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“Where is he?”
“Hugo and Bjorn brought him back to the green room,” Marissa said. “Obviously, he’s devastated—"
“Mate.” Armand’s voice sent a shiver down my spine. At first I didn’t realize he meant me. “I forbid you from chasing after another beast.”
I turned to him, rolling my eyes so hard I was pretty sure I saw the dark side of the moon. “Youforbidme?”
“This is gonna be good,” Tina said under her breath.
“That’s not how things work anymore, Armand.” Bibi came up beside him, her arms crossed over her chest. She might have looked spectacular, but there was no mistaking that she was all wolf right now. I’d never seen her whoop ass, but all reports confirmed that she could and she would. My fairy dragmother was a take-no-prisoners type of wolf. “Looks like we have some work to do in that department.The Mating Gameis a partnership between our couple. The last thing I’d ever want to do is take anyone’s choices away. So if Hannah wants to see Lars—”
“Do you not care that I might have feelings for this…Hannah?” His gaze slid to me, and he winked, like I was in on the joke.
Hell no. And why did Bibi want to work on Armand’s dating game? We needed to apologize to him for this massive misunderstanding and send his wolf ass packing with a consolation prize pack.
“You don’t even know my name, and you have the balls to tell me what to do?”
Armand had the nerve to shrug. “We’ve only just met. You don’t know anything about me, either.”
This cocky wolf was trying my patience. “Listen, I’m sure you’re a great guy. A fierce beast. But here’s the thing—I know Lars. He wanted to come on stage and do all the things for the show because I won a contest to be here. He knows how much this means to me. I was supposed to pick him.”
“But you didn’t.” He motioned to Marissa. “She told us that we were chosen because we were good matches for you. And because you picked me over Lars, that confirms that the format of the show works.”
He was infuriating. Even more so because he was technically right.
If I was watching this at home, I’d be refilling that rosé glass and debating Armand vs. Lars with the rest of the ladies in the forum. I’d probably be Team Give Armand a Chance, because when it didn’t involve me, I loved some drama.
Ugh.
“How do we handle this?” Tina asked. “Hannah picked Armand. We’ve never had a do-over or followed up with any of the contestants that weren’t chosen.”
“Because none of them have picked the wrong guy,” I said.
“You didn’t, either.” Armand growled. “Here’s my proposal—I take you on a date. Show you around the mountains. Teach you what it’s really like to be with a shifter. And then, if you’re still hung up on Lars, you can go on a date with him. Then you’ll be able to make the correct decision about what you should do next.”
“Now you’re giving me permission to go on a date with Lars?” This guy was too much.
“Yes. Only after you go out with me first.”
“That’s not the format of the show,” Marissa said. I willed her to not mention that there were three dates because one night out with this guy would be more than enough. And I’d just handed him all the power.
“We’re certainly in unprecedented territory.” Bibi sighed. She tapped a purple fingernail against her chin. “The first rule ofThe Mating Gameis that we don’t influence the results of the show. You did pick Armand, even though we know you intended to pick Lars. If you’re willing to go on a date with Armand, the viewers would know that we haven’t scripted anything.”
Wait, what? She wasn’t letting me out of this? Wasn’t my fairy dragmother supposed to have a magic wand that she could wave and make these sticky situations disappear?
“You’re more concerned with what the viewers think than how Lars is feeling?” Who was I kidding? The superfans, me included, lived for those sticky situations. This was reality show crack.
“Of course not. My heart is broken for him. But we all knew this was a risk. And all those people watched you pick Armand. We broadcast that live, and we can’t edit this to make it look like you chose Lars. If you don’t go out with Armand, they’ll want to know why.”
“They already know why,” I groaned. “I wrote that story about Lars and posted it to the forums. I didn’t even change our names.” All those people who didn’t believe my story were sure to be having a field day online right about now.
I’d made a fool out of all of us, and moon only knew what Armand would do when I rejected him.
The wolf had the nerve to step closer. “I’d like to give you something to write about, too.”
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. “In your dreams.”
“One date, and then you tell me who’s dreaming about who.” He was so wolf right now. Before I met Lars, I might have considered it a turn on.
