Wicked Games by Jill Myles

eye contact with me, except Dean, who flashed a brilliant white smile in my direction that made my knees weak. So as not too seem too obvious, I looked up and down the row of men. Tattooed Leon was still there, and Olaf the biker. Will smiled at me, but it was uncertain and I knew he didn’t want to be separated from Lana unless we were told we couldn’t pick our old partners. I totally understood that, and gave him a small nod. The others I hadn’t ran into very much – Shane, Chris, Jack, Riley.
    Dean was so much better than them in every aspect. I thought of the tiny shelter back on our beach, and our bug repellent. Did I want to curl up with someone else in that shelter? Rub bug lotion all over their bodies? Have them lick peanut butter from my skin?
    “Lana,” Chip shouted in my ear. “Second place!” Then, “Ginger, third!”
    Slowly, the rest of the women finished. Well, sort of. Both Heidi and a girl named Heather hadn’t been able to create fire, so they were forced to draw straws, and Heather ended up with last pick. At last, Chip returned to me and I wiped my sweating palms on the edge of my shirt, nervous.
    He held out the red envelope. “As first place, you receive this envelope. Open it and read aloud.”
    I took it from him with shaky fingers, unnerved at the fact that all eyes were completely fixed on me and my movements. There was a wax seal on one side, and I broke it with my thumbnail and flipped the letter open, reading aloud.
    “As winner of this reward challenge, a choice must be made. Either get first pick of partners and increase your odds, or elect a day in the shade.” As usual, the messages written by the staff were crappy and made no sense, so I turned to Chip for my answer.
    “You have two choices, Abby. One, you can take first pick of the male contestants. Any of them that you want. This can give you a huge advantage over the others. Or,” he said, and paused dramatically, “You can forego strategy and select the reward instead. If you select reward, you will be taken to a luxury spa and will spend the night there. You’ll have food, showers, and a warm bed waiting for you. But the down-side is that you’ll be forced to remain with your current partner, and will receive no strategic advantage.”
    No strategic advantage? It sounded like paradise to me – vacation, food, shower, and Dean? But what if I was the only one that wanted that? It occurred to me that I might be making Dean the most miserable person on earth if I kept him with me, and I quickly glanced out to him, looking for my answer in his face. As usual, he wore no expression, not giving away anything. That was no help. I had no idea if I was making the right choice or not. Panicked, I scanned the row of men one last time, trying to decide.
    To hell with this.
    I’d lived several days with angry Dean before. I could live with angry Dean again. Even if it did make my stomach knot at the thought of him being angry at me after the bonding we’d done. But, my decision made, I handed the red card back to Chip. “I want the food,” I said.
    “Of course,” Shanna said down the line, her voice catty. Someone snickered next to her.
    Chip seemed very surprised by my choice. “You’re deciding to keep the same partner?” He said, as Dean rose to his feet in the distance and slung his back over his shoulders, the expressionless look still on his face. “After all the troubles the two of you have had for the past two weeks, what made you choose that?”
    Uh oh, I had to explain myself. “I really just wanted the food and shower,” I said in a bright voice, hoping that my bubble-headed lie sounded convincing. “Who wouldn’t?”
    Chip gave a fake chuckle and gestured in the distance. “If you’ll go that way, you’ll be taken to your reward.”
    With my bag clutched tightly in my hands, I trailed off of the small stage, back down to the ground. One of the production assistants was waiting nearby, ready to interview