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He’s a goddamn mind reader. And apparently a fast texter because I hadn’t even finished reading his first text and the next one was waiting for me.
ME: I’m okay. Just cleaning up a little.
JACE: DO NOT PACK!
ME: I said I was cleaning up, not packing.
I eye my suitcase and its contents as I hit send, feeling guilty for not being one-hundred-percent honest with him. It’s not like I’m putting everything in there. Just the things I won’t need any time soon. Laundry service doesn’t pick up for a few more days.
Yes, I can validate what I’m doing.
Sort of.
If he were to walk through my door, that’s what I would tell him. I’m just separating the clean from the dirty. Organizing.
Letting out a sigh, I stare at my phone, waiting for a reply, but one doesn’t come. Gathering all the clothes on my bed in one sweeping motion, I drop them in my suitcase, zip it up, and put it back in the closet.
Out of sight, out of mind.
For now, anyway.
Just as I’m closing the closet doors, my front door opens, and then Jace is standing behind me, arms crossed over his chest. There’s an accusatory look on his face, and I don’t bother to deny his accusation.
“What’s going on here?” He takes a step toward me and places his hands on my hips.
“Cleaning up.” I can’t bring myself to make eye contact, so I stare at his lips instead.
They’re pressed together tightly. The normally pale pink darkening near the edges.
“Presley,” he says in warning. “We’ve talked about this. I don’t care what those girls are trying to do. They can’t get you voted off just because they’re not getting the attention they want. It’s not how the game is played, so stop freaking out.”
“But it is. That’s exactly how you play this game if you intend to win. You find ways to eliminate the competition. At all costs. If you don’t, you get eliminated, and I’m choosing not to fight with them. It’s not who I am. I don’t play dirty.”
“You don’t get it, do you? Didn’t Lennon explain what was going on? He said he was going to when you had dinner the other night.”
“He mentioned something about Courtney pulling you guys aside and talking to you, but he didn’t say about what, though I have a fairly good idea. He got a call from work he had to take, and our night was cut short.”
“Yeah, he missed his dinner with Courtney last night. She threw a fit, but the producers shut her up by saying they could have the entire morning together today. So after getting in late last night, he had to get up early this morning, and they went out to brunch in the city. He was less than enthusiastic.”
I let out a huff. Of course she would throw a fit. Anything to get her way.
“It doesn’t even matter what she said to you guys. The fact of the matter is she and Teegan are on the same side and will do anything to get me out of their way. Teegan has her eyes set on you, and Courtney is after Lennon, I think.”
“Wrong and wrong,” he says, pulling me onto the bed to sit next to him. “Teegan wants Lennon, and Courtney is into Milo. They’re pissed because they think you, Lennon, and I have an alliance so you can stay until the end. So we can be three of the final four.”
“Well, it is what it is. I could tell them the truth, but they won’t believe me.”
“Courtney is leading the charge. She was offering favors in exchange for the guys to vote you off.”
“Favors?”
“Yeah, of the sexual nature.”
I couldn’t stop the laughter from bursting out of my chest. “She’s offering to suck you off if you vote me off!”
“I was trying to put it mildly, but yeah.” He lets out a puff of laughter before continuing. “She was turned down. Four times. Though she never actually asked me. I didn’t let her get that far before dismissing her.”
Jace gives me a pointed look, and when what he’s inferring hits me square in the face, I suck in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
