Bedroom Games (7 page)

I sucked in a deep breath,
surprised. So that had all been strategy? Why was it that I felt
all hot and bothered at some simple tickling? I shifted, acutely
aware of my body’s response and not sure how I felt about it. Part
of me was irritated, and part of me was…I don’t know. Flustered. He
seemed to be affected, too.
You came into
this game to flirt, Kandis. Flirt, dammit.
I forced myself to sit there and ignore the awkwardness of the
moment. “So what did you want to talk about?”

“I was talking to Katy and Liam,” he
whispered. “They’re afraid of rocking the boat because they know
they have targets on their backs. So when the reward challenge for
this week comes up, they’re going to nominate whoever comes in
last.”

The reward challenges
happened on a weekly basis in previous seasons of
House Guests
. We’d have to
do some sort of goofy competition for an equally goofy prize. Okay,
sometimes the prizes were pretty good, like cash, but a lot of the
time they were for food or house privileges. Sometimes the losers
had to wear stupid costumes for a day. “So…their strategy is no
strategy?”

“Pretty much. They want to
go with a
World Races
strategy. You know, whoever comes in last gets the boot. What
do you think?”

I blew a breath out, wiggling my bare toes
and thinking. The angle I was sitting in was uncomfortable, but I
knew that squirming again would just make me more aware of Brodie’s
body, and I couldn’t afford to be more distracted. “I’m trying to
decide if it’s a smart plan or incredibly stupid.”

“I think it’s stupid,” Brodie said bluntly.
“I tried warning them, but Liam didn’t want to hear of it. I told
him he needed to nominate his biggest enemy in the house.”

“And who’s the biggest enemy?” I asked.

“Marla. That’s why I didn’t want her to see
us talking.”

I said nothing, thinking. Marla was friends
with Jendan, and I had Jendan’s back. It worked for me if they
weren’t nominated. “But if Marla and Jendan get last, they’ll still
go up for nomination, right?”

“Yeah, but they need to ensure it. They’re
not thinking strategy. This isn’t the Race.” He sounded frustrated.
“They need to use their brains and not their hearts.”

“Gee, it’s almost like we shouldn’t have
allied with them, don’t you think?” I said sarcastically.

His fingers twitched on my
sides again, threatening another tickle. “Come on. You really think
anyone would buy me
not
allying with them? Katy’s my sister.”

“Yes, I saw how well that
worked for her on
The World
Races
.”

He grinned. “Sisters are very forgiving
creatures.”

I’ll bet. I shifted off his lap and pushed at
his hands, indicating he should free me. He let me go, and I stood
up, straightening my clothing. “Well, thanks for the intel. So
that’s our team’s goal for this next reward challenge? Just don’t
be last?”

Brodie nodded.

“So…what happens if
we
are
last?”

He grinned. “Then I talk Liam and Katy into
putting Marla and Jendan up for eviction.”

I crossed my arms, thinking. “I see.”

“I know you’re buddy-buddy with Jendan, but
don’t go running off to tell him about this, okay? It stays between
you and me.”

I made a ‘cross my heart’ sign over my
chest.

Brodie got up and adjusted his jeans. “Now, I
think I’m going to go take a cold shower.”

I laughed and picked up the box of cookies
he’d discarded and pulled another out. “Have fun.”

“Yeah, cause that’s what you do in a cold
shower,” he said sarcastically and left the room.

As soon as he disappeared, I set the cookies
down and raced to the backyard. I had to warn Jendan about what
Katy and Liam were planning. I didn’t care if Marla stayed or left,
but it suited my plans for Jendan to stay.

He wasn’t in the backyard, so I shielded my
eyes and pretended I needed sunglasses, then headed back in. A
quick search of the house revealed that he was in the workout room,
hitting a punching bag.

I moved past him and picked up a pair of
small dumbbells, waiting to see if anyone had followed me in. When
all was clear, I approached Jendan. He stopped punching and looked
over at me, curious. I leaned in. “Remember how we said we’d have
each other’s backs in this game?”

He put both hands on the bag to stop it from
moving and shot a glance at the door to make sure we weren’t seen.
“I remember.”

I did an arm curl with the
weights. They were way too light, but as long as it looked like I
was doing something, maybe it wouldn’t be so obvious. “So I found
out that they’re not going for a strategic nomination. Basically,
they’re going to play
World Races
style. Whoever comes in last in the reward
challenge is who they’ll nominate.”

Jendan blinked at me and then frowned. “Huh.
Really?”

“Really,” I said. “Unless Brodie and I come
in last, or they come in last. Then they’re going to target you and
Marla.”

His eyes widened. “Me and Marla? Why?”

I did another rep. “Because she’s running
around telling everyone that she needs to get them out, and they
heard about it.”

He swore under his breath and then swiped a
bandage-wrapped hand at his jaw, wiping away a bead of sweat. “Who
told?”

“Well, seeing as how Brodie told me, I’m
guessing he got intel from one of the girls. Either Lenore, Jayme,
or Sunnie.”

Jendan sighed heavily and thought for a
moment. “So I have to make sure we don’t end up in last place and
also make sure that one of those three World Racers doesn’t end up
in last because they’ll pick us by default?”

“Ding ding ding,” I said. “Think you can
manage it?”

“I don’t know,” Jendan admitted. “If it’s
athletic, we should be okay. If it’s puzzles, I don’t know how
we’ll do.”

“Well, if you get nominated, I scramble to
get the others to vote off Marla. I think you’ll be safe either
way,” I assured him. “I’ll just have to put a bug in the ears of
the right people that she was the one gunning for them, not
you.”

“And Brodie won’t suspect that?”

I snorted. “Does it matter? I trust you more
than him.”

“It’s a shame we couldn’t have partnered,
eh?”

I nodded. “We’d have made a good team.”

“And our partners could have destroyed each
other’s games,” he said ruefully. “Instead of dragging us
down.”

I chewed on my lip, thinking. Brodie seemed
to be playing a pretty obvious game, but he’d executed a few moves
that were surprisingly smart. Maybe I was underestimating him.
“Don’t you worry about Brodie,” I told Jendan. “I can handle
him.”

Jendan laughed. “You going to toss your hair
and have him groveling at your feet?”

My legs twitched, and I gave a little nervous
hop. “Don’t be silly.” To my horror, a titter came out of my mouth,
and I hastily crossed the room to put the dumbbells back in
place.

No way on Earth I’d admit to Jendan that his
words made me think of Brodie and his erection…and me squirming in
his lap.

Nor would I mention that I hadn’t been
completely disgusted by it. Quite the opposite, actually.

And I was a little disappointed in myself for
that.

~~ * ~~

Sunnie, Marla and I were sitting in the
kitchen eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. “So you guys
have heard this weird stuff too?” I asked. “Brodie looked at me
like I was crazy when I said I kept hearing boards creak.”

Sunnie nodded, her eyes wide. “Casper and I
were sleeping in the attic last night, and I kept hearing footsteps
in our room, except neither one of us was moving. He swore it was
someone downstairs, but it sounded like it was coming from the foot
of the bed.”

I shivered. “Really? That’s so creepy. I
don’t like this place.”

“I was doing the dishes when I thought I
heard someone behind me,” Marla said. “Turned around and thought I
saw a shadow, but no one was there.”

My eyes widened. I’d had the same thing
happen in the hallway. “It’s funny you should say that,
because—”

A chime sounded.

“House Guests,” a bland voice intoned over
the loudspeakers. “Please proceed to the backyard and to the roped
off area for the reward challenge.”

Sunnie clapped her hands like a little girl.
“Ooo, exciting!”

“I hope it’s for a good reward,” I agreed.
“Money would be nice.” Money would always be nice.

Marla’s eyes lit up. “I hope it’s for money,
too.”

We headed out to the backyard, and the others
were gathering there as well. Five booths had been set up with a
pair of stools behind each one. Katy and Liam stood off to one
side, and Katy held an instructions card. She held it up and began
to read. “House Guests! It’s time for your first reward challenge
of the season! Since Katy and Liam have Power this week, they will
not be competing. Instead, the other five teams will face off in a
lightning-fast round of horror movie trivia! Who’s ready?”

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.