Stuck on You (24 page)

He faced Paige. “I’m going with Ben. You can wait at the trucks for us if you want or I’ll catch up with you at base camp tonight.”

Paige glanced back to where Ben stood, waiting. “I get why you need to do this climb with Ben after everything you told me about the accident the other night. But why can’t you help us climb too? Aren’t we important to you too?”

Of course she was important to him, but in this moment, he had to do this with Ben and only Ben. This was the entire reason he’d come on the show to begin with. He couldn’t change his goals now. That wouldn’t be fair to Ben or to himself. If Paige and Zoe would have been in better condition to climb, he absolutely would have helped them. But they weren’t and he couldn’t risk any of them, even on this simple climb.

“You are important, but I can’t watch all of you at once. It’s not safe for you to climb in those heels and Zoe’s ankle would never be strong enough. But Ben and I can make it to the top.”

“And Zoe and I can’t so you’re going to ditch us instead of sticking with us. Nice.”

“I’m sorry, but I need to do this for him even if it means I have to do it without you.”

She narrowed her eyes, hurt and anger flashing in them. “So that’s it? You use us as long as it’s convenient for you and the second you can’t benefit from us you bail? Nice. I thought our — alliance — meant more to you.”

Paige turned and walked away.

Shit.

Tonight he would explain his choice to Paige when they were alone in his room. Until then, he had to focus on getting Ben up to the cache and back safely.

“Let’s go,” he said, motioning for Ben to start up the hill in front of him.

Paige pushed the rocking chair back and forth, hoping the motion would calm the turmoil boiling inside. So far, it wasn’t working.

“Can you knock that off, it’s making me seasick.” Zoe leaned back in her rocking chair, closing her eyes.

Paige stopped rocking and stared at Zoe instead.

“What?” Zoe said, her eyes still closed.

“Doesn’t it bother you at all?”

“Yes, I’m completely sick of these stupid daily wrap-ups, interviews, whatever the hell Chip wants to call them. No matter what you call them, they suck.”

“On that lovely note, let’s get started,” Evan said. He flipped the switch to turn his camera on. “Now that we’re getting closer to the end of the game, how are you holding up? Is the pressure getting to you yet?”

“I’d be better if we could have a day off from these wrap-ups,” Zoe said, looking completely bored.

“We’re holding up just fine. Our team is doing great. We’ve collected a lot of caches lately, so we should be set up okay going into the end.”

“And how is your alliance with Team Everest going? Still strong and united?”

Paige felt her blood pressure spike at the mention of Miles’s team. “We have no alliance. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Zoe turned to face her. “We don’t have an alliance? Damn. That’s news to me.”

“Has the alliance been going well in your mind, Zoe?” Evan asked.

“Yeah. It’s been great. We’ve been getting a ton of caches since we started working together and we’ve actually been having a lot of fun hanging out together too. This no alliance thing is definitely news to me.”

Evan addressed his next question at Paige. “What changed with your alliance in your opinion?”

She wanted to ignore him, but couldn’t. The camera would keep rolling until she answered. “It’s only an alliance if the teams actually work together. When one team goes off on their own leaving the other team behind, I think that effectively ends the partnership.”

“Did that happen with your teams today?”

“Yes. Miles and Ben chose to do a cache we weren’t able to do and that, in my mind at least, ends the alliance.”

“So you won’t be working with them again tomorrow?” Evan asked.

“Yes, we will,” Zoe said, rolling her eyes. “Paige needs a night to cool off about everything and we’ll be back on track with our alliance.”

“No, I’m done with your brother, Zoe. Done.”

“Paige, calm down. You just need a little distance before you talk it out with Miles. Everything will be fine again after a little make-up …
talk
.” Zoe winked at her.

“You really think I’m going to jump into bed with him again after he betrayed me this way?”

Zoe nodded her head toward the camera while staring at Paige. “You might want to ask Evan nicely to edit out that last part about sleeping with my brother. Viewing audience and all that stuff.”

Paige clenched her jaw and rubbed her hand across her forehead. Great. Just what she needed, the whole world hearing about her relationship with Miles and her subsequent betrayal by him. Awesome. Let the good times roll. Well, she wasn’t going to risk saying anything else stupid.

Paige stood from her rocking chair and pulled her hair back off her face into a messy ponytail. It felt so good to get it out of her face after a long day in the heat out on the trails. “I don’t know if you had more questions or not, Evan, but I’m done for the night.”

• • •

Paige filled her plate at the buffet then scanned the room for a place to sit and eat. Ben and Miles already sat at their usual table, laughing and joking while they ate. No way in hell was she about to join them. Not after Miles had turned his back on their alliance … and on her.

She sat on the sofa in front of the fireplace, balancing her plate in her lap. Hopefully the warmth of the fire would take away the chill she felt run down her spine every time she looked at Miles, her anger and hurt still pulsing through her.

He’d chosen Ben.

Not their alliance. Not her. Ben. His buddy. And only Ben.

Everything she’d done during this show to try and become more confident and stronger — more
desirable
to a guy like Miles — had all been for nothing. Didn’t matter how much more confident she was, guys like Miles or Ben or any of the others from her past would never chose to be with her. No matter what she did, no one would ever see her as the kind of girl they wanted to stick with forever. She was always just someone they were stuck with temporarily until they could ditch her.

At least now she knew where Miles’s loyalty laid, and it wasn’t with her. The only thing laying with her was his hot body. Too bad. She’d miss cuddling up against his gorgeous sculpted body tonight. But more than that, she’d miss falling asleep while talking to him about everything in their lives. She’d miss listening to his stories about his adventures. She’d miss telling him about her life back home.

She glanced over when she heard Miles laugh at something Ben said. Well, he wouldn’t miss her, would he?

Paige turned back to her food, not really tasting what she ate. It was just something to stop the annoying monster in her stomach, not something she took any pleasure in tonight. The sooner she ate, the sooner she could head to bed and put the day behind her. Tomorrow she’d feel better about everything. Hopefully.

Or at least she’d feel better about the show. Miles was a whole other problem that would probably bother her for a while longer.

Halfway through her plate of food, Zoe walked into the common room. Paige nodded at her but Zoe looked right past her then wandered over to Ben and Miles.

Nice. Traitor.

Not even Zoe cared that Miles had chosen Ben over Paige. Why would she? Obviously she cared more that her brother was happy than she cared about her own teammate. Now that Zoe had this new bond with Ben, she probably cared more about him than she did about Paige too.

Paige was a team of one again, just like she feared she would be that very first day when Cassidy had bailed on the show. Before she could dwell on it any longer, Zoe and Ben walked out of the room together, talking quietly as they went. Not even so much as a glance toward Paige to say goodbye. The sting of being alone grew and tears pricked her eyes.

Forcing herself to take a deep breath, she steadied her emotions. She wouldn’t become a basket case because of them. She’d come too far during this show for that. She was stronger now than she’d ever been before and a little loneliness wasn’t going to change her back to how she used to be.

The couch shifted beside her as Miles joined her.

She wouldn’t let betrayal take away her confidence either.

“How’s it going?” Miles asked, leaning back against the couch.

She didn’t say anything. Instead she took a big bite of her food so she couldn’t possibly say something. How was it going? That was as good as he could come up with? How did he think it was going when he’d dumped her for his buddy? Left her on the trail feeling like a puppy that had just been kicked.

I’m great! Awesome. Never been better.

“I wanted to come over earlier, but Ben needed to talk about a couple of things.”

Of course, Ben comes first.

She forced another deep breath into her lungs forgetting that she still had a mouth full of food until some of it hit the back of her throat. She coughed into her napkin, her eyes watering. Miles sat forward, patting her on the back to help her catch her breath.

Paige put her plate on the coffee table, her appetite gone, and took a sip of water. When she finally stopped coughing, Miles continued to rub her back. She wanted more than anything to lean into his chest, bury her face in his neck, breathe in his manly scent.

She shifted on the couch, leaning away from Miles and propping herself up against the arm of the couch for support. She would not give in to temptation. Not after he’d made his real feelings about her clear.

“Paige,” he said softly, stroking the side of her leg with his fingers, sending tingles of heat along her skin. She wished he’d stop touching her. It would make it easier to ignore him. “I know you don’t understand why I decided to finish the cache with Ben, but I can explain if you’ll listen to me. Ignoring me is childish and silly.”

Oh, no. He did not.

Paige turned to face him. “You know what’s childish and silly?” She didn’t wait for his answer before continuing. “Choosing your hiking buddy over the girl you claim to like enough to take to bed. Or maybe that was all I was to you — a girl to take to bed while you were stuck on this stupid show. Just a way for you to fill the long boring evenings.”

She got up from the couch and grabbed her plate before crossing the room to throw it in the garbage. Miles stood.

“Come back and talk to me about this.”

Paige paused. “You made your choice, and now I’ve made mine. See you at the finale.”

She walked out of the common room with her head held high, feeling every bit as confident as she did in her heels even though she was currently barefoot. She didn’t need Miles to win this game. Hell, she didn’t even need Zoe. All she needed was a few good caches to secure some points and she could win this whole game. That would show all of them just how strong and confident she was now.

Pulling open her bedroom door, she wasn’t at all surprised to find Ben and Zoe talking. Ben looked pretty comfortable on Paige’s bed, but he was going to have to get uncomfortable.

“Ben,” she said, making them both jump since neither had paid her any attention when she’d walked in. “You’re a nice guy and all, but I need you to get the hell out of my bed.”

He raised his eyebrows at her questioningly, obviously surprised by this new Paige. “Okay. Sorry. I thought you’d be with Miles again tonight. He said he was going to talk to you once I left with Zoe.”

“Oh, he did come talk to me. And I told him to get lost too.”

Ben stood by the door while Paige fluffed her pillows. “Is everything okay with you and Miles?”

“Does it sound like everything’s fine?” she snapped then regretted it. She lowered her voice as exhaustion set in. “No, Ben, it’s not.”

“Sorry to hear that,” he said. “Maybe we can get it all sorted out tomorrow after a good night’s sleep.”

“I doubt that,” she muttered, climbing into bed and pulling the blankets over her head. A moment later she heard the door close and Zoe turning out the light.

• • •

Paige peeled her eyes open to peer at the clock on the bedside table. One in the morning. It was inhuman to be awake in the middle of the night. Groaning, she reached out for her water bottle only to find it missing.

Damn it. It had been on the end table beside the couch in the common room. Probably it still sat there.

She rolled out of bed and slipped into the hall as quietly as she could so as not to wake up Zoe. It would take her approximately two minutes to walk down the hall to the common room to get her bottle and then she could be back to bed in another two. Sounded like a pretty good plan.

As she came up to the common room door, the quiet murmuring of voices from inside stopped her in her tracks. Who was up so late?

Holding her breath, she crept closer to the door, straining to hear who was inside. She didn’t want to spy on anyone or eavesdrop, but she also didn’t want to be seen by everyone in her thin pajamas in the cool night air. She’d done that once before, and all it had gotten her was a tumble in the sheets and a broken heart. No way would she risk that again.

She paused, listening.

Miles’s voice drifted to her as if beckoning her to go to him. The sound of his voice in the dark made her long to feel his hands on her body. Made her belly turn to lava at the thought of forgiving him and going back to his bed for make-up sex.

Until she heard Eve’s voice.

Then the lava in her belly hardened as fire sparked in her veins. They hadn’t even been fighting one day and already he was chatting up Eve in the common room late at night. Alone. Next stop, Bedroomville, apparently.

She rested her forehead against the cold wall, trying to think of a valid reason why they were talking so late at night. Maybe they were forming a new alliance. Maybe they’d always been in an alliance. Maybe they were watching a movie on television.

Eve laughed. Giggled.

Or maybe Eve had finally succeeded in getting into Miles’s pants like she’d hinted at wanting for this whole show. She wouldn’t be surprised. Eve hadn’t exactly hidden her attraction to Miles.