Page 67 of Crave

"Gio!" I shouted.

He spun back around, obviously pissy, and I snapped his picture. Gio blinked.

"You ever come near her again, I promise I'll kill you."

Then I walked away.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Landon

Listen to Popular

by The Weeknd & Madonna

At least, I wasn’t the only one suffering from WIFI detox.

The entire cast lost their minds. They complained to the crew about the lack of Internet service and how no one could connect. Lydia tried to calm us down by explaining there was an accident down the road that had taken out some connections and we’d be back up by Noon.

In the meantime, we were dragged out to shoot a morning breakfast scene that broke down into chaos over this evening’s vote. It was only the second one, but already it was feeling kind of ridiculous. I think the people who got to leave this farm were the lucky ones, but then again, I was beginning to lose my ambition to makeDumpedmy vehicle for fame.

I’d been up most of the night tortured by Max’s picture. He never showed up this morning, probably because he couldn’t get a hold of anyone, and I was glad. I didn’t need to talk aboutAdam’s tendency to be nice to half naked groupies or hear about how he was bound to betray me in LA. It’d be best if Max went home at this point. I looked at the long string of undelivered texts and hoped after this shoot I’d be able to talk to Adam and clear things up.

We were all supposed to gather in the barn to milk cows and take care of the lone Alpaca who seemed to enjoy spitting. Who would’ve thought those cute fuzzy animals that looked like adorable stuffies were really evil? This one was named Hal and he seemed to be doubly interested in annoying me. The crew had spotted my nerves immediately so now I was the one to feed and clean out his stall, which was really a big open space where he crapped, threw food, and kept dead bodies hidden. Hal was a serial killer but everyone thought he was funny.

Dodging the glares and insults being traded by my castmates, I walked out of the kitchen and away from Brody’s stare. Clayton followed me down the hall like a puppy dog.

“I’ll help you with Hal,” he said nicely. “I know you hate it.”

I gave a grunt. “Lydia will make me do it alone so I get spit on and everyone gets a laugh.”

Clayton looked sympathetic. “Sorry. I’ll give it a try. Hey, I noticed Brody giving you a hard time lately. It’s getting a little intense. Let me know if I can help out.”

I tried to hide a groan and wondered if he was getting caught up in this fake drama or if he thought this was actually real. “Clayton, it’s cool. Just follow my lead—I know how to handle Brody.”

“So can I.” His voice deepened. “I may be inexperienced, Landon, but I’m not a pushover. I can deal with him myself.”

I decided to ditch this whole conversation since it was going nowhere. They weren’t allowed to fight on camera—physical altercations were against the rules—but everyone was practicallysalivating for me to lean in a bit and get these two guys to play off each other.

It sucked. I wanted nothing to do with it. Yet, Brody was either going to try and vote me out if I didn’t, or force me to step up.

Trudging into my tiny space, I shut the door and changed quickly into a ridiculous skort and halter top, quickly braiding my hair. It was touched up by the stylist and then we were all pushed onto the “set” and our boss the farmer began ordering us around to milk cows.

I dealt with the indignity of squeezing a penis-like appendage that squirted milk. I handled the bold insults and catty fighting with the girls that the camera soaked up. Finally, I escaped to the fields where Hal waited, chewing hay and staring at me with his dark, judgy eyes that said I was about to get tortured.

“Can I clean up while you leave me alone?” I asked him grouchily, feeling exposed in my outfit. I slapped at the bugs biting my legs and my high heeled boots sunk in the mud making me look ridiculous. Still, I played the role well and even got some laughs from the cameraman as I struggled with the rake and cleaning, while Hal stalked me. I almost enjoyed the acting with the animal, safe from the men, and when Hal let out a spit striking me in the face, I pretended to be affronted and sank into a bantering dialogue with the animal that I sensed would be perfect for the series.

This is what I’d hoped for. Less relying on men for my storyline and leaning into the natural aspects of the farm and community.

“Are you going to let him talk to you like that?” Clayton asked, coming up behind me. He was smiling and we fell into easy dialogue while Hal began to chase Clayton away.

“Oh, my God, Hal wants you to himself!” Clayton said with a laugh. “Look—he’s chasing me away!”

I put my hand on my hip and fluttered my eyes. “My milkshake brings all my boys to the barn,” I sang, twisting the lyrics.

“Okay, you are a horrible singer.”

I gasped in mock astonishment. “How could you say that to me, Clay?” I picked up some random hay and threw it at him. Immediately, he dropped to his knees, gathering his own, and we had this big hay fight while Hal watched us like we were idiots and the cameras rolled and the crew gave thumbs up and seemed over the moon with our spontaneous play fight.

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