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The sound of a woman clearing her throat followed by a sharp voice pulled me back to reality.
“Jessica. Garrett.” I turned to see Willow standing in the doorway, her eyes on us. “I need you both down on the platform now. The competition is nearly over.”
Jessica jumped to her feet, her face going bright red, and I could have sworn a flicker of panic and shame crossed over her face. “Yes, Willow, of course. We’ll be right there.”
Willow turned and disappeared back into the house, and Jessica pressed her lips into a tight line as she watched her go. Then she turned to me as I stood.
“Garrett, we’re being completely unprofessional here. This has to stop.”
“What?”
She nodded firmly, crossing her arms over her chest. “You’re supposed to be watching the competition to choose yourmate,” she hissed. “You’ve barely paid attention the entire time, talking and flirting with me instead.”
She wasn’t wrong, but I didn’t like the tone of her voice or the way she was withdrawing from me, closing herself off.
“You weren’t exactly paying attention yourself,” I countered.
She ground her teeth. “You’re right. And that was my mistake. You have to take this seriously, Garrett. You need to focus on the girls.”
Her point was clear, and her words cut deeper than they should have. Was it a mistake to open up and have fun with me? She wanted me to take this seriously? Okay, fine. I could do that.
I turned and walked away without a word, unsure I trusted myself to say anything else—not that I would be rude to her, but I didn’t quite understand my behavior either. I needed to be careful. Lately, everything about Jessica seemed to draw me in. She was kind, fun, and easy to get along with, and she didn’t put up with any crap from me.
As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I should have focused more on the competition. Striding out to the platform, I stood on one side, watching from the corner of my eye as Jessica chose to stand on the other. Despite my easygoing smile that I plastered on my face, I could feel the tension between us even across the distance. She didn’t look my way once as the final team made their way back, answered the final question, and ended the competition with the shortest time.
“Congratulations, ladies,” Jessica said into a microphone, taking over from Willow. I peeked over at her, and she didn’t give off the slightest indication that anything was amiss, even though I felt like something had shifted between us. “The four of you have concluded this first challenge in the shortest time, making you the winners.”
Applause erupted throughout the crowd as she continued, “Your team will be safe from elimination, and one of you has earned a private date with Garrett. As for the rest of you, one of you will be eliminated by the end of the day today. Thank you all for your efforts.”
She hadn’t looked at me once, and I felt a restlessness stirring in my chest that I didn’t quite understand. Acting on impulse, I reached for the closest contestant of the winning group, grabbed her hand, and pulled her towards me.
It was Reagan, the dark-haired woman from the Pacific Northwest pack. From Markus’s pack. “Congratulations,” I told her. “Looks like you’ve just earned yourself a date.”
Then I leaned in and pressed a kiss to her lips. It was short and sweet, nothing that would make anyone uncomfortable, but when I broke away, my gaze went straight to Jessica.
She looked livid, her eyes blazing, her jaw clenched, and she spun on her heel and strode off toward the house. Interesting. I had intended to make her jealous, but I hadn’t fully expected it to work.
You’re playing a dangerous game, a voice in my head warned me, but I couldn’t be bothered to care. Celebration broke out around me, the crowd cheering excitedly. At least some were inspired by the show I was putting on.
I tracked Jessica with my eyes as she headed into the house then excused myself from the ladies the first chance I got.
As I made my way back to the house, I told myself I was just following the proper channels to tell Jessica who I’d like to eliminate, but it was a lie. I wanted to see her, to make sure she was okay. I didn’t like leaving things on such a bad note between us.
I couldn’t find her anywhere, though. She wasn’t in her room, her office, or anywhere else I looked. The estate was large enough that I could search all day and never find her, so eventually, I gave up, settling on finding an assistant to let Casey know she’d be the one going home. Her stubbornness and inability to work as a team wouldn’t serve the pack.
I ended up going back to my apartment and sulked for the rest of the night, irritated that I’d been so petty to make Jessica jealous. But that wasn’t the real problem, was it?
The real problem was that I was more interested in her than any of the other women, and I had no idea how to handle that.
14
JESSICA
My feet pounded the treadmill, sweat ran down my back, and my side was beginning to ache from my ragged breathing, but still, I ran. As if I could run away from the memory of Garrett kissing Reagan.
It was ridiculous—stupid, really—that I was so bothered by it. I fully understood what the point of this Contention was. But my rational mind seemed to be harder and harder to find these days. All I felt now was anger at his actions.
Well, anger and jealousy. How could he kiss me twice, flirt with me like he had today, and act like it was nothing? Did it really mean nothing to him?
