The enormous TV screen on stage lit up, and Brodie and Jendan were sitting in the evictee chairs. Both of them were in suits—Jendan in black and Brodie in dark gray. They both looked amazing, and it hurt me a little to see how gorgeous Brodie was. Twenty four hours was not enough time for me to lick my wounds.
“We’ll let Brodie speak first,” Becky said.
Brodie stood and straightened his suit. He grinned at the camera and gave us all his regular, cocky smile. “I can’t see anyone out there but Becky, but I’m sure you all look amazing. I can’t wait to hang out with everyone again, and I just want to say that I had a blast. Marla, Sunnie, Fido, Jayme—we were friends in the house, and we’ll be friends outside of it. To Kandis, I just want to say…I’m sorry, and trust me.”
He sat back down.
There it was again—another plea for trust. Was this a last ditch effort to get me to vote for him? My mouth twisted into a wry smile. I’d had my vote made up since last night.
Jendan got up and gave a lovely speech about friendships made, about strategy, and he detailed all the different ways he thought he’d played well, and he hoped we voted for him.
I wasn’t listening. Not really. I was watching Brodie behind his shoulder, and the way he smoothed the corners of his mouth with his fingertips, the way the smile on his face didn’t quite reach his eyes. He was nervous about something.
About the vote? Or about confronting me after he’d ruined my chances because he knew he’d fucked me in more ways than one?
“With the speeches out of the way…” Becky paused and turned back to us with a brilliant smile. “Let’s get the voting in, shall we?”
Two assistants rolled out a podium, and the spotlights changed, shining on the podium itself. There was a big feather pen sticking out of an inkpot, a stack of ballots, and to the right, a house-shaped mailbox to put the ballots in. The studio went dark, the only light on the podium itself.
“All right,” Becky said. “Let’s have our jury, one by one, go up and vote. Jurors get a chance to say their final piece to the last two contestants as they vote. Sunnie, you’re up first.”
The audience was silent as the celebutante headed to the podium. Sunnie picked up the pen and turned to face the camera. “Good game, you two. I just wanted to say congratulations to whoever wins.” She scribbled something down on her ballot, folded it neatly, and dropped it in the mailbox.
One by one, the others voted. Everyone said encouraging things, and I watched Brodie and Jendan’s faces. Both of them were smiling, but neither one looked visibly nervous. Me, though, I was a wreck. My palms were sweating, and I wanted to wipe them on my wispy dress, but I was worried about leaving wet streaks. So I fidgeted instead.
I was the last one called up to vote. I stood, smoothed my dress, and headed to the podium. Once up there, I was nearly blinded by the overhead lighting. Squinting, I glanced up at the direction of the TV screen, but the glare was so bright that I couldn’t see their faces. I’d thought long and hard about what I would say to the two guys there. A bitter speech? Lash out? Take the high road?
In the end, I went with simple. “Jendan, good luck. I’m glad we became friends. And to Brodie…” I paused, thinking. “You betrayed me and now you’re asking me to trust you. I guess we’ll see, huh?”
I picked up the ballot marked with my name in the corner, and wrote a name down before I had a chance to change my mind. I folded it carefully, paused, and then placed it into the house-shaped ballot box before I took my seat again.
“When we come back,” Becky intoned, “the results of our vote!”
The air felt cooler as I stepped out of the bright lighting, and I pressed the back of my hand to my forehead, sweating with anxiety. I was so nervous that I wanted to twitch right out of my chair. Did I make the right choice?
Minutes ticked past with agonizing slowness. My knee bounced with nerves, and I was unable to help my nervous fidgeting. It must have been pretty bad; Fido gave me an irritated look and scooted his chair a little further away from mine. It didn’t make me stop, though. I only twitched harder, and then I began to bite my nails.
The lighting in the studio changed, and I sucked in a breath.
“We’re back,” Becky said. She stepped to the podium and flipped open the top of the little house-shaped ballot box. “I’ll read the votes.”
I glanced at the screen showing the interior of the house. Neither Jendan nor Brodie were smiling now. Their gazes were intent on the screen, and I could see tension vibrating from both of them.
“The first vote is Sunnie’s.” Becky read, and then she opened the folded paper and displayed it to us. BRODIE had been written in curling letters. “One vote for Brodie.”
The audience cheered wildly.
“The next vote is Fido’s.” A pause, then a turn. JENDAN. “That’s one vote for Jendan, and one for Brodie.” More clapping punctuated the vote.
“The next vote is Jayme’s. Jayme has voted for…Brodie. That’s two for Brodie, one for Jendan.”
“The next vote is Marla’s. Marla has voted for…” A dramatic pause, and then a slow turn of the card. “Jendan. We’re at a tie. Two for Brodie, two for Jendan.”
I felt ill. My vote was going to be the deciding one. I tugged at my dress’s skirt, hoping it wouldn’t stick to me with the nervous sweat that was pouring off of my body.
“Last vote, and it’s from Kandis,” Becky said. How could her voice be so coolly monotone at a time like this? I was practically sliding off of my chair with nerves. Time slowed as she opened the folded vote.
“Brodie.” Becky smiled and held my vote into the air. “You’re our winner!”
The audience exploded into cheers.
I burst into tears. It was drowned out by the fact that everyone had leapt to their feet. I barely saw Brodie jump in the air—on screen—and throw a fist up in jubilation. The crowd went wild, and people were cheering and clapping and rushing forward. It was mad chaos as balloons and tickertape fell from above.
I just sat in my chair and wiped my eyes. Why was I crying? It was stupid, really. It wasn’t sadness or embarrassment as much as it was sheer relief. At least the game was over. I’d held up my end. Brodie had told me he loved me, and he asked me to trust him.
And even though my every instinct told me I was being played, I went along with that trust. I wanted to believe he was a better person than that.
So now, I was just waiting for him to show me that my trust in him was well-placed.
Brodie emerged from the house a moment later, and all spotlights went on him. He raised his hands in the air, grinning broadly, and was immediately tackled by several people—I noticed one was his sister Katy, who was bouncing up and down with excitement. It was mass chaos in the studio.
And still I sat in my chair, hoping and waiting for him to turn to me.
He scanned the room, squinting at the glare of the lighting and tickertape. My heart hammered in my chest as hope rose. Was he looking for me?
A second later, Becky Bradley went to his side, all smiles. “Let’s take a moment and talk with our winner,” she said. “Or do you need to get more hugging out of the way?”
He laughed, a dazed look on his face. “No, I’m good.”
I’m good.
Just like that, my hopes crumpled. I felt deflated, like a balloon left out in the sun for too long. I’d trusted and I’d gotten burned.
Brodie had just been playing me, after all.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Do I feel like a winner? Not if Kandis doesn’t forgive me.” – Brodie Short, Finale
The celebratory party went on for hours, and I did my best to make it seem like I was genuinely happy. I chatted with the other House Guests who’d been voted off, did my after-show interviews, and tried to keep upbeat. Over and over, I was asked, “Why did you vote for Brodie? Why’d you give him the money even after he screwed you?”
And over and over, I replied simply, “He played the best ga
me.”
He had, after all. He’d had me fooled even in the eleventh hour. He knew just what to say to ensure my vote. I couldn’t even be mad. Soul-crushingly disappointed? Yes. But mad? Not really.
There was a stupid, stupid part of me that was in love with Brodie Short. It didn’t matter that he’d used me and booted me out of the game. I was in love with him, and as a result, I wanted him to win.
I held it together for hours, and I waited, hopeful that I’d turn around and see Brodie waiting to talk to me. But every time I looked for him, he was sitting, doing interviews, or talking to someone. He was always busy, always surrounded by people, and laughing and having a great time.
Why wouldn’t he be? He’d just won a million dollars.
But when Cassie showed up at my side just to catch me up on the next day’s plans, I cornered her. “Can I leave now?”
She looked surprised, gazing around at the glitzy after-party, full of happy people with drinks in their hands. “You want to leave?”
More than anything. “Yeah, I have a headache. Can we go back to the hotel?”
“Well…okay.” She still looked surprised but nodded. “I’ll drive you out.”
An hour later, I was in my bed at the hotel room, face washed, pajamas on. A phone was now in my room, and I picked it up and immediately called my mother despite the late hour.
“Hello?” My mother’s familiar voice was wonderful.
“Mama, it’s me.”
“Oh, Kandis!” She sobbed on the other end of the phone. “Sweetie, I’m so sorry.”
I could feel my own tears rising. “I tried to win, Mama. I really did. I—”
“I don’t care about that,” she said tearfully. I heard her sniff loudly. “I didn’t realize how upset you were until I saw you on TV talking about it with that awful man. Do you really think I have a problem? I just like playing the machines.”
She was actually asking me? She hadn’t noticed until now? Really? “Yes, you do have a problem, Mama. You spend all of your money there, and that’s not good,” I said wiping my eyes. “And I want to help you.”
“I’m going to change,” she promised me. “We’ll figure this out. Don’t you worry about your mama.”
I smiled through my tears. “I’m glad to hear that.”
We talked for a little longer, but I started to yawn, exhausted, and then we hung up.
I curled up in bed, hugging my pillow. It felt weird to have a bed all to myself after two months of sharing the sheets with Brodie. Of course, thinking about Brodie made fresh tears come to my eyes.
He hadn’t even tried to see me tonight. Did he really not care one bit?
I sniffed. Then, my sniffles became tears, and I cried myself to sleep.
~~ * ~~
POUND POUND POUND.
I jerked upright in the darkness, rubbing my face. My nerves were on high alert, and I shivered. Had one of the ghosts decided to make themselves known after all?
Then, I realized I was no longer at The Magnolias. I wasn’t on the show. I was in a hotel room. I glanced over at the clock.
3:37 a.m.
POUND. POUND. POUND. “Kandis! I know you’re in there!”
That was Brodie’s voice. Scrubbing my face with one hand, I slid out of bed and headed to the hotel door. I peered out of the peephole. Sure enough, there was Brodie in his dark gray suit, collar loose. He was in the hallway, alone. As I watched, he reached out to pound on the door again.
I hastily undid the chain latch and slid the door open a crack. “Brodie? What the hell are you doing? It’s three in the morning.”
To my surprise, he pushed his way into the room. Before I had time to protest, his hands were cupping my face, and he leaned down and began to kiss me, his tongue sliding into my mouth.
I shoved at him, suddenly furious, and pushed him away. “What the fuck, Brodie? No hello?”
He leaned against the wall, all gorgeousness, and gave me a lazy, delicious smile. “Hello, Kandis. Can we kiss now?”
“No, we can’t kiss.” I crossed my arms over my sleep shirt and pointed at my cracked door. “Get out of here.”
He straightened, looking surprised. “Are you mad at me? Is this why you avoided me all night?”
“Me avoided you? Ha. You were too busy glorying in the limelight to stop and say anything to me.” The words came out bitter and angry. “I guess I don’t matter anymore, now that you got your vote.”
“What are you talking about?” Brodie looked genuinely confused. When I gestured at the door, indicating that he should leave, he shut it instead and leaned on the back of it. “I thought we were on the same page when you voted for me. That you understood why I did it.”
“Why you voted me out? Hell no, I don’t understand it.”
“Baby,” he said and reached out for me.
I slapped his hand away. “No ‘baby’ here. Don’t touch me.”
His face hardened and he leaned back against the door, subtly knocking the back of his head against the wood. “Kandis. Think for a minute. Really stop and think.”
“About what, Brodie? About you dicking me over?”
He shook his head and gave me a level-eyed stare. “You weren’t going to win. There was zero chance of it. Did you not see how bitter Marla was toward you?”
I laughed. “Marla was bitter because she knew I was moving ahead.”
He gazed at me for a long moment, his heart in his eyes. My own heart squeezed painfully in my chest. “You’re mad at me because you think I voted you out so I could win.”
“Isn’t that exactly what you did?”
He shook his head. “You’re blinded by anger. Stop and think for a moment.”
“About what?”
“Let’s count through the votes. If it was you and Jendan in the final, tell me who’d vote for you.”
“Sunnie—”
“Nope.” He raised a finger, counting. “You masterminded her partner out. She’d vote for Jendan.”
“Jayme and Fido—”
He raised two more fingers. “Fido voted for Jendan tonight. I doubt that would change. And since they were partners, if they didn’t vote together, Jayme would have voted for Jendan. She was mad at you for the same reasons Marla was.”
She was? I frowned. “Marla wouldn’t have voted for me.”
“Nope.” He wagged four fingers at me. “That leaves four votes for Jendan and one vote for you—my vote. You still would have lost. Now flip it. Let’s say I took you to the end with me. Sunnie would have voted for me. Jayme and Fido would have voted for me. Marla sure as shit wouldn’t have voted for you. That leaves you with one vote again—Jendan’s. And that’s only if he kept his word after you voted his ass out and lied to him.”
I stared at Brodie, shocked.
He was right.
There was no way I’d have won the game. I’d played hard, and at times I’d played ugly, and I hadn’t cared as long as it got me to the end. But I’d never stopped to consider what I’d do when I got to the end and everyone was mad at me. “Oh, shit.”
“That’s right, oh shit.” He looked a little relieved.
I scowled and smacked him on the arm. “You still didn’t have to vote me out, you son of a bitch!”
He grasped my wrist, capturing it and dragging me closer to him. “Didn’t I? If I knew you were going to lose, why would I send you up there for a bitter jury to eviscerate?”
“They weren’t all that bitter to you—”
“Because they liked me. And they liked Jendan. But because you played harder than both of us, they hated you.” He leaned in and nuzzled my cheek. “And the last thing I wanted to see was them attacking you on TV in front of everyone, with no one to defend you.”
“So you voted me out and made it look like brilliant gameplay for yourself, thus clinching your own win,” I said bitterly. “Should I clap now?”
“You can be mad at me if you want,” he said, still nuzzling my cheek. I felt his nose brush against my
skin, and a shiver moved down my spine despite my anger. My damn body was reacting to him even though I was still furious. “But I wanted to protect you. No one hurts my baby with me around. And this way, I ensured I won the money for us. You said you trusted me, right?”
“I did trust you!” I’d sat in my chair and hoped and hoped for a sign, just one sign that he’d show me that it wasn’t all just a showmance for him. But he hadn’t given me one. “You ignored me at the finale.”
His tongue brushed along my jaw line, his voice growing husky. “That’s because I couldn’t get away from the cameras and Becky and all the stinking interviews. I’m blind from all the damn lights.”
I softened a little at that. I’d been blinded, too.
Brodie lightly bit my earlobe. “I missed you, Kandis.”
Was this more of Brodie laying it on thick? “It was only a day, Brodie.”
“Yeah, but it made me realize that bed wasn’t the same without you. You think it didn’t tear me up to vote you out, knowing how hurt you were going to be? I couldn’t sleep last night, imagining how you felt. I wanted to say something, but I just…couldn’t. I wasn’t sure until the last minute that I was going to do it, but it was the only way I could think to win and not have you come out of this trashed by everyone. You played hardcore the entire time, all strategy. I was hoping you’d realize that if I voted you out, I’d cinch this thing and win the money for me and you.”
“Pretty words,” I told him, leaning away and pulling out of his grasp. “But useless. Didn’t you read your contract? You can’t share your prize-winnings with anyone on the show even if you wanted to.”
“They can’t do anything about it if we’re married,” Brodie said, looking at me with sad, soulful eyes.
I stilled. Time stilled. “Married?”
My heart thudded loud in my ears as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box. He got down on one knee and looked up at me, heart in his eyes. “I made one of the assistants drive me around town after the interviews so I could go get this. It’s not great, but it’ll do until we can get you a real one. And the size is probably all wrong, but I wanted to do this right, and I wanted to do this tonight, before you had a chance to get away from me.”