. He feels the sun beating down on him and the sand sticking to his sweat, but he can't move. He takes in lungfuls at a time, trying to stop the rushing of blood that he can hear in his ears.

He looks to his side and sees the girl doing the same. They may have done all of that to just die here on this beach from exhaustion.

Overwhelming thirst is eventually what gets him moving, and he crawls to the first aid kit, reaching for a water bottle. In an effort to conserve, the two of them had only gone through one bottle today. He thinks they've earned a second one.

A part of him can't wait to tell people about this. They won't believe him, especially the tabloids. But maybe he should wait, and put it in the book he's been sort of thinking about writing.

He drinks until the bottle is approximately half gone and uses every ounce of his willpower to stop himself at that point. He hasn't been at the top of numerous "Nicest Celebrities" lists for nothing, after all.

Feeling proud of himself, he hands her the remaining liquid, forcing her to finally move from her laying down position to take it. She finishes it off quickly and sets the empty bottle next to her.

"So it looks like the sun is about to set," she says. She's not looking at him, but behind them at the dense forest which appears to be covering the entire island. "Do you think we should create some sort of shelter for tonight? And look for people tomorrow? I just don't want to get lost in there in the dark. Plus there might be animals that we don't want to run into."

She keeps doing this. She seems to feel confident in her decision making, but she keeps asking him for permission. He's only known her less than a day, and has barely spoken to her. But he can already say that he's never met anyone so simultaneously self-reliant and self-doubting.

"Yeah" is his only contribution to the conversation.

She nods, looking around them. He wonders what she's going to come up with for sleeping arrangements. Having not slept within the last forty-eight hours besides when he dozed off a few times on the raft, he is more exhausted than he usually is. She must be too.

"Can I get your help?" She asks—again with the questions.

He stands up and walks to where she is messing with the raft, attempting to drag it away from the water. He assists her as she leans it up against a nearby tree, creating a lean-to. By the time she lays the thick, scratchy blanket on the ground beneath it, dusk is upon them and Harry already feels the temperature dropping.

"How can it be so bloody hot during the day and cold at night?" He asks the question rhetorically, so he's surprised when she answers.

"Look up," she says, not stopping her task of searching through the first aid kit. "There are no clouds here."

He looks at the sky and sees that she is right. In the nearing sunset, it is a shade of peach and completely undisturbed—not a single cloud to be seen. "So what does that mean?"

She stands up straight and sighs. He sees she has a water bottle in one hand and a protein bar in the other. "Clouds stabilize temperatures. If there are none, temperatures are controlled mostly by the sun."

She takes a sip of water and hands the protein bar to him. He looks up at her and meets her eyes for maybe the first time. "How the hell do you know that?"

She doesn't break the eye contact. "I studied Agricultural Sciences in college. It includes meteorology."

He opens the package in his hands and breaks the bar in half. He takes his and gestures for her take the other.

After they have eaten and finished another water bottle, they silently agree that it is time to sleep. She crawls in first, resting as close as possible to the raft, obviously trying to avoid having to touch him during the night. He smiles to himself as he crawls in next to her.

He's not surprised by her withdrawn behavior. Hell, she said she didn't drink because she was twenty—like that's too young. He'd already been in and out of his first rehab by the time he was twenty.

"Is there anyway we could sleep head to feet?" She asks just as he rests his head down.

"I'm not moving."

"Well I'm too cramped here to move."

"Then crawl out of your little den. I'm not going to bite you."

She doesn't respond, just sighs and shifts her position slightly in an attempt to get more comfortable. But it's not possible. They have no covering, the ground is hard, and the blanket beneath provides no comfort. And besides, the air is getting colder by the minute.

Despite his extreme tiredness, he can't sleep. And he knows by her trembling body that she can't either.

"Just come here," he says with a sigh.

"What? Absolutely not." She is still facing away.

"I can't sleep with the sound of your teeth chattering. And why not? I know a lot of girls who would love to share their body heat with me."

He sees her body still for a moment. Why does he make her so uncomfortable? Surely she's shared a bed with someone before. Maybe she's into chicks?

"Not me," she snaps.

"Please," he continues, and he can't believe himself, begging a girl a cuddle with him. This is definitely a first. "I promise I'll be a perfect gentleman."

She finally turns to him, and gives him a small shrug, which he takes as an agreement. He scoots toward her, further inside their makeshift shelter, and wraps his arms around her back as soon as he is close enough.

Her head is lying just off to the side of his chest, and he can still feel her jaw vibrating from coldness. On instinct, he pulls her tighter. She doesn't respond. In fact, she doesn't move at all. She is as stiff as a board in his arms.

"Relax. Or you're never going to sleep," he whispers. He feels her nod.

"I've just never," she pauses for a moment as her entire body shivers. "I've never been in this position before."

His eyes widen, and he's grateful that she can't see him. "You mean, slept with someone overnight?"

"Right. Not overnight."

He didn't know people like this still existed. But he supposed maybe she's looking for instructions? "Okay, well, just slide one arm under my back and rest the other one on top. It's pretty simple, really."

She follows his directions slowly, cautiously. She's definitely not lying about her innocence. If she weren't still shaking from the cold, he's sure her nerves would have done the job.

"See? Not so bad," he says as she links her hands on his opposite side, holding him loosely.

"Can we just...try to sleep now? For all we know, the people who live here—or a satellite phone, or whatever is going to get us out of here—are on the opposite side of the island. That could take all day to get to."

He knows she is right, and they will find something here to help them. He can't imagine spending another night on the hard ground, holding on tightly to a popsicle.

But he still finds himself grinning as they drift to sleep. This going to make one hell of a story.

* A/N: The first of many Harry chapters! I know some people have an issue with third person, but I like it. I think it keeps me from being confused as to whose POV we are on when I'm reading. And even if it's not your cup of tea, I hope you stick around to see what's coming! Thank you so much for reading so far, and don't forget to vote if you're liking it!*