He offered me the crook of his arm, like he wanted to escort me. Well, crap. If I turned it down, he might get offended, and it was still day one. I couldn’t afford to piss anyone off. Not if I was partnered with the living libido, Brodie.
So I clamped down my distaste and slipped my hand into his arm, wishing I was anywhere but at his side.
We headed to the living room, and most of the castmates were already there. Three large sofas were set up in the living room, and one had Brodie sitting on the far end, by himself. Marla, Jendan, Casper, and Jayme were squeezed onto another sofa, while Lenore and Fido sat on the nomination loveseat. Across from the loveseat, Liam and Katy sat on the fireplace hearth. Liam sat with his back against the stone, his legs spread, and Katy sat between them, leaning back against Liam and hugged tight in his arms.
I moved to sit next to Brodie, since the spot had clearly been left for me. To my dismay, Mickey immediately squeezed in next to me, ignoring the fact that there was an entire half of the couch left for someone else to sit on. He sat so close that his thigh touched mine.
Sandwiched on a couch on TV between Brodie and Mickey. I was surely paying for some sort of hellish karma. Maybe because I’d thrown the challenge, the House Guests gods were paying me back in kind. I took a deep breath and kept the poker-face smile on my cheeks, determined to make the best of things.
“Are we all here?” Liam asked.
“Sunnie’s coming,” Fido said.
Sure enough, Sunnie swanned into the room (there was really no other way to describe it), her hair and makeup perfect. She was wearing a cute pink slip-dress, and as soon as she saw Brodie, she squealed and bounded over to him, tossing herself onto his lap.
Welp, I’d definitely racked up some shit karma somewhere along the way. This just kept getting worse.
Mickey put a hand on the back of my neck and began to massage it.
I stifled my whimper and shivered away, leaning in toward Brodie and Sunnie. Brodie immediately put an arm around my shoulders. “Hands off my hot team-mate, Mickey. Get your own girl.”
“You’re hogging all of them,” Mickey said.
Sunnie giggled from her perch on Brodie’s lap.
I shot Jendan a ‘dear god help me’ look.
“Keep it in your pants, Brodie,” Katy said, her voice a soft drawl. “Nobody wants to see you hook up all summer.”
“You sure?” Brodie joked, but his arm slid off my shoulder, as if making a small concession to his sister.
“Katy and I called everyone in here,” Liam began, propping his chin on his girlfriend’s shoulder, “because we wanted to get a chance to meet everyone. We figured a big group setting to get all the introductions out of the way might be the best.”
“Sounds good,” someone said.
Katy stood up, sliding out of Liam’s embrace. “Well, I’ll start, then. Might as well get it over with.” She gave us all an awkward smile, and I wondered if she was shy. She was wearing a yellow tank top and a pair of ragged denim shorts, and her wet blonde hair was pulled into two knots at the base of her neck. She looked cute as a button, and incredibly wholesome. “I’m Katy Short, and I own a business in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. It’s called Katy’s Short Cakes, and I specialize in custom desserts and cupcakes.” She glanced back at tattooed, pierced Liam. “This here’s Liam, and you might recognize the two of us from The World Races. We met there and fell in love.”
Liam’s pierced lips curved into a smile, and the look he gave Katy melted my heart. A few ‘awws’ echoed in the room.
Katy bounced back into her seat and wiggled until Liam’s heavily tatted arm went over her shoulder again, hugging her close.
Liam didn’t get up. He just made a hand gesture in greeting. “Name’s Liam. I play guitar for Finding Threnody. Or did, until we broke up. Currently flying solo, relocating to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma,” he nudged Katy and she grinned, “and I’m here to spend time with my girl.”
“Did you spend your prize winnings already?” Marla asked from Jendan’s side. The smile on her face was friendly, but her eyes were sharp. Marla couldn’t forget that they’d already won.
“I guess y’all saw that, huh?” Katy smiled and patted Liam’s arm. “Mine was invested in my business, and Liam’s using his for relocation, but after taxes, it wasn’t all that much. We’re mostly just here to play and spend time together.”
“Of course,” Marla said with a grin, but I could practically see the wheels turning in her head. She might like them, but she wasn’t about to cut them an inch of slack. I could see the looks on the faces of the other house guests. A few looked dazzled by the sight of Katy and Liam on our show, but more seemed…less enthused.
Katy and Liam were going to be the first ones out the door if they weren’t careful.
And I was stuck with Brodie, who had all the connections they did and who was far less likable. I bit my lip to keep from screaming about how unfair it was. Instead, I thought of my mother. What was she doing right now? I’d left a neighbor with a weekly allotment of money to give her for groceries—$150 a week. Was she buying up shelves full of ramen and off-brand soda so she could take the rest to the casino? My nails dug into my palms, and I vowed to win this show.
I needed that money more than any of them. With a million dollars, I could take care of mom’s mortgage woes and send her off to rehab someplace nice. Someplace she wouldn’t fight to go. And then we’d both be free to go on and live our lives like we were supposed to, instead of constantly fighting and worrying about money.
Sunnie shifted next to me, and I realized Brodie was standing up. I watched as Sunnie flounced her way to the far end of the couch and sat next to Mickey.
Brodie took a step forward and clasped his hands. That cheeky smile was on his face. As if he knew he was no good and expected you to love him anyhow. “Well, guys, I’m Brodie, and you might remember me from The World Races, too. I did not, however, win the money.”
I looked over at Katy and saw her mouth tighten with anger at her brother. He was selling her out. I didn’t blame her for being irritated, though I was rather glad that Brodie had pointed out that fact.
“I’m a model,” Brodie continued.
Maaaaactor, chimed my brain. Damn. Jimmy had really had us all pegged after all.
Brodie continued. “I was supposed to be on Endurance Island, but they bumped me in favor of a big name celebrity.” A chorus of ‘awwws’ filled the room, and he made a ‘settle down’ gesture. “Don’t feel too bad for me, though, because the producers suggested that I could come here instead, and now I get to spend my nights on a nice comfy couch in a haunted house, surrounded by lots of hot ladies…and my sister.”
Katy rolled her eyes.
A chorus of chuckles hit the group, and Brodie sat back down. His arm went to my waist in a casual gesture. Maybe it was because I was his partner. Maybe it was because I was one of those “hot ladies.”
But it wasn’t real, and I hated fake affection. Maybe because I was planning on being fake here all summer. Maybe because my mother had hidden her problems behind lots of fake, cheerful smiles until it was too late for me to do anything about it. Either way, it bothered me.
So I stood up and put my hands on my hips, smiling at everyone. “Well, I’m Kandis. It’s pronounced Candice, but spelled K A N D I S. I’m twenty-three, I’m a student, and I’m here to have a fun summer.” I shrugged my shoulders. “That’s all, really. I’m kind of boring.”
“Says you,” Brodie teased with a chuckle.
“No one with that kind of ass can be boring,” Mickey piped in, clearly taking a cue from Brodie’s flirty words.
The room fell silent.
“Well, that was awkward,” I said and thumped back to my seat. I wanted to snap at Mickey for being a perv, but I needed to be diplomatic. Day one was not the day to rip someone’s head off.
“Keep your hands off my partner’s ass, Mickey,” Brodie said, his words good-natured. But this time, when his arm went a
round my waist, I let it stay there.
After that terrible exchange, we went around the room. Jendan told the group he was a stuntman. His partner was Marla, and she was indeed a mom from the suburbs of Philadelphia. She had two kids and a husband that she said she missed terribly. She teared up while telling us about them, and I felt a little twinge of guilt for her. She must have needed the money, too. The psychic, Lenore, was from Florida, and she told us all that she was going to win House Guests because she’d seen it in a dream.
This time, when Brodie gave a quiet snort of derision, I didn’t find it irritating. I agreed with him.
Casper, the eldest man in the house, was a fireman. His partner was Sunnie. I realized where I’d recognized Sunnie from when she began to talk about her life. She lived in LA, and her father was a famous record label mogul. She tossed her red hair and went on and on about how she wanted to have fun this summer and get to know people. Mactor, though I supposed the proper term was ‘celebutante.’ She was famous for being famous and partying with the right people.
Fido was next—a short, stocky man with thick muscles. He said his name really wasn’t Fido, but it had stuck when he was a kid because he loved animals. He was a dog trainer outside of the house and had a live-in girlfriend. Jayme went last. She was utterly gorgeous, so I had her pegged as another mactor, except for the fact that she said she was a chef at a famous restaurant in Chicago. Interesting.
And creepy Mickey? Creepy Mickey was a masseuse. “Any time you ladies want a neck rub, or any kind of rub, you just come over to Mickey.” He gave us all a smarmy grin.
Ugh. He would be the last person I’d ask to touch me.
I made a mental run-down of all the teams as we sat and chatted about the house and the people we’d left outside, wondering aloud if this place was really haunted or not. I kept quiet, just making mental notes. Casper and Sunnie wouldn’t be much of a physical challenge. The oldest man in the house with a celebutante? Not a problem.
Jendan and Marla the soccer mom would be a bigger threat, but Jendan was on my side. Lenore was partnered with Mickey, so unless Mickey was an incredible athlete, Lenore was going to drag that team down. Fido and Jayme would be strong. And so would Katy and Liam.
It would definitely be an interesting summer.
The group ate sandwiches in the living room, everyone just hanging out and talking. As the night grew late, the teams paired off and headed to their rooms. Katy and Liam were the first ones to go. Katy was falling asleep against Liam, her eyelids drooping as she drowsed against him until Liam declared that they were heading to bed. The others protested—they wanted to see the Power Room, but Liam insisted we could all see it in the morning. He took his girlfriend to bed, and Fido and Jayme followed not long after, heading to their room. After that, it seemed to be a mass exodus until there was no one left in the living room except me and Brodie. I yawned, glancing at the big grandfather clock that never chimed (my guess was that it messed with the microphones). It was one in the morning.
“Bedtime for me,” I said, not looking over at Brodie. I hauled my tired body off the couch and padded, barefoot, to the linen closet where I’d gotten towels from earlier. There were extra blankets and pillows in there, and I grabbed two of each for myself and my partner. I briefly contemplated changing into pajamas, but decided against it if we were sleeping out in the open. It wouldn’t kill me to sleep in yoga pants for a week, and I’d feel a lot safer, especially with Mickey the creepster in the house.
I shut the linen closet door and turned, and then stopped.
Had I just seen a shadow cross the doorway at the far end of the hall? My skin prickled with awareness. Was this house really haunted after all? This end of the house was not as brightly lit as the living room, and my tired eyes were just playing tricks on me. Surely that was it.
Nevertheless, I sped back to the living room in record time.
When I arrived back, Brodie was stretched out on the longer of the two couches. He patted the couch, indicating that I should stretch out next to him. “Come on, baby. Bedtime.”
“Pig.” I tossed a pillow at his face, and followed up with one of the blankets.
He laughed, undeterred. “I know you think you have this great poker face going on, Kandis, but I can tell that you don’t like me or anyone else in this house other than maybe Jendan.”
I turned to my couch and shook out my blanket. “That’s not true,” I protested, thought it might have been true. Katy and Liam seemed nice, though self-contained. Marla and Casper were okay. I didn’t know Jayme or Fido.
“Uh huh,” Brodie said, clearly not buying it.
I ignored him and moved across the room to flick off the lights. The room turned pitch black, and I glanced around warily as the House Guests logo faded from the big TV on the opposite wall to allow us to sleep in the dark. There was a two-way mirror behind me, and I glanced at it. It seemed creepier in the dark, and I remembered the shadow I’d seen earlier. Jeez. One day and I was already seeing ghosts.
I hurried across the dark room and climbed onto my couch to prep for bed. I fluffed my pillow, determined not to think about it. At least Brodie was sleeping across from me. If there were ghosts, maybe they’d eat his face first. I closed my eyes, comforted by that thought.
A heavy body thumped down on the sofa next to me.
My eyes flew open, and I could barely make out Brodie’s bigger form and his spiky blond hair. He’d crawled into bed—on the narrow couch—next to me and was now pinning me under the blankets. My fists flew to his chest, and I pounded against him. “Get off me, you douche—”
“Shhhh,” Brodie said in a whisper. “I’m here because I want to talk strategy.”
I paused my assault, surprised. “You…are?”
He laughed softly. “Kandis, don’t get me wrong. You’re smokin’ hot, but I’m here to win the money.”
That made me pause. “So what’s with all the flirting and cooing over Sunnie? Or Jayme?”
“Jealous?” he teased. “Seriously, though, it’s strategy. Both are pretty girls, but I need to win some cash this time around. I played with my dick last time, and look where it got me.”
“You played with your dick—”
“Figure of speech,” he corrected in a harsh whisper. “I wasn’t really playing with my dick on camera. I meant I played while thinking of my dick, and I came in second place. My sister’s a little bull in a china shop when she gets her feelings hurt. I didn’t think about that last time, and it cost me the money.”
“It was your own fault,” I chided him. “I seem to remember you playing a lot of suck-face with a rocker chick.”
“Yeah,” he sighed. “She was hot. But she was also terrible at all the crucial challenges and tended to be hung over when I needed her to be at her best. I’m going to play different this time.”
I pulled back a little, trying to study his face in the darkness. “Do tell.”
“Well,” Brodie said, and he turned on the narrow couch so he could prop his head up with one bent arm and face me. His face was inches from mine, and I shivered to myself at how close he was. Darn Brodie for being so good looking. Darn Brodie for being so completely untrustworthy and a horndog.
“This game’s about partnering up and making sure you’re not voted off. Last time, as long as I competed hard, I was safe. This time, it’s different.” He shifted and sidled even closer to me. “I already talked to Sunnie and she’s going to work with us. Katy and Liam will work with us because Katy always works with me. And I’m pretty sure I can get Jayme. We talked about it, but she said she wasn’t ready to commit on day one. Marla said the same thing. I promised each of them final four. We can decide who we want to take when we get closer to the end.”
Annoyance flashed through me, and I wanted to smack him, hard. “Are you freaking kidding me? You’ve already made a bunch of deals with people?”
He looked surprised at my anger. “Well, yeah. We don’t have to keep to them if we don??
?t want to.”
“Why would you make a bunch of deals on day one?” My whisper was so harsh it sounded more like a hiss. “What the fuck were you thinking?”
“Oh come on.” Brodie was starting to look as annoyed as I felt. “You mean to tell me that you don’t have an alliance with Mr. Stuntman? I saw you two getting cozy and making googly eyes at each other.”
“For starters, we were not making googly eyes at each other. And that is one person. One. You’ve talked to everyone in the house with boobs and made sure your ass is safe.”
And where, exactly, did that leave me?
He snorted and sat up. “I thought you wanted to play this game.”
“I do. I’m here to win, too. But your strategy sucks, Brodie. You ever heard of laying low?”
“There’s no need,” he said with a grin and got off the couch. His whisper as he moved back to his own bed carried to me in the darkness. “You only have to lay low if you’re not confident you can come out on top. And I know I can—that we can.”
Yeah, I didn’t miss that little slip of the tongue. I bit back my angry retort, not wanting to damage things further with Brodie, and thumped my pillow, trying to relax and go to sleep.
The house was eerily still, and my couch was facing that creepy, dark two-way mirror. I was exhausted, but I was also keyed up and not entirely sure I could sleep. Brodie didn’t seem to be having any trouble, though. I glanced over at his couch and noticed his handsome face was relaxed, his head propped up on his pillow as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
Near my head, a floorboard creaked.
I shot upright, skin prickling. “What was that?”
“Go to sleep, Kandis,” Brodie murmured.
“I heard something.” There was another creak, more ominous. “There. Did you hear that?”
“It’s an old house,” he said sleepily, not even opening his eyes. “They make noises.”
“An old haunted house,” I corrected, but laid down again after scanning the darkness. No shadows, at least. No unexpected shadows, that is. I wondered how the people in the attic room — the Hanging Room—were doing. If I was losing my shit in the wide open living room, I could only imagine how creeped out the others were.