Page 48 of Lust & Lollipops

Chris did a little dance.

“Today, no one loses,” he said. “Everyone goes hunting for their package, and everyone comes out with it. Whoever finds Molly’s gets thirty minutes alone with her. Everyone else gets ten. First guy back goes first, and etcetera.”

No one had any questions, so they all headed into the jungle.

They did so with far less energy than they had the first day, though.

Rhett sat down next to me. “Only two more votes,” he said.

“Seven more days, and I’ll be a mated woman,” I agreed, trepidation making me a little nauseous.

Or maybe that was all the fish. I hoped to never be the reason another sea creature died after I left the island.

“Each of the guys’ bags has an asset folder. This is one of their largest chances to convince you to pick them,” Rhett said.

Asset folders.

Lovely.

“The Society is impressed,” he added. “They put together the first episode and aired it already, and it was a hit. Survival will be a regular after this.”

I grimaced. “Yay.”

“Most of the men will be coming back for the next season,” he said, watching me closely.

“That sucks for them.”

“The majority are too close to dying to have any other option.”

I bit my lip.

I hadn’t thought about that in a while. The dying thing.

If I didn’t mate with Cam, what were his chances of surviving?

And if I didn’t mate with him, who else would I choose?

Definitely not Kyle. That was a hard pass.

I didn’t want Travis, either.

Or Reid.

Or Chris.

Chris was probably my second-best option. He wasn’t an ass. He just sort of went with the flow, and obviously picked the right group to ally with from the beginning. I’d never been on a date with him, so he had either been holding back like Cam, or he was just worse than Kyle at all the challenges.

Both of which seemed like possibilities.

Whatever happened, I was pretty much trapped. And I really didn’t like knowing that.

“Who won’t be coming back if they don’t win?” I asked, hoping the question was vague enough. Rhett had seen me with Cameron, so he knew our plan even if we hadn’t had the chance to talk about it in a while.

“Just Cam,” Rhett said.

I bit down harder on my lip.

The first guy emerged with a bag a few minutes later.

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