Bedroom Games (4 page)

“Now that the first pair has been selected,
the rest of you must be partnered up. Liam, please proceed to the
far end of the challenge area. There, you will find a case. In that
case, you will find the key to the Power Room. That room is yours
and Katy’s for the week.”

Katy clapped her hands as Liam detangled
himself from her side and headed for the case. He pulled out the
key and looped it over his neck.

“Also in the case,” Becky intoned, “are five
other keys and five locks. The men will each select a lock, and the
women a key. If your lock matches someone’s key, that person will
be your partner until you are instructed otherwise. You will room
with your partner, receive rewards with your partner, and compete
with your partner at your side. If your partner is nominated for
eviction, you will be nominated as well. Liam, please pick up the
box of locks and keys and have everyone select one.”

Liam grabbed the case, popped it open, and
went to the nearest stand—mine. I grabbed one without really
looking at it and watched as Liam held the box out to each
person.

Once they were all distributed, Becky’s voice
sounded through the speakers again. “Make your matches,
contestants. Oh, and you might notice that each lock has a room
name on it. That’s where you’ll be staying tonight with your
partner. If your lock has no room name on it, you’ll be sleeping on
the couches. Have fun, House Guests, and I’ll talk with you
soon.”

“Bye, Becky,” we chorused automatically.

The challenge area went silent for a long
moment, and we all stared at each other.

“Well, I’ve got good news and bad news,”
Brodie said, stepping forward and breaking the silence. He held up
his lock in one bright red, goop-smeared hand. “The good news is
that if your key matches my lock, you get me as a partner.”

How is that good
news?
I wanted to retort, but I bit it
back. Honestly, Brodie was the last person I wanted to pair up
with. Ugh.

“And the bad news?” someone called.

“The bad news is that I didn’t get a room, so
we’ll be couches,” Brodie said with a grimace.

Bad news all around if you asked me.

That broke the weird tension, though, and
people began to move around, greeting each other. I automatically
headed for my friend with the great smile. He made a beeline for
me, too, and raked a hand through his dark, gooey hair. “Sorry you
didn’t win,” he said, holding his lock out to me. “My name’s
Jendan.”

“I’m Kandis,” I told him with a smile. “And
that’s cool. You can’t win them all. I’ll just have to win the next
one. Now cross your fingers and hope this works,” I told him and
tried my key in his lock.

It wouldn’t go in.

I gave Jendan a disappointed look. “No
go.”

“Shoot. I was hoping it was you.”

He sure was cute. I gave him a flirty smile.
“I was hoping it was you, too. Doesn’t mean we can’t work together
anyhow.”

“I like the way you think,” he said with a
chuckle. “We’ll talk later.”

I nodded and glanced around for someone else.
The elderly man was standing nearby, so I held my key up gamely and
approached him. “Do you have a partner yet?”

“Not yet,” he told me. “Name’s Casper.”

I introduced myself again and tried my key.
No go. “I am just not having much luck today,” I joked, and I
headed for someone else.

When the next key didn’t
work, I began to get nervous. Oh no. Surely I wouldn’t be Brodie’s
partner. Surely not. Surely I wasn’t that unlucky. Anyone that had
watched
The World Races
would know that Brodie was a total first class jerk, and
they’d be gunning to get him out of the house. Heck, I wanted him
gone already myself.

I turned around and saw Brodie standing
nearby. He waved his lock at me, that cocky smirk on his face.
“Wanna give me a shot, beautiful?”

Ugh. He really was obvious. Might as well get
it over with, though. I headed his way, a tight smile on my face.
“Does that ever work?”

“Does what ever work?” he asked.

“That smarmy schtick of yours? Hitting on
anything with a pair of tits and hoping you’ll get a response?” I
held my key up, indicating that he should hand me his lock so I
could try it.

“You tell me,” Brodie said, still grinning
despite my acerbic words. “You interested?”

“Only in booting you,” I said sweetly, unable
to hold my tongue when it came to him. It didn’t matter if I made
an enemy of Brodie; he wouldn’t be around long enough for me to
care if I needed his help or not.

To my horror, my key slid into his lock with
a perfect little snick.

“Looky there,” Brodie said, a drawl evident
in his words. “We’re a match made in heaven.” His arm went around
my shoulders and he hugged me against him, ignoring my stiff body
and shocked face. “Guess you can’t boot me unless you have a
deathwish, huh, beautiful?” he whispered in my ear.

House Guests
was officially off to a shitty start.

Not only was douchey Brodie
from
The World Races
here, but he was my partner and we had no room this
week.

The only way it could get worse would be if
someone came up and slapped me in the face.

Considering Brodie Short was my partner, I
wasn’t ruling it out as a possibility.

~~ * ~~

The bathrooms, I was happy to see, had been
converted into something slightly more modern. The bathroom tiles
were a blood red, and the walls were a deep, ugly purple. The
fixtures on the sinks were black, and there were two booths nearby
for toilets and two booths for showers. The toilet booths had solid
doors to allow for some privacy, but I noticed that both showers
had doors that only covered the occupant from mid-calf to
shoulder.

I guessed they’d be filming in the bathroom
after all. Fun.

I hadn’t been the first back to the
bathrooms, so I was forced to sit and wait for a shower to open up.
I grabbed one of the dark towels and joined the others sitting atop
one of the counters, waiting as Mickey and Casper showered, washing
the red gunk off. Katy and Liam had disappeared as soon as the
challenge was over, no doubt to check out Liam’s private room. I
was guessing he had a nice shower up there.

Which left me down here with Brodie.

I curled my sticky legs under me and rolled
my eyes, thinking about my partner. I’d last seen him a few minutes
ago, wiping splatters off of Sunnie’s face and flirting with her
like she was his partner. Tool. I hated that I’d been paired up
with him. Hated it. But there was nothing I could do except try to
make the best of things and lay low.

Someone hopped up on the counter next to me.
I looked over and smiled as Jendan sat next to me.

“Hey,” said Jendan. “Think they’ll use up all
the hot water?”

I raised one of my sticky hands, eyeing it
with distaste. “I don’t even care at this point. I think my fingers
are glued together.”

He laughed and leaned in, his voice dropping.
“So who’s your partner?”

“Brodie,” I whispered. “I’m screwed.”

His eyes widened, and then
he gave me a sympathetic look. “Oh man. You
are
screwed.”

“I know,” I said unhappily. “He was the last
person I’d have chosen.”

“You know the rest of the house is going to
be gunning for him and Katy and Liam,” he whispered back. “They
already won money on another show.”

Brodie didn’t win, I wanted to point out, but
Brodie was, well, Brodie. No one wanted him around for long. So I
nodded.

“Don’t worry,” Jendan said, nudging my
shoulder. “I’ve got your back.”

“Thanks.” I nudged him back, and grimaced
when my clothing stuck to his. “Man, we are really gross.”

“We are,” he agreed. “But I’m used to getting
dirty in my line of work.”

“Oh?” I smiled politely as the older woman
with the crazy hair came and sat down next to us, eavesdropping on
our conversation. “What do you do outside of the house,
Jendan?”

“I’m a stuntman,” he said proudly, and he
nodded at the newcomer as way of greeting. “You need someone lit on
fire for a scene or someone to jump out of a burning building?
That’s me.”

“Wow.” I was impressed.
“That’s such a cool job. What are you doing here on a reality TV
show?” Jimmy’s words before the show rang through my
head—
superfans, mactors, or broke-ass
bitches
. Jendan didn’t seem giddy with
excitement about being on the show, unlike Jayme or Mickey. That
meant Jendan was a broke-ass bitch or a mactor. I studied him. He
was good looking. Mactor?

“Same thing as you,” Jendan said. “I want the
money. You can’t be a stuntman forever.” He turned to the new woman
and extended his red-splattered hand. “I’m Jendan, by the way.”

“I’m Lenore.” She took his hand and gave him
a smile, revealing a gap between her front teeth

Broke-ass
bitch
, I categorized automatically and then
felt a twinge of guilt. “What do you do, Lenore?”

“I’m a psychic.”

I laughed, surprised. “A psychic, huh?”

She focused her gaze on me, sharp and
bird-like. “Don’t believe me? I can tell your future. Give me your
hand.”

Oh boy. Here we go. I obediently extended my
dirty hand, giving Jendan a wry look. First we were rooming in a
haunted house, and now one of the House Guests was a psychic. What
next?

Lenore’s finger traced down the center of my
palm. “You’re very athletic and you love to dance.”

I snatched my hand away,
giving a nervous laugh. “You got that wrong. I’m a klutz. Jendan
will tell you all about how I fell on him.”
God, way to sell me out on day one, lady
.

“So what do you do for a living, Kandis?”
Jendan asked me.

“I’m a student,” I lied.

“No, you’re not,” Lenore said.

I wondered how bad it would look if I
attacked a psychic on the first day? I just kept smiling tightly
and ignored her. “Whatever you say, Lenore.”

“You’re also going to find your true love in
this house,” Lenore told me. “I know these kinds of things.”

“I’m not here to fall in love,” I protested,
and that was the truth. I wanted that money.

Lenore shrugged and wandered away.

Jendan and I exchanged a look, and I twirled
a finger at my ear, indicating questionable sanity. “So I thought
Brodie would be the worst one to partner with. Now I’m not so
sure.”

Jendan chuckled at my words. “She does seem a
few bats shy of a belfry. Speaking of, where is your partner?”

“Somewhere out there flirting with Sunnie.” I
shrugged. “Don’t know, don’t care. As far as I’m concerned, I’m
playing this game solo.”

“You don’t have to.”

“Oh?” I perked up. Jendan looked as if he was
here to play the game to win, just like me. Some of the people here
seemed as if they were on the show to hang out or hook up. Mactors.
Jendan was here with ambition—it was evident in every line of his
face. He was a kindred spirit. “What are you suggesting?”

He gave me a subtle smile, glancing around to
see if anyone else was looking our way. No one was. “You have to
have someone to trust in this game. You and me—final two deal.
Secret alliance. We take each other to the end.”

“I like the way you think.”

“Like I said, I’ve got your back,” Jendan
said.

“I’ve got yours,” I agreed quietly, and then
I leaned in. “So who’s your partner?”

“Marla,” he said. “Short hair. About
thirty.”

“Soccer mom?”

“That’s her,” he said, grinning. “She’s nice.
I just worry she won’t be great in challenges.”

“You don’t know that,” I
told him, glancing at the showers again. They were
still
in there. And men
said women took a long time showering? They’d clearly never met
Mickey or Casper.

“Well, look out for Marla. She’s
spear-heading the ‘get out Katy, Liam, and Brodie’ movement.”

“I’ll look out for her,” I told him. “Thanks
for the heads up.”

I wanted them gone as much as the next
person, but since I was saddled with Brodie, I needed them around.
As long as Katy and Liam were here, they’d be a bigger target than
Brodie because they’d already won money. And I didn’t want to be
the first one out the door.

“Kandis, please come to the confession
booth,” a voice piped in through the intercom. “Kandis, please come
to the confession booth.”

“Ugh. I can’t even shower first?” I made a
face and hopped down from the counter. “Save me some hot water,
Jendan.”

“No promises,” he called back after me, and I
padded through the house in dirty, bare feet, a towel wrapped
around my dirty, sticky body.

There was a locked door in the living room
with a red light on it. It flicked to green as I watched, and I
tested the handle. It opened, and I stepped through, eyeing my
surroundings. There was a long, shadowy hall, and at the far end of
the hall, there was a door labeled “PRIVATE”.

The confessional. I headed
toward it and knocked. No answer. I tested the handle, opened the
door, and saw a comfy chair seated in front of a half a dozen
cameras and a TV screen with the
House
Guests
logo, just like in the living room.
I unwrapped my towel, laid it on the chair so I wouldn’t get it
dirty, and then thumped into the seat.

“Kandis,” the voice piped in. “This is the
confessional booth. It’s completely sound proof, so feel free to
share your private thoughts and let us know what you’re thinking.
Your castmates will not see any confessional information.”

I drummed my fingers, feeling twitchy. “Got
it.”