Page 76 of Wicked Games

I chewed on the inside of my cheek as I considered his words. As wild as his story sounded, I didn’t find it completely implausible or unbelievable. On top of that, Maverick had helped and supported me throughout these awful games, and he’d helped the others too. He’d never done anything that could be seen as sabotage, and he didn’t seem to have any motive to hurt me or anyone else either.

Also, the way he kissed me… he couldn’t fake the feelings in that. No one could.

“I think I…” I trailed off, words dying in my throat. Then I began again. “Yes. I believe you.”

There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line. “Really?”

“Yes. I’m so sorry I ran off before. I was just so shocked, and I really—”

Maverick cut me off. “You don’t have to explain or apologize. I would’ve been freaked out if I were in your shoes.”

“Well, I still feel like an asshole,” I murmured.

“Don’t. You really shouldn’t.” His voice had turned slightly gruff. “I’m just glad you believe me. I don’t deserve it after all the shit I’ve done to you.”

I smiled faintly, even though he couldn’t see me. “We decided that was all in the past, remember?”

“That’s true. But I’m always going to regret what I did to you,” Maverick replied. “And I’m always going to do everything I can to make it up to you.”

The tiny smile on my face stretched a little wider. “I know.”

“I’m going to get you out of here, Carey,” he went on. “I promise. Even if it kills me, I’m getting you out.”

Carey

After breakfast the following morning, we were summoned to our fifth game. The gaming room was located in the same hallway where the first two games took place.

The room was dimly lit with flickering lights casting a hazy glow over the space. Posters of bands and bikini-clad women adorned the wood-paneled walls, and four rectangular tables stood in the center, laden with red Solo cups in pyramid formations and ping pong balls. Rock music pulsed from a stereo in the corner, bass thumping so loudly that the floor vibrated beneath our feet.

“I’m guessing this is meant to look like a high school party,” Brooke shouted over the music.

“Looks more like a drug dealer’s basement,” Jasmine replied, upper lip curling with disdain.

The music died down, and the Game Master addressed us from a speaker on the far wall. “Welcome to the party, everyone!” the tinny voice said. “I’m going to let you have a ton of fun with an awesome game of Beer Pong!”

“For fuck’s sake,” Zach muttered, head shaking. “Just tell us the twist, asshole.”

“You’ll play in pairs that I’ll announce in a moment. Obviously, there are nine of you, meaning one lucky player is exempt from today’s game. I used a lottery system to determine that the lucky one is… Brooke!”

Brooke’s shoulders slumped, and she let out a long sigh of relief. Hudson and Jasmine narrowed their eyes at her, obviously pissed about the exemption.

“Here are the rules. In your pairs, you play one round against each other. As with regular Beer Pong, the objective is to throw ping pong balls into your opponent's cups. However, if you sink one, your opponent doesn’t need to drink from the cup immediately. Instead, they must move the cup to the side of the table and continue the game. At the end, whoever sank the most balls is declared the winner. The loser must then select one of their ten cups to drink from.” The Game Master paused to let out a creepy hollow laugh. “Now, here’s the catch I bet you’re all waiting for. Several of the cups have poison mixed into the beer. You have no way of knowing which ones, so the losers must choose wisely, or else they’ll die. If you draw,bothplayers will have to select a cup to drink from, so keep that in mind. I’ll give you a few minutes to let that sink in, and then I’ll announce the pairings. Ciao for now!”

We all stared at each other with wide eyes.

“Oh my god,” April said. “This isn’t fair! We can’t strategize because it’s based on pure luck!”

“But we could all survive,” Brooke said. “If all the losers just happen to pick cups without poison, we’ll be fine.”

“We? Who’swe?” Jasmine said in a high-pitched tone. “You don’t even have to play! Which, by the way, is totally suspicious. Kinda makes it look like you arranged all of this for your own convenience, doesn’t it?”

Brooke rolled her eyes. “Oh my god,really? We’re still accusing each other of being the Game Master?”

“Um, yes? Of course we are.” Jasmine sneered. “You’re sus as hell, Brooke.”

“If anyone, it’s Maverick,” Courteney interjected. “You all got that text about him being a psychopath, right?”

I instantly opened my mouth to defend Maverick, but then I caught his eye. He slowly shook his head, intense gaze conveying a silent message.Don’t.

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