Episode 74
EPISODE 74
RATS IN A MAZE
Emily
Damn both Brett and River, anyway. And damn Sebastian, too. The only one I haven’t hooked up with so far is Alex, but damn him too.
So now Sienna’s leaving. And then there were five. Is this even worth it? Who will be next? This isn’t Survivor . No one should be leaving.
I storm away from the pool house, leaving Brett and River alone in the hot tub. I don’t bloody care anymore. I meant it when I told them I wasn’t sure any of this was worth it at this point. The whole blasted event seems to be falling apart.
From River acting oddly possessive of me, to Ginger telling me “not to trust her,” to whatever the fuck is going on with Sienna... It’s all a bloody dog’s breakfast and then some.
One thing is certain, though. I want answers. And if I don’t get them? Maybe it’s time that I get off this fucking island.
The towel still shrouding my naked body, I head up the second flight of stairs in the mansion to the third floor when Ariel comes barreling down, nearly knocking us both to our knees.
“Whoa, love. Be careful.”
She looks up at me, her face stricken with... Is it sadness? Regret? A hangover? Hell if I know, but something’s wrong.
I grab her and walk her the rest of the way to my suite where I pull her inside. “What’s wrong, Ariel? Are you okay?”
“I... I was going to do some yoga on the beach.” She scoffs. “Except I don’t know anything about yoga, really. I don’t really know a downward dog from a hot dog.”
She’s dressed in shorts and a skintight tank, her damp hair in a messy ponytail. “Okay...why? What’s going on? Spit it out, love. Tell me.”
She sighs, falling onto the couch in my sitting room. “I think... I think I’ve made a terrible mistake.”
Join the bloody club. I’ve gone and developed feelings for a cowboy.
But I don’t feel like divulging this information, not even to Ariel, who I’m closest to here.
“What happened?” I ask.
“Can we go someplace private?”
I look around. “Uh...we’re in my room, love. I’m not sure where we’ll get more privacy.”
Then again...
Brett knew about Zion... And that little tryst took place right here. Right in this room.
A sick feeling pits in my stomach.
No.
No way in hell.
Are they... watching us?
I glance around the place, looking for any signs of surveillance, but knowing full well if we are indeed being watched, the men made sure we’d never know.
“This can’t be happening,” I mutter.
“What?” Ariel asks.
I don’t want to alarm her, so, “Nothing. But yoga on the beach sounds divine. Come on.”
“I don’t actually know yoga. I follow along with YouTube videos sometimes at home.”
“Good enough. I had a lovely run this morning and then a hot tub.”
She sighs. “A hot tub sounds better than yoga.”
Except Brett and River are probably still there. “Later,” I say, pulling her off the couch. “Let’s grab a couple towels and head to the beach. Maybe you can show me a few yoga poses that you remember.”
“That’s a laugh.”
“Then we’ll sit on the beach and talk dirt about the others. Sound good?”
That gets a smile out of her. “I like the others. Except for Misty. And...”
“And who?”
“Nothing. I like them all.”
She’s hiding something. Maybe on the beach she’ll spill it. I yank her out of my room, down the two flights of stairs, and out the front door. I don’t want to risk running into Brett and River if we go out the back way. We’ll have to pass the pool house.
Once we reach the white beach, we lay our towels down and sit, squishing our toes in the soft sand.
Ariel is quiet for a few moments, simply staring out to sea. I try to relax, listen to the dulcet sound of the rolling waves, the occasional squawk of a gull overhead.
But my patience is wearing thin. This place is paradise, yes, but paradise seems to come at a cost.
“All right,” I say to Ariel. “Tell me everything.”
“It’s a mess,” she says. “Evangeline apparently threatened to send June away?—”
I widen my eyes.
“Yeah. Something about her not being a team player and spreading lies.”
“What?” I grit out.
“It’s a long boring story. June came to my room while Alex was still there.”
“Right. Your date. It went well?”
“I thought it did.”
“Thought? Past tense?”
She sighs. “Yeah. Alex was angry and said he’d talk to Evangeline on June’s behalf, but we didn’t know if Evangeline would fill his head with lies, so we hatched this plan to seduce Alex this morning and convince him to let June stay.”
Already I see where this is going. “Go on.”
“We went to his room this morning, and he answered his door in a towel. He’d just gotten out of the shower, and... God, he looked good.”
I nod. “I can imagine.”
“He said June could stay, so I figured we didn’t need to seduce him after all, but June leaped into his arms. His towel fell off, and...well, you can guess the rest.”
“The seduction.”
“Yeah. And it was hot. Really. Until it wasn’t.”
“When did it cease to be hot?”
She clears her throat, turning from me to stare at the water again. “When I caught Alex and June kissing after I left them.”
“All’s fair in love and war,” I remind her.
“I know. I don’t have any hold on Alex. Or Brett either, for that matter. But I made a connection with both of them, especially with Alex. Now I’ve ruined it. And I feel like June has taken advantage of our plan to get an edge with Alex.”
“You don’t know that for sure.”
She turns back to me. “Don’t I? I planned the seduction, and now I may have lost a connection with a man I think I could...”
“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.”