Bedroom Games
Page 19

Well, that was…bizarre. I tiptoed to the edge of the door and peered out, watching Brodie’s naked, wet ass as he strode across the bathroom to grab a towel.
He hadn’t even looked at my naked body once. Huh.
~~ * ~~
 
 
“Sunnie and I have Power this week,” Casper said, fingering the ‘P’ necklace that hung around his throat as the next live episode was taped. “And it’s time for us to make a decision as to who should stay and who should go.”
We all sat on the couches, nervous, waiting for the nominations. I chewed on my thumbnail, my foot fidgeting a mile a minute. I just wanted this over with already. I stood a pretty good chance of staying if our team was nominated. They’d probably get Brodie out of here over me, right? So in theory I should be okay. But…I couldn’t help but be anxious. And part of me wanted both of us to stay. I didn’t trust Brodie as far as I could throw him, but I liked Brodie as a person.
It was hard not to like him. He went through life as though everyone loved him and would put up with any of his schemes. And because he acted like that…it was impossible not to like the guy. He was charismatic, fun, and always up for a conversation, flirting, or even just a round of cards or checkers to beat the boredom.
I looked over at my partner, but he was smiling at Sunnie, who giggled and flipped her long red hair. I frowned. Sunnie would vote to keep Brodie. She’d been all over him like glue this week. It had been obnoxious the first week to see them casually flirting with each other, but this week it was like every time I turned around, they were off in a corner, whispering and laughing together, or swimming together.
Not that I’d noticed. Not that it bothered me. Not that I thought he should be spending his time with me, his partner. Oh no.
“This was a difficult decision for Sunnie and me to make,” Casper was saying, drawing out the drama. The expression on his face was intense. “But ultimately, we feel it’s the right one.”
I closed my eyes, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“And so, we’ve decided to nominate…Mickey.”
My eyes snapped open. I looked over at my partner in surprise. Brodie didn’t look shocked at all. In fact, he looked…smug? Had he somehow set this up?
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.