Love or Lust

by Rachael Brownell

  Ducking further into the brush, I stumble over something and land hard on my ass with a grunt. When I look to my right, I find Jace sitting on the ground, watching me.

  “I’ve been watching you for ten minutes. You really should watch your back, you know.” He smirks.

  “Seriously. The whole time I was looking for you, and you were sitting here, waiting to shoot me?”

  “Nah. I wasn’t going to shoot you. I was waiting for you to find me so you could shoot me. Took you long enough.”

  Pushing myself off the ground, I point my gun directly between his legs and he winces. “You’re not playing fair.” My protest earns me another devious grin.

  “I never said I would,” he replies, his eyes lighting up as he leans closer to me. “I also can’t seem to pull the trigger. I would hate to leave a mark on that perfect body of yours. You’re going to have to shoot me if you want this to end. But, if I get the choice, I’d prefer you not shoot me where you’re pointing. I’m partial to that part of my body.“

  With a grunt, I lift my gun and point it directly at the center of his chest, pulling the trigger. He doesn’t even flinch. Instead, he reaches up, grabs my hand, and pulls me down on top of him. His lips meet mine with more force than I expect, and then I’m rolled on my back.

  He deepens the kiss, his tongue running across my bottom lip, begging for entrance. I grant him what he wants and wrap my arms around his neck.

  Time stands still as I get lost in his kiss. In everything Jace has to offer. No one is around. No one knows the game is over. It’s just the two of us, and I’m enjoying every second of it.

  When he finally pulls away, his lips are swollen and there’s a huge smile on his face.

  “I’ve been wanting to do that since I first saw you. It was worth the wait.”

  I feel the heat creep into my cheeks as he pushes off me and starts laughing.

  “Um, I don’t know how to tell you this, but I think we’re busted.”

  Looking left and right, I don’t see anyone around. That’s when the pink on the front of my chest armor catches my eye. It must have rubbed off from where I shot him. Fuck! I’m not sure how I’m going to explain this away.

  Reaching down and extending his hand to me, still laughing, Jace helps me to my feet and hands me my gun.

  “Come on, princess. Let’s get back to everyone else. Maybe they won’t notice.”

  “Doubtful,” I mumble. I bet the first person who’s going to notice is my partner.

  As we approach, no one says a word, waiting to find out who won. Looking between us, staring at the pink on both our chests, Drake finally announces I won. I shot his ass, so he should know who has the pink ammo.

  Lennon is smirking at me from behind the crowd.

  I expect him to be irritated or angry. There’s only one way I could end up with pink on my vest and he knows it. Instead, he pulls me in for a hug and congratulates me.

  Not that I feel like I deserve it. Jace could have taken me out at any time. He was just waiting for me to shoot him. Bastard. He took away that winning feeling. Sort of. I’ll still claim the victory.

  Ed takes twenty minutes to show up and then has a conference with Claudia for another ten before he announces the winners. To my surprise, Gage doesn’t throw a fit today, even though they took fourth place. He has to realize he’s not winning immunity at this point, which means he’s probably going home. I can only hope at least. If I was forced to make the decision this week, he would get my vote.

  The ride back to the ranch is filled with chatter. The guys are making plans for the nightly pool party. It could go without being said at this point. We all end up there anyway, but demands are being made for food and drinks. Jace volunteers to play bartender again, which makes everyone happy. Kyra volunteers to bring sweets. Teegan and Courtney offer to raid the kitchen and find us snacks.

  Me? I’m quietly sulking until Lennon puts his arm around my shoulder and pulls me in close.

  “How was the competition?” he whispers in my hair, his lips brushing against my neck.

  “What do you mean?” I reply, trying not to sound affected by his proximity or the feelings stirring deep inside me.

  “There’s only one way you ended up with pink on your gear, Presley. Tell me I’m a better kisser. Lie to me if you have to.” He’s pleading with me to tell him he’s the better man, the better kisser.

  The thing is, there is no comparison. The kisses were different.

  “I don’t have enough information to make a proper assessment yet. I guess we’ll find out in time, won’t we?”

  It was meant to be a joke. Flirtatious. Nothing more.

  The growl that erupts from Lennon’s throat against my neck causes a shiver to run up my spine.

  “That sounds like a challenge, Presley. I never back down from a challenge. Especially one I know I can win. I will be the next man to kiss you. Prepare yourself.” It’s clearly a warning.

  “Now?” I squeak out. We’re in the very front row of the van, and if he’s going to kiss me, the last thing I want is for everyone to be watching.

  “Soon, very soon,” he whispers, his breath fanning across my ear as he says it.

  I swallow the lump in my throat as the van jerks to a stop in front of the main house. Taking my hand, Lennon helps me out but doesn’t let go. He holds on to me as he walks me to my villa and pushes through the door, slamming it closed behind him.

  I expect him to pin me to the wall. To claim my lips and my body. To be aggressive after the look he shot Jace when we walked past him.

  Nope.

  Instead, he cradles my face in his hands and very gently presses his lips to mine. Sparks fly the second his lips meet mine. Then I’m walking backward into my bedroom. When my knees hit the edge of the bed, I fumble my way onto my knees, our lips never disconnecting.

  Carefully laying me down, Lennon covers my body with his. The feel of his hard body against mine sends me into overdrive, and I start tugging at his shirt. I need more. Of him. Of everything.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Day 13

  My make-out session with Lennon ended before I was ready for it to. He’d made his point. He’s an amazing kisser. Gentle but passionate. Giving. He made me feel more in the short time we kissed than I felt all the times I kissed Wren. It was a kiss I will never forget as long as I live. I could still taste the minty flavor of his gum hours later as I made my way to the pool to meet up with everyone else.

  Lennon was already there. Hanging out with Jace of all people. It made me nervous. I was expecting tension between them, but they appeared to be totally cool. Well, I wasn’t. They’d both just kissed me senseless within an hour of each other. I was confused beyond belief. The overwhelming feeling made it hard for me to breathe, let alone think, so I didn’t stay long.

  I needed quiet. I needed to talk to Naomi.

  First thing this morning, I called her.

  After telling her everything about the day before, and the week leading up to it, catching her up on everything I hadn’t told her, even the things I’d originally left out, I ask the one question I needed her to answer honestly.

  “Does it make me a slut?”

  “What? Kissing both of them? That’s why you’re there, Pres,” she states firmly. When I don’t say anything, she continues, “No, it doesn’t make you a slut. Listen, a big part of the reason I convinced you to go is so you would experience this.”

  “Kissing?” I ask, confused.

  “No, feeling. You were dead inside. Wren wrecked you. He tore out your heart and stomped on it. The only way for you to move on was to force you into it. Blind dates weren’t going to do it. You would have come home and complained to me about the stupidest shit and found a reason not to go out on a second date. There, you have no choice. You’re literally trapped. So figure it out.

  “Who revs your engine? Who ignites that spark inside you that Wren tried to extinguish? You don’t have to decide now. Kiss all of them.
Just make a decision before you start inviting them into your bed. You can only have one.”

  One. Not two. Not all six. Though Gage is not even in competition with the rest of them. I’d rather cut my own arm off than kiss him again.

  “You’ll know when you know. Don’t try and force it. Don’t look for the answer. Let yourself feel, Presley. I can’t stress that enough. If you do, you’ll feel more than you want but you’ll also figure out what you already know.”

  “What I already know?”

  “Who you choose,” she states simply.

  “Does it sound like I have any idea what the right choice is at the moment? I have no idea what I’m doing. I feel like I’m being pulled in two directions and I’m going to be ripped in half any second.” I let out a huff of frustration thinking back to the events of yesterday. The short-lived, erotic kiss Jace and I shared. The more passionate, gentle kiss with Lennon.

  “Exactly. Let that feeling sink in. Get used to it. It’s going to be a long while before it dissipates and you realize you’re letting one go because you want the other. You will figure it out, though.”

  “Right. Let’s hope that happens before someone gets hurt, or worse, someone goes home and the decision is taken away from me.”

  “Do you think one of them is going home soon?”

  “No. They’re too nice. Everyone loves them. All the girls are crushing on them.”

  “Who’s being voted off the island then?” she jokes, a hint of laughter in her voice.

  Laugh it up, bitch. You’re the one who put me on this island.

  I tell her about Gage, his outbursts, and lack of social skills. No class. No decorum. It’s sad, really, because he’s a good-looking guy with potential. He just needs to get his attitude in check before he pushes away any chance at love.

  “Send him my way. I’ll put his ass in a timeout he won’t forget.” She’s using her no-nonsense teacher voice. I have a feeling she would crush Gage with only a glance, but that’s not who I want to send her way.

  “Actually,” I start, but she immediately begins fighting me off. I don’t even have a chance to tell her about Callen before she feigns an excuse to let me go and hangs up on me.

  Sorry, friend, but you’re going to be bombarded one day, the way you bombarded me with this idea. And his name is Callen. He’s a sexy package, and I may just wrap a big red bow around his broad shoulders before I drop him on your doorstep. After all, what are friends for?

  When I first looked at the schedule, I was confused as to how an egg race fit into the mock Olympics. It sounds more like a game you would find at a children’s carnival. Probably because I was thinking I’d be balancing an egg on a plastic spoon as I ran across a stretch of land.

  And I’m sure, at some point, I will. But that’s not all this game entails.

  My eyes go wide as I approach the lawn where today’s event is set up. The course looks intense. Scratch that. It looks impossible. If we were competing in a tough man competition, I might understand some of the obstacles, but not for an egg race. I mean, how am I supposed to carry an egg if I’m climbing a rock wall?

  “You ready for this?” Gage growls from behind me.

  Someone must still be mad I shot him in his thigh. Too close to your manhood for comfort? Oops, my bad.

  “I don’t think anyone is ready for this. What is it?”

  “The fucking trifecta of all obstacle courses would be my guess. We need a game plan.”

  He has a point. Coming into today, the game plan was to take second place. I wanted to give Gage a glimmer of hope that we could win and then rip the rug out from beneath him. I have a feeling I have no control over how today’s event will end. No one does.

  As everyone else arrives, I take in their first impressions of the course. Mouths hang open in surprise, eyes wide as they scan over all the obstacles. Yup, no one was expecting this, and not a single person is hiding their shock.

  “As you can see, things aren’t going to be easy for you today,” Ed begins. “This course is designed for you to fail. Don’t take it personally, but we’ve been going a little easy on you, and if we’re handing out immunity to two of you this week, we’re going to make you work for it. So, let me start by announcing where everyone is right now.”

  Ed reads the stats for each of us. The guys’ race is tight, with Lennon and Jace only a few points apart. The girl’s race is not as close, though Teegan has me by one point. If I can beat her the next two days, I should be able to claim immunity no problem.

  “Now, that’s the last time you’re going to hear where you stand. The results from today and tomorrow will be announced at the elimination on Sunday.”

  Groans and protests ring out until Ed raises his hand in the air and silence falls.

  “Today’s contest is going to be timed. You have three eggs to start. Should you break one, you’ll be given another one to continue on, ten seconds added to your total time. If you break all three eggs, a total of sixty seconds will be added to your time after you finish the course. There are ways to beat each obstacle so to keep the games fair, you won’t be able to watch other teams compete until after your team has run the course. With that said, I’d like all teams aside from Gage and Presley to make themselves comfortable in the stables. There are refreshments and snacks available while you wait. You’ll each be called out once it’s your turn.”

  Ed leads everyone across the field and through the large open doors of the stable. Jace and Lennon are walking backward, giving me a thumbs-up, wishing me luck. It’s adorable how they team up until they get me alone, and then it’s every man for himself.

  “Put one of them out of their misery already,” Gage mumbles next to me. “I’m so sick of hearing about how amazing you are. It’s annoying as fuck.”

  “Sorry.” I stare at my feet for a brief moment before finding the courage to say what I really want to. “It’s not my fault that I’m so awesome. Maybe it’s my spunky personality. People can’t help but love me.”

  Shooting him a fake smile, I wink and walk over to Claudia who’s impatiently waiting for us.

  “Only one of them loves you,” Gage states flatly, but I don’t press for answers. If one of them truly does feel that way about me already, I want to hear it from them, not Gage.

  “Your first egg,” she says, handing me a bright-pink egg with the number one painted on it in black. Giving it a little shake, I hear the yolk move around. Great. I was hoping it would be solid. “There are four obstacles. Rule number one: the egg must be visible at all times. You can’t tuck it in your pocket or anything. We have to be able to see that it hasn’t dropped or broken open. Rule number two: No throwing the egg. You can hand it off, but you cannot throw it over an obstacle. Rule number three: When you drop an egg, raise your hand high in the air so we can pause the clock and bring you a new one. You cannot continue until we give you the signal. And finally, rule number four: if you drop your last egg, the clock doesn’t stop. You must complete the remainder of the course, so I suggest running.”

  We’re given five minutes to come up with a strategy, but we don’t need it. Gage already has a plan, and I’m not given an option but to go along with him. Not that I hate his plan, but it takes away all the control I was hoping for over the outcome.

  Gage nods his head at me as we approach the starting line. As soon as Claudia says go, I drop the egg. One second and the clock stops. I’m handed another and repeat the process. As soon as the third egg is in my hand and we’re given the go-ahead, I toss it on the ground and sprint after Gage.

  The first obstacle is a set of tires we have to jump through. Easy enough. The rock wall is next, and we scale it with ease, jumping over and landing on our feet. Third obstacle in sight, I jump up on the balance beam and run the ten yards, bounding off and toward the final obstacle. A rope to climb with a bell at the top that we have to ring.

  It reminds me of gym class in high school. I hated that damn rope, and this one is no exception.


  That doesn’t stop me from pulling myself up higher and higher until I ring the bell, stopping the clock. Gage is already on the ground waiting for me by the time I climb back down. He gives me a high five, and I return it without thinking. I’m out of breath after racing through the obstacles as fast as I could.

  Instead of starting at zero, we started at the sixty-second mark, but his plan was genius. I see it now. Even if we hadn’t struggled on the first three obstacles, there was no way we could climb that rope without breaking the eggs. Getting rid of them to begin with was smart because everyone is going to eventually break all three. There’s no doubt in my mind.

  Taking a seat off to the side, Gage and I watch as team after team struggles to get through the course without breaking their eggs. Every single team is tested at the ropes, breaking their third and final egg before climbing the ropes. It’s not until Lennon and Natasha approach the ropes that things change. They’ve broken two eggs. The last one is in Lennon’s hand. He surveys his options, pops it in between his lips, and climbs like a mad man.

  They’re the first team to not break all three eggs, and only one team still has to run the course. Jace and Courtney. I love the girl, but she’s the least athletic of all of us. Poor Jace doesn’t stand a chance. Or at least that’s what I thought. Courtney hands him the egg as soon as they start and he takes off, breezing through all the obstacles, finally waiting for Courtney at the bottom of the ropes.

  Two ropes are side by side so you can climb at the same time, but that’s not how they decide to do it. Courtney goes first, and Jace helps push her tiny ass all the way up, then shimmies around her as she climbs down and rings the damn bell himself. And the egg, the first one they were handed, was still intact.

  Showoff.

  He tosses the blue egg up into the air and lets it fall to the grass with a splat as Courtney wraps her arms around his neck. He lifts her effortlessly, as if he didn’t just climb up a rope and help her do the same, and spins her around.