by Lisa Suzanne
“That’s pretty good,” I murmur. “Just enough to hook people with a sincere apology.”
She shrugs. “You approve, then?”
Yes, but only because I hope the woman I choose in the end will choose me back. Instead of saying that, I simply nod. But if Brody wasn’t in the same room as us, I’m not sure I’d be able to hold back the words.
“Then I’ll send out a press release. Good luck tonight and tomorrow, Dax,” she says softly.
My eyes meet hers, and I can’t think of anything to say, so I just tip back my beer and drain the bottle.
* * *
Eden is a near replica of her blonde mother, a cougar if I’ve ever seen one. Her dad isn’t in the picture and her mom looks young enough to be her sister. Hmm, a daughter and a mom. Something I’ve never tried, but I always say I’ll try anything twice.
Meeting the families is sort of strange. We meet at the house in the large, formal dining room. Sitting at the table are Danny and me at either end. Eden and her mom sit next to Nicole, her mom, her dad, and her sister, and across from them are Lexy with her parents, her two brothers, and her aunt. It’s a full table where everyone seems to be talking at once. Nicole’s mom fires questions at Danny and Eden’s mom fires questions at me. I’m seated next to Eden, and I squeeze her knee when she looks at me in mortification more than once. I grin at her, and she smiles back, and suddenly it sort of feels like she’s my girlfriend in all this. I’m glad she’s still here, and I wish I would’ve spent the last four weeks getting to know Nicole and Lexy a little better rather than finding places to fool around with Poppy and worrying about whether Kylie likes me the way I like her. It’s all so junior high and I’m fucking sick of it.
I’ll put my focus into building my relationship with Eden in the little time we have left together. She may not be Kylie, but she does make me feel comfortable, like there’s someone actually on my side in all this. I’m anxious to get her alone on tomorrow’s final date so we can talk some more about what the future could hold for us.
Lucky for me, no one in this room has had access to social media or the news today barring Danny, who has enough decency not to bring up the news that broke this morning at the dinner table.
Melanie has remained absent for any downtime I have, so I still haven’t gotten a chance to confront her. She appears when the dessert course is served, and she makes her announcement. “Tonight’s power will be determined by a semi-blind competition. You’ll each be given a ball. You’ll toss them onto a rug that has numbers on it, but you won’t be able to see the numbers. Whoever’s ball lands on the highest number wins. Any questions?”
Danny and I both shake our heads. Melanie leads us into the living room. She hands Danny his ball to go first, and I have no idea where his ball lands. Then I’m up. I watched as he put a spin to the left on his ball, so I send mine right up the middle.
Melanie looks at Jarrod, who nods. He writes something down on a sheet of paper, and then he hands it to Melanie. “Danny’s ball landed next to lucky number thirteen. Will it be lucky enough to give him the power this week? Find out when we return.”
She looks for Jarrod’s signal again, and I know all this will be cut and edited in production. “Welcome back. We left with Danny’s ball next to number thirteen, and now we’ll watch Dax’s ball.”
She pauses and they’ll splice in my throw next. She glances at the same paper Jarrod handed her, and my heart races. It all comes down to this, because if my number is lower than thirteen, I might as well head home now.
“Twenty-seven,” she finally says. “Congratulations, Dax!”
I finally exhale. Danny slaps me on the back, and I can’t help my wide smile.
“It’s time to go cast your vote, Dax,” she says.
I nod and head to the voting room, where I write Eden’s name on one slip of paper and Lexy’s on the other. I slip both papers into the box, and then I meet everyone in the living room. The families stand behind the women, and Danny and I stand in our usual spots.
“Dax, it’s time to reveal which woman is going home tonight and which of the women has potentially taken your heart. Have you cast your vote freely and without influence?”
I nod, and she reaches into the box.
“Eden.” Melanie pauses, and my heart races. I feel like shit kicking someone off with her family standing right behind her, but I don’t really have a choice. “Lexy,” Mel reads next. “I’m sorry, Nicole, but neither Dax nor Danny has taken your heart.”
Nicole nods and glares at me then beelines for Danny, who she throws her arms around in a big hug. They say some things to one another I don’t quite catch, and then she leaves with her family in tow—all of whom glare at me, too.
Seems to be a trend lately.
The girls say goodbye to their families, we all have some confessionals, and then I’m whisked off to my own hotel for the night. I’m shocked when there’s a knock at my door just after I kick off my shoes.
When I answer it, Jarrod stands there. He blows out a breath. “One of the girls needed to see you.”
I furrow my brows and nod.
“Act surprised when you open the door. The cameras will be on, but we won’t follow her into your room.”
“You won’t?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “What you two do behind this closed door is your business.” He raises a brow, and I know whichever girl is waiting to talk to me must be within earshot. His innuendo is clear, though. The show probably got slammed for airing my bathroom moaning session with Poppy, so whatever happens now won’t make it to air.
I’m not planning to mess around with whoever shows up at my door. I have a sneaking suspicion it’s Melanie, but I’ll slam the door in her face before I’ll let her in my room.
“Thanks, Jarrod,” I say, and I have to admit, I won’t be sad to never see his face again. I close the door and wait for the knock, and I’m surprised when I open it to Eden.
“Can we talk?” she asks.
I nod. “Can I kiss you first?”
Her lips tip up and she smiles. I give her a soft kiss, one of my Dax specials, and then I open the door wider to let her in. I don’t look directly into the camera because I’m trying to appear confused that she’s here—not like I’m closing the door because I’m about to get some. Trying to appear wholesome is hard work, but I don’t honestly know why she’s here yet.
She walks over to the little couch in my room and perches on the end of it. “Tomorrow’s the finale, and I just want you to know that if you choose me, I’ll choose you back. But that’s not what I came here to say.”
I move over to sit beside her. “Why are you here?”
She clears her throat and wrings her hands together nervously, and I’m surprised. She’s normally so composed. “I just wanted a candid talk with you away from the spotlight. I wanted to come here tonight to get to know the real Dax.” She presses a hand to my chest. “To see what’s in here. Because I find myself starting to fall for you and I can see us going somewhere outside all this.”
I raise my brows as I let those words settle between us. “You can?”
She nods and looks up at me nervously.
“I can, too,” I say, and she blows out a breath of relief. I don’t know if I’m finding myself falling for her, exactly, but I do have feelings for her that I’m interested in exploring. I don’t say that, though. Instead, I chuckle. “Did you know the producers labeled you the bitch of this group?”
She laughs. “Yeah, I know. I can be feisty, but it’s all an act. I’m actually just as sweet as Lexy.”
“Doubt it.”
She swats at my arm playfully. “You sing in a band, you make cheesy t-shirts, and you like pancakes. These are surface things, Dax. Tell me about you. Why won’t you talk about your family? Why did we meet your band and not your parents?”
“My dad wanted me to go to school to be like him. He’s a miserable old man who hates his job and hates his life so much that he
cheated on my mom and had a baby with another woman when I was a kid. He doesn’t approve of my music, and my mom’s too weak to leave him. I haven’t talked to them in years.”
“Oh,” she says. “I’m sorry.”
I shake my head. “Don’t be.” I shrug. “I don’t talk about it much, so I’d like if we can keep this between the two of us.”
Her brows furrow. “Of course.”
“What about your father?” I ask. “Why wasn’t he here?”
“My mom had me when she was fourteen. I’ve never known him.”
“That’s a shame.”
“Is it? Or is it more of a shame that you do know your father and willingly choose not to have a relationship with him?”
I find myself suddenly even more attracted to Eden. We’re having a really honest talk. She’s asking questions most people would skirt around, and she isn’t afraid of it. I think back to Kane’s words, that I need someone who challenges me. Eden might be able to do that, but I also can’t help wondering if she’s here because she wants to confirm that I’ll choose her if I get to pick in the end.
“What about past relationships?” she asks. “Is there anyone in your past I need to worry about if we give this a try outside the show?”
I shouldn’t be surprised by her bluntness, yet I am. Kylie, a voice whispers in my head. You should be worried about Kylie.
I don’t say that—not exactly. “There’s a girl back home who I thought I could’ve built something with, but she’s the one who pushed me into doing this show, so I don’t think she sees me like that.”
Eden shakes her head. “It’s always the friend, isn’t it?”
I chuckle. “I guess. What about you?”
“I broke up with someone four months ago. We’d been together six years, so my entire adult life has basically been with one man.”
“Are you over him?” I ask.
She nods. “I think I was over him two years ago, but when you get comfortable, it’s hard to make a change.”
“I get that. Would you comfortable dating a touring musician?”
“Depends,” she says. “Would you invite me to go on tour with you?”
A warning bell sounds in my head. Does she just want to get close to me so she can get close to Mark Ashton? “I leave for tour in a little over a week, so probably not this one. But depending where things land after that, you never know.”
She doesn’t appear disappointed by my answer, which is an actual relief. We talk privately like this until four in the morning, when she yawns and says she should get going. I feel like I know the real her a little better, and I also feel like I let her see inside the real me a little bit—the one Kylie mentioned that she knows is in there.
Eden kisses me on her way out, but it’s just a simple kiss goodbye. It feels like a girlfriend leaving her boyfriend’s place. It’s nice. It’s not the passionate, boner-inducing, fiery kiss that could drop a man straight to his knees, but neither was the brief one I shared with Kylie.
The difference is that I can’t stop thinking about the one with Kylie.
24
We’re gathered in the living room, Danny and me on one side and Lexy and Eden on the other. Melanie looks into the camera. “For our final dates, each man will have thirty minutes with each woman. Dax, you’ll be out on the patio starting with Eden, and Danny, you’ll be in here on the couch with Lexy first. Enjoy your time together.” She dismisses us to our places, and Eden and I sit as she holds a glass of white wine and I hold a Miller Lite.
“So, Dax,” she starts. Her tone is a little awkward, and it seems like she’s doing it on purpose. “Tell me, is there anyone back home I need to worry about?”
I chuckle at her reference to our conversation the night before. “Don’t we all have someone from our past that might worry the person in our future?”
She nods sagely. “I think we probably all do.” She laughs.
“But what happened in the past doesn’t matter. I look forward to what the future might hold for us if the two of us end up together.”
She grins, and it lights up her pretty face.
I find myself suddenly wanting this to work, and with that in mind, I say, “Even if I don’t get to make the final pick tonight, I still want to give this a try with you.”
I’m earnest as I gaze at her, and I realize I’m not doing it to make Kylie proud. She’s already written me off, and while it’s important to earn the trust of the viewers back after the poor decisions I’ve made over the last five weeks, I’m doing this for me. Eden might’ve been dubbed The Bitch by the producers, but she’s not a bitch at all. She’s a good person, and I want to move on from the girl who keeps brushing me off. What better way than to give my full focus to another woman—one who admittedly is falling for me? I’m ready to give it a try outside this strange world where I’ve been dating ten women and she’s been dating two men.
“I’d like that.” She leans forward to kiss me, and I can only imagine what the viewing audience at home must be thinking. Probably what a dog I am, but I can’t change that now. It doesn’t matter, though. I know on the inside that I’m trying to make things right, and it starts here.
Our time is too short together, and I give her a big hug when we part. “See you on the other side,” I say.
She presses her lips together in what looks like an attempt to keep from crying and gives a little wave before she disappears inside. Lexy comes walking out next. I barely had ten seconds to compose myself and get my thoughts in order.
“Hey,” I say.
She sits next to me on the little couch in front of the pool. “Hey,” she says stiffly. She folds her arms over her chest.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
She looks uncomfortable, and then she blurts it out. “Danny told me about you and Melanie.”
My eyes widen. “He what?”
“And you and Poppy.”
“What the fuck?” I mutter as anger flows through my veins. “Are you serious?”
She nods and presses her lips together. “It’s not going to work with us, Dax. I can’t be with someone who messes around with contestants and, jeez, even sleeps with someone who isn’t a contestant. We just don’t have the same values.”
I blow out a breath. I can’t fucking believe Danny would do that to me.
And fuck.
He’s in there with Eden right now. After we had such a great conversation last night, and just now...Danny’s going to fuck it all up so he can win.
I thought he was a good guy. Apparently I was wrong.
What a royal goddamn asshole.
There’s only one way out of this. “I’m sorry,” I say. “I acted like an asshole and you deserve better. You deserve to be with someone like Danny. Sex is an important part of a relationship to me.”
“Yeah, I get that, but you had sex with someone who wasn’t even vying for your heart, and that’s what’s so disappointing.”
“You’re right,” I say. I decide to go for broke. If I’m getting called out, so the fuck is Mel. “I regret what I did. Honestly. Melanie was just such a surprise. I wasn’t expecting her to come onto me, let alone redirect my car. She paid off my driver so I’d end up at her place. I should’ve stood up and said no, and I fear I’ll be paying the consequences for a long time.”
Lexy raises a brow. “She came onto you?”
I shrug. “It doesn’t matter. I wish it hadn’t happened, but it did.”
“And Poppy came onto you first, too?”
Well, if we’re being technical, I came onto her face in a bathroom at a baseball stadium first, but I leave out that detail. Somehow I don’t think it’ll paint me in the light I’m looking for as I try to show my remorse. “I realize now I should’ve said no to both of them, but in the heat of the moment, I didn’t. I acted without thinking of the consequences, without thinking about how everyone else might feel.”
She sighs.
“Sex means something different to everyone, an
d to me, it means I’m connecting with someone. It didn’t lead me to Melanie in the end.”
“Did it lead you to Eden?”
I lift a shoulder as I contemplate how I want this to come across. “We haven’t slept together, if that’s what you’re asking.”
She holds up a hand. “It’s not my business.”
“But it is. You’re in the final two. I know you’ll choose Danny either way if you have that power, but Eden and I have had a connection since the first day. I always liked you, Lexy, but I always knew I wasn’t good enough for your innocence.”
“What does that say about Eden?” she asks.
I laugh. “It says Eden has the type of personality that might be able to handle a handful like me.”
Our half hour passes quickly, and before I know it, Jarrod is ushering us back inside. The women are suspiciously absent as Danny and I gather in front of the fireplace. I shoot him a glare. I can’t believe the bastard told Lexy about Poppy and Melanie, and I can’t help but wonder if he told Eden, too. He avoids eye contact with me, and I’m about to ask him when Melanie starts talking.
“The men will compete again for power tonight, and this competition has a lot riding on it. Whoever wins will choose the final woman standing.”
I silently cross my fingers for a comp that I have some chance of winning.
“Tonight’s challenge is all based on the luck of the draw. We’ll play one hand of cards, a simple game of five card draw. Whoever draws the higher hand chooses the final woman.”
Luck of the draw.
I’ve had my share of both good and bad luck in my life, so I guess it makes sense that it all comes down to luck.
We sit at the dining room table where we shared a meal with the ladies’ families yesterday. Melanie cuts the deck and proceeds to deal our hands. “Nothing’s wild. You can discard no more than three cards.”
I glance at my cards, and I have a queen, a ten, a three, and two sevens.