“Colonel,” Brian said warmly as he reached them.
Becca stood, hugged Grandpa J, and whispered as she felt tears pricking her eyes again, “Thank you.”
His words had made her feel better. She still didn’t know what was going to happen, but she did know that he was right. The love she and Brian had was the sticking kind.
* * *
Brian noticed that Becca had been crying as she hugged The Colonel. But she was also smiling a real smile. All Brian wanted to do was keep that smile on her face for the rest of his life.
“All right now,” The Colonel said as he patted Becca’s back. “I better get back to my walk.”
“You’re not gonna watch the fireworks?” Becca asked as she moved next to Brian. He immediately wrapped his arm around her waist.
“Nah. You seen one, you’ve seen ‘em all,” The Colonel said as he started down the hill. “You kids enjoy ‘em.”
Brian would have offered to walk with him, but he didn’t think that would have gone over so well.
As they watched The Colonel go, Becca wrapped her arms around Brian’s waist and he threaded his fingers in her hair and pulled her head against his chest. Leaning down, he inhaled the sweet smell of vanilla and citrus and kissed her on the top of her head. She hugged him tighter and buried her head against him.
Damn, he loved how she felt in his arms.
“You okay, baby?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she said, looking up at him, her blue eyes still glimmering with unshed tears.
Frustration flooded through him. He wanted to take all of her pain away from her, but he didn’t know how to do that when he was the one causing it. All week, he’d been trying to figure out how to fix everything.
Other than winning the show, he had no idea how to save his parents’ house and their business and put his siblings through school. He could get four jobs and still not scratch the surface of what he needed.
A loud popping sound exploded behind him, and he and Becca moved to the blanket and sat down to watch the fireworks. He sat down first, and she snuggled between his legs, leaning back against him as she rested her hands on his thighs.
He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her even closer to him. When he did, the soft skin of her neck was exposed, and he pressed his lips to it. She breathed out and tilted her head to give him better access as he felt her fingers digging into his legs. Opening his mouth, he ran his tongue up her neck and nipped the sensitive skin right beneath her ear, which he’d discovered she liked. A lot.
“Brian,” she moaned as he kissed the spot he’d just bit. Between labored breaths, she said, “We need…to talk.”
He wanted to ignore her. To keep kissing her until talking was the last thing she wanted to do. But he’d been doing that all week, and he knew that he was just being selfish. Trying to steal every moment he could and fill it with pleasure and memories.
He knew she was right. They needed to talk.
“I know,” he said as he settled back against the cooler and tucked her head beneath his chin.
They were both silent for a moment, watching the fireworks before she said, “I don’t care what happens tomorrow or the next year. All I care about is you and us being together when this is all over.”
He knew that she believed what she was saying, and he knew that she meant what she’d said, but he didn’t think she was really taking into consideration the way she’d felt after she’d seen what had ‘looked’ like him having sex with Brooklyn.
Yes, they’d worked it out. But that’s because they’d been in the same city. In the same house. Face to face. If things like that came up—and he was pretty sure things like that would come up—and they were states away and not actually ‘together,’ he knew it wouldn’t turn out with having hot sex in the shower.
“Becca, it’s not that simpl—”
“I’m serious, Brian.” She sat up and turned around so she was facing him. After taking a deep breath like she was trying to build up courage, she said, “I’ve been thinking about this all week. And one of us winning the show is the only way that we’ll have enough mone—”
“One of us?” he interrupted. “We’ll have enough money?”
No way in hell would he take her money if she won. She could use that for school or to start her own practice. Or whatever she wanted—but he was not taking it.
“Yes,” she said calmly, and she set her hand over his pounding heart. “We have a sixty-six percent chance at winning this. And from what Jessie keeps texting me, with the way all the voting is going, it’s even better than that. So if you win, great. You’ll have the money you need. But if I win, that’ll be great too, because you’ll have the money you need.”
This situation was shitty enough. He was not going to add her having to pretend to date a guy to the pile of crap. If she wanted to do it for her, then great. But no way was he going to take the money like a pimp.
Brian didn’t want to fight with her, but he wanted her to know how serious he was about this. So he said firmly, “No, Becca. I’m not going to take your money. That is not happening. I’ll figure something out. You don’t need to worry about it.”
He saw the look of fire spark in her eye as she crossed her arms. “Do you love me?” she asked—more like demanded an answer.
Trying to stay calm, he said, “You know I love you. It’s not about tha—”
“Do you think I love you?” Again, she demanded more than asked.
“Yes, I know you love me, but—”
“So if the situation were reversed… If I were the one who had to figure out how to help her family, you wouldn’t give me the money?”
“Becca—” Brian heard the warning in his tone. She, however, ignored it or didn’t heed it.
“Answer. The. Question,” she said, evenly spacing her words, her blue eyes boring into him.
Brian scrubbed his face with his hands and then raked his fingers through his hair. He knew where this was going and he didn’t like it, but he answered honestly anyway, saying, “You know I would. I would give you anything, do anything for you.”
Her hands flew up in exasperation. “Oh, so you are allowed to love me. You are allowed to always be there for me. To take care of me. To worry about me. To never let me down. To be everything to me.” Her eyes started filling with tears. “You are allowed to sacrifice for your family. To put your life on hold for the people you love. You are allowed to put everyone else’s needs before yours. But I can’t?”
The tears were now flowing from her face as she said, “I love you, Brian. You are my family. You are everything to me. Nothing makes sense in my life without you. If you’re not okay, I’m not okay. Let me put you first. Let me take care of you. Let me love you.”
His chest felt like someone had just punched it. It killed him, put him in physical pain, to see Becca this upset. And it was his fault. He was so mad that they were in this situation. He was so frustrated that he had no idea how to get out of it, take care of his family, and be with the only person who made his life make any sense. His head was pounding and his heart was racing.
Not knowing what else to do, he pulled her into his arms and held her, burying his head in her neck.
Her arms wrapped around him as she whispered, “I’ll take that as a yes.”
He smiled against her neck. That was the same thing she’d said after she’d told him off about smoking weed in the park. She’d asked him if he’d understood what she’d said, and when he’d just stood there silently staring at her, she tilted her head and said, “I’ll take that as yes.” Then she spun around on her heels and stomped away.
This situation was a lot worse than when he was getting high in a park, but he sure liked having her in his arms better than her stomping away from him.
Now, he just had to make sure that’s where she stayed.
Chapter Twenty-Five
This is it. For better or worse, at least they’d know what their future held.
&nb
sp; Becca tried to remember to breathe and not squint as she sat on the stage. For some reason, the lights seemed brighter than the last time she’d been on this stage. When she walked onto the set twenty minutes ago, she’d been relieved to see that they had switched things up for the finale. Instead of standing, they’d all be seated for the show, which made sense because, instead of a half hour, this show was an hour long. She’d been worried about staying on her feet that long. As it was, she was shaking in her chair.
They were all seated in a semicircle with Lance positioned in the center. The girls were all on one side and the guys were on the other. Becca was in the middle with Brooklyn closest to Lance and Madison at the end. Brooklyn had leaned over and whispered that the seating was an indication that Madison and Jax were getting eliminated first.
They’d been instructed that, fifteen minutes into the show, they would be eliminating the couple with the least amount of votes. Becca figured that Brooklyn could be right—her logic made perfect sense. But Becca also knew that Brooklyn also might just be saying that because, if you followed that logic, it would mean that Brooklyn and Brian would win because they were in what she called “the number one seats.”
That’s what Becca should’ve been hoping for. And part of her was. That would be the easiest resolution to this mess. If Brian could earn the money his family needed, that would be the best outcome. Becca wasn’t kidding herself into thinking that he’d actually agreed to what she’d proposed last night, even though she’d said that she’d taken his silence as a ‘yes’. He would come around. He just needed time. But he would never be okay with it. And she didn’t want their relationship forever tainted by this.
The applause track began playing and Becca jumped, startled. Her palms grew damp as the AD counted them back from the commercial break. This was the segment when the first elimination would take place.
Breathe.
“Welcome back! I’m your host, Lance Sparrow, and this is the live finale of Fairytale Love. I am sitting here with the remaining three couples on their journey to fairytale love, but in a few moments, only two couples will remain.”
There was a dramatic pause, which Becca had learned from seeing snippets of the show on YouTube were usually when they did close-ups of the couples. Becca tried her best to keep her face looking even and pleasant even though, inside, she was freaking out.
“Brian and Brooklyn…you did not get the majority of the votes…”
No! Becca knew that she didn’t want to see them playing kissy face for a year, but until this moment, she hadn’t known just how badly she’d wanted Brian to win, no matter what that cost her. Her eyes flew to his and he looked totally self-contained and self-assured as he waited for Lance to continue.
How did he do that?
He needed to win this. So much depended on him winning this, but he looked like the poster child for calm, cool, and collected.
“…But you did earn enough to be safe. Yes, Brian and Brooklyn have earned enough votes in this portion to earn a spot in the final elimination round,” Lance finished, and the track of clapping and yelling played.
Becca breathed a sigh of relief. She saw a brief flash of disappointment flitter across Brian’s golden eyes. She smiled when their eyes met, and he grinned, but it was not the grin of someone who’d just been saved from elimination on a show he desperately needed to win.
Lance continued. “Jax and Madison…” Again, Lance paused.
Becca’s heart was beating so fast that she wasn’t sure it was taking breaks in between. It felt like it was just holding in the pound position. She had no idea if Lance was going to say that Jax and Madison were safe, like he had with Brian and Brooklyn, or if he was going to flip the script and announce that they were eliminated.
She was on the edge of her seat, and she was sure that that was where they wanted the audience to be too.
“…Are not safe,” Lance finally said. “Jax and Madison did not earn enough votes to move on. Their road to happily ever after has come to an end.”
Becca felt like there was a very real possibility that she was going to be sick. This was more than an emotional roller coaster. This was an emotional car-driving-off-the-edge-of-a-cliff.
As everyone stood and hugged Jax and Madison, saying their goodbyes, Becca realized that, just like she hadn’t known how much she’d wanted Brian to win until she’d thought he was going to lose, she also hadn’t known how much she’d held on to a secret hope, buried deep down, that Jax and Madison would walk away with this and she and Brian would be free to be together.
She knew it was selfish. Totally selfish. She hadn’t even known she was capable of being that selfish, but she guessed that was just one more thing she’d learned about herself.
“Remember folks, keep those votes coming in, we’ll be tallying them up until the very last minute. Who is your favorite Fairytale Couple? Let us know. Every. Vote. Counts.” Lance spoke with a particularly dramatic flair directly into the camera.
Everyone took their seats again, excluding Jax and Madison, who’d left the stage, and Brooklyn nudged Becca. When she turned, Brooklyn was giving her the I-told-you-so look-slash-gloat. Becca just smiled sweetly with a blank look in her eyes, acting completely oblivious to what Brooklyn was ‘saying’ beneath her look. Becca’s ignorance had the intended effect. Brooklyn looked away, irritated.
Becca knew that it was petty, but she just didn’t want to give Brooklyn the satisfaction of acknowledging that she’d been right.
So, in the last ten minutes, she’d been both selfish and petty. Wow. This show was really bringing out the best in her. She looked back at Lance as he read the teleprompter, which was filled with puns and corny jokes.
As Becca sat waiting to find out what her future held, she tried to put her life into perspective. That morning, she’d received a call from the woman she’d met on the plane—Stella. She’d called Becca to say that she was finished with her treatment and that, right now, things looked good but she would keep her updated.
Cancer was a real problem. Losing your house was a real problem. Not having money for medical bills was a real problem.
Having to wait a year to be with a man that loved you and that you loved with all your heart and soul was not a real problem. It was just a bump in the road. And they could handle bumps because their love was the ‘sticking kind’.
With a new resolution in her heart, Becca became present once again and turned her attention to Lance.
“You’ve seen a lot from our couples, from challenges to adventures, fights to romantic overnights. But let’s take a look at what you haven’t seen in a segment we call Fairytale Fun: The Unseen Footage.”
The stage lights dimmed and a large screen behind them started playing a montage of funny moments. Brooklyn tripping when she tried to take her luggage in the house the first day. Brian doing a bunch of impressions, entertaining the guys while they all played basketball, Jax lifting the fridge because Madison thought she’d lost her contact, Leah doing a belly flop as she tried to gracefully dive into the lake, Blake running into a wall. Colton giving Becca a piggy-back ride on the beach and almost stepping on a sunbather.
Becca found herself laughing at all the things that she’d never seen. All the moments she’d had no idea had been captured. Her laughter was short-lived, though, when she heard Lance’s voice-over say, “And now, let’s take an up-close look at our remaining couples.”
A still shot of Brian and Brooklyn kissing in the pool filled the screen, and it was followed by a slideshow of more kissing, more PDA, dancing, laughing… Basically, it was like her nightmare montage set to music.
She swallowed over a lump the size of a baseball that was in her throat and made sure to keep her eyes on the large screen. If she didn’t, then she knew she’d look over at Brian, and she abso-freaking-lutely could not do that. If she looked at Brian, she would not be able to keep the tears, that were threatening at the backs of her eyes, at bay.
Finally, af
ter what seemed like twenty hours but was probably more like two minutes, the music changed and Becca and Colton’s picture replaced Brian and Brooklyn. Which turned out to not be any easier to watch. As picture after picture flashed on the screen set to music, Becca felt guilty. Really guilty.
No, it didn’t make sense for her to feel that way, but it seemed like her emotions weren’t running their game plan past logic. So here she was, sitting across from the love of her life, the man she’d spent every night this past week making love to, while a montage of intimate, loving pictures of her with the man sitting beside him played and they all watched.
This was not fun. Not fun at all.
After an excruciatingly long period of time, the melodic notes of the love song faded out and the screen went black. Becca’s heart pounded as the stage lights came back up. Lance started talking but there was so much pressure in her head his voice sounded muffled like her sisters’ voices used to sound when she was little and she would put her fingers in her ears if she didn’t want to hear them, usually because they were bossing her around.
Her eyes were working just fine though, and they immediately shot to Brian. He sat perfectly still, looking calm on the surface, but in his eyes she could see the simmering of something. It wasn’t anger. It wasn’t hurt. But, it was something. And that something wasn’t good.
“But there are more than just those two couples sitting up on this stage.”
Becca heard Lance announce and snapped her head to look at him.
“That’s right, there is a third couple sitting right beside me.” He smiled with a knowing smile leaning into the camera.
Oh my God. They know. Somehow, they’d found out about her and Brian. What was that going to mean? Did that mean that they would be disqualified? Would they not even get the money that they’d been promised? They had blatantly violated their contract by ‘engaging in inappropriate relations’.
Becca couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t feel her hands. She couldn’t feel her legs.
“There is a couple that has been together almost their whole life.”
Fairytale Love - Becca & Brian Page 24