Bedroom Games (22 page)

I blanched at the
thought.
Mactor
.
And proud of it, too.

“But,” he continued, and shrugged his tanned
shoulders. “The longer I have a camera in my face, the more I think
that this is fun but not what I’d want to do with my life. What
exactly, I’m not sure.”

I knew that feeling. Being in the house was
fun, but the sense of ‘un-reality’ in the reality TV show could
drive you a little nutty at times. “It doesn’t have anything to do
with being portrayed as a villain last year?”

He just grinned at me as if proud. “I didn’t
mind that. Katy got pissy at me, but she’s my sister. You can pull
stuff with your sister that you can’t with other people. I knew she
wouldn’t stay mad at me for long. I’d just give her puppy dog eyes,
and we’d be all better.” As if to prove this, he stuck his lower
lip out and batted his lashes at me.

I groaned and swiped at him with one of the
throw pillows on the bed. “Nice try, but if you screw me over, I’m
not going to be as forgiving as Katy. I need that money.”

“We both need the money,” he agreed. “Trouble
is, only one of us can win it.”

“Yeah, well, I think I need it more than
you.”

“Hey now, didn’t I just tell you that I’m a
waiter? At least you have a real job.”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t pay crazy money. I have
enough to cover my own bills, but not my mom’s, too. And she’s got
no one but me.” I sobered, the good mood fleeting. “I need a lot of
money to help dig her out of the hole she’s gotten into and to get
her some help. It…feels crushing at times.” Even now, I felt that
familiar panic whenever I thought about my mom. How helpless I was
to stop her. She was a grown woman. She could make her own
decisions. And yet…I felt responsible. I sucked in a deep, calming
breath. I was here on the show to help her.

Brodie nodded and dragged me closer to him
until he’d pulled me against his chest. “We’ll figure something
out. I’ve got your back.”

I cuddled against his chest, hating myself
for how much I enjoyed being in his arms. “You promise you won’t
say anything about my mom to the others? I don’t want them to
know.” Just thinking about the others knowing my problems made me
feel weirdly vulnerable, and it was a sensation I didn’t like.

“Well, it’s clear Jendan suspects something,”
Brodie said, and his fingers scratched at the sides of my shaved
head comfortingly. “But don’t worry. You can trust me.”

Trust Brodie Short. God, I was stupid if I
did. And yet… “Just don’t burn me at the end, okay?”

“I won’t. I promise.”

And for some reason, I believed him.

CHAPTER EIGHT

“So yeah, for the first time
in my life, I’m letting a woman drive the relationship. Kandis says
no sex, so we don’t have sex. And I’m fine with that. Really. My
balls might not be, but my brain is.”
–
Brodie Short, Day 40

The week had been an eventful one. It was
like the house was a car that had gone from neutral into first
gear. It seemed like every other day, someone was being voted out
of the house. True to what we’d decided, Brodie put up Fido and
Sunnie, and Fido was the one to go home. He looked stunned at his
eviction, though he’d shook hands and hugged everyone as he
left.

Two days later, Marla won the Power Play and
put up Sunnie and Jayme. Neither one looked surprised, though
they’d both shot dirty looks my way, as if I were some sort of
mastermind that had schemed to get them all out of the house.

Heck, maybe I was, but I wasn’t the only one
to blame here. And I didn’t care. I wasn’t here to make lifelong
friends. I was here to make a million dollars. If I were here to
make friends, I’d probably play more like Brodie.

The thought had crossed my mind that Brodie
was using this house—and me—as a social network of connections he
could play on to win the money. Everyone liked Brodie, even when
they got voted out. He saw them off with a smile and a hug, and for
the girls, a flirtatious wink.

When we voted Sunnie out a few days later,
she’d been snotty and irritated toward Marla, Jendan, and I. But
when it was time for her to go, Sunnie hugged Brodie for so long
that Becky cleared her throat into the microphone.

That hadn’t sat so well with me.

Brodie and I had kept things to a playful
simmer in regards to our pseudo-relationship. We were still
partners in the game, but I wasn’t sure if we were more than that
or if we’d ever be. Every night, we’d crawl into bed together and
wait for two am to roll around.

As soon as it did? All bets were off. For the
next two hours, we’d cuddle, make out, and generally do everything
short of actual sex. It was like penetration was the next step, and
we’d mutually decided not to go further…but that didn’t mean we
couldn’t have fun in the meantime. However, outside of the bedroom,
you’d never know that more was going on between Brodie and me than
flirting. He gave me the same casual affection that he gave Marla
and Jayme. If he hugged me? He made sure to hug the other women. If
he tickled me or swam with me in the pool? I’d see him doing the
same with Jayme not an hour later.

It messed with my head in a major way. What
was my relationship with Brodie? Something simply to pass the time
in a house where we had no TV? Or something more?

It was impossible to tell, and I’d been
hoisted on my own petard because I was the one insisting that we
keep it a secret. But now it was so secret that I wasn’t sure it
was real. Of course, how stupid was it to fall for a guy that was
known to be a lying flirt in a situation like this?

It was like I was just begging for my heart
to be broken.

It was almost like Brodie had no qualms about
doing it.

“There’s just Jayme left now,” Brodie
announced to our small group when we had our next bedtime meeting.
“That means one of us needs to be nominated alongside her this week
for eviction. And I think Kandis needs to go up.”

I recoiled at the suggestion, hurt.
“What?”

“Someone has to go up,” Brodie said. “Jayme
needs someone she’s guaranteed not to win against.”

“Yeah, but why me?” Just the thought made me
nervous.

Brodie gestured at the Power Play necklace
looped around his neck. “Because I have this, which means I can’t
go up. And I don’t think Marla and Jendan would trust us if we
nominated one of them, am I right?” He looked at the pair sitting
across from us.

Marla crossed her arms over her chest and
nodded. “I don’t want it to be me. Not that I don’t trust you guys,
but…I’d rather Kandis go up.”

“I’ll go,” Jendan offered, and he glanced at
me. “But I admit it wouldn’t be comfortable for me.”

“No,” Marla said firmly to
her partner. “Do
not
volunteer, Jendan. If you go out in a surprise move, I’m the
next one out the door.” She looked back at me. “I’m sorry, Kandis,
but it has to be you if our alliance is going to stick.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but Brodie put
his hand on my knee, distracting me. “Kandis has to be the one to
go up,” he said again. “And we all vote for Jayme, right?”

“Right,” Marla said, so quickly that it
immediately made me suspicious. My heart thumped in my chest. That
was the problem with a game like this—you didn’t trust anyone to
have your back. The only one I trusted was Brodie.

And I questioned the wisdom of that
anyhow.

“You’re safe, baby,” Brodie told me, with
another caress of my knee. “Don’t worry.”

“Baby?” Marla’s eyebrows shot up. “Did you
just call her baby?”

Oh shit. “Um.”

“Slip of the tongue,” Brodie said easily.
“Nothing to concern anyone.”

“Oh yeah? It concerns me if
you’re slipping
her
the tongue,” Marla said. “That implies a deeper partnership
than we thought.”

“Well, of course we’re playing with
partners.” He gestured at Jendan. “You don’t seriously think that I
believe you’d keep me over Jendan at any time, do you? Kandis is my
partner. This shouldn’t be surprising.”

“Are you two sleeping together?” she wanted
to know.

“Of course not,” I protested.

“Every night,” Brodie said at the same
time.

I looked over at him, scandalized.

“Well, we are. Same bed.” He patted the
mattress.

“That’s not what I meant,” Marla snapped.

“I know it’s not what you meant,” Brodie
replied, his tone effortless. “But that’s also none of your
business.”

“It is if it affects my game!”

“It won’t affect your game.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Because I’m putting my partner up on the
block this week.”

She shut up at that.

I was starting to get nervous, though. I was
going up on the block, and now Marla was mad because she
(correctly) thought Brodie and I were an item. Did that mean she
was going to switch her vote? I looked at Jendan, but he was
impossible to read.

It seemed like I was just going to have to
trust people.

Damn it. I didn’t trust anyone. “If you guys
dick me over, I’m going to be the most bitter juror ever. Just so
you know.”

Brodie laughed. Jendan just shook his head
ruefully.

Marla didn’t smile.

~~ * ~~

“It’s time for our nominations, and then
we’ll proceed immediately to the vote,” House Mother Becky Bradley
said over the intercom. “Are you ready, House Guests?”

We clapped politely to show we were, and
Brodie stood in the front of the room, the Power Play necklace
gleaming against his dark shirt. He stood, his stance casual and
easy and utterly sexy. His gaze moved over the five of us
individually, but I was pretty sure it lingered on me. He winked in
my direction. “Tonight,” he said, “It’s pure strategy. I’m putting
some trust in people, and therefore my nominations are Jayme,” he
pointed at her, and then his gaze swung to me.

And even though I knew it was coming, my
stomach still dropped.

“—
and Kandis.”

I got up from my seat and smoothed my dress.
I was barefoot, but that was the only concession to my nerves. I’d
taken extra care on my appearance today, just in case I got voted
out. If I did? The last view I wanted everyone to have of me should
be smoking hot.

I told myself that this was for everyone’s
sake, but it was a lie. It was mostly for Brodie, just in case he
betrayed me. If he did, I wanted him to realize what he was
throwing away.

So I’d worn a body-hugging dress that showed
off every one of my lithe muscles and my trim figure. I’d packed
one for such an occasion, and I was glad to have it. I couldn’t do
anything with my short hair, so I’d blow-dried it and then flipped
it over one side so it just looked like an edgy bob a la Miley
Cyrus. My eyes were done up in smoky makeup, and I wore a pair of
dangly earrings I’d borrowed from Marla.

I looked sexy, mohawk and all. And I could
see in Brodie’s eyes that he thought I looked hot, too. He barely
even glanced over at Jayme, even though she was equally done up and
seated next to me in the nomination chairs.

“The nominations are in,” Becky chirped over
the intercom. “We’ll let the nominees speak. Kandis?”

I stood up from my chair, turned to face my
friends, and smiled. I was supposed to make a speech, but…we knew
this was a sham, right? So all I said was, “Don’t screw me,
guys.”

And then I sat down.

They laughed. I wasn’t laughing. I looked
over at Brodie, but he only gave me a small nod, as if saying
‘trust me.’

I did. My game life was in his hands.

After my short speech, Jayme got up and gave
the typical, you-want-my-vote-keep-me-around speech. I didn’t
listen. I couldn’t. I was too keyed up.

If Marla wanted to split me and Brodie, now
would be the perfect time. I’d never be more vulnerable.

Jayme dropped back into her seat, and the
intercom came on again. “It’s time for the vote, House Guests!”

I watched as they headed off into the voting
booth as individuals, scarcely able to breathe through my
nervousness. My legs were crossed and my foot in the air swung
madly, and I was unable to stop my fidgeting.

“The votes are in,” Becky announced an
eternity later.

We waited. I held my breath.

Becky’s gaze flicked from me back to Jayme.
“Jayme, you’ve been evicted.”

My breath escaped me in a rush. I was safe.
They hadn’t lied.

Brodie’s gamble had worked.

I got up and hugged Jayme woodenly. As soon
as I let her go, Brodie was there, and I put my arms around him and
hugged him with an intense amount of relief, wanting to retreat
into his arms.

He stroked my short hair and murmured, “Don’t
you worry, baby. I’ve got your back.”

He
did
. And I was so giddy with happiness
that I could have danced with joy.

I barely noticed when Jayme left the
house.

I was still in a daze when
we all went out to the challenge area, and the next Power Play
started. It was horror-movie themed, a nod to Alfred Hitchcock. One
by one, we entered a sealed shower booth and tried to catch as many
styrofoam crows as we could in a minute. I wasn’t sure if it was a
nod to
Psycho
,
or
The Birds
, or
both.

I went first. I got thirty-two.

Jendan got twenty-nine.

Marla got fourteen.

Brodie had won the last Power Play, and he
couldn’t participate. But he gave a whoop of joy when the results
were announced and a moment later, he looped the necklace around my
throat.

It was down to the four of us, and I had
Power this week. I was safe until the final three.