Bedroom Games
Page 13

We clapped and cheered, though I wasn’t feeling too excited. Horror movie trivia? I wasn’t good with horror movies. Romantic comedies, yes. Horror movies? No.
“Each team will have a station labeled with their names. Please proceed to your spots!” She made a flourishing gesture toward the tables with her arm.
We headed forward, and I slid into my chair. Brodie slid in next to me and immediately leaned in. “I sure hope you’re good with trivia, because this isn’t my strong suit.”
“Yeah, well, me either.”
“Then we might be in trouble,” he said with a grin.
Oh hell. Jendan was going to be screwed if he was waiting for me to save them. I glanced down the row to Jendan and gave him a worried look. He gave me a thumbs up, though. Oh good. Maybe the stuntman knew a lot about horror movies.
“Today, we will be playing for,” Katy said, and looked to Liam. He did a drum-roll on the podium he and Katy stood behind. “Ghost hunting equipment!”
A chorus of groans met the announcement.
Brodie leaned in again. “Uh, just between you and me, I’d be fine if we didn’t win this one.”
“I think I can handle that,” I whispered back. Lose on purpose? No problem. I just needed to make sure we didn’t lose too badly.
 
 
~~ * ~~
 
 
By the end of the challenge, it was clear to me that my team was not going to be strong in mental challenges. If it had been music trivia, I’d probably have killed it. But movies? Unless it involved a dance routine or a flash mob, I didn’t know anything about it. Ditto Brodie.
When all scores were tallied, Jendan and Marla were in first place. Jendan was apparently a huge horror movie buff, because he’d gotten every question right. And the way that he and Marla were cheering with excitement, you’d think they’d won something better than a basket full of sage, garlic, and holy water. Brodie shot me a suspicious look when they continued to cheer and hug each other with excitement, but I feigned interest in my nails.
We’d come in second to last place, beating the last place team by one measly point. Lenore and Mickey were in last, and I’d breathed a big sigh of relief. They were an obvious choice to put up on the block. This week’s vote wouldn’t have any surprises.
Ignoring Brodie’s glare, I headed over to congratulate Jendan and Marla, hugging them both. “Congrats, you guys. Good job.”
Marla patted Jendan’s muscular shoulder with motherly affection. “It’s all thanks to this big guy. He totally killed it.”
“He did,” I agreed, peering into the basket of junk. “What is all this crap?”
Jendan held up a bundle of leaves. “This is sage for smudging a room to drive the evil spirits out.” He put it down and picked up a little electronic hand-held device. “This is an EMF meter that’s supposed to show activity from any sorts of spirits. There’s also a digital recorder so you can get EVPs and some night-vision goggles.”
My eyes widened. “This is serious ghost-hunter stuff, then? Is the house really haunted?” I experienced a flutter of panic at the thought.
Jendan shrugged. “It makes good TV either way, doesn’t it?”
I thought of the noises in the living room when I was trying to sleep. “Can I borrow some of this stuff sometime?”
“You bet. I owe you one,” Jendan said with a grin at me, and Marla nodded. “Take your pick.”
I hesitated and then reached into the basket and pulled out the little tape recorder. This would be useful in a lot of ways. “Thanks.”
“Can I talk to you for a second?” Brodie was at my side, his hand tugging at my arm.
I gave Jendan and Marla a smile and walked away with Brodie, pocketing the mini-recorder before anyone else noticed I had it. “Sure. What’s up?”
Brodie kept a smile on his face as he walked me to the far end of the yard. When we were under the magnolia tree—the only real greenery in our little compound—he leaned in. “Did you tell Jendan and Marla about what Katy and Liam were planning?”
Busted. I crossed my arms over my chest and went for the non-answer. “What makes you think that?”
“Because they were cheering like they’d just gotten the Power Play, not like they’d won a basket of dippy ghost-hunting shit. It looked suspicious.” Anger flashed in his eyes, quickly masked again. “You did, didn’t you? You went and blabbed about this to your boyfriend.”
“First of all, he’s not my boyfriend,” I whispered at Brodie, getting furious myself. “Second of all, do you really think this is the best time to have this conversation? In front of everyone? They’re all staring at us, and they’re going to know something’s up.” I forced a flirty smile to my face and put a hand on his chest, just to make it seem like we were having a personal moment.
“You’re still not answering the question,” Brodie said, and his hands went to my waist, pulling me against him.
I wanted to shove him away in irritation, but I forced myself to put my arms around his neck. “You’re a suspicious dick.”
“I’m suspicious because I know I’m right. Just answer yes or no, Kandis, so I know how to play my game.” And to my surprise, he leaned in and brushed his mouth ever so lightly against my own. Then, he whispered, “Because if you screw me over, I’m going to ruin your game, too.”
That light, meaningless kiss held me frozen. I’d been expecting the flirty embrace to mask our words, but Brodie took things one step further, always. It was like he had no boundaries. Nothing he did meant anything to him.
So why did it send a weird little thrill through my body?
Because he’s good looking, I chided myself. No more, no less.
“I warned him,” I admitted, my breath fluttering against Brodie’s skin. Our mouths were still super close together, and it sent electric little jolts through my body. “Jendan’s playing with me, though. He’s safe. All I told him was that he needed to not come in last. That was all.”
“Okay. Thanks for telling me,” Brodie said.
And then he slapped my ass and walked away.
Outrage blasted through me, and I held stock-still for a long moment. He’d done that on purpose, just because he knew I couldn’t get mad. If I did, the others would think we were doing something other than canoodling under the tree, and they’d get suspicious. My mouth twisted into a reluctant smile of admiration.
Brodie wanted to play, did he? Game on.
 
 
~~ * ~~
 
 
“Tonight,” Liam said as he stood in front of the eleven people seated on the couches in the living room. He held a cue card in front of him, provided by the House Guests staff, and read from it. “The nomination ceremony will be different. For the rest of the season, you will be nominated on the same night you will be evicted. However, in honor of this first week in the house, tonight a team will be nominated and then voted off a few days from now.” Liam tossed aside the card, and glanced at his partner. “We ready to do this?”
She blew him a kiss. They were so adorable I wanted to puke. If they got to the end? No one else stood a chance.