Page 29 of House of Deceit

The question takes me off guard, but only for a moment. Court often talks aloud about whatever thought flits through her mind.

“Probably napping in the sun. It’s one of my favorite things as a human, so I would think that’d transfer over if I was a cat.”

She nods. “That’s a good one. I want to have the audacity to climb any surface.” She moves out of the way so I can move further into the room. “This is Raven.” Raven is laid out on her bed with an arm over her eyes. She throws me a peace sign but doesn’t react to my presence. “Our other roommate is Jayden, the tall, lanky kid who looks like a stiff wind could blow him over.”

I sit down on my bed and take a deep breath.

It’s only been about an hour, but this doesn’t seem so bad.

It’s definitely better than sitting all alone on the floor of my apartment.

Our shortest house member, Ezra’s, eyes dart around the table as he sucks up the spaghetti Molly volunteered to cook like a vacuum cleaner. The conversation has been stilted and devoid of overly personal topics as we all walk on eggshells trying to get to know each other. Penelope scowls down at the food, moving a meatball around with her fork but never takes a bite. I take a sip of my red wine, looking around the table.

“Who wants to address the elephant in the room?” Rebel says, with a snarky smile.

“What elephant?” the blue-eyed frat boy Carter asks. His blond hair is slicked back like a car salesman.

Parker sits to my right, his body heat warming me as I take a sip of water. Noticing there’s almost none left in my glass, he grabs the pitcher from the middle of the table, refilling it for me when I put it back down on the table.

I smile at him in thanks, tuning back into the conversation I have a feeling is very much about me.

“The unevenness of our numbers,” Keith says without looking up from his plate. The old man shovels in his food without seeming to taste it, but I appreciate his efficiency.

“There’s twenty of us, though,” Carter says, clueless.

“Normally, the starting numbers are ten men and ten women. There’s a woman here that shouldn’t be.” Cain’s sharp eyes flit around the room, taking everyone in.

Unease whirs within me. Alec and I were not sure how the audience would take the imbalance of contestants. Once eliminations start, the balance changes anyway, so he didn’t believe it would be much of an issue. His boss decided the audience would not be informed of the mix-up, nor would the other wranglers. A picture of a bunch of people sitting around watching us all fighting about my presence at this table makes me sweat a bit.

Cain catches me squirming in my chair.

“Charlie, what do you think about this?” he asks.

All eyes turn to me. The weight of them added to the cameras I feel on me in this moment pushes me down in my chair and makes me wish I could melt into the floor.

“I’m sure the show handled whatever happened as best they could,” I say, noncommittally.

“So, it’s okay someone is taking up a position that should have been filled by someone else?” he asks, probing further.

“I think the people that are supposed to be here, are. Alec—”

“Alec King? He’s your wrangler? It’s you then. You shouldn’t be here.”

I mentally slap myself.

“Yes, Alec is my wrangler,” I say, ignoring the other piece of his accusation. After my doctor’s appointment, Alec and I decided what I would share and what I wouldn’t but we both agreed honesty was incredibly important to keep the audience on my side.

“Well, well, well. Is he hot? My wrangler is terrified of him. She always mentions how she has to check with Alec any time I have a question,” Penelope says, drinking her dirty martini.

“Why does it matter if he’s attractive?” I ask, bewildered and unwilling to admit that out loud, knowing he’ll hear it.

She shrugs a perfectly tan shoulder before shooting a wink at Lucas, our resident Olympian. Everyone goes back to their conversations, and I slump with relief at their general acceptance of me within the house.

“How did you get him to pick you?” Cain asks, making my stomach fall at his refusal to drop the subject.

“It’s not like I was part of the process,” I say, starting to get defensive.

Cain looks around at the other contestants. “Alec King’s contestants always end up in the top three. Because this woman somehow got into this game, someone else lost their spot, most likely a spot in the final three. I’d be curious as to the legality of her being here.”

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