Page 56 of Wicked Games

Maverick wasn’t on the bed or in the chair at the desk. He wasn’t sitting on the nook beneath the window, either. My eyesslid over to the bathroom door, and I heard a masculine voice faintly saying my name. He must have heard me at the door after all.

As I stepped closer to the bathroom, I realized Maverick was in the shower. I must have imagined hearing him say my name, because he wasn’t speaking at all. He was grunting and panting and so clearly…oh, God. I shouldn’t be here. I couldn’tbe here.

I retreated, quietly closing the door behind me. The image of Maverick touching himself in the shower was burned into my mind, and my cheeks were aflame with embarrassment.

I hurried back to my room, heart pounding, desperate to put some distance between myself and the awkward encounter. Despite my better judgment, a rush of conflicting emotions were stirring inside me at the thought of Maverick’s wet body, hard cock, and pumping hand.

Closing my door with a soft click, I leaned against it, grappling with the unsettling truth I could no longer deny.

Whether I liked it or not… I had feelings for him.

Carey

Morale was low at breakfast the next morning. Everyone at the table seemed to be suspicious of everyone else in the room, and hardly anyone was in the mood for talking, including me. I kept looking around instead, silently studying each face and wondering which one could belong to the Game Master.

I thought Rhys and Hudson still looked good for it, but I wasn’t certain. Anyone else in the room could be guilty too. Or maybe Brooke was right at the beginning, and the Game Master reallywasan outsider who lied to us in order to sow discord. I had no way of knowing, and it was driving me crazy.

Speaking of crazy… there was one face I was studiously avoiding.Maverick.

Last night’s revelation about my ridiculous crush on him embarrassed the hell out of me, and I kept worrying that he’d see the feelings written all over my face if we locked eyes. Thankfully, he was at the opposite end of the table, so there was only a slim chance of that happening.

Hardly any of us were sitting in our assigned seats, and we’d once again splintered into distinct groups. Courteney had moved away from her spot near Zach, due to the awkwardness betweenher and April, and she was now hanging out with Maverick, Jasmine, and Kiara at the top end of the table. Hudson, Rhys, and Tate were still in their nasty trio in the middle, and my own friend group had the far end.

It was awkward as hell for me and Brooke, who were right in the middle of April and Zach’s newfound drama. Zach kept trying to make conversation, and April would occasionally look over at him with sparkling eyes and an open mouth like she was just about to respond. Then she’d suddenly seem to remember what he did to her sister, and her mouth would clamp shut as a stony expression returned to her face.

One of the speakers crackled on the wall. “Players, please make your way to Gaming Room 3.”

In glum silence, we trudged out of the drawing room and headed down the hall to find that another wing of the house had opened.

“This must’ve been the dining hall,” Courteney said, staring at the double-wide entrance. “It’s in the right spot, and the entryway looks exactly the same.”

“I think you’re right,” April said, doing a slow spin to assess the space beyond the doors. “Same place, but it’s been renovated.”

I looked around, wondering what fresh hell was in store for us in this room. The walls around us had been painted with colorful murals depicting a playground, and there were also several painted arrows on the floor pointing toward a walled-off area with an arched entryway. A wooden sign hung over the entryway, informing us that a maze lay beyond it.

Once we were all inside, the doors slammed shut behind us, and a clicking sound followed, indicating that we were locked in until the game was over.

“Welcome, players. Today, we’re playing my version of Tag,” a robotic voice said from a speaker on the left wall. “Pleasemake your way over to the table on the right. There, you will find the game rules along with the playing pieces. Follow the instructions, or there will be dire consequences.”

The underlying message was clear: play or die.

We headed over to the table to find eleven strange items laid out in neat rows. They looked like thick silver collars with hinge openings at the back and black strings hanging from the front. A small light bulb was attached to the end of each string.

“Are these for us to wear?” Jasmine said, gingerly poking at one.

“Yup.” Maverick nodded, eyes scanning the rule sheet. “I’ll read this out loud, okay?”

Everyone nodded their assent, and Maverick began. “Each player must equip one of the collars and press the small button on the right to turn it on. When activated, the light on the end of the string will turn green. After that, the game timer will begin. Players can either enter the maze or hang back in the playground area, and the aim is to tag other players by tugging on their strings to turn their lights red. A buzzer will sound whenever someone is tagged, in order to alert everyone else, and those whose lights are turned red will face their demise once the timer runs down to zero. You can tag and kill as many players as you want, or you can choose to tag none at all. However, at leastoneperson’s light must be red by the end of the game, and the collars must always remain on. If every light is still green when the timer runs out, you will all die. You have twenty minutes to complete the game.”

The horrifying truth dawned on all of us at the same time.

“Carey was wrong yesterday,” Kiara said, slowly shaking her head. “There’s no way for all of us to survive this game, no matter how strategic we are. At least one of us has to die.”

“Yup.” Maverick set his jaw. “That’s the rule.”

“No fucking way.” Zach fervently shook his head. “There must besomeway we can all survive.”

“I think so too,” Brooke said. “There must be something obvious that we’re all missing.”

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