Tristan
Sitting at the island in the kitchen, I readjust the ice pack on my knuckles. I didn’t even have my gloves completely on when I lunged. I tossed them aside, going at Madden with my bare fists.
I may regret that because they hurt like a bitch.
Maya strides in, hands on her hips. “What happened?”
I just stare at her. I’m really not in the mood for her shit right now. At this point, I wouldn’t mind if she took her happy little ass out of this apartment and never came back. That’s how sick I am of all the meddling going on in this game. That tablet video shit being the final straw.
I almost snort. Because to think, I signed up for this voluntarily. Despite everything that’s happened, though, I’d do it all again just to meet Megan.
“Say something, Tristan,” Maya pushes. “I know something had to have happened to start this fight. You’ve had all day to cool off, and now all of a sudden you and Madden are duking it out in the gym?”
I continue staring daggers at her. She has some nerve wanting me to get into this with her. Especially when this is all their fault with sending that fucking tablet to my room.
“What aren’t you telling me?” she says, her eyebrows furrowing.
Next thing I know, she’s walking up to me and snatching off my mic pack.
“What are you doing?” That’s breaking a huge rule. One of the biggest offenses a contestant can commit is removing the mic. “Are you trying to get me kicked out?”
“Shh.” Maya screws up her face and glances surreptitiously at the cameras placed around the room, making some weird shape with her fingers that looks like she’s throwing gang signs. “Okay, we’re clear. We have five minutes. No mics. No cameras. Now get talking.”
I stare. What the fuck is she talking about? “Maya, there are cameras everywhere. Now give me my mic back before you get me evicted.”
“The head camera guy has a crush on me. It’s fine.”
“And… you’re coming to me for dating advice? Sorry, Maya, but you aren’t making any sense. And honestly, I’m really not in the mood for this right now. So, if you’ll leave me alone now, I’d like to get back to my pity party for one.”
She grunts and rolls her eyes. “I mean that I bought us five minutes of time off-camera. They guy with the crush? He’s shutting them off. Well, he already did. And now we’re down to four minutes because of your idiotic commentary. So I’ll ask you one more time. What happened that started that fight?”
I can feel the muscle in my jaw jumping, and my fists clench again, almost of their own volition.
“That bad?” she asks, frowning.
I nod, thinking about the everything-but-actual-sex sex I witnessed between Megan and Madden, and I almost want to hunt him down again and finish what I started.
“About an hour ago, some assistant came to my room and brought me that tablet. I wasn’t going to watch it at first.” Ha, who am I kidding? There’s no way I could have ignored that tablet—it was practically begging to be viewed. “But obviously I did watch it.”
Now she looks even more confused. “What tablet?”
I scoff and shake my head. “The tablet, Maya. You know, the one with the limo fuckfest starring Megan and Madden?”
She gasps. “What? Are you kidding me right now?”
I look at her funny. “Do I look like I’m kidding?” I hold my swollen fists up before icing them again.
“You’re telling me that someone brought a tablet to your room, and it was a video of Megan and Madden having sex?” She looks baffled. Is it possible she didn’t know about this?
“No,” I say slowly. “Not having sex.” Thank fuck. “Well, not exactly. Everything but,” I add with a grimace.
“What did this guy look like?”
I describe him as best as I can, but honestly, that was the least of my concerns today.
“Dammit.” She actually stomps her foot. “That’s one of my boss’s personal assistants. He set this up.”
“What’s it matter, though, Maya? Whether I saw the video or not, it doesn’t change the fact that it happened. They did those things.” Only hours after Megan and I.
“I bet Madden got one, too,” she muses, still caught up in the puzzle she’s putting together.
“Based on the way he was tearing into that bag when I arrived in the gym, I’d say the chances are good. He was almost as upset over it as I was.” If not just as upset. Something I’ll have to think about later. When I’m not still ready to murder him for touching Megan.
That gets her attention. “What did you say?”
My eyebrows furrow. “That we were both upset over it?”
“Yeah.” She steps closer, looking me in the eye. “Just tell me one thing, Tristan.”
I shrug, and she takes that as a yes.
“Do you really care about Megan? Like honestly and truly care about her?”
I sigh, running my hands through my hair. What’s the point in denying it? I’ll tell Megan soon enough. As soon as she doesn’t think it’s just a ploy to get her to sleep with me or to choose me over Madden.
“Yeah,” I say finally. “I do. I really do care about her.”
The way she smiles is like I just told her she won the fucking lottery or something. “What am I missing here?” I ask.
She shakes her head, pointing up. “Sorry, five minutes are up.” Tossing me my mic pack, Maya heads toward the stairs leading to Megan’s room. Where Megan’s been camped out all day. I haven’t seen her since the flight.
“What are you doing?” I ask suspiciously.
She gives me a wink. “Saving your ass.”