Bedroom Games
Page 51

I brushed my thumb over his lips. “You’re excellent at flirting,” I told him impishly. “But you’re good with people, period. No one can stay mad at you. Don’t sell yourself short.”
“You believe in me that much?”
“Of course.” I smiled. “You’re smart, you’re funny, you’re enthusiastic, and you always know just what to say. Not everyone’s good at that. Something in public relations would be excellent for you, you know.”
“Maybe so.” He looked thoughtful. “I have a few ideas, but we’ll see. I have to win the money first.”
I gave him a soft smile. “And I’m going to do my best to stand in your way.”
“I know, baby.” He gave me a typical Brodie grin. “You trust me, right?”
There was the million-dollar question. I thought for a moment and decided to go with my gut. “I do.”
He nodded. “We’ll get you the money. Somehow, we’ll make everything right for both of us.” He laced his fingers with mine and then kissed the back of my palm. “I promise you that.”
Jendan walked into the living room just as the intercom chimed overhead. “Contestants,” it blared. “Please proceed to the challenge area for the final Power Play.”
A nervous ball of energy seemed to settle in the pit of my stomach. I slid off of Brodie’s lap. “This is it.”
“I need to find my shoes,” Brodie said, and he raced up to our bedroom.
I turned to head to the back door, but Jendan’s hand caught my arm. I paused and looked back at him, surprised.
“Can we talk?” Jendan said quietly.
I glanced up at the Power room, where Brodie had disappeared. “Let’s make it fast.”
“I just wanted to tell you not to trust Brodie.” Jendan’s handsome face was serious. “I know he’s saying all the right things to you, but he’s been saying the same stuff to all the girls since we got here. I thought you were too smart to fall for it, but it looks like he’s gotten to you.”
I bit back my frown. “Don’t worry about me, okay?”
“I just wanted to warn you,” he said, shrugging. “He’s playing harder than all of us. His game may be full of flirting and smiles, but I’m telling you, it is a game. If he gets to the end, both you and I are going to lose.”
I said nothing.
“You’re taking him, aren’t you?” Jendan’s words were quiet. “I can’t ignore the way you two have gotten so close. You’re going to take him to the final two if you win.”
“Jendan,” I said softly. “I haven’t decided.”
“Yes, you have,” he said, seeing through my lie. “And I just want to remind you before we head out to the challenge that if you keep your word to me, it’ll look like smart gameplay. But if you break it, and take him? The jury’s going to eat you alive.”
“Of course you’re going to say that,” I snapped at him, my irritation rising. “You want to get to the end.”
“I’m warning you as a friend, Kandis.” Jendan gave me one last serious look and then stalked past me.
Irritated as hell, I followed him out into the backyard, and we headed for the challenge area. Brodie followed us a few moments later and moved to my side.
The challenge area was completely curtained off, but I could make out a faint sort of noise. I didn’t know what it was. It sounded like…shivering, or something. It was impossible to describe it. There was a card hanging from a golden rope that kept the curtained door shut. That was for me, so I headed forward to pick up the card.
I read it aloud. “House Guests, you are down to your final challenge. This will be the biggest test you will face—a test of endurance. You will have to conquer your fears and let mind win over matter in order to continue to the final round. This competition only has one rule—get in your barrel and be the last one out. Good luck to all three of you.”
“Good luck, guys,” Jendan said. He put a fist out.
Brodie bumped it, and I gave both of them a half-hearted fist-bump in return. “Good luck, everyone. We can do this.” The nervous flutter in my stomach remained. I was so close to winning the million dollars. So close. I just had to get through this last competition. I reached out and pulled the rope that held the curtains shut.
Three barrels stood on a platform, evenly spaced. Each one had a stepladder next to it so we could climb in easily. The barrels were see-through.
And the interior of each barrel was filled with thousands of bugs. Beetles and worms crawled all over each other, and cockroaches and god-knew-what-else swarmed in the mix. The pile of bugs in each barrel writhed, and over and over, the collective mass of insects made that shivering noise that I hadn’t been able to place.
It wasn’t a shiver after all. It was the sound of thousands of bug wings and legs rubbing up against each other.
Oh my god.
I moaned, pressing a hand to my mouth.
This was my worst nightmare. I could stay in a haunted house for two months. I could outfight and outwit with the best of them. I could get my hair cut in a mohawk and walk around on national TV with it in all its hideous glory.
But I couldn’t get into a barrel of bugs.
Gooseflesh broke out on my arms, and I began to sweat. “Um.”
“You okay, baby?” Brodie moved to my side, putting a comforting arm around my shoulders.
“No,” I whispered. “I don’t think I am.” I couldn’t stop staring at those barrels and their roiling, noisy, moving contents.
“Hey,” Brodie said softly, and turned me toward him. “Look at me.”
I forced my gaze away from those barrels and looked up at him, my eyes wide with fear.
“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” he told me quietly. “It’s okay.”
I shook my head. “It’s not okay. I have to do this. I have to.” I looked over at the barrel again, and that was a mistake. I felt sick and freaked out all over again. “Have to.”
“Then let’s get going,” Jendan said, and he stepped toward the platform.
I nodded. Brodie gave me another concerned look, but we separated and headed for our places.
Each step up the stairs to the platform felt like I was heading to my execution. I could do this. I could. There were a million dollars at stake.
So a few bugs would touch me. Big deal, right?
I made the mistake of looking over the edge of my barrel, and I moaned all over again. Oh God. There were so many bugs. Big fat ones with little clawed legs and some with segmented bodies. I was pretty sure there were cockroaches in there, long ones, and I saw the undulation of something with a jillion legs as it sank into the pool of writhing bodies. Once I stepped in there, some of them were going to smash against my skin and then I’d be sitting in dead bugs and live bugs—
My stomach heaved, and I clamped a hand over my mouth. I stepped backward, away from the barrel. I squeezed my eyes shut and hunched down into a crouch, desperately trying to keep my breakfast down.
Warm arms moved around me again. “Hey,” Brodie said in a soft voice. “Breathe, baby. I’ve got you.” He held me close and steered me away from the barrel, and I let him. We moved to sit on the edge of the stage together, and I leaned heavily against him, panting. I rubbed my arms, unable to stop shivering.