by Lisa Suzanne
“Go on,” he says, scribbling something on his paper.
“And then when I heard my name for the first time, I felt this sense of relief. To get one vote meant that one woman in that room wanted to be with me over those other guys, and that meant a lot to me.”
“Which of the women stands out most to you on night one?” Jarrod asks.
“You want me to name names?”
He nods. “We only use this footage if you go far with the ones you name tonight. We can use it as a flashback to show you felt it on the first night.”
That doesn’t ease my mind. What if I end up with one of the girls I don’t name on the first night and she sees it when the show airs?
And why do I suddenly give a flying fuck about that?
“All of the women stood out in one way or another.”
He sighs with impatience. “Then run through all of them and tell me what you liked.”
“I liked Eden’s directness. She pulled me aside first, and she doesn’t give a shit about—” Jarrod holds up his hand, interrupting me.
“What?”
“Start over, this time without the word ‘shit.’”
“Oh shit,” I mutter. I shake my head. “Sorry.”
Jarrod smiles tightly, and I get the sudden feeling he just wants to go home. I wonder what his life is like outside of this show.
“I liked Eden’s directness. She pulled me aside first, and she didn’t seem to care if someone else wanted to talk to me first. I like how she took what she wanted.”
“Better,” he says, his focus on his sheet of paper.
“I thought Nicole was incredibly kind, and the paper she gave me from her kindergarteners was just genuinely nice. Plus I could picture her in her teacher clothes, a short skirt and tight shirt and a pair of black glasses and her hair in a bun…” I drift off, lost in thought about Nicole in a slutty outfit.
Jarrod snaps his fingers. “Back to Earth, please.”
“Sorry. My first impression of Talia changed drastically after we spoke. She was attractive before we talked, but she didn’t seem like my type.”
“What about Kristy?”
I laugh. “Kristy claims she’s going to convert me to a Hawks fan. I don’t see that happening. Ever. But she’s friendly and I can see myself having a lot of fun with her.”
“Who did you find the sexiest?”
“Poppy. She kissed me the moment we met. She seems like a lot of fun.”
We wrap up the interview and I am free to go. Before I leave, Jarrod hands me a bag. I peek inside and see the gifts the women gave me when they introduced themselves.
There’s a car waiting to take me home, and it feels so strange to get in by myself after the huge event that just went down. I feel like there should be someone out here waiting to wish me congratulations for making it onto the show, or maybe the women should be here so I could talk to them more. Or maybe Danny and I could compare notes. The driver doesn’t even greet me. No cameraman sits in the backseat waiting to interview me.
I just feel very alone.
I pull up Kylie’s contact information before we’re even out of the driveway. I sit and stare at her number for a moment, and then I turn off my phone and toss it on the seat next to me.
This is the type of news that needs to be delivered in person, not over the phone.
And besides, it’s after one in the morning. It’s too late to call.
On my ride home, I can’t stop the thoughts that filter through my mind.
I met the ladies, and I stared at my competition standing beside me.
A twinge of guilt riddles my brain.
These women have pure intentions. Some of them even have kids. They want to find a man to spend the rest of their lives with, and some are looking for a man who could be a father. I have no illusions that this will actually work, but these women believe it might. So am I just the prick who hopes the last one standing will choose me in the end just so I can win some money then turn around and break her heart?
A rush of anxiety trickles down my spine.
I suddenly find myself in a bit of a moral dilemma.
I don’t want to let down the last woman standing, but I can’t let down my band.
My band comes first. I’ll do whatever it takes to give MFB our big break...but maybe there’s a compromise.
Maybe I need to give this a real shot. I owe it to the women competing for my heart.
12
It’s after three-thirty when the car finally pulls into my driveway. I don’t expect anyone to be awake, but I’m excited to share my news.
I figure I’ll wake up Brody to let him know, and then I’ll tell the other guys in the morning.
But I don’t have to.
When I walk in the front door, the first person I see is Kylie. She’s sprawled across my couch, totally asleep, peaceful and beautiful. I’ve never seen her sleeping before, and the odd thought strikes me that I want to see it again.
I set my bag on the counter and grab a blanket. I drape it over her as quietly as I can, and then I move toward the stairs to head up to bed, loneliness I wasn’t expecting aching in my chest.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Kylie’s raspy voice asks.
I turn around. “To bed. Am I wrong?”
She shakes her head against the pillow. “Not until you tell me everything. I didn’t fall asleep on your couch just to wait until morning to find out if you made it.”
I can’t help my grin at her feistiness even when she’s half asleep. She sits up, pulling the blanket more tightly around her, and I sit beside her.
“Thanks for the blanket. The guys told me to wake them up when you got home.” She stretches her legs out onto my lap. “They want to be the first to know.”
“Not yet,” I say softly, not wanting to spoil this quiet moment with Kylie.
I don’t even realize the words slipped out of my mouth until she gives me a strange look. “Not yet?” she repeats.
“I just wanted to tell you what happened first.” Thank God for thinking quickly on my feet. “You know, since you’re the one who wanted me to do this in the first place.”
She nods, a look of understanding passing across her face. “And?”
“And what?” I stall.
She giggles and leans over to smack me lightly on the shoulder. “Did you make it?”
I grin, and a wide smile graces her face in return.
“Holy shit, Dax! You did it?”
“Of course I made it. Did you ever think I wouldn’t?” I brush my knuckles on my shoulder arrogantly.
“I knew you would.” She giggles and holds up a fist of celebration. I bump hers with mine. “I knew it! Tell me everything.”
“I will, but it’s late. You should get some sleep.”
“I’ll sleep after you tell me. Wait, let’s get the guys and then you only have to tell the story once.”
I nod. I guess it might be weird for us to sit by ourselves with her legs snuggled on my lap for too much longer.
But I can’t deny the little voice in my head telling me I like it. After the day I had, it’s actually really nice to come home to Kylie. Nicer than it should be, anyway.
I stand and shake that thought right out of my head.
No Bang Oath, I remind myself. Besides, as I just determined in the car, I have ten other women who deserve my full attention.
Kylie runs up the stairs and bangs on the doors of my housemates. “He’s home!” I hear her yelling in the hallway as I grab myself a bottle of beer from the fridge. I think twice and pull out five more in case anyone else is interested.
Five minutes later, everyone’s situated in the family room staring at me expectantly if not a little sleepily.
“Get on with it,” Rascal says. He’s always such a little bitch when he doesn’t get enough sleep.
“The other men I was up against included Danny Fisher, Anthony Ventura, and Jonathan Crosby.” All names that everyone in the ro
om recognizes. Household names.
Just like mine will be after this is over.
“Stiff competition,” Brody says. “My guess is Fisher and Ventura.”
I look around the room to see if anyone else has a guess. Adam nods toward Brody in agreement, and Kane and Rascal just look tired. Kylie can barely contain her beautiful grin.
“Thanks a lot, assholes,” I laugh. “Fisher and Hunter.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Brody says. “You made it?”
“I made it.”
Everyone stands at once, cheering and jumping around like a bunch of maniacs.
“Okay, so details,” Kylie says once the cheering stops.
I launch into my story, and by the time I’m done, it’s after four in the morning. The boys head up to bed, and I’m left with Kylie in the family room. She stands to get her purse.
“Stay here. It’s late.” I duck my gaze to the floor.
“I’ll be fine,” she says. “I’d rather sleep in my bed than on your couch.”
“Then have another beer with me so you can’t drive and you can sleep in my bed.”
Her brows furrow and she shoots me a look.
“Not like that,” I say quickly, even though like that is exactly what I meant. “I’ll sleep on the couch and you can have my bed.”
“Gross. I know what you do in there.”
I shoot her a wicked grin. “I’ll even put on fresh sheets for you.” I grab two beers from the fridge and pull the caps off each bottle before I hand one to her.
“Thanks,” she says, surrendering as she takes a long pull from the bottle.
We both sit on the couch.
“So what’s next?” she asks.
“I’ve got my first date tomorrow. I’m not sure what it entails, exactly. It could be with one woman or it could be with multiple.”
“You nervous?”
I shake my head with confidence as I take a sip. “I’ll be fine.”
“Who stands out most to you so far?”
I tap the side of my bottle absentmindedly. “I liked Poppy and Eden the most solely based on first impressions, but all of them have something good about them.”
“Aw, a sweet sentiment from Dax Hunter,” she teases. “I never thought I’d see the day.”
“Sorry. What I meant to say is that I’d bang any of them.”
She rolls her eyes.
“I wouldn’t kick any of them out of bed for eating crackers.”
She sighs as I come up with a third raunchy expression.
“I’d toss a shot at any of them.”
“Had to go for the triple crown, huh?” she asks, laughing at my boyish smile.
“You know it.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “You’re disgusting.”
I take the final sip of my beer and set the bottle on the table before I stand and stretch. “You love it.”
I head upstairs to change my sheets so Kylie can have my bed, but by the time I return to switch spots with her, she’s fast asleep on the couch. I arrange the blanket over her again, but this time she doesn’t wake up. “Goodnight,” I whisper, and then I head up to bed.
Kylie is gone by the time I saunter out of my room a little before ten the next morning. I don’t have much time to kill because I have to be back for filming at two. The house is quiet, but I find Kane sitting at the kitchen table by himself, scrolling his phone.
“I was hoping I’d run into you before you left,” Kane says, setting his phone down on the table in front of him.
I fill the empty coffee pot with water. “What’s up?”
“You doing okay with all of this?” he asks.
I shrug. “Sure.”
“You just seem…I don’t know. Quiet? And that’s not you.”
“I’m fine.” I pull the coffee grounds out of the cabinet. “I’m just thinking about how things are gonna change now. At least while I’m on the show, I’ll need to be on good behavior.”
“So no tequila challenges from Rascal?”
I chuckle. “Probably not the best idea. But once filming wraps, you know I’ll be back in.”
He shakes his head, and we’re both quiet for a beat while I put in a fresh filter. He breaks the silence with, “What’s going on with you and Kylie?”
I stop what I’m doing and whip my head in his direction. “What are you talking about?”
“I’ve known you both a long time. You’re acting weird around each other.”
“There’s nothing between us, man,” I say, turning back to the coffee pot uncomfortably. “She’s the one who signed me up for this damn show. Trust me when I say not only is she not interested in me, but I’m not interested in her.”
“You’ve always been a terrible liar, Dax.”
I blow out a frustrated breath. “I had a long night and it’s going to be an even longer day, so why don’t you get off my back?”
He stands from the table, and I turn to look at him. “We have an oath. An oath, might I remind you, that we instated because of you. We can’t afford to lose her. Just keep that in mind.”
He leaves the room, and I’m left with an unsettled feeling in the pit of my stomach.
I’m doing this damn television show for the band. I’m making sacrifices. What the fuck is anybody else doing? Maybe it isn’t fair of me to think that way, but it feels an awful lot like the truth this morning.
13
Danny, the ten ladies, and I all sit in the family room as Melanie makes the announcement.
“Only six of the women will be going on tonight’s date, which means that four of you are safe until the next date. To determine who is going tonight, we’ll run a contest. The first four winners will get thirty minutes of one-on-one time with Danny and Dax. The remaining women will get ready for tonight’s group date, and one woman will be sent home before the night is over. We’ll have a random draw between Danny and Dax to determine who will send a woman home tonight. Any questions?”
I glance around at the others in the room, and everyone seems to understand.
“Then let’s get started with our first competition,” Melanie says. “Ladies, please take your spots.”
The women move to the exact same spots where they stood last night when we found out which of us men they’d chosen.
“This first competition is simple,” Melanie says. “I have a number written on a card between one and one hundred. The four ladies who come closest to the correct number are safe this week.” She hands white boards and markers to each of the ladies. “Write your guess on the board, and then hold it up for me to see.”
Amber stares at her board in concentration, chewing her lip nervously. Talia doesn’t seem to give two fucks and is the first to write her number. Charlotte looks all around the room for inspiration. I laugh as I watch how much thought they’re putting into a simple guessing game.
Finally everyone’s done, and Mel holds up the card. “Twenty-four was the number. That makes our winners Kristy, Amanda, Talia, and Eden. Congratulations, ladies! You’re safe for this week. Please take a seat on the couch, and the rest of you can head upstairs to get primped for your date!”
Shayna ushers me out to the patio, and then Jarrod escorts Amanda out to sit beside me. “Your thirty minutes starts now,” Shayna tells us, and Amanda and I look at each other awkwardly for a moment.
I don’t have anything in common with this chick. She’s a nurse, the mother of two kids, and she’s several years older than me. She’s gorgeous and kind, but I know right off the bat that she isn’t the one for me. She’ll be right for someone, and I hope it’s Danny. He’d make a great dad. I, on the other hand, have no concept of what it means to be a father when all I’m really after right now is a few nights of fun.
“So, Amanda, tell me about yourself,” I begin.
“As you know, I have two kids, Caden who’s four and Maddox who’s two. They’re pretty much my whole world.” She smiles as she thinks of them.
“What are little kid
s into these days?”
“Caden is really into racecars, and Maddox has this little plastic cooking set that he loves to play with. It’s got pots and pans and plates, and he will sit forever just messing around in his kitchen. And Caden with his racecars, my goodness. He races all through the house yelling, ‘Vroom vroom,’ for hours on end. Vroom vroom.”
She keeps rambling nonsensically about racecars and fake kitchens and building blocks and books, but I start to lose interest.
She finally pauses to take a breath, and I ask, “I hope it’s okay to ask you this, but is their dad still in the picture?”
“Oh, it’s fine. And yes. We’re divorced. We share the boys and we have a great relationship, but I’m ready to move on.” She’s rambling, and I’m trying so hard not to lose interest again and to stay focused on this conversation, but then I spot Mel walking across the opposite side of the patio and I can’t help when my eyes fall to her legs. “It’s almost like a vacation being here. I can’t remember the last time I slept a full eight uninterrupted hours.”
She isn’t really making a great sales pitch in terms of the insta-family. Sleep is vital to my well-being—not to mention I have no idea how kids fit into the picture of a touring musician.
My brows furrow. “Wait a minute. Don’t you get a full night’s sleep when they’re with their father?”
“Oh,” she shakes her head, “we still live together.”
Wait. What?
Is she serious?
Talk about a deal-breaker.
Just then, Shayna emerges from the patio doors.
“Time’s up,” she says to Amanda. “Head on in for your one-on-one with Danny.”
I realize as she walks away that she filled our entire thirty-minute conversation with talk about her two kids. I really don’t know her any better, and she didn’t ask a single question about me.
I cross my fingers as I hope I’ll get lucky enough to talk to Eden next, but a minute later, Talia comes walking through the slider doors.
“Hi Talia.” I smile.
