Matched (42 page)

His luscious lips take their time curling up for me, and a devilish spark is in his eyes. “Work with me, ’kay?”

“Absolutely.” I wink at him and he takes pause, his deliberate consideration conveying all the nothing he says.

“I’m ready, Tom.” He angles himself in the direction of the game.

“All right, boys…bon appétit!”

He lifts the silver lids, and I gag from the smell alone. Seriously. Cruz makes to dive in and Jensen hurries, shoving fish eye after fish eye into his mouth.

Cruz plugs his nose and raises the glass of egg up, then puts it back down. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

“Come on, Cruz! You’ve got this! Whip his pansy ass!” It sounds as though it’s coming from me, though I don’t consciously say the words.

“He vussy boy, Jensen, go, go!” Nadia shouts at him. He swallows and shovels faster, pausing a few times to breathe and heave, just barely keeping it down. “Be a man! Take drink of that, vash down! That two things!”

And the flaming moron listens, tossing back half the yolky, thick, smelly egg. Miranda shoots a hand in the air that catches my peripheral gaze. When I glance over, she gives me a thumbs up, beaming. Emma and Court are laughing conspiratorially.

“Cruz, Jensen’s way ahead of you. What are you waiting for?” Tom goads.

“For him to actually eat half that shit. Team Green forfeits! Have a nice cruise, champ!” He thumps Jensen on the back and sidles toward me for a high five.

Nadia’s glaring my way, and I can’t help sticking my tongue out. Yep, my maturity level has plummeted since I entered this show.

The rest of our “camp” bolts over, ready to be dismissed and head inside when Tom clears his throat.

“Jensen, Nadia, you are the ultimate ‘Makes Sense’ winners, earning the island cruise.
Or…”
My blood curdles in my veins at his sneer. “You can cash that in for today’s catch.” Cruz’s hand clutches mine. “The return payment being…you may send any one person here
home,
along with their soulmate—the blank of which we will fill in for you.”

“Ve vant to send Harlow home,” Nadia spits out immediately, her nasty grin pinned on me.

It takes both Cruz’s arms around me to stop me from flying over to cunt punt the bitch.

“Hold up, Tom,” Jensen protests before taking a gulp of water, gagging, and spitting it out. “I’d like a minute to confer with my
partner.”

“Of course.”

We take this time to huddle as well, with Emma in charge. “Listen, don’t panic,” she says pointedly to Cruz. “You guys go home—no biggie. I’ll be fi—”

“She’ll be fine,” Court finishes for her. “You have my word.”

“And we’re all right behind you,” Emma continues. “This thing’s almost over. You guys get a sexy trip. But I really think Nadia will take the luxury item once he’s talked her down.”

Miranda’s shaking her head. “He’s not trying to change her mind. He’s using his vote for leverage—stacking up sexual favors in exchange for going along with her. Trust me.”

“Oh, please, surely not,” Miles probes.

“We’ll see.” Miranda points, and we all look. They’re ready to declare their decision.

“Tom,” Jensen starts, his lecherous sneer telling me all I need to know, “we’re sending Harlow home.”

“You’re gonna
wish
it was Adam kicking your ass this time, you fucking weasel. Just wait.” Cruz’s threat is sinister and promising.

“It’s decided. Harlow, you’ll be leaving us tonight with…” Tom accepts an envelope a crewman hands him and opens it. His eyebrows disappear into what’s left of his hairline.

“Court Callahan.”

Confessional: Cruz McCall

“Hope none of you out there are die-hard Jensen fans, because he’s a dead man walking. Motherfucker has been nothing but a waste of air since day one. And it won’t be for the cameras, but someday, when he lets down his guard and thinks I forgot, he’ll pay.

“He’s treated Miranda like shit this entire time, put all the girls in danger with his wannabe orgy—hell, he had every intention of doing nothing but watching while two of them were damn near violated—and now he’s sending Harlow home so that bitch you can’t even understand half the time will bob on his dick. She’d have done that anyway! Again!

“Emma loves having Harlow here. I love having Harlow here. And by default, they’re taking Court away from Emma, too. As much as I don’t like it, she likes him. Her whole face lights up when he walks into a room; even if she turns her head so he won’t see, it’s there.

“Bastard’s gonna hurt. I came in here to try and calm down, but shit’s changed. Let this serve as official fair warning. I’m coming for ya, fucker. One eye open, rest of your life.

“Now I’m gonna walk out of here and check on my sister. Then, no sooner than I got to really say hello, gonna say goodbye to Gorgeous.”

Chapter 30

Cruz is completely silent, his hands nowhere near me the entire hike back to the house. I have a pretty good idea why, aside from the obvious goodbye part of course. He’s beating himself up for throwing the last event that cost us the surprise “reward”—for the forfeit
I
talked him into. And our collaboration, hilarious and vindicating for far too brief a moment, backfired and cost two innocents in Emma and Court.

Come to think of it, I’m not feeling really talkative or touchy either.

So when I trudge through the obligatory motions of Court unlocking my safe, our tickets revealing a trip to Aspen, I can hardly manage a smile.

“Do you even wanna go?” Court adjusts his stance so only I can see more than hear his mundane whisper.

“Not really.”

“Same. We could donate it?”

“Like hell!” Emma’s shrill bellow barges into our deliberation. “You guys
have
to go! We only get one twirl on this merry-go-round, so hold on tight and scream for it to spin faster!”

Such zest for life. It’s a shame we’re not all born appreciative, and that true enlightenment only seems to come through suffering.

“Emma, how about we save it and you can go with him?” I suggest.

“Nope,” she pops. “What else you gonna do while you’re waiting for my brother? Go have fun, and by the time you’re all snow-chapped, he and I will be outta here. And you,” she says, sauntering closer to Court and tracing a fingertip down his torso, “take care of my girl. No letting her fall off ski lifts or plow into trees!”

“Yes, ma’am.” His laugh’s shallow as he kisses her, then looks at me. The defeated expression on his face matches my current mood. “Guess we’re goin’ to Aspen.”

“It would seem…twerp.” I flick Emma on the arm before looking around, frowning. Cruz has disappeared. “I’m gonna go pack.”

“Well, give me a proper goodbye first, before things get hectic and I’m crying.” She flings herself at me and I absorb her hug, my eyes leaking. “Love you, Harlow. See you soon.”

“I love you too, Em. You hurry up and win this whole thing and call me!”

“You got it. Now if you’ll excuse me, gonna take a lil’ stroll with my guy before you whisk him off to Colorado.”

Miles gives me a smile, holding his arms open as I walk into our bedroom and his embrace. “Gonna miss you, girlie. Don’t be a stranger.”

“Never.” I sniffle. “So, mastermind, did you have it right—me and Court?”

“Oh, Harlow.” He takes my cheeks in his hands and kisses my forehead. “I have it right, they have it wrong. No overthinking semantics, sweetie; you know who your soulmate is—have all along, I suspect. Now I’mma scoot. Go love on blondie.” He nudges his head toward Miranda, who’s lying on her stomach on her bed, watching us.

“Hey, you.” I sit down on the edge.

“Bye, you.” Her tear-stained face wrinkles.

“Stop that. Sit up and hug me.” I scoot over and give her room. “Listen—Cruz won’t let Jensen bother you, so try to enjoy paradise. And once I find a pen, I’m gonna give you my number. You call me when you’re done here, and we’ll plan a visit—lots of them. We’re friends, Miranda—forever. This show was the starting point, not the ending.”

“Promise?”

“On my life.”

“Okay.” She wipes her face. “Come on. I’ll help you pack.”

I’m not sure where Cruz is or how long I have until the car arrives to pick up Court and me, but I know the one place I want to end my time in—my hammock.

I slip quietly out the back door once my luggage is brought down to the Great Room, giving the house a final goodbye as I make my way to the lone spot where I always find peace.

“Mind if I join you?”

I open my eyes at the sound of his voice, a smile already forming on my face.

“You better.”

The entire hammock swings as I maneuver to make room, draping my blanket over us as his body nestles against mine. Rolled to the center of the cramped space, we face each other. He stretches an arm out where I rest the nape of my neck, guiding my head to sink into the nook of his shoulder. It’s a place I’ve yet to experience, and another I’ll now miss. My fingers trail lazily over his stomach, only a thin T-shirt covering the taut planes of his abdomen that tense under my touch.

“Can’t believe I’m leaving,” I whisper, wishing it wasn’t true.

“Me either.”

Neither of us say more, content just holding each other beneath the palms. The sun is low in the distance, a tortuous force reminding me that when it goes away, so does he.

“How’s Emma doing?” I ask, needing a distraction.

“She and Court took a walk on the beach.”

I prop my arm over his chest and rest my chin there to better view his strikingly handsome face. “I’m glad you let her go.” I smirk. “You did so without a hassle, right?”

He chuckles, a low rumble in his chest providing vibrations that ricochet through my entire body. “Yeah, I did.”

I place my lips to his neck and kiss. “He really does care about her.”

“Maybe.” His arms bring me tight against him. I lay another kiss to his skin, this time working up to his jaw.

“He’d never let anything happen to her.”

“He’ll regret it if he does.”

“And whether you approve or not, he’s not going anywhere. He adores her too much.”

I kiss the underside of his chin, humming a sweet moan as his hand dips into the loose sleeve of my cover-up shielding only a bikini underneath, trailing his fingers down my spine.

“I’d rather not think about him or my sister while I’m holding you in my arms,” he says quietly.

“Fair enough.” My lips glide slowly across his neck. “I almost wish you weren’t here right now, holding me like this, giving me something else to grieve when I go. It feels so right with you, but it hurts so much.” My eyes sting and I slam them shut to halt the gamut of emotions overshadowing the moment.

“Harlow.” He leans his body in, using both hands to lift me higher next to him, our lips nearly touching. “This isn’t the end for us. I promise you.” The fire raging in his steely eyes flares with the desperation of a ravenous soul craving a baser connection to another.

“No, no promises.” I brush my lips against his, needing to imprint the feeling of them there until we meet again. “Just kiss me, please,” I whisper breathlessly.

His hand curls around my neck and into my hair, tight but not painful, commanding me as his mouth opens and covers mine, his tongue sweeping inside. I can’t hide the relief in my moan as I give myself over fully, savoring the taste of him—every stroke of his tongue over mine, the nip of his lips, and his growl of satisfaction when I rub my leg up his calf, seeking as much contact as possible. The deeper the kiss grows, the further apart I fall until something snaps, leaving me struggling to retain the last thread holding me together until it’s gone.

I dig my fingers into his shirt and push my body further into the hammock so that he rolls on top of me.

“Harlow.” His faint voice is laced with hunger.

I don’t stop. My mouth stealing tastes of his neck, my legs wrapping around his waist. He adjusts the blanket to cloak us fully, but I don’t care whether it does or not. I need him right now. Nothing else matters.