The Consequence of Revenge

“I know.” Colton rolled his eyes. “I’m not stupid.”

Jason snorted.

Milo gave him a pointed look.

“I have my reasons for choosing another normal. Wanna hear them?” Colton leaned forward.

“Doubtful they’re good reasons, but sure.” Milo grabbed another drink from the bar. “Hit us.”

“So this whole scenario makes you think you’re falling in love when really you’re not given a choice. Most of the girls that are here are absolutely bat-shit crazy, making it so Becca’s an easy choice, and if I know girls, which let’s be honest, I’m like a master at reading the female mind . . .” Yeah, that earned a lot of laughter and pointing. “Whatever.” Colton rolled his eyes. “Becca doesn’t want to be the best option out of the crazies, she wants to be the best option period. Max has to see it and Becca has to see it.” He smirked. “You’re welcome, world.”

“Wow,” Milo sighed. “You almost made up for being an ass right then.”

“Aw, babe.” Colton smiled. “Nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

I watched and tried not to be jealous as they cuddled and kissed. Jason made eye contact with me over their heads and made a gagging motion with his hand, then promptly fell out of his chair. Right, so he was three sheets to the wind already. Clearly the alcohol had affected him more than I’d thought.

The wind picked up a bit; I glanced back at the beach just in time to see Max’s fourth date approach. Out of all the girls, she was the one I was most worried about. Quiet, pretty, normal.

Great.

I silently prayed she had spinach in her teeth and was defeated when I noticed Max’s face light up when she gave him a warm hug and grabbed his hand.

Pangs of jealousy attacked me from all sides.

“Hey.” Milo squeezed my arm. “It’s going to be fine. He likes you.”

Right. He liked me. I’d slept with him already because, what? I was that convinced that what we had was going to last past two weeks? Suddenly nauseated, I ordered another drink.

It had taken me two weeks to not only fall for the guy, but also to sleep with him. I hadn’t kept my cards close, if anything I’d laid them all out in front of a complete stranger in hopes he’d love me.

But Max was . . . Max. He had everything—what if I wasn’t enough to keep someone like him entertained? What if I wasn’t enough to keep him, period? Clearly he’d had lots of dating experience and when guys were that experienced they bored easily. Insecurity hit me again square in the chest . . . what if this was just an infatuation for him, brought on by the show? What if, once we were back to our normal lives, whatever there was between us proved to be too normal for him?

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

MAX

Thank Hades. They chose a normal. A normal! As in someone who doesn’t have multiple personalities, a fetish for sharp nails, the inability to speak English—a normal.

Little G popped up from my pocket and froze. He was so astonished that we weren’t getting attacked by another crazy girl that he’d stopped breathing altogether.

“Hey.” The girl smiled. And it wasn’t scary. You know what I’m talking about. Some girls have the creeper smile where you’re not sure if they are going to attack you or just say hi. She meant to say hi. And I actually liked the smile. So I returned it with one of my own.

“Hey.” I pulled her in for a hug. “You ready for our date?”

“Sure.” A blush tinted her cheeks, making her look really young. Damn, was it possible she was younger than me? Great, so now I was the old creeper. “What are we doing?”

“We are . . .” I looked around. “Honestly, I don’t remember. I mean I think they’d like you to think I totally plan these dates on my own but spoiler alert, today they’ve actually been doing it for me. But can I get points for dressing myself?”

She laughed out loud, throwing her head back a bit. “Yeah, you get points for color coordination.”

“And not wearing socks with sandals,” I felt the need to add. “Because I’m pretty sure that’s a deal breaker.”

“That and men who hate goats. I have a goat farm so . . .” Her voice trailed off as she winked.

“Fine, how’d you know?”

“How’d I know?” Her eyebrows shot up. “The first day you ran into shark-infested waters when a goat looked in your direction.”

“Well . . .” We started walking, the camera crew followed. “You’ll be happy to know that Hades and I have settled our differences and now he sleeps on my underwear.”

“Ah, a goat paradise. How nice.”

She smiled again.

And honestly, I could not stop smiling. And it wasn’t because she had cropped blond hair and wore absolutely no makeup but still managed to look fresh-faced and cute. I didn’t feel lust for her or anything, just companionship. She was no Becca. Then again, Becca was in a league all her own. But this girl? I could hang out with her and not want to kill myself in the process.

She smiled. “My name’s Sam, just in case you forgot.”

“Sam?”

“Well, Sammy.” Her nose wrinkled.

“Sammy.” I tried out the name. “I think Sam fits you better.”

“Me too.” She reached for my hand.

Rex made a motion with his hands for us to go out to the docks. So I took Sam with me, falling into easy conversation. That is, until we stopped at the end of the dock and noted the Jet Skis.