Ryan cursed, "Damn, I can't believe I forgot that. I left the lighter over there. 

"I was worried it might get soaked and ruin it. Now, we're stuck without a way to start a fire."

"Are we seriously going to freeze out here?" Sherry shrugged, and her eyes darted toward him. 

She licked her lips and said, "You know, in the books I used to read, they always said cuddling could keep you warm. 

"What do you think? Should we give it a shot?

"I'm cool with it. After all, you've saved my life," she continued matter-of-factly.

He smiled wryly and replied, "You might not mind, but I sure do. We're both underdressed, and it's not like our body temps are through the roof."

He added, "If we huddle together, it won't do squat. We'd just be cuddling our way to doom. We gotta start a fire."

"Ryan Quinn, are you gonna keep dissing me like this? I'm not having it! If you're not up for it, neither 

Ryan was a man of his word. He tried attacking the birds with rocks, but they were too fast for him. One flap of their wings, and they were soaring far away.

Ryan came up with another idea after failing a couple of times.

Ryan went to gather palm leaves and knitted them together into a round basket. 

His movements were sloppy at first, but as he continued making more baskets, he quickly got the hang of it.

Ryan piled all the baskets together and dug a large hole in the beach. He tossed all the small fish and shellfish into the hole, then placed the baskets on top with twigs supporting them.

The birds would trigger the traps once they came to feed on the fish.

The birds had never come into contact with intelligent human life, so they foolishly went straight into it to eat some of the fish.

The moment Ryan saw one of the baskets fall down, he lunged on top of it.

The trap actually 

Sherry blushed as her cheeks turned a rosy red. She quickly retorted, "I wasn't trying to compete with her. I just made a passing comment."

"Let's crack open these coconuts. I'm parched," Ryan urged.

He smashed open two coconuts and handed one to her. They drank eagerly, relieved as the cool liquid soothed their parched throats. 

But as the refreshing sensation faded, his stomach cramped from hunger. With no food consumed all day and the relentless sun sapping his strength, he felt utterly depleted and urgently needed sustenance. 

Stranded on this deserted island with no one else in sight, Ryan couldn't afford to remain vulnerable. Not when Sherry, a beautiful companion, was relying on him for protection.

At the same time, her stomach also rumbled, and she quickly rubbed it. She said, "Ryan, I'm starving."

"Let's eat some coconut meat first. It's packed with natural fats and protei

Ryan cursed, "Damn, I can't believe I forgot that. I left the lighter over there. 

"I was worried it might get soaked and ruin it. Now, we're stuck without a way to start a fire."

"Are we seriously going to freeze out here?" Sherry shrugged, and her eyes darted toward him. 

She licked her lips and said, "You know, in the books I used to read, they always said cuddling could keep you warm. 

"What do you think? Should we give it a shot?

"I'm cool with it. After all, you've saved my life," she continued matter-of-factly.

He smiled wryly and replied, "You might not mind, but I sure do. We're both underdressed, and it's not like our body temps are through the roof."

He added, "If we huddle together, it won't do squat. We'd just be cuddling our way to doom. We gotta start a fire."

"Ryan Quinn, are you gonna keep dissing me like this? I'm not having it! If you're not up for it, neither am I!" Sherry stood up, all riled. "So, how are you going to make a fire?"

Out in the wilderness, a

Chapter 17