Body Games (Games #5)(15)
Author: Jessica Clare

Even now, Kip was sprinting out of the water, ignoring Sunnie’s feeble cries. I was too stunned to do anything, and when Jendan’s hand swiped across my back once more, I let him.

Lousy lay?

And here I thought Kip and I were doing better today. What a f**king prick. No wonder everyone was laughing when I turned around. I felt my face go hot with anger. That little son of a bitch—

“Team eight wins again,” Chip said, throwing his hands in the air as Kip trotted to the finish line with the ring again. Pleased with himself, Kip did a little ‘Rocky’ bounce and then threw his hands in the air.

Jendan gave my back a final rub and then released me.

“You two okay in the water?” Chip asked, his attention turning toward Jendan and me.

“Just twisted my ankle a little,” I said, hauling out of the water and faking a limp. I was boiling mad as I went back to the line-up, unable to look over at my partner. My back stung, but my pride hurt worse. Of all the awful things to do…

I could teach Kip a lesson. Deliberately throw the challenge and see if I could get Kip ousted. It’d be risky, but did I want to play next to a guy that wrote Lousy Lay on my back just to try and humiliate me in public? All because I wouldn’t f**k him this time around?

“Jendan, looks like you didn’t even try very hard that time,” Chip commented, breaking into my stream of thoughts. “Are you and Sunnie struggling with the challenge?”

“Just lost my bearings,” Jendan said easily, and I glanced down the line at him. He shot me a secretive look, and I realized that he had no intention on telling anyone that he’d deliberately tackled me just to wipe my back off. They might notice that the words were no longer there, but maybe not that he did it on purpose to help me.

He’d thrown that round just to save me a little humiliation? I owed the guy. I felt a rush of gratitude that doused my fury. At least I had someone looking out for me on the beach.

The urge to throw the challenge fizzled. Jendan had deliberately lost so he could help me out. The least I could do was give it my all and try to return the favor somehow.

The afternoon wore on, and round after round of the challenge continued. The first team to get to three points was, not surprisingly, Summer and Polly. We lost to them in the next round. Once they had their three, they sat down on a nearby bench, out of the challenge and secure for another three days. Jendan and Sunnie won their next round and then lost another. We won our round against Leslie and Emilio, and finally got to sit down on the bench next to the girls. After that, Kissy and Rusty were safe, then Jerry and Saul.

The two teams in last place were Alys and Chris, and Jendan and Sunnie, who only won the one round. Alys and Chris had narrowly been beaten by the two firefighters, who weren’t that good at swimming, it seemed. Chip wore a somber look as he strode forward. “Jendan and Sunnie.” He turned to the other team. “Alys and Chris. You have all been nominated for Judgment. It’s time for us to go to the Judgment Hall.”

~~ *** ~~

An hour later, we were assembled in the so-called Judgment Hall. It was another boat-ride away, and on another island. The set that had been built was a magnificent one, designed to resemble a Fijian bungalow with no sides. There was a thick, layered, thatched roof, and rows of benches off to the side. An ornate wooden podium stood in the center (Chip’s place of honor) and there was a bench on each side of him. We were instructed to file in quietly and take a seat on one of the benches across from the podium.

Alys and Chris sat to the left of Chip, Jendan and Sunnie to the right. Both teams looked incredibly displeased to be there.

Chip gave us all a somber look. “Welcome to Judgment. Here, the remaining players will vote who will stay, and who will leave. Your votes will determine which team will remain. The team that loses Judgment will then proceed to a challenge round, where they will compete against each other. The person that loses will exit the game. The person that wins the challenge will play on as a team of one. Should you lose Judgment again, that single person will be automatically eliminated. Does everyone understand?”

We nodded.

The host turned toward Jendan and Sunnie. “Do you have anything to say in your team’s defense? You’re one of the stronger men in the competition, Jendan. Shouldn’t you have theoretically done better in the challenge?”

I watched Jendan’s face flush uncomfortably and he rubbed his neck, glancing at his partner. I knew what he was thinking. We were all thinking it. It wasn’t Jendan’s fault that he’d lost. But Sunnie’s big blue eyes were already spilling with tears that she was wiping away, and he reached over and hugged her shoulders awkwardly. “It just wasn’t our day, Chip.”

“That’s your excuse?”

“That’s our excuse. We’ll do better next time,” he said firmly, and gave Sunnie’s shoulders another little squeeze.

Poor Jendan. He was too nice for this game. People like Kip were going to eat him alive. It suddenly occurred to me — was that how Kip had viewed me last time? Nice, sweet, and naive…and used that to his advantage? Endurance Island was a vicious game. Maybe he’d just wanted to play vicious.

Or…maybe he was just vicious. I thought of Lousy Lay written across my back and felt another surge of loathing for my partner.

“What about you, Alys? Chris?” Chip turned to look at them.

“We’re a little dehydrated and not at full strength,” Alys said slowly. “It took us some time to get a fire at camp, and I think that affected our gameplay. We almost had Kissy and Rusty beat,” she said, smiling at the older couple. “We’ll catch them next time.”

“Do you have anything to say to the jury of your peers to persuade them to vote to keep you?”

Alys and Chris exchanged a glance. Chris cleared his throat. “Just that we’re hoping to have a second chance on Endurance Island, and neither of us is ready to go yet.”

“What about you, Sunnie and Jendan?”

Jendan looked over at me and I felt my face flush with heat.

“We’ve never played Endurance Island before,” Sunnie said tearfully, wiping at her eyes in a pitiful fashion. “If we’re not as good at living on the beach and making fires as everyone else, it’s because we haven’t had chance to practice yet. I just think we deserve that chance.”

Jendan squeezed her knee, a move that seemed oddly intimate given that they were both naked. Hell, we were all naked, but I hated seeing that affectionate gesture. “No one wants to leave,” Jendan said. “I think I speak for everyone when I say we’re all here to play.”