Bedroom Games
Page 20

“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.”