Page 17 of Under the Dragon's Spell
Seriously?
Ugh.
Someone had really studied my application.
I could just so picture Tyrel placing that there with that devious smile of his.
If he'd read my application, he'd seen the stupid picture, too.
I wanted to die.
And still I couldn't wait to see him at dinner later.
I was just looking through the shelves for something to read when someone knocked at the door.
"Come in."
It turned out to be Paul. "If you'd please, I'd like to give you all a tour of the facilities now."
I nodded and looked behind him into the hallway. It seemed the other applicants were already gathered outside my door. Taking a deep breath, I turned away from the shelves to join them.
"Hi," I said to the three unknown faces who studied me as I stepped into the hallway. In turn, they introduced themselves as Bernard, Zane and William. I nodded at each of them, told them my name, and pretended I didn't want them out of here as soon as possible. After all, their presence decreased my chances of getting what I wanted.
As Paul showed us through the house, I tried to get a read on my competition.
Bernard was the tallest of us. He looked like the kind who would have played football in high school and college. I hope he wasn't really Tyrel's type, because if he was, I certainly wasn't. Then again, I wasn't sure how any of us had been picked. Some of us might be here only because Tyrel's mother liked us, after all.
Aside from being my competition, I couldn't harbor ill feelings toward Bernard. He seemed good natured for a tall, muscular guy. Smiling a lot, trying to be friendly and get along. As we strolled through the gardens outside, he asked me how my day had been, in a way that sounded like he actually wanted to know.
And suddenly I felt bad for thinking of the other guys only as competition. Yes, they were after the same thing as me, but they probably weren't bad people.
Zane filled a glass of water for me in the kitchen and I accepted it with a muttered thank you. He only grinned at me. "It's kind of weird, isn't it?" he asked. "This situation. I guess I'm supposed to hate you all, but I don't do hate." His voice dropped a little. "Like, have you seen Michael? I kind of want to cuddle him."
I laughed. I couldn't help it. "I want to pinch his cheeks," I admitted before I could stop myself. Sipping my water, I studied Zane more closely. He had all the markings of a twink. Blond, blue eyed, slender... If Tyrel was into pretty, Zane was my strongest competition. But I still couldn't make myself dislike him.
Zane looked over at the rest of our little group, who was standing around a fruit's basket, taking their pick. "Have you heard William's story?"
"His story?"
Zane nodded. "Yeah. We arrived here around the same time, so we got to talking a bit." The grin vanished from his face, telling me that whatever he'd heard wasn't good news.
I raised an eye brow. Did I really want to know? I really shouldn't be asking for information that would make me evenmore sympathetic to these people. We couldn't all win. Only one of us could, and I wanted that to be me, and I didn't want to feel bad about winning when I did. I wasn't sure whether that made me selfish or not. It was this insecurity that prompted me to ask Zane: "What did he tell you?"
Zane looked at William, and then he shrugged. "I guess I can tell you. Not like it's super personal, but I asked him why he applied."
I chuckled. "Michael and I had that same conversation when we walked here."
Zane smiled again. "Does make you curious, doesn't it? What kind of people apply for a job like this and why…" he trailed off. "I guess we all have our reasons, but Will? He's really bad off. He already has three kids, all pretty young still. I'm not sure he even wants to add another one to the mix, but his former mate, the kids' dad died, and now he's hard pressed for money."
"Oh." I didn't know what to say after hearing a story like that. I'd though I had it bad, but compared to Will, I still had it pretty good. At least, I only had myself to take care of, even when I wished for that to be different some days. "Who's taking care of his children now?" I wondered.
"I'm not too sure, really. I didn't want to pry. But when I look at all the money that's here…" Zane let his gaze sweep through the kitchen. "I guess it's been taken care of."
"I hope so."
Zane nodded. "Well, let's join the others before all the fruit has been taken. I want a banana." He winked at me. I drained the last of my water and followed him, wondering if everyone here had a story, a reason that made them willing to have Tyrel's baby. Wondering if I truly deserved it more than any of them.
After the tour, I went back to my room. I wanted to nap for a bit before dinner, but sleep wouldn't come. There were too many thoughts, too many doubts in my head. Lying here on myown, I remembered how crazy this situation really was. I didn't really know Tyrel, and yet, I was competing for him. Why?
