And Jendan let me win it.
“Aw, she’s so emotional,” Sunnie said.
Brodie and I high-fived each other, reluctant to hug and get our clothing stuck to each other. When Jendan came to my side, though, I threw my arms around his neck and hugged the heck out of him. “You are the best man ever,” I told him in a low voice.
He laughed and gave me a tight hug back. “Nah. I just know what it’s like to need the money.”
I stiffened and pulled away from him, our shirts peeling apart with a wet noise. Shame filled me. “Oh god. Did you need the money—”
He shook his head. “No, I’m fine. I was speaking in past tense. It’s your win.”
I hugged him again, tears streaking down my face.
“All right, all right,” Marla said in a sour voice. “You two get a room.”
I giggled through my tears and pulled away from Jendan. “Ugh. Speaking of rooms, I need a shower.” I glanced over at Brodie, grinning.
He wasn’t smiling. In fact, he’d left entirely and headed into the house.
~~ * ~~
There was one good thing about having wickedly short hair — it took no time at all to clean it. I took a quick shower to clean off after the challenge and raked a comb through my wet locks, and then I dressed in my favorite yoga pants and an off-the-shoulder tee before heading back into the Power room.
Brodie was there, sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for me.
I tossed my towel in the laundry basket and headed to the bed, sitting on the edge next to him. “What’s bothering you?”
He regarded me for a long moment and then leaned backward and propped his head up on one hand, laying on his side. His fingers traced a pattern on the blanket that reminded me of the touches he’d given my inner thighs last night, and I clamped my legs shut in memory.
And he still said nothing. I nudged him with my hand. “Something’s bothering you. It’s not like the infamous Brodie Short to be silent and pensive.”
I was hoping he’d laugh at my joke, but his mouth only cocked in a half smile and he continued to trace patterns on the blanket with his other hand. “I saw Jendan throw the challenge. He picked that ball up, looked at you, and then tossed it down. Two seconds later, you grabbed it.”
So he’d noticed that? I nodded. “I know. He let me win.”
“You want to tell me why Jendan would throw away twenty-five grand?”
“Because he doesn’t need it? I imagine stuntmen are paid pretty well,” I said, and ran a hand through my wet hair again, oddly nervous. I felt like a kid that had been caught with a hand in the cookie jar.
“Yeah, but I don’t think that’s it. Is there something going on between you two that I should know about?”
I gaped. “Are you kidding me?”
He shrugged, trying to seem all casual. “I know you and I are pretty cozy. I know you’re also cozy with him. I’m just wondering if it’s the same kind of cozy.”
I sucked in a breath. How dare he? I shoved him and began to push off the bed. “Fuck you—”
Brodie’s arms grabbed me and hauled me back down on the bed. “Oh no you don’t.”
“Let me go!”
“Not until we talk.” He wriggled over my flailing body until his weight pinned me onto the bed. Brodie looked down at me. “I want to know what’s going on.”
“Nothing’s going on, you suspicious turd,” I told him, glaring up at him over me. “You’re the only one I’m fooling around with in this house, and I question the wisdom of doing that as it is.”
“Do you, now.” A slow, wicked smile curved his mouth. “You find hooking up with me unwise?”
“Horribly unwise,” I said, my voice breathy. I was still angry, but that anger was giving way to desire faster than my brain could process his nearness. I was so close that I could reach out and lick his perfect chin. Not that I wanted to do that, of course. Not that licking Brodie was wise. In fact, it was downright stupid.
And stupid was going to end up costing me in this game. I just knew it.
He wiggled his eyebrows at me. “Wanna do some unwise stuff right now?”
I shoved at him. “No.”
“That’s cool,” he said, and his hands tightened on my pinned wrists. “That just means you can tell me all about why Jendan just gave you twenty-five grand instead of trying to get it for himself. You homeless outside of here or something?”
To my horror, tears welled in my eyes. Man, he hit the nail on the head pretty close there. “Not exactly.”
The look on Brodie’s face turned from calculating to concerned. He rolled off of me and then hauled me up until I was sitting upright. “What is it? Talk to me, Kandis. We’re partners.”
I swiped at the tears running down my face. “It’s stupid. I mean, everyone has their reasons for being here, don’t they? Mine are no more important than everyone else’s.”
“You let me be the judge of that,” Brodie said, and he reached out and brushed a stray tear off my jaw. “Now, spit it out.”
“It’s my mom,” I said in an anxious rush. “She’s a gambling addict. She goes to the casinos every weekend and spends every dollar she has. I don’t know how long it’s been going on, but I do know that at this time, she has two mortgages on her house and is behind on both of them. She’s about to lose her house. Her credit card debt is insane, her car was just repossessed, she has no grocery money, and she still somehow finds money to go to the casino. I don’t make enough at my job to help take care of her. I’ve been trying to, but it’s not working.” The stress of it all just made my eyes brim all over again.
“And what is it you do outside of this house? You said you were a student, but I’m guessing that’s a lie.”
A wry smile curved my mouth. “I’m a Zumba instructor at a fitness club.”
His eyes widened with appreciation, and he gave me one of those heart-melting grins. “That explains why you have an ass that won’t quit, then. Damn. That’s hot.”
I sniffed. Why was it that Brodie’s commentary could always bring a smile out of me no matter how sad I was? “So what do you do outside of here? Other than show up on reality TV, of course.”
“I wait tables.” He grinned. “Actually, I wanted to use the shows to springboard my way into Hollywood.”
I blanched at the thought. Mactor. And proud of it, too.
“But,” he continued, and shrugged his tanned shoulders. “The longer I have a camera in my face, the more I think that this is fun but not what I’d want to do with my life. What exactly, I’m not sure.”
I knew that feeling. Being in the house was fun, but the sense of ‘un-reality’ in the reality TV show could drive you a little nutty at times. “It doesn’t have anything to do with being portrayed as a villain last year?”
He just grinned at me as if proud. “I didn’t mind that. Katy got pissy at me, but she’s my sister. You can pull stuff with your sister that you can’t with other people. I knew she wouldn’t stay mad at me for long. I’d just give her puppy dog eyes, and we’d be all better.” As if to prove this, he stuck his lower lip out and batted his lashes at me.
I groaned and swiped at him with one of the throw pillows on the bed. “Nice try, but if you screw me over, I’m not going to be as forgiving as Katy. I need that money.”
“We both need the money,” he agreed. “Trouble is, only one of us can win it.”
“Yeah, well, I think I need it more than you.”
“Hey now, didn’t I just tell you that I’m a waiter? At least you have a real job.”
“Yeah, but it doesn’t pay crazy money. I have enough to cover my own bills, but not my mom’s, too. And she’s got no one but me.” I sobered, the good mood fleeting. “I need a lot of money to help dig her out of the hole she’s gotten into and to get her some help. It…feels crushing at times.” Even now, I felt that familiar panic whenever I thought about my mom. How helpless I was to stop her. She was a grown woman. She could make her own decisions. And yet…I felt responsible. I sucked in a deep, calming breath. I was here on the show to help her.
Brodie nodded and dragged me closer to him until he’d pulled me against his chest. “We’ll figure something out. I’ve got your back.”
I cuddled against his chest, hating myself for how much I enjoyed being in his arms. “You promise you won’t say anything about my mom to the others? I don’t want them to know.” Just thinking about the others knowing my problems made me feel weirdly vulnerable, and it was a sensation I didn’t like.
“Well, it’s clear Jendan suspects something,” Brodie said, and his fingers scratched at the sides of my shaved head comfortingly. “But don’t worry. You can trust me.”
Trust Brodie Short. God, I was stupid if I did. And yet… “Just don’t burn me at the end, okay?”
“I won’t. I promise.”
And for some reason, I believed him.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“So yeah, for the first time in my life, I’m letting a woman drive the relationship. Kandis says no sex, so we don’t have sex. And I’m fine with that. Really. My balls might not be, but my brain is.” – Brodie Short, Day 40
The week had been an eventful one. It was like the house was a car that had gone from neutral into first gear. It seemed like every other day, someone was being voted out of the house. True to what we’d decided, Brodie put up Fido and Sunnie, and Fido was the one to go home. He looked stunned at his eviction, though he’d shook hands and hugged everyone as he left.
Two days later, Marla won the Power Play and put up Sunnie and Jayme. Neither one looked surprised, though they’d both shot dirty looks my way, as if I were some sort of mastermind that had schemed to get them all out of the house.
Heck, maybe I was, but I wasn’t the only one to blame here. And I didn’t care. I wasn’t here to make lifelong friends. I was here to make a million dollars. If I were here to make friends, I’d probably play more like Brodie.
The thought had crossed my mind that Brodie was using this house—and me—as a social network of connections he could play on to win the money. Everyone liked Brodie, even when they got voted out. He saw them off with a smile and a hug, and for the girls, a flirtatious wink.
When we voted Sunnie out a few days later, she’d been snotty and irritated toward Marla, Jendan, and I. But when it was time for her to go, Sunnie hugged Brodie for so long that Becky cleared her throat into the microphone.
That hadn’t sat so well with me.
Brodie and I had kept things to a playful simmer in regards to our pseudo-relationship. We were still partners in the game, but I wasn’t sure if we were more than that or if we’d ever be. Every night, we’d crawl into bed together and wait for two am to roll around.
As soon as it did? All bets were off. For the next two hours, we’d cuddle, make out, and generally do everything short of actual sex. It was like penetration was the next step, and we’d mutually decided not to go further…but that didn’t mean we couldn’t have fun in the meantime. However, outside of the bedroom, you’d never know that more was going on between Brodie and me than flirting. He gave me the same casual affection that he gave Marla and Jayme. If he hugged me? He made sure to hug the other women. If he tickled me or swam with me in the pool? I’d see him doing the same with Jayme not an hour later.