Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 74940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
“Could what?” I ask.
“Infatuation isn’t love,” she says, more to herself than to me.
I grab her hand. “No, it’s not. You’ll do well to remember that.” Then I sigh. “Though it’s all very complicated, isn’t it? And these games, this event... More complications.” I squeeze her hand. “You’re all right, aren’t you? You didn’t do anything you didn’t want to do? Didn’t feel any kind of misplaced obligation?”
Ariel shakes her head. “No. It’s more like regret in hindsight. I may have cost myself what I thought I may have been developing with Alex. It seems I just don’t have what the rest of you ladies have.”
“Beauty? Brains? Grit? You’ve got all of that in spades, Ariel.”
“Not in the same way. Maybe I’ve been trying too hard to fit in. I’m not an underwear model like June, not a doctor like Ginger, not an heiress like Misty.”
“None of us needs to be Misty,” I say dryly.
“But you know what I mean. Look at you, Em. You’re beautiful and talented. A rising star in New York fashion. And I’m a hayseed from Alabama who makes a living on her feet, skating around and delivering food. Still, I felt like I was making headway, but now... June is going to go after Alex, and Brett seems to have forgotten I exist.”
I choose not to divulge my interlude in the hot tub with Brett a mere hour ago. “Look,” I tell her. “I can’t keep building you up, love. You have to learn to do that for yourself.”
“I’m not asking you to.”
“Good. Because you don’t need it.” I stretch my legs, and the blue waves crawl up to the shore, dancing across my toes. The hot sun warms my face—I again forgot to bring sunscreen, blast it—and I let myself feel calm.
But only for a moment.
Then I stand and reach for Ariel’s hand, pulling her up beside me.
“If you and I stay on this island,” she says. “We need answers. Transparency. We didn’t sign up for games.”
“The games have been kind of fun,” Ariel says.
“I’m not talking about feeling the men’s chests or that ridiculous orgasm game that neither of us got to play. I’m talking about what’s going on behind the scenes. What Misty is up to. And June, for that matter. Ginger and Rachel. And Evangeline. She’s the key to all of it.”
“Or the men are,” Ariel says.
“Exactly. And I want the truth about all of them.”
At this point, I have nothing to lose. I can leave the island. It may cost me what I came for, but I can leave. And I will, unless I find out this is all above board. If I find out we’re being watched? Surveilled? Tracked like rats in a maze?
I’m so out of here, and NDA be damned. I’ll be calling the tabloids and selling this to the highest bidder.
“Come on,” I say to Ariel. “We’re getting answers. Or else we’re going home.”
EPISODE 75
ENGLISH THORN
River
Cold water pummels me as I wash my hair.
Yup, a cold shower.
And not just because I’m hard as a rock thinking about Emily, but also because I need to relieve the angry crow pecking at the back of my neck.
Regular cold showers, according to my personal physician, can lower stress levels by increasing the level of beta-endorphins and noradrenaline in the blood. They’re also effective for muscle recovery after intense physical exercise, and after last night with Emily, I used muscles that have clearly lain dormant for a while. Not that I don’t have a lot of sex, but we engaged in some robust gymnastics.
I don’t want any reminders of that after seeing her with Brett this morning.
Once I’ve washed Emily and Brett—and God, last night with Misty—from my body, I turn off the water and grab a towel from the warmer. It eases the chill immediately, and I feel...
Well, not better, exactly, but at least clean.
I dry off, dress in a black short-sleeved button down and denim shorts, and then begin to throw things into my overnight bag. I choose the smaller suitcase because I’m not quite sure if I’m leaving for good. Once I’m gone, if the men insist that Misty leaves the island, I will probably return. If not, I’ll have my belongings packed and shipped back to Montana. My plan for now is to escort Sienna to the mainland, get her on the flight home, and check on Ginger and Rachel at the hospital.
Despite the cold shower, my mind whirls with emotion as I throw my deodorant into the bag with unusual vigor.
Damn Brett.
Damn Emily.
Damn Seb.
Damn Evangeline and Misty.
And you know what?
Damn Rachel, too.
I hate that she nearly drowned, and I’ll figure out the story behind that, but fuck it all. I thought Rachel and I had a connection the first night, and she went and fooled around with Ginger. Was she here to meet a man or a woman? Did it even matter to her? Did I matter to her?