Bedroom Games (11 page)

I watched, mystified, as Mickey headed to the
nomination chairs, frowning.

“Mickey, since you are the only one left on
your team,” Becky called out sweetly from the TV screen, “that
means you are automatically eliminated. Please exit the house.”

We all stood and murmured platitudes as
Mickey grabbed his bag and headed for the door. I avoided the hug
he tried to give me and gave him a friendly wave instead. As soon
as the door shut behind him, I turned to Brodie and whispered, “How
did you manage that?”

“We’ll talk later,” he said, but there was a
smile on his face.

Huh.

“Contestants, you have ten minutes to change
and arrive on the challenge course,” a voice piped over the
intercom. “Please hurry.”

We scrambled to change, and as the girls
rushed to the bathroom to strip out of our confining dresses, I
stopped Marla on the way. “Did you know that Mickey was going to be
leaving?”

She nodded and gave me a sympathetic look.
“When Sunnie told us what was going on, we agreed that he needed to
go.”

Sunnie, huh?

Sure enough, the redhead came to my side and
captured me in a long hug. “I did that for you, girl,” she said,
beaming at me.

I hugged her back, still a bit surprised.
“Thanks, Sunnie. You’re the best.”

“You owe me,” she whispered.

“I do,” I agreed.

It seemed more like I owed Brodie,
though.

We didn’t have a chance to talk more because
everyone was too busy changing clothes and braiding their hair up.
I barely managed to finish changing and make it out on the
challenge course in time, and I groaned when I saw what lay before
us.

Six dining tables—since Sunnie and Casper
wouldn’t be able to participate—complete with checkered picnic
cloths. A wicker basket was set up on each table.

“Contestants, pick a table,” Sunnie called
out, waving a hand at the line of tables like she was Vanna
White.

I picked my table and sat down and noticed
immediately that there was a bucket under my chair. Uh oh. This was
a gross food challenge. I swallowed hard and looked at Jendan, who
sat next to me. He looked a bit green in the face.

“This season,” Casper read, “has had a horror
movie theme to it. And tonight’s dinner will be no different.
You’ve all seen the movie where the hero has to eat a giant roach
or a dish of monkey brains. Now, you get to experience those things
for yourself.”

A chorus of groans came from the six
tables.

“Oh god,” Jendan muttered next to me. “I’m
going to be sick just thinking about it.”

I couldn’t help but giggle, just a little. Of
everyone in the house, Jendan was the pickiest eater. He liked
disgustingly healthy foods and ate a plain chicken breast and
broccoli when the rest of us snacked on hot dogs and potato chips.
“You have a barf bucket,” I pointed out helpfully.

“I’m going to need it,” he called back.

I grinned and then sobered, leaning over.
“Did you save us?” I whispered. I had to know.

“Talk later,” he said quickly as a cameraman
swung past.

That wasn’t a ‘no.’ I nodded as Casper pulled
out another card and continued reading. “There are five courses in
all,” Casper read. “Each round, the person that finishes their dish
the slowest will be eliminated until there are only two contestants
remaining. Those two will go head to head for the Power Play. Are
you ready?”

“Ready,” we said.

“All right,” Casper read. “Contestants, open
your picnic baskets. The first item for dinner is…monkey
brains.”

Next to me, Jendan made a gagging noise.

~~ * ~~

Hours later, I was pretty sure that despite
half a bottle of mouthwash and four rounds of marathon
tooth-brushing, I still had the taste of fish eyes in my mouth. I’d
only made it to round two before losing the challenge. Poor Brodie
had made it all the way to the final round and had to suffer
through every course before losing to Jayme as she swallowed
mealworms like a champ.

Jendan had barfed after every round, starting
with the first round, after taking a bite of his food, and then
continuing with sympathy barfs when he saw what the others had to
eat. Poor guy had a weak stomach. I couldn’t laugh because I’d
barely managed to eat my monkey brains. I’d tossed my own cookies
on the fish eyes.

Now, with the excitement of the evening dying
down, we were all settling into our new rooms. Jayme and Fido had
the Power room for the week, and since Brodie had done so well,
we’d gotten to stay in the Queen room, which was the least creepy
of the rooms. It was full of antique furniture and weird portraits
of historical people and two-way mirrors, but at least it wasn’t an
attic full of hanging nooses. I considered that a win.

I lay on the bed, chewing mint gum
frantically as Brodie changed for bed. He’d stripped off his
challenge clothing and tossed it into the hamper, then, clad in
nothing but a pair of boxers, scratched his belly and headed for
bed.

“So,” I asked. “Were you trying to win that
competition tonight?”

“Yes and no,” he said, climbing in to bed
next to me. “Yes, because I figured if I had to eat all that shit,
I might as well get something out of it. No, because I figured if
Jayme won, we were safe for now.”

“Oh? Are we safe with Jayme in charge?” I
trailed a finger on the quilted bedcover. This was news to me. “Is
she another one of your harem?”

He just grinned at me. “Maybe.”

I grimaced and rolled out of bed to spit out
my gum, still tasting fish eyes. “So who did you not want to
win?”

“Jendan or Marla. As long as they lost, we
were safe.”

“Because you have Sunnie and Jayme in your
pocket,” I verified.

He put a finger to his lips and glanced at
the door. “Not so loud. Someone might be listening.”

I hopped back into bed and pointed at his
side, indicating he should join me.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said with a grin, and he
bounded into bed.

The entire thing creaked so loudly when he
landed I thought the others would come running. I winced, waiting.
“Everything okay?” someone called a moment later.

“Just me,” Brodie yelled. “Getting too
enthusiastic in bed!”

I groaned. This was like having far too many
roommates. “Great, now they think we’re enthusiastic in bed
together.”

“Which is not the worst thing anyone’s
thought about me,” Brodie said with a grin.

“I’ll bet.” I slid a little closer to him and
dropped my voice to a whisper. “So tell me what happened
earlier.”

Brodie wiggled his eyebrows at me, looking
quite pleased with himself. “You’ll notice that I was pulling the
strings of the female companions here in the house this week?”

“If you mean, did I notice you all over them?
Yes. I think everyone noticed that.”

He just grinned as if I’d paid him a
compliment. “Like I said, I didn’t like the way that guy was
treating you, so I talked to the other girls and made sure they saw
things my way. Wasn’t hard, considering he’d also made Jayme and
Sunnie really uncomfortable. Marla, too. I think he kept asking to
see pictures of her daughter, and she got a little wigged out.” He
shrugged. “At any rate, you’re welcome.”

“I…don’t know what to say.”

“How about thank you?”

I leaned in and gave him a one-armed hug.
“Thank you, Brodie. For all your horn-doggy-ness, you can be
surprisingly sweet.”

When I pulled away, he looked a bit
disgruntled at my words. “I don’t know which I find more
insulting—the horn-dog comment or that you’re surprised that I’m
sweet.”

“Do you deny that you’re a horn dog?”

“Pfft. Hello, Kandis, did I
not just confess all my plans to you? I’ve been all over Sunnie and
Jayme because I wanted to make sure
we
were safe. That’s you and me. Not
because I wanted to score some pussy.” He tapped my chest, right
above my breastbone. “You.” Then he tapped his chest. “Me. Got
it?”

I nodded.

“It’s a game, you know. And you catch more
flies with honey.”

“Yeah, but did you have to spread the honey
on so thick?” I muttered.

Brodie just grinned at me, seemingly
delighted at my surly attitude. “If I didn’t know better, Kandis,
I’d say you were jealous.”

“Yeah, well, you know better, don’t you?” I
said, surprised at how defensive my voice sounded. “Just turn out
the light, already.”

“Because you can’t wait to get me in the
dark—?”

I ignored that. “Night, Brodie.”

“—
and have me all to
yourself?”

“Good
night,
Brodie.”

He laughed and reached over to flick off the
light. “Night, Kandis.”

CHAPTER FIVE

“God. Kandis. Dat
ass.
Wait, strike that.
She’s going to kick
my
ass if she hears I said something like that in the
confessional. You stopped recording, right? Hello?”
– Brodie Short, Day 12

I
curled my legs under me in the big easy chair in the confessional
booth, waiting to be addressed.

It didn’t take long. “Kandis, how are things
going now that the latest House Guest has been evicted?”

I smiled at my reflection as if I were
talking to a real person. “Well, I am breathing a lot easier around
the house. It’s good to know he’s not lurking around every corner,
just waiting to catch a glimpse of my ass. You have no idea how
freaking nightmarish that was. So living-wise, I’m really happy.
Strategy-wise, I don’t know that it matters so much because Mickey
was a floater. He went with whoever was in Power and made it clear
that he’d do whatever it takes to stay on. You can’t trust people
like that.”

A pause. “How are things with your
partner?”

I licked my lips and thought hard. “Brodie’s
been…surprisingly more loyal than I thought he would be. When I
came on the show, I expected him to be the biggest horn-dog ever.
And he flirts a lot, don’t get me wrong. But there’s some strategy
behind it, I think?” I gave a light shrug. “And I can’t get mad,
because I see the strategy. And he shares his plans with me, so I
know what’s going on.”

“So it doesn’t bother you that he’s hitting
on all the women in the house?”

“Oh, I didn’t say it
didn’t
bother me. I just
said I understood the strategy behind it. And it shouldn’t irritate
me, really. We’re just partners, nothing more.”

“But you showered together.”

My fingers twitched and I tugged at the hem
of my t-shirt. “That was just so we could talk. It wasn’t
for…sexual purposes. Man, it sounds really awkward to say that, but
it’s true. There was nothing sexy about it.”

Except for the fact that I’d watched his
naked ass when he’d left the shower. And maybe thought about that
moment far more often than anyone who was ‘just friends’ should.
After all, I wasn’t sitting around and picturing Jendan naked.

“How are the alliances shifting in the
game?”

The intercom’s question caught me by
surprise, breaking me out of my reverie. “Um. They shift every day,
to be honest. Jendan and I are strong, though. At least, I feel
like we are. We share info and keep an eye on each other’s backs.
Ditto myself and Brodie. Of course, that’s not enough to win the
game, but Brodie swears he has both Sunnie and Jayme, and Jendan
has Marla, so that puts us in a majority as long as we all vote the
same way.”

“It sounds like you’re counting on everyone
else to make deals to save you.”

I frowned, a bit irritated by that
assumption. “Not at all. I’m playing this game, but part of my
strategy is to let others take the heat at the beginning. Right
now, Jendan and Brodie are the stars of the show. I’ll carry my end
when it’s time. It’s just not time right now.”

“Any enemies in the house?”

“I don’t know if I have enemies as much as
there are people that I don’t totally trust. And by that, I mean
everyone. Casper and Marla are the most paranoid, though. If I had
to choose who I trust the least, I’d pick those two…which makes it
real interesting considering that I’m allied with one of them.”

“What about Jayme and Fido? They have Power
this week. How do you feel about them?”

“I’m marginally fine with Jayme because
Brodie says we can trust her. I haven’t really had a chance to talk
to Fido all that much one-on-one, so I’m hoping he goes along with
whatever Jayme wants.”

“You think she’s leading that team?”

I laughed. “She is totally leading that team.
Fido’s a nice guy, but Jayme runs right over him.”

“And what about your team? Who’s in charge of
the Brodie-Kandis alliance?”

I paused. That was a very good question.

~~ * ~~

“So,” Jendan said, rubbing suntan lotion on
his shoulders before laying down on his beach-towel. His voice was
low. “I don’t want you to panic, but I have heard about a plan this
week.”

I looked over at Jendan, my head propped on
my hands as I tanned my back. It was a lazy day in the house. The
smokers were all hanging out near the couches and listening to
Marla tell another story about her kids. Sunnie and Jayme and
Brodie were in the kitchen, baking (and flirting). Jendan and I had
the pool all to ourselves, and we’d swam a little and were now
laying out to catch some sun. “What sort of plan this week?”

He glanced at the door to make sure no one
was heading our way and then looked back at me. “Jayme’s putting
you and Brodie up on the block.”

Well, shit. “She is? But what about the
Mickey thing?” How was it that they voted out Mickey because he was
creeping on me, only to turn around and want to vote out either
myself or Brodie? I thought everyone liked my partner.