Page 53 of Lust & Lollipops

A long, long breath.

I wasn’t ready to deal with Kyle right then.

“You were fucking Chris behind our backs, weren’t you?” he asked.

“How would I possibly be having sex with anyone right now? You guys have at least two sets of eyes on me at all times, not including Rhett’s,” I shot back.

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

“That saying does not apply to this situation. I’m frustrated because you guys voted out one of my top candidates when I was under the impression that someone else was going home, okay? Now, just give me space.”

“Alright.” Kyle finally strode away, looking pretty proud of himself.

I wanted to throw something at the bastard.

A coconut, maybe.

Or something harder.

A rock would be good. A big, heavy rock.

I stayed where I was, still staring up at the sky.

Kyle went to sleep pretty fast.

For once, Travis and Reid did too.

None of them were suspicious of Cameron, which meant our plan had succeeded.

But the victory felt hollow.

After a little more time passed, Cam sat down near the base of my shelter, leaning up against a tree. “You’re upset with me,” he said.

“You were supposed to be on my team.” My voice was quiet. “Tell me the Chris vote wasn’t your idea.”

“I can’t lie to you, Lollipop.”

My eyes stung. “He could’ve been my best chance at happiness.”

“Your second best.” There was an edge to Cam’s voice. A hardness I hadn’t heard before.

“You voted him out because you didn’t want to compete with him.” My sadness started to fade.

“Of course I did. I’m not here to watch you walk off with some other bastard.”

“Some other implies that you’re also a bastard.”

“I never said I wasn’t.”

I sat up, anger in the lines of my face. “I helped you. I trusted you.”

“And I’ll take care of you for the rest of our lives in exchange.”

I shook my head, shoving hair out of my eyes. “I don’t want someone to take care of me. I don’t want a guard, Cam. I want a partner.”

“And I can’t be that?”

“Do not start answering me with questions again. You were supposed to make it to the end so I could choose you.”

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