Hell, if I was the one who lost, I’d make paper thin excuses too.
“No,” Taylor said. “Let’s play again.”
“Hell no,” I said, without looking up.
“What can I say to make you agree?” His voice was slow and dangerous.
“Nothing,” I snapped. The pasta sauce was finished, so I turned off the heat and poured it into a bowl. “I don’t want to play with you. Especially because I know you won’t hold up your end of the bargain if I win.”
Taylor gritted his teeth. “I will,” he said.
I laughed at that, which only made him look morepissed.
“Listen,” he said. “The stakes were too high last time. Forget the bedroom, forget me being a slave for the whole year. Let’s make it that whoever wins will be the other person’s slave for a night. A single night. Now that’s not so scary, is it?”
“I’m not falling for this,” I said. “If you lose, you’ll just make up some loophole to say the competition didn’t count.”
“No, this time it will count.” He said it so emphatically, it took me aback.
I searched for a way to ease the tension. “Be honest,” I said with a coy look. “You just want an excuse to touch me, don’t you?”
I was trying to rile him up, but instead, he reddened.
And I couldn’t be completely sure it was from anger. And that…that was interesting.
“No,” he snarled. “I just want to expose you for the virgin you are.”
But his cheeks were flushed.
Suddenly, I saw the perfect way to get one over Taylor. Yes, I had won the previous competition, but I didn’t really care about the prize of him being my slave. It was more about the satisfaction of winning, as well as confirming my right to the big bedroom.
But this was one of the few times I’d seen him unbalanced. Discomposed.
I wanted to take this opportunity. I wanted tocrushhim. To make him feel as inferior as he made me feel.
I thought over what he’d said. An equal playing field. That meant that this time, my lack of experience wouldn’t put me at a disadvantage.
I could win. I’d won last time, hadn’t I?
“Alright,” I said. “One final competition. But the rules have to be rock-solid. No loopholes, and no take backs.”
The fire in Taylor’s eyes disappeared, replaced with ice-cold nonchalance. He leaned back on the couch with a lazy smile. “Done. But Archie? Don’t get your hopes up. Because I’m going to win.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
The Finale
We decided to hold the competition on Friday night. I had been invited to a party happening that night, but I had to turn the invitation down. I had a game to win.
I couldn’t wait to rub my victory in Taylor’s face. I couldn’t wait to see his look of total despair, when he realised Iownedhim, even if it was for only a single night.
On Friday evening, I came out of my room to see Taylor pushing the coffee table off the fluffy white rug, and into the corner. Like me, he had recently showered, making his black hair look even darker than usual.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
Taylor straightened up, and pointed at the carpet. “We’ll do it here.”
“What, on the floor?”
