I accept that. Last night was the first time I’ve ever gotten drunk like that in public. As a general rule, I stick to drinking at home with the girls. Or, as it were, with Jason. Public drunkenness in no way has ever been on my social bucket list, if I ever was to have one.
Emilee’s face pales as I step in closer and take my chair between her and Ryleigh.
“I heard something this morning,” she tells us quietly.
“Oh God. What now?” Ryleigh quips. “After last night, I don’t think I’m ready for more crazy.”
I bump her elbow with mine to get her to stop talking, then turn my attention toward Emilee. “What did you hear?”
Sweet and shy, but seemingly honest as the day is long, Emilee leans forward in her chair as if she’s about to offer a state secret. “I heard we have another contestant on the show.”
“Another what?” I’m confused.
“Yep. She’s right,” Ryleigh answers, then continues. “I’m not one hundred percent sure, so don’t quote me until we know more, but I heard from Leslie, who was talking to Kylee, that she heard from one of her minions in wardrobe that Matt and Willow have pulled a fast one.”
Nothing she said just registered other than, “A fast one?”
“There’s a new member starting soon. A new contestant on the show,” Emilee whispers. “And we’re being introduced to whoever it is this morning.”
This is unexpected, and it has to be said I hate surprises. An unexpected guest this late in the game is bad news.
“I’ve heard Brock’s choices are down to four, and rumor has it that someone else is coming in today. And if these rumors are true, that someone is also being sent in to help with ratings,” Ryleigh continues to impart.
As if more drama is needed.
“Brock’s down to four girls?” I ask.
I haven’t talked to Brock directly in regards to who he’s already casted off. Before we left on break, he told me his second choice was Kate. I stewed on this and hated myself for it. I decided to let it go since we agreed to live between us until the time we no longer can comes. However, I wasn’t completely unaware he’d been making decisions all along.
“We don’t know who’s left,” Emilee conveys. “None of us do until the end. I hope I’m not one of them, though.”
“Me either,” Ryleigh adds. “Bet I know who is left.” She cheers in my direction.
I widen my eyes and look at Emilee, who remains oblivious with her attention bouncing between her lap and glass of water on the table.
“Can I get your attention up here for a minute please?”
All heads turn to the front of the room as Matt stands in front of a small wooden podium. He’s wearing his signature black suit, and his hair as is perfectly in place, per usual. Willow is standing at his side, wearing a simple but elegant black suit as well. She’s smiling into the crowd and making eye contact with each of this year’s chosen contestants.
Kylee is seated front and center, legs crossed and posture perfect. Leslie is sitting at her side, ever the lowly mirroring sidekick. Kate is sitting behind both of them, beaming up with a bright smile at Matt as the makeup crew adds a few final touches to his already perfect appearance.
Scanning the crowd further, I find Mary Ann is sitting far off to our left on her own. Since she was the first to be chosen to date Brock, and being she was labeled the first true competition, she’s understandably shied away from the others. I’d bet my last dollar she wants the same as Ryleigh and Emilee. She wants no part of Brock LaDuece.
If only I felt the same.
“Brock will be joining us in just a few minutes.” Matt clues in the group. “However, I have a few quick announcements to settle before we can begin.”
Matt nods to Clive, who’s standing ten feet in front of the impromptu stage. A microphone is slowly being put in position above where Matt stands. The man holding it looks to Clive, where he nods, then lifts three fingers in the air and silently counts them down.
“What in the world are they up to?” Ryleigh whispers in my ear. “The cameras are all rolling, and Matt’s text said this was going to be an informal briefing.”
Had I not been reveling in my post epic sexual adventure with Brock last night, followed by my hungover wave of added uncertainty this morning, I would’ve known more about what’s going on.
“This week’s rating results have come in,” Matt advises directly, without preamble. “This season, so far, has done better than last. Yet, we’ve found there to be many marked areas for improvement.” Matt stresses the word improvement at the same time Brock steps into the room.
He doesn’t look into the crowd in front of him, but instead walks with weighted steps before taking a seat directly behind Willow. I don’t get more than a few quick glimpses of his face here and there; however, his hand is on his knee as it bounces a mile a minute. He’s either still put off by whatever it is I don’t remember from last night, or Matt’s news is about to shake the very ground we all cattily stand on.
“Oh shit,” Emilee whispers beside Ryleigh. “Brock looks pissed.”
“Because of this,” Matt pushes forward, “we’re adding to the members of this year’s...” he pauses, lifts his hand, and motions in air quotes, “cast of characters.”
All the women turn to look at each other while Emilee, Ryleigh, and I keep our eyes trained to the front. More female contestants will inevitably bring more drama. More would also mean additional dates for Brock, and less time for us together.
I swallow hard and wait to find out how many I’ll undoubtedly have to share him with.
“Evan?” Matt calls, focusing to his right just as that Evan walks out onto the makeshift stage.
“Holy shit, Brooke!” Ryleigh shrieks.
All eyes in our small proximity come to her as she holds my wrist tightly in her grasp. Once collecting herself, she sinks slightly in her chair and fakes removing a piece of invisible lint from her dress.
Once most of the eyes are off us, I whisper, “What the hell?”
“Evan is here to duel,” Matt jokingly describes his position. “All in fun, of course.”
Willow steps in where Matt steps back. She grabs the mic from the stand and takes a step beside the podium. This leaves a clear, unobstructed view of Brock. His cheeks are red, and his eyes are narrow. They’re also aimed at me.
“Ladies, I have great news!” she bellows in her usual jovial, shrieking tone. “We have another bachelor. I know you’ll have questions, and answers will come. In the meantime, please know we’re so proud of Brock for his work here, and in no way does this addition take away from his choice of women. However...” She trails off, turns back to Brock, then looks to Matt and winks. “Evan, too, will have the opportunity to get to know a few of you. I can assure you he’s caught up on all the names and faces, and we’re happy to say he’s assured Matt and I he’s up for the challenge.”
“Oh my,” Ryleigh sighs. “This just took an interesting turn.”
Taking my eyes from Brock, I move my gaze to Ryleigh, where I find her looking worried on my behalf.
“That’s the guy, right?” she asks as Evan steps up in front of the crowd and adjusts his suit jacket. “From last night. Same Evan?”
I don’t answer as Evan greets us, using the deep voice I definitely remember from last night. “Good morning, ladies.” He turns in place, nods to Brock and adds, “And gentleman.”
Hushed whispers and excited smiles paint the crowd. Even Emilee appears to be tucking in a shy grin.
“I’ll keep my introduction short. My name is Evan Carson, and I’m looking...”
Through the hazy static in my head, I hold no interest in Evan’s introduction. I don’t hear his voice. I don’t see his face. I don’t care about his story. All I can focus on is Brock. The hurt centering in my chest pales in comparison to the betrayal blanketing his expression.
Chapter Forty-Three
I almost told the first woman in my life that I loved
her and she cried.
Brock
-
“This will be a great opportunity.” Evan extends his appreciation as he stands across from me and next to Matt.
Great opportunity.
Last night was a set up. Either Brooke didn’t know she was being tailed to the club, or she did and in her drunken state forgot to mention it. Somewhere between her intimate conversation with Evan and her fucking me as hard as she did in the limo, she left out the part about his new role in this ridiculous charade.
“I assume you still have the list of women who are left.” Jerry pops in at my right, speaking directly to Evan. “Any of those girls are available. The others, unfortunately, are not.”
Evan pats his suit pocket twice while confirming, “I do. Thank you, Jerry.”
“How’s this work?” I question, my voice as coarse as my annoyance to this sick new twist I hadn’t seen coming. “Is Evan supposed to pick from the girls I’ve already dated?”
Walking up to my side, I hear Willow clear her throat. She doesn’t add anything to the conversation, but looks to Matt. It’s then we all do, waiting for his answer. When he doesn’t offer one, I surmise this is about to go in a worse direction than I originally thought.
“So he’ll be choosing from those I still have to choose from?”
Matt nods. His jaw is tight, so it’s obvious he doesn’t want to be challenged. However, neither do I, so we’re on fair ground.
“Evan will be dating those same girls,” he finally voices. “Your role won’t change. However, the game already has.”
“I see that,” I seethe. My jaw aches from clenching it as I have been over the last hour.
“Evan will take out the same girls you are, on different nights of course, where he’ll get to know them. In the end, if you two should choose the same woman, it’ll be up to her to decide which proposal she’ll accept, if either.”
All of this is fucked.
Taking in a desperately needed breath of air, I nod in the other direction and take a few steps back. Close at my heels comes Matt.
Before I have a chance to say my piece, he rushes in. “This isn’t how you imagined the rest of the show to go, Brock. I understand and can appreciate that.”
“No,” I bite out. “You can’t.”
“The point of this is simple,” he starts, while dismissing my curt tone. “And I’ll tell you now, this most likely will not interfere with Brooke at all.”
My neck snaps back, and a sharp pain curses my temples. “What did just you say?”
Smiling, Matt clarifies. “I assume since you’ve not said anything about dating her, talking to her, or so much as mentioning her at all, that she’s already your pick.”
“You assume this how exactly?”
“Experience, my friend. You forget this is my job. As such, it’s my job to know who comes from whose hotel room and when.”
Fucking hell.
“No matter,” he eases. “Nothing truly matters at this point. Not until the last card has been played and the bachelors cast their final vote.”
Funny he mentions cards so casually, considering it was a game of cards that got me into this shit storm in the first place.
“I’ll have Jerry send the finalized itinerary to you. Now that there are two bachelors, we need to use our time wisely. Your date with Ryleigh Summers is tonight, which leaves only Kylee and Brooke.”
“Right,” I confirm, now with a voice fully vexed.
“And Kate is still in the running, right?” he queries. The hair on the back of my neck stands at end. Knowing he’s conspired all this time causes my hand to twitch. I’d love nothing more than to level him, but as always, the cameras are in motion.
“Yes, she is.”
Looking down, Matt puts his hands in his suit pockets. His dimple belies his sincerity when he mumbles, “Kate or Brooke.”
“What?”
“Oh, nothing. Willow and I had both agreed. For you, the decision would come down to either Kate or Brooke.”
“And Evan’s pick?” I question, feeling my blood race with anger. My temples are throbbing. Surely, he can see I’m pissed.
With a blank expression, Matt straightens to look me in the eye. “The same.”
Fuck this shit.
“You set this up from the beginning.”
Sighing, Matt crosses his arms over his chest. “I never lied to you, Brock. This is business.”
A callous mock of laughter bursts from my chest. Willow turns in place and Evan follows after. Their eyes are on us, as is the camera, though probably not close enough to hear.
“This isn’t how a business runs, Matt. You set me up.”
“I was very honest when I told you I hoped your presence on the show would give it the push it needs to prevail through another season. Reality television isn’t new. Viewers have grown tired of the same old, same old.”
“You’re an asshole,” I clip, not that it matters. He must already know.
Matt, so suave and discerning, once again refuses to acknowledge what a prick he truly is. Rather, he offers, “Well, then. May the best man win.”
As he walks back to where he came, I stand alone and watch as Evan extends his hand to Matt, then Jerry. Willow straightens her pose as Evan kisses her cheek.
May the best man win, my ass. Everything in my life can’t always be a fucking set up.
“Matt knows we’re sleeping together, Brooke. Ryleigh knows. Clive knows. Christ, is there anyone who doesn’t?”
I’m standing in Brooke’s room waiting for Ryleigh, Addie, and Drew to get back from dinner. Drew doesn’t know it yet, but he’s about to be my wingman for tonight’s date with his new pal Ryleigh. That’s if the asshat ever finds his way back to the hotel.
Apparently, after spending one night in each other’s company, our mutual friends have somehow undoubtedly formed a bond. Visions of the next Thursday night reality show now include those three idiots being the cast of characters in the remake edition of Three’s Company.
Brooke sent me a text message as I was dealing with Matt. She said she’d be in her room waiting after I finished downstairs. Nothing felt right about storming in here as I did. Nothing’s felt right since finding out she’s all but given me away to another woman before our time to end this is over.
Because I know at the end of this, it’ll be one of them who gets to keep you.
I don’t know what pisses me off more. The fact Brooke, the only person I’ve been sleeping with, can’t see her hand in front of her face because she’s so stubborn, or the fact that Evan gets a shot at taking her from me. The notion she may find him to be everything I’m not hasn’t escaped me, but rather, it continues to fuel my already well-lit fury.
“Maybe he doesn’t know anything, but he thinks he does,” Brooke reaches. She’s been grasping at straws since I got here and explained what the man said, word for word.
Adding to all this cluster, I have a date with Ryleigh in three hours. No doubt, Janet is discussing me and Brooke with Jack and Chrissy at the Regal Beagle right now.
“Maybe we should take a break,” I strongly suggest.
I can’t take back the words once I’ve said them, and for the first time since meeting Brooke, a stark look of undeniable doubt, coupled with sudden grief, passes over her face. She quickly tries to hide it, but it’s too late. Like my words, she can’t take back what she feels. She’s not as unaffected by me as she portrays. Though, all of this remains, and I need a mental break before I have a breakdown.
“You don’t mean that,” she tells me, walking away from me to take a seat on the bed.
Last night I didn’t touch her as she slept. Not once did I let myself reach over to assure myself she was there. I’ve only slept alone in my room once since I got here, and that fact alone is enough to convince me I need to catch my breath. I’ve got to find out if it’s truly Brooke I care about, or if I’ve been using her the same way she’s been using me. I want to know if we’re
anything more than a crutch to each other.
“I think I do mean it, Brooke. I’m not saying it’s over.”
“Not yet,” she adds in a vindictive tone, looking up and leveling me with her eyes. “There’s only three weeks left of taping...” She pauses, looks down, then finishes, “Then you’re getting married.”
“I am,” I confirm. Everything I’ve worked my entire life to procure hangs on the balance of what transpires in the next three weeks. Brooke’s not committed anything to my future, and I know because I’ve pushed.
I’m tired of pushing.
“He’ll choose you,” I brazenly assure her. “Evan will. I know it.”
Though I haven’t had a lot of time to process what happened today with our new guest, I have no doubt, if given the choice, he’ll choose Brooke. Not because Matt may clue him in on what’s happened between her and me, either. But because Evan will see the same in her that I do—a fun, beautiful, carefree woman who completes a man before he’s ever realized the other half of him was missing.
The thought of them together sickens me.
With my hands shaking in fury and my heart already exposed, I summarize what she believes we’ve been doing. “It was sex. We were having fun and having sex. You’ve said it yourself. Once your ‘adventure’ is over, you’ll move back to your family and you’ll forget about me.”
“About us,” she corrects. The sad look in her eyes gives me another glimpse of her wavering uncertainty.
God damn it, admit it. Something. Anything.
“Yes,” I confirm without wanting it to be true. “It’ll be the end of us.”
“If this is what you want?” she starts. Her mouth shuts, and she looks down. I can’t see her face to know if she’s close to breaking.
“Brooke,” I call. “Look at me.”
“No,” she whispers. “You’re right. I will go home. My life will go on and so will yours.”
“Separately,” I include.
Nodding, she folds her hands in her lap. “Separately.”
“All this would be a fuck of a lot easier if you’d just admit you care about me.”
Looking up, Brooke’s eyes narrow. “Of course I care about you.” Her head rears back as though I’ve physically struck her. “What did you think? For you to...”
F*CK Reality: Take One Page 23