Page 56 of Billionaire’s Game

I reluctantly pulled myself out of his arms but Violet stayed holding on to Magnus. They were both covered in slime thanks to my disgustingness, but they didn’t seem to mind.

The host was interviewing me. “Great job. How do you feel?”

“Accomplished.”

The host’s smile was genuine. “Well, you certainly accomplished a whole lot. We’ll see you here tomorrow. Same time. Same place. Tune in for more Brain Pain when our finalists, Ophelia’s Angels and the Cycle Psychos, will battle it out for the grand prize of one millionnnnnnn dollars!”

And suddenly that was a wrap. The host left without uttering another word.

I looked around, confused and then a production assistant appeared and handed me a towel. “Good job.”

The other contestants congratulated me and I thanked them as I tried to rub the goo out of my hair.

“You were amazing out there,” Violet said. “You both were.” She turned to Magnus. “Sorry you lost, Magnus, but it’s a good thing you had Lesli to make up for your shortcomings.”

“Thanks for that, Violet.”

“Sure, no problem.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

And then the production assistants were around us. “Feel free to get changed and we’ll see you guys in a week. Congrats!”

Violet hooked her arm around Magnus’s and then slowly pulled it away. It was covered in slime, courtesy of me.

“I’ll meet you outside, while you get cleaned up,” she said, wiping her hands on her lap trying not to look disgusted.

I walked toward our dressing rooms and Magnus trailed behind me.

“Why are you following me? Don’t you have things to do with Violet?” I tried to keep my tone light, but I couldn’t.

He maneuvered himself in front of me and said, “What’s with all the attitude lately? Did I do something to upset you?” He looked down at me and I had to resist the urge to reach out and touch him. I wanted to do nothing else but that. He was so close. Close enough to kiss. I reprimanded myself for even allowing myself to think about him that way. He was Violet’s, not mine.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I quickly dodged him and kept walking. With a few strides, he easily caught up with me.

“If we’re going to be working together, the least you could do is be civil toward me.”

“I am civil!” I yelled in a very uncivil-like manner.

“You’ve been short with me. You’ve made snide comments AND you chose pain without even consulting me.”

I snickered. “Well, that is the name of the game, Magnus. I was just playing the game.”

“At my expense.”

“Hey, I had to do pain too.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t know that when you selected pain for me.”

“You’re being too sensitive. I was just playing the game and I suggest you do the same.”

“That’s hard to do when my partner has a personal vendetta against me. I thought I had to worry about the other contestants, but no, the person out to get me is the one person who should be supporting me.”

“Stop with the accusations. It’s all in your head. I’m not out to get you. What reason would I have to be out to get you?”

“I have no idea and you won’t talk to me long enough for me to find out. You haven’t really talked to me since that night we—”

I instantly turned around and hushed him. “I don’t want to talk about that. And why does what happened between us that night even matter? You moved on quickly. And to add insult to injury, you moved on to the one person in this world I consider a friend.”