Chapter Ten
Mikey
The unexpected noise of others rustling about woke me, reminding me I wasn’t in my own bed.
I rolled onto my back, trying to get my bearings.
Aaron’s hand dropped onto my stomach. I turned my head and saw that he was sleeping on his side, facing me.
That’s when I recalled where I was and why I was there.
I glanced at the alarm clock on a nearby nightstand. It was seven-thirty.
I rubbed my eyes, hoping to make the dull ache disappear. The prior evening’s events came flooding back. I grabbed one of the extra bed pillows and held it over my face, wishing I could block the memories.
“You need to apply more pressure if you want to suffocate yourself,” Aaron mumbled.
I yanked the pillow off me and smacked it down on his ear. “Funny. Get up. I think we’re supposed to be downstairs in an hour for them to take promotional shots of the contestants.”
He remained in position, other than to lift the pillow and toss it off the bed. “That gives me another half hour to sleep.”
Aaron was probably right. He was one of the few who could wake and be washed, shaved, groomed and fresh within twenty minutes. They could allow me hours, and I’d still not look as put together.
“Okay,” I mumbled. “I’ll go shower first.”
I started to rise, but he held me back down with his hand.
“Are you feeling all right? Do you have a hangover?”
I shrugged, though Aaron’s eyes were still closed. “It’s not bad. Just a slight headache. I wish I had amnesia.”
“It wouldn’t make what happened go away,” he pointed out.
“Yeah, thanks for that,” I mumbled.
Though he still hadn’t moved, he snickered. “No more drinking. I don’t want my parents watching the show and thinking I live with a bad influence.”
His comment reminded me that my own parents had watched, as had coworkers and friends. “I will never be able to show my face again. Can you imagine what people at the firm must be saying about me this morning?”
“That you’re not the boring goody-two-shoes they thought you were,” he replied.
I narrowed my eyes at him, though he didn’t see. “Nobody says that about me.”
“I do, so I’m sure they all repeat it. You know what gossips they are,” he muttered.
I couldn’t help but grin. “You’re such a jerk. Well, for your information, I tell them all that you treat our apartment like a cheap rent-by-the-hour motel.”
“Thanks. I wondered why I had so much cred.”
I shook my head. “And your parents worry that I’m the bad influence.”
Aaron finally opened his eyes. “Why did you tell James that I’m straight?”
I hadn’t expected that. I might have opened and closed my mouth a few times. “I was going to let you know. I’m sorry, I hadn’t meant to share that with him. It slipped out because I was wasted. How did you find out? Did he let you know?”
Aaron pushed back on the mattress, propping a pillow behind his back so he could sit up. He ran a hand through his messy locks, appearing the way I wished every overnight sleepover partner looked first thing in the morning. “He told Cliff. And Cliff told me.”
“What?” I exclaimed. “Why would James tell Cliff? He said he would think about the best way to handle the information and get back to us.”
Aaron shrugged. “You can’t trust anyone.”
I sat up as well, adding a couple of pillows behind my head. “Well, we were being deceitful.”
“Exactly. That’s my point. Nobody is trustworthy.”
“Was Cliff angry? Are we in trouble?” I wondered.
Aaron huffed a laugh. “He was a little irritated at first. He summoned me to his bedroom where he was half-naked, pretending he wanted to have sex with me.”
“Wait, what?”
Aaron placed a hand on my arm. “Calm down, jealous Johnny. I just said, Cliff was yanking my chain. He wanted me to know what it felt like to have someone come on to them under false pretenses. I admit, for a few minutes, I worried I’d need to suck his dick or something to maintain my cover.”
I was trying to catch up, but I couldn’t help dropping a smart remark. “A real friend would have come to wake me so I could watch.”
He cast a side-eye before smirking. “I said I worried about it—not that I did it. Closet slut.”
“So, what happened?” I pressed, ignoring his new favorite nickname for me.
“At first, I told him I was falling in love with you,” Aaron replied.
My heart skipped a beat. “Huh?”
“You know, per our plan. I figured I would make him believe that, so he’d back off.” I shouldn’t have been disappointed by his confession. Of course, he hadn’t meant what he’d said. “That’s when Cliff told me James spilled what you shared.”
“Crap. So, he hates us now,” I concluded. “We should just go home.”
“We signed a contract,” Aaron reminded me. “Besides, he’s not mad. Not anymore, anyway. He understands we were trying to protect him from embarrassment as much as anything. And I convinced him that you’re very much into him.”
“Oh.”
“He suggested we stick to our plan, and we don’t tell anyone else what we’re up to,” Aaron added. “That means you, Loose Lips.”
I nodded, then we both stared straight ahead for a couple of moments. “So, half-naked, huh?”
Aaron chuckled. “That might have been an exaggeration. His shirt was open.”
“And?”
He glared at me. “And what? I’m not into big muscular, hairy-chested dudes. What am I supposed to say here?”
“I don’t know. Did everything look true to his pictures, or were those enhanced?” I asked.
He shook his head. “They weren’t enhanced.”
“Hmm.”
“Don’t get a boner,” Aaron warned. “I don’t need you taking forever in the bathroom and leaving me only five minutes to get ready.”
I scowled. “I’m not hard.” Well, not totally.
* * * *
The cast and crew dined on a typical breakfast buffet served on the expansive back patio, with each contestant waiting to be called inside for their photo shoot.
As we ate, the hair and makeup team worked on each of us.
I found it odd to be chowing down on eggs while someone was primping my hair and another person was filling in my eyebrows.
I had just put a sausage link to my lips when Cliff emerged from the house, looking like an old-time Hollywood movie star in his preppy plaid shorts, white polo shirt, and black sunglasses.
“Good morning, everyone,” he greeted with a wave before taking a seat at a table with the woman I learned was his mother.
“Are you going to eat that, or are you going to keep it suspended hoping a genie will turn it into Cliff Walker’s cock,” Aaron teased.
I scowled at him before shoving the meat in my mouth. I scanned our table, but it seemed the contestant named Daryl was the only one who had heard. He had a filthy leer.
“I sure hope his dick is thicker and longer than that,” the guy remarked. “I’ll be sure to let you two know once I find out for myself in a couple of days.”
“What’s in a couple of days?” I asked.
Daryl still had that irritating sneer on his otherwise handsome face. “The amount of time I give it before Cliff Walker begs me to sleep with him.”
“That long, huh?” Aaron shot back. “He already asked me last night.”
Daryl lost his composure. I cast a warning look Aaron’s way.
“Bullshit,” Daryl snapped, though his expression revealed he was concerned it was true.
Aaron grinned. “Well, if and when you make it to Cliff’s bedroom, you’ll know I’m telling you the truth when you see that three of his walls are cornflower blue and there’s a white wood accent wall.
The bedspread is cream-colored, just like his dressers and cabinets.
There’s a big chair in the corner that’s a lighter blue than the walls, and it has tan pinstripes.
There are two sets of white French doors that open to a second-floor balcony.
Oh, and the sheets are silk. At least they were last night. ”
Daryl couldn’t hide his surprise. “Guess he figured he’d fuck the one who looked easiest first. Cry when you never make it back in there.”
Aaron might have continued the argument, but Daryl had already taken his plate and moved to a different table.
“What are you doing? Cliff is going to evict you if he finds out you’re telling people he slept with you,” I chastised.
Aaron half-shrugged. “I said he asked me to sleep with him, which is sort of true. Besides, it couldn’t be helped. That prick, Daryl, needed to be drained back to the limp state that matches his appeal.”
“So, now you’re draining pricks until they go limp?” I mocked.
“I would respond that unlike you, I don’t in a literal sense—but it seems you don’t either,” he volleyed back.
“Anyway, Cliff must know the score. People lie on these dating reality shows all the time to gain leverage. But don’t worry.
I won’t tell anyone else that I was in Cliff’s bedroom.
I doubt Daryl will either. His ego won’t allow him to. ”
I contemplated that, thinking and hoping Aaron was right. I used my fork to push around the eggs I still hadn’t eaten. “You sure noticed a lot of details when you were in his bedroom.”
Aaron snickered. “That’s because I was trying to look at anything and everything but Cliff Walker’s body. It was…uncomfortable.”
“I doubt that’s the word I would use had it been me in your situation,” I admitted.
Aaron sat back in his chair. “Dude, had it been you, you’d still have a smile frozen on your face and the napkin on your lap would be soaked.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’re such a pig.”
“Oink.”
I tried to maintain my glare, but I ended up chuckling. “Silk sheets. How did you know that?”
“I didn’t,” he confessed. “That’s what you call embellishing enough to call checkmate.”
“Are you finished with your breakfast, Mikey?” It was James who had appeared at my side.
“Oh, good morning,” I greeted , lifting my plate to hand to him.
He shook his head. “One of the caterers will clean up. I just came over to let you know the photographer is ready for you now.”
I frowned. I didn’t relish the idea of someone else judging my looks while they asked me to pose for them. I rose from the chair, then turned to Aaron. “Do I look okay? I don’t have anything stuck in my teeth?”