Cuddling her until we both fell asleep was also a highlight. As was waking up to her in my arms this morning. Of course, like every morning since the show started, I wake up with a raging hardon. One she is currently grinding her ass into. I don’t know if she is awake, but I lay there waiting for a sign that she is. But she is either playing hard to get or is really asleep. So, I run my hand down her side, past her hip, and down to the bottom of her robe. I let my fingers hook the fabric of the robe as I work my way back up her thigh. I move my hand toward the front of her robe, and when I encounter the wetness of her core, I almost groan.
I start teasing her clit, making her hips move in circles as she tries to hold in her moans. I smile as she rolls onto her back and grabs me by the neck and kisses me. My fingers never stop teasing her. Her hands find my throbbing erection. After a few more moments of pleasuring each other with our hands, I move over her. Position my cock at her entrance and thrust in hard.
She cries out in pleasure as she wraps her legs around my hips. This gives me a deeper penetration and more sensation. I can’t control myself as I start to thrust into her. The sensations are too much for me. I can’t control myself. I have to pound into her. I can’t help it. I have to do it.
I have to mark her as mine. I have to let her know just who belongs inside her. I need to give her all I can now, because when the show is over, how knows how long it will be until we are able to see each other.
The sensations take over and shockingly, we come at the same time. Her crying my name and me growling hers. I drop my forehead against hers as I try to catch my breath. I have never felt like this during sex before. Never. Not once was I not able to control myself. Not once was I not able to keep a handle on my own pleasure. Not once was sex ever like this. It’s almost like I can’t get enough. Almost like she was made for me. To challenge me in and out of the bedroom.
“I love you.” I whisper in her ear, before I kiss her cheek.
She remains quiet. Did I say something wrong? I pull back and look into her eyes. Which are shining with tears. I frown, did I hurt her? Was I too rough? I lean down and kiss her. I need to apologize. I didn’t mean to make her cry. What did I do? How can I fix this?
“I am so sorry.” I whisper, as I pull out of her and pull her to my chest.
“No, need to be sorry.” She tells me.
“What?” I ask. “Then why are you crying?”
“Because you said you love me. Do you mean it?” She asks me.
“I don’t say things I don’t mean.” I tell her.
“I love you too.” She tells me before kissing me once more.
***
After another round of hot passionate sex, its finally time to leave our Villa and head to the challenge area for today’s elimination challenge. I haven’t told Ari this, but as we leave our Villa, still have that bad feeling in my stomach. It’s almost liked a pit of nerves. Why? I have no clue. But its stronger today than ever before.
I don’t know if it’s because I don’t know what todays challenge will be. I don’t know if it is because we were gone from camp for an entire night. I don’t know. It could be because I don’t know if our plan to get William out next, is still the plan. I mean it was before yesterday’s challenge. But I don’t know. What if they changed their minds and flipped to get one of Ari or I out? I highly doubt that because I don’t see Caleb doing that. I also don’t see Rachel doing that either.
But I don’t like this uneasy feeling in my stomach. I don’t like feeling like something is going to go bad today. I don’t like it at all.
I try my best to hide it from Ari, as we pull up to the golf cart that will take us to the challenge. She seems rather quiet. Holding my hand, but not saying anything. Not that we could anyways, we aren’t supposed to talk. But still. I don’t know if it’s her palms or mine, but one of them is sweating. I smile down at her, give her a quick kiss, to reassure her that we are fine, and take a deep breath as we pull up to the path that will take us to the challenge area.
“We have this. Don’t you worry.” I tell her.
I don’t want her feeling worried about anything right now. I just want to focus on this challenge, get the elimination over with, and go back to camp and talk to Rachel, talk to Caleb, and see what happened while we were gone.
We walk the path to the challenge area, and I see six tables set up. Across from the tables are piles of what look like wooden blocks. Connected to the table is a rope. I look closer at the tables, as we approach our waiting competition, they are on springs. What the hell kind of challenge is this? We line up with the rest of our team, and wait for Chris, who comes in a few seconds after Ari and I arrive.
“Welcome to today’s elimination challenge.” Chris says. “Today you will be stacking blocks on a table. Not just any table, a table that moves. You will control the movement of your table with the ropes attached to them. This challenge isn’t as easy as it sounds.” He grins. “On the blocks are letters. They spell out a word. You must stack them backwards, meaning last letter first, to spell out the word.”
Inwardly I groan, spelling something backwards isn’t easy. Let alone not knowing what it is you are spelling. It’s like a word scramble game without the answer key.
“First one to spell the word completely and correctly, and return back to their starting mat, wins immunity from today’s elimination.” He says. “We randomly assigned you spots. Let’s get ready.”
I kiss Ari, for good luck, something I try to do before every challenge. It worked for us as our original team of two, I don’t see how it wouldn’t work now.
I never expected to find love here on this show, but I did, and I don’t want to see it end. I want to make it to the end with her so that no matter what, both of us will have won the money.
We are in place, each of us holding the rope attached to our table and waiting for the go. When Chris gives it, I turn my attention to my blocks. I need to figure out what it spells. I separate the blocks and try to arrange them into a word. After what feels like forever, I finally think I have the word. I grab the last letter of the word and grab my rope and make my way to my table. I place the block in the center and carefully move backwards. Grabbing the second block and taking it carefully to my table.
I am moving slow because I don’t want to disrupt the table and spill my letters. I don’t want to have to start all over again. I place the third and fourth block and make my way backwards, but I trip and spill my letters off my table. I race forward, collect them, and take them back to my starting mat.
I have to start over, and I try not to let my anger show. I focus on being careful and paying attention to what I am doing. I place the first three blocks, before I spare a glance, beside me at Ari. Her blocks are scattered on the ground. I inwardly cheer her on. I need one of us to win. I want one of us to win.
I grab my fourth block and carefully make my way to the table. I place it and go ever so slowly back for the next block. It seems like it takes forever, but I can finally see the end in sight. I have just two blocks remaining. I grab the second to last one and make my way forward again. Keeping a firm hold on my rope the whole way. I place the block and walk backwards, not taking my eyes off my stack. I grab my last block and make my way forward. Once it’s placed, I carefully make my way backwards. Not paying attention to anything around me. I step on my starting mat and call for Chris.
He comes over examines my word and smiles. “Ryder wins immunity!” He calls. “The challenge is over.”
I heave a sigh of relief as all six of us make our way to the front of the challenge. I stand there proud and smiling. I stand beside Ari and hold her hand. She must really be my good luck charm. I won because I kissed her. Because I knew she loves me. I kiss her gently again. Gaining a glare from Rachel.
I frown, what was that glare about? I thought Rachel was alright with this. She told me that as long as Ari made me happy, that she didn’t care what I did. Which I accepted, because even though Rachel is m
y sister, I don’t think I would have listened to her.
I catch Rachels attention and mouth. William, still, right?
She just nods and smiles at me. I take a deep breath. This is perfect. It will be the four of us in the final five. Leaving Zach as our next easy target. I am relieved that this is still the plan. I will be so happy to see the egotistic William out of the game for good.
Chris passes around the voting plaques. He instructs each of us to write down who we are voting for. I of course vote for William. I would be stupid not to vote for William. That is the plan. The plan that my alliance of four came up with. One by one we turn in our votes and wait for Chris to read them.
I find myself holding Ari’s hand as we wait. Holding her hand, makes me feel calm, like she was placed in this game to make me slow down and not be so anxious all the time.
“It’s time to read the votes. But first, does anyone have an idol?” Chris says.
I look down at Ari and shake my head. She doesn’t need to use her idol just yet. The plan will go as planned and she will be safe for two more votes.
“Alright, let’s get started.” Chris begins. “First vote. William… Second vote. Ari.”
I frown, of course Zach or William would vote for Ari. Why wouldn’t they?
“Ari… Ari… William.” Chris reads.
I frown again. That’s three votes for Ari. Who of my alliance turned on Ari? Was its Rachel? Caleb? What happened to the four of us being in the final four together? What happened to our plan?
“We have three votes for Ari, and two votes for William. One vote left.” He says as he pulls out the last plaque. “Seventh person voted out and joining our jury is… Ari.”
My heart falls. I told her not to use her idol. I told her that she was safe. I look down at her, pull her into my arms and kiss her. I need to let her know I didn’t know about this. That I didn’t know they would do this to her.
I whisper in her ear. “I am so sorry. I didn’t know.” I kiss her lips once more. “I didn’t know. I love you.”
She has tears in her eyes as she walks away from me. A production assistant is standing there waiting to take her from the challenge area. As I watch her wipe the tears from her face, I cannot help but be angry. I was lied to. My sister played me. Ari’s brother played both of us. How could my alliance do this to us? We were going to be the final four. We were going to make sure one of our families would have won this game. They fucked it up. They fucked everything up.
I didn’t get to hear Ari tell me she loves me. Does she think I had something to do with this? Does she think I told her not to use her idol because I was in on this? I sure as hell hope not. Because I will avenge her. I will take every last one of them fuckers out. Her brother, my sister. They will be the next to go. I can fucking guarantee it.
TWENTY-THREE
Ari
“I am pissed. How dare Rachel and Caleb lie to me? I thought we had a final four agreement. I thought we were an alliance. I was fucking lied to.”
Ryder Holt
I am numb as I walk away from the challenge area. I am numb as I walk away from Ryder. He said he loved me. He said he didn’t know. Part of me believes him. But part of me doesn’t. He told me not to use the idol. I trusted him. I listened to him. I did as he said. Look where that got me. Eliminated.
I mean, I made it further in the game than I thought I would make it, but still, it’s hard to know that out of six people, four voted for me. One of which was my own brother. My own blood. He voted for me. He eliminated me. I mean, I know this is a game, and one of us was going to have to be eliminated, but I never thought that he would vote for me. He told me to take Ryder for the reward. He told me to choose love. Did he and Rachel plan this? Did they want me eliminated? Is that why he told me to take Ryder?
I don’t know what to think, as I am led into the medical tent. They take my weight, ask me questions about how I am feeling. They tell me that I lost fifteen pounds while here on the game. They check my vitals and everything, before taking me out of the area, and to a larger version of the villa I shared with Ryder. I am led to a room, where I am told to shower, and change out of my game clothes. I am given directions to the kitchen, where the others are sure to be waiting for me to tell them about what happened.
I don’t know if I am ready for that. So, I purposefully take a super long hot shower. I change into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that my students made me last year on the last day of school. I pull my hair back into a ponytail, before leaving my room for the kitchen. I am afraid to know what they will want to know. I am afraid to answer their questions. I am afraid to sit down with them. I had a part in all of them being eliminated. I had issues with a few of them. I just hope that they understand that this is a game and not really how I am, outside the game.
I walk into the kitchen, which is a large industrial sized kitchen, set up with a large table, three cooks, and a bar. Soda, juice, coffee, even alcohol, are all lined up in refrigerators behind the bar. I take a seat next to Farrah, the girl who was eliminated first. She smiles at me before pulling me into her arms.
Before I know what is happening, I am being smushed in the middle of a giant group hug. I swear every single one of them is hugging me. When they finally let me go, I am handed a menu and asked what I would like to eat. I ask for a bacon cheeseburger and mozzarella sticks. I deserve to have all the fatty foods I want right now.
“We never expected them to eliminate you.” Farrah tells me.
“Really?” I ask.
“No, and by the way Ryder reacted, I would say he didn’t know either. I saw him shake his head no at you. I assume you did in fact have the idol.” Sandra says.
“I did.” I say.
“Who are you going to gift it to?” Farrah asks.
I frown. Who am I going to gift it to? I don’t know what she is talking about. I didn’t know that was possible.
“You can gift the idol to another player. I was told when I was eliminated, that if I had it, I could gift it to someone in the game. I didn’t have it, so I couldn’t.” Sandra says.
“I guess I will have to think about it.” I say.
“You should give it to Ryder. He was devastated by your elimination. The look of pure anger and hurt was all we saw before Chris ushered us off.” Farrah says.
I am in shock. Not only did they say that Ryder didn’t know about my elimination, but that he was angry and hurt by it. That makes me feel so much better on the inside. I mean, now I know I could believe him when he said he didn’t know. And now that I know I can gift my idol to someone left in the game, I will definitely be giving it to him.
“What did he whisper in your ear, before you left?” Abby asks.
I smile. “He said he was sorry and that he didn’t know.”
“I heard something that sounded like I love you. Did he say that?” Meredith asks.
I nod. “He did tell me he loves me.”
I have to stop talking because tears are flooding my vision. I don’t want to cry right now. I cried on the way out of the clearing. I cried in the shower. I don’t want to cry right now. I don’t want to think about what was left behind. I don’t want these people to see me cry.
My food arrives and so does a production assistant. I am informed that after I eat, I need to give my exit interview. Of course, I forgot about the interviews that I will be subject to. I hunker down and listen to the others gush about how they just knew that Ryder and I had a thing going on. That they could see it on our faces at each challenge and how we acted at camp. Sandra apologized for the way she was in the game. Of course, I did too.
It’s weird seeing these people outside the game. They are nothing like they were in the game. Of course, I should have known this. I mean, who in their right mind would be crazy enough to go through people’s things in the real world. I mean, it is just a game, one we all wanted to win. I have to remember that.
***
“Did you have any idea that you would be elim
inated tonight?” Lacey asks me.
I shake my head. “Of course not. If I did, I would have played the idol.”
Her eyes widen as I pull it out of my pocket. So that I could gift it to Ryder.
“I see. I had assumed that you didn’t have it. Even us production assistants don’t know everything.” She says with a laugh. “Why didn’t you play it?”
“I was stupid. I believed that my alliance with Caleb, Rachel, and Ryder would actually stick together to the end. I was played.”
“I see. So, now that you were eliminated, who do you hope makes it to the end?”
“Honestly?”
“Preferably.”
“Ryder and Caleb. Even if I am pissed off at him right now, he is still my brother and I do want him to win.”
“What did Ryder tell you before you left tonight?”
“He told me he was sorry and that he didn’t know it would be me. Before the votes were read, he told me secretly not to use the idol.”
“I have heard rumors that he said he loves you. Did he say that?”
I just smile and do not answer.
TWENTY-FOUR
Ryder
“I don’t know who I want to win right now. Both Ryder and Caleb have my votes.”
Ari Harper
Exit interviews
Day Twenty-Three
The first night without Ari sucked. I couldn’t sleep. All I could think about was her teary eyes as she walked away without telling me she loved me back. I keep seeing her shocked face when her name is called to be eliminated. I keep seeing how hurt she was when she looked at me. Almost like she blamed me. I kept picturing her with the jury members.
That what makes me feel so bad. She is now a part of the jury. And I don’t know how the jury members will treat her. She had beef with a few of them. I wish I could have traded places with her. I wish I could have taken her place. I wish so many things. I just wish that this didn’t end that way.
Playing For Keeps (Romancing The Games Book 1) Page 15