Page 53 of The Most Dangerous Games

As they make their way down the hill and away from the main house, they can see Jack and Elena walking away in the opposite direction—close, heads bent toward each other, like they’re trying to steal a normal moment inside an insane week.

Hannah watches them, then says, “That’s going to get dangerous.”

“I know they haven’t known each other for very long,” Wyatt says. “None of us have. But it’s obvious.”

“Do you think that’s wise?” Hannah asks.

Wyatt says, “The way I look at it, sometimes you just feel things whether you want to or not.”

“Even in a situation like we’re all in?” Hannah says.

“Maybe because we’re in a situation like this,” Wyatt says.

She seems much older than eighteen, and not just because she’s the smartest girl Wyatt has ever been around. There is this naturalness about her, a beauty inside and out. He still can’t believe how close he came to losing her in McMurdo Sound.

But at the same time he tells himself now not to analyze his feelings for her too much, because he’s never been any good at talking about feelings. Hannah, though, is different, just off some of the long conversations they’ve had already, mostly on planes. She’s more an open book.

Not me, Wyatt thinks.

Not even close.

They pass what looks like a horse corral. Empty. Wind moving through it like it’s waiting for something.

Wyatt thinks about taking Hannah’s hand.

He doesn’t.

What would she think about me if she knew my story?

What would they all think?

They continue walking down the hill. The farther they get from the main house, the more they feel they’re putting the scene they just witnessed in the ballroom behind them. Just the two of them, now, alone in the half-light between day and night, a whole world between them and the cold of Antarctica and everything that happened there.

And, Wyatt knows, it’s more than the weather:

This feels like the first chance he’s had since Antarctica to exhale.

None of this is normal, he knows that. His life hasn’t been normal for a long time. Even his closest friends don’t know his whole story. But this—what he’s feeling tonight—does feel normal.

He’s worried about what Hannah just said.

How any relationship, no matter how innocent, might be a bad idea.

“It’s weird, right? We don’t even know what the scoreboard is.”

“I hate that,” Hannah says. “I hate being measured and not knowing how.”

Wyatt looks at her. “You do great on every test.”

“That’s exactly why I hate it,” she says. “Because this one isn’t a test. It’s a trap.”

They stop at the fence line and look out at the property. Stars are beginning to show.

“Who do you think owns this place?” Hannah asks.

“Maybe The Host dude,” Wyatt says.

There is another silence between them, just not an uncomfortable one. So many girls he’s known, even the ones he liked, felt like they had to be talking all the time, filling up every silence.