The Consequence of Revenge

by Rachel Van Dyken

  “So . . .” Oh, my hell, why wasn’t she leaving? “Do you, like, want to hang out for a bit?”

  “Um.” I stepped back. “I’m kind of tired after all that exercise.” Ha, I cut my teeth on boxing training. Yeah, right, I was tired. Try just a bit frightened. I didn’t want to spend any more time with her. Little G concurred, if his shivering was any indication. Poor tyke. We’ll make it through, buddy. Just a few more feet to the safety of my hut. “So I think I’m going to take a nap and shower and . . . rest.”

  “I could help you—”

  “No thanks!” I chuckled. “Go have a few drinks, and have fun for me, all right? Oh, and Lucky, can you do me a huge favor?”

  Her eyes brightened. I almost felt guilty for turning her down, but I didn’t like her. Clearly I was changing if I was turning down hot girls—especially ones who didn’t have brain cells to spare. “Go eat some food . . . I love a girl with an appetite.”

  “You do?” She giggled. “Okay, well, I’ll go eat then, because that’s what you want.” Her eyes lowered to my stomach. “And I want whatever you want.”

  “Awesome,” I croaked. “See ya!”

  When she turned to leave I looked up just in time to see Becca staring at me. Damn it, I hoped she hadn’t seen the awkward kiss.

  But judging by the look on her face, the one girls get when they’re so pissed they can’t help but stare laser beams straight through your body in hopes that you’ll spontaneously combust, she wasn’t happy.

  Damn, I really did need to make that chart. With a wave in her direction, I walked to the hut and started working. I had a few hours before the date and I needed to have a game plan for the rest of the show, the sooner the better.

  A pounding sounded on the door. Panicked, I jolted from the fetal position on the floor and yawned. Must have fallen asleep making my chart. The production crew had brought me pictures of all the girls. I made do without scissors, folding each picture so only the name showed beneath the face, and lined them up on the floor.

  Fifteen girls.

  I’d set about memorizing their names—their real names as well as their nicknames, so I knew which ones were bad and which were good. For example, Apple, also known as Bang because literally every time I’d smiled in her direction she’d made a gun motion with her hand like she was a sharpshooter from the Wild West. I was still on the fence about her. Not sure if she thought pretending to shoot my face off was cute or if she really did hit the bull’s-eye every time and imagined my face as the target. To be safe, I was going to warn Becca about her.

  With a sigh I walked to the door and opened it.

  Reid stood on the other side, smile huge. “Ready for your big date tonight? You do know you have to pick one of the girls and send the other one home? I wonder who it will be?”

  I shook my head and pushed the door open farther so he could walk in. Once he stepped over the threshold I pushed against his chest, stopping him. “The goat, it’s stalking us.”

  “Oh.” Reid turned around and pointed. “You mean Hades?”

  “The god of the underworld lives on Love Island?” I snapped my fingers. “Damn it! I should have seen the signs!”

  “The goat.” Reid rolled his eyes.

  “You named it!” I roared. “When you name things you take possession of them, jackass!” I smacked him on the back of the head and motioned toward Hades. “Shoo, shoo now, just—just run along!”

  The goat stared me down, his jaw moving back and forth as he chewed on a piece of grass. That’s right, little bastard. I’m watching you. I made a motion with my fingers, pointing at my eyes and then at his.

  He stomped his foot.

  “Was that a challenge?”

  “Max,” Reid called from inside. “Stop scaring the goat.”

  “I’m saving your life!” I yelled back, turning around so I could explain. When I turned back toward the door, the goat was gone.

  “Hey?” I took a step outside. “Where’d he go? Hades? Hades?”

  “Uh, Max.”

  “Shh! Reid! I’m working.”

  “Max—”

  “Hades!”

  “Naa-naa.” I blinked and turned to my right.

  Hades was standing two feet away from me.

  Reid sighed and walked around me. “He’s been like that all day, super silent, scares the shit out of me, but doesn’t really do anything except make noise. I think he’s . . . lonely.”

  “When demons get lonely they usually possess someone.” I slapped him on the back. “So good luck finding a girlfriend with the mind of that one inside you.”

  “Max.” Reid rolled his eyes. “Conquer your fears.”

  I smirked, my eyebrows arched, as I crossed my arms. “Wow, really?”

  “What?” Reid puffed up.

  “One word.” I examined my hands. “Grandma.”

  Reid visibly shook.

  “Aw, gonna pee your pants?”

  “You’re an asshole.” He glared, then motioned toward the goat. “Come on in, Hades. Make some friends.”

  The goat, clearly smarter than I’d given him credit for, waltzed right into the hut and started walking around.

  “Son of a bitch!” I staggered back toward the bed. “How dare you invite Satan into my home? Everyone knows you have to invite them, otherwise they have to stay outside!”

  “Pretty sure that’s vampires.” Reid laughed. “At any rate, that’s what you get for saying her name.” He shuddered. “You doing okay?”

  “Sure I am, though I’m a bit concerned that you’re actually worried about me. Didn’t you make a bet that I’d fall flat on my face during this little escapade, or was that Jason?” I was banking on the fact that they’d made side bets. I knew my friends well—most likely there was at least two hundred dollars in a pool over how many times I’d mess up.

  A loud chomping interrupted my thoughts. “Hey!” I ran toward Hades. “Stop that! Stop eating those!”

  Ignoring me, he continued to chew on my boxers. I tried to pry them free from his teeth. When I did, he growled. Swear to all that is holy that damn goat growled at me like he was possessed by pure evil.

  “Nice Hades.” I released the boxers. “Here, take them all!” I dumped my underwear into a pile and scooted it toward the far corner of the room. “Feast, my friend, feast!”

  Hades, clearly satisfied with his new arrangement, waltzed over to the corner, plopped down, and went to town.

  “Aw, you tamed him.” Reid chuckled.

  “Why are you here again?”

  “Help. I was going to help you, and I was sent by Rex to remind you to get ready. Camera crew’s gonna be by the hut in a half hour, so . . . yeah, good luck with what you’re going to wear for dinner tonight.”

  Confused, I stared at him. “I’m the best dresser I know. And I know a lot of people.”

  “Not a humble bone in that body, is there?” Reid asked seriously. “And I meant the whole underwear situation. You gonna free-ball it during your date? Because I sure as hell wouldn’t take that chance, not with Becca wearing white.”

  It took a minute for it to hit me.

  And when it did, I panicked.

  “Oh, shit.” I sat down on the bed. “What do I do? I need underwear, Reid! I need clothing to conceal! I NEED TO BE INVISIBLE!”

  “Says no guy . . . ever.” Reid rolled his eyes. “You’ll be fine.”

  “Take your pants off!” I ordered.

  “What? No!” Reid stepped back toward the door. “Get away from me!”

  “Take them off, damn it!” I launched myself onto him just as the door opened. “Take off your pants or I swear I’ll do it for you!”

  “Uh . . .” Big Al blushed. “Should we come back later?”

  I was straddling Reid. “Uh . . . no, no, totally fine, I mean . . . we’re friends like that. We were . . . wrestling.”

  “Son, I work in Hollywood.” Big Al shook his head. “If I had a dollar for every time—”

  “It
’s true!” Reid wailed from underneath me.

  “Hey, whatever you say!” Big Al held up his hands. “I didn’t see anything.”

  “Because nothing happened!” My jaw clenched. “I like women and this is my brother. Do you know how wrong that is? Reid, show him your license.” Wasn’t sure if I was supposed to actually reveal that we were brothers, but whatever, I was desperate. And hey, if he got fired from the show because I was starring in it, it wouldn’t be any skin off my nose.

  Reid didn’t move.

  I looked down.

  He was grinning like an idiot. Rat bastard! “Reid . . .”

  “It’s cool, Max, I mean, if Big Al knows . . .”

  “I’m striking you out of my will for good now. Just know, at one point I was going to leave you my old Sega Genesis.”

  “Damn it,” Reid muttered as I crawled off of him. “I’ve coveted that thing for years.”

  “I’ll be ready in ten,” I snapped at Big Al. “Oh, and you’re going to have to censor what’s about to take place.” With a grin I dropped my pants to get him out of there faster. Yeah, I was going to be in a world of hurt tonight. Good thing the show wasn’t live, because they would without a doubt need to do some censoring, especially with Becca around. Then again, maybe Amazon’s all-around terrifying demeanor would cause my balls to cease functioning for a few minutes. One can only hope. Ha, the Erection Killer! Nice. I knew I could have come up with a better nickname!

  “All right.” Big Al whistled. “I’ll just . . .” He motioned to the crew. “We’ll be outside.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  BECCA

  I almost wore black.

  I didn’t want to wear white just because Reid happened to mention it was Max’s favorite. Yeah, it really sounded like middle school, when you plan your outfit the day before, from your shoes all the way up to your earrings, in hopes that the captain of the basketball team looks in your direction.

  Taking a deep breath, I checked my watch and waited. Max was supposed to come pick up the girls.

  I was first.

  And he was late.

  Five minutes later I honestly felt stood up, which was stupid because it was a TV show. It wasn’t going to happen.

  When a knock finally did sound at the door, I nearly fell off the bed scrambling to get it.

  It wasn’t real.

  Not a real date.

  So I let Max knock again.

  I finally opened the door after the third knock and almost choked on the humid air.

  Max.

  Max smiling.

  Max smiling, in a white button-down shirt that was slightly open at the neck.

  Max wearing linen pants with his white button-down, with a killer tan and megawatt smile.

  Swear it was like watching Ocean’s Twelve when Brad Pitt walks out of the elevator in his cream suit.

  Swoon-worthy moment.

  “Hey.” Max reached for my hand. “Are you ready?”

  “Yes,” I managed, my legs filling with lead as I stared at him.

  “Great.” He shoved his hands in his pockets while his eyes roamed over my body. “I really, really like your dress.” He drank me in, from the tips of my toes to the top of my head. I did a little twirl. I wasn’t wearing anything special, just a white halter-top sundress.

  “Beautiful.” His smile was so warm, so appreciative, that my heart did a little skip. “Shall we?” His arm was in front of me, and then my hand hooked underneath it, and we were walking to the next hut. The humidity in the air was already causing me to sweat. The thing about humidity? It makes every scent come alive. So walking with Max, even for those few short feet, was pure torture. What the hell kind of cologne did he use? It had a fresh, almost breezy scent mixed with . . . pine? Something piney. It was . . . really, really . . . addicting. I had a sudden urge to taste him, just to see if the taste was better than the smell.

  But we were already at the next hut. Gina’s hut. One camera was placed to the side so it could watch all reactions, while the other was facing us.

  Max knocked.

  Gina answered on the first knock, nearly sending Max sailing to the ground, since he’d clearly assumed he’d have to knock twice.

  “I’m ready,” she announced, barreling out of her room, wearing a camo dress. It had slits on both legs all the way up to her hips. Holy crap. I had to hand it to her, though, with her sharp features, tall figure, and all-around exotic, yet sometimes scary, good looks, it worked. It really worked. And it made me feel kind of . . . vanilla next to her rainbow.

  “You look great.” Max smiled warmly and offered her his other arm. It was awkward to know we were both on a date with the same guy and at the end of the night one of us was leaving.

  Earlier I’d thought for sure I had nothing to worry about.

  But Max was talking to Gina like he was actually interested in her.

  “Oh, so that’s why you like pine nuts!” He chuckled. “Awesome, and when did you discover you wanted to be part of a nudist colony?” Blah blah blah. “Fascinating. Oh, Gina, you’re so funny.” Laughter, more laughter. Gag me. I chugged my wine and tried to engage in conversation, but every time I opened my mouth Gina interrupted me.

  Finally. After our feast of salmon on the beach, it was time for Max to take each of us aside. They stopped filming for a few minutes to let us know exactly how long we got with the Bachelor. We were also instructed to plead our case as to why he should keep us. Were we there for him? Or the money? Or both? What did we hope to gain by staying?

  “Why are you here, Becca?”

  “Why is the money so important to you?”

  “Would you ever choose love over money? What would cause you to choose love instead?”

  The questions just kept coming and the more they fired them at me the sicker I felt to my stomach. I was in way over my head. I’d never counted on developing feelings for Max—at all. I mean, I’d watched these shows. I’d made fun of that girl, the one who cried when she got kicked off. If I got kicked off, I wouldn’t cry, but I’d be seriously disappointed and not, I realized with a sinking feeling, just because I’d lost the money.

  By the time the cameras started rolling again, I’d had three glasses of wine over the course of two hours and was feeling sluggish and sick.

  Max had taken a long walk with Gina while I sat and watched. She laughed, he laughed, she laughed again. Oh, look, the wineglass is about to get crushed in my hand.

  “Okay, guys.” Rex walked up. “Both camera crews on Gina and Max. Becca, go ahead and relax a bit.”

  Relax, ha.

  “So . . .” Reid appeared out of nowhere and sat down. “Killer dress.”

  My eyes narrowed. “Thanks.”

  “Nervous?”

  “Nope.”

  “Liar.”

  “Can you be anything but yourself right now?” I asked. “It would be really helpful.”

  “Myself?”

  “Arrogant and irritating.”

  Reid smiled. “He doesn’t like her, he’s just doing it for the cameras.”

  I tucked my hair behind my ear and looked down at my empty plate. “I wasn’t even thinking about Max.”

  “That’s lie number two.” Reid reached for a wineglass. “Is this Gina’s or Max’s?”

  “Wouldn’t you like to know?” I answered sweetly.

  “I’ll take my chances.” He sipped.

  “I really wouldn’t.”

  “So Max . . .” Reid set the wineglass down. “I’m glad I caught you before he got back. He’s super embarrassed about this and I wouldn’t even bring it up if I didn’t think it was going to be a big deal but . . . he has this thing about women touching his leg.” Reid leaned in and whispered, “Totally calms him down on dates. It’s weird, I don’t know why it soothes him but it really does and the fact that you’d make him feel good after he dumps Gina, well, it would mean a lot to me, as a brother.”

  I eyed him suspiciously while at the same time telling m
y heart to stop slamming against my chest. Was he really going to choose me over Gina? “Why don’t I believe you?”

  “My charm.” He nodded. “It throws women off, makes them think I’m being flirty and suggestive when really I’m just breathing the same air. I mean, I put my pants on the same way everyone else does, by jumping in with both feet.”

  “Uh, Reid, people don’t really—”

  “Sure.” He waved his hand into the air. “I date models for fun and my left dimple has its own Facebook page”—he flashed said dimple—“but I’m just a man, Becca. A hot-blooded, well-endowed—”

  “Stop.” I held up my hand. “You’ve made your point.”

  I heard shouting and then a slap cracked through the night sky as Gina ran off toward her hut.

  “Shit.” Reid shuddered. “Girl hits hard. It’s crucial, Becca, you really need to comfort him. I don’t care that it’s a TV show. Hearts are still involved and as much of an ass as Max appears to be, he hates breaking them.”

  Reid got up from his seat and gave my shoulders a squeeze before taking off in the other direction.

  Max approached with the camera crew, still rubbing his face. By the time he reached the table it was starting to flame red. Poor guy. Maybe Reid was right, Max just needed comfort.

  “Ready?” He held out his hand.

  “Yeah.” I grinned. “I am.”

  “Let the date continue!” Max pulled me close to his body and wrapped his arm around me.

  I breathed a sigh of relief.

  It was going to be a good night and I knew just how to put him at ease.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  MAX

  If Becca’s hand wandered any closer to my favorite place, we were going to have a big problem, and not to brag, but it was really going to be a big, huge, large problem. Feel me?

  “Ha-ha.” I scooted away from her wandering hand and cursed men everywhere for not bringing back the whole hanky trend. Damn, I needed a cloth pressed against my forehead.

  “It’s pretty out here.” Becca put her head on my shoulder. We’d been watching the waves for over an hour, talking, laughing, and, in my case for at least 99 percent of that time, damn near exploding with desire and making a giant ass out of myself.