‘Think back about twenty seconds. I’m pretty sure you’re the one who got sarcastic first.”
Shit. He’s right. “Well, you don’t have to stoop to my level!”
“Look,” he says, glancing at Bellford. “This may be normal for you but I sure as hell don’t want to havethemaround all the time.”
“Well, unfortunately,they’repart of the package, so deal with it,” I snap. “And you know what? If they had been in the jungle with us, they certainly would have found the bloody recording devices and we wouldn’t be in this mess!”
“Oh,really?”
“Really.” I stand up and start clearing the dishes. “But I just had to run off, thinking I knew better, didn’t I? Thinking I didn’t need them when very clearly I did.”
Will gets up and starts to help me load the dishes onto the tray, including my sad little uneaten piece of cheesecake. “They wouldn’t have been able to stop this.”
I freeze in place. “Of course they would have. What do you think they do? Just stand around with guns strapped to their hips waiting for danger?”
“Well, don’t they?”
Letting out an irritated sigh, I say, “That’s only in movies. In real life, your security team spends most of their time making sure every situation you’re about to enter is secured, which includes sweeping rooms and…other things for recording equipment.”
“No need to be condescending.”
“Sorry!” I yell. “I’m just…furious that I put myself in that situation and now…Argh!” I can’t even say it. My entire head and neck heat up with humiliation. “And I’m mortified, Will. Totally and utterly mortified.”
Will blows out a long puff of air. “Thisis why I didn’t want to tell you what was going on. I knew you’d get upset.”
“Of course I’m upset! What I can’t figure out is whyyou’renot. We were totally violated by that…that…bitch.” “She needs to pay for this. We can’t just let her get away with it.”
“Iamangry,” Will says. “I’m furious actually. But I also know when I’m beat. Dylan won. I had no choice but to play nice so I could make it all go away.”
“Youdidhave a choice, Will. You could’ve told me,” I say, raising my voice again. I pick up the tray and clomp to the door, my fury picking up with each step. “Because if I had known, there would’ve been no playing nice and she would’ve gotten what’s coming to her for once!”
“Believe me, I wasn’t exactly easy on her,” Will says, opening the door for me and moving aside to let me in. “She’ll think twice before she tries something like that with us again.”
I stop in my tracks, holding the heavy tray. “Wait. Did you already sign the deal?”
“Yes, I already told you that.”
“No, you said theyofferedyou a three-year deal. You didn’t say you accepted.”
“Well, that’s what I meant,” he says, shrugging. “Sorry if you misunderstood.”
Setting the tray down on the counter much harder than necessary, I turn to him. “Tell me everything. What they had on us, what you agreed to,everything.”
“I agreed to do an exclusive contract with ABN for three years, including whatever promotional stuff they need, and…I also had to sign us up for another series.”
My jaw drops and my eyes fly open, but before I can say anything, Will holds up one hand. “Hang on. Don’t get mad before you know what it is.”
“How about if I decide when I get mad?” I say, shooting daggers at him with my pupils.
Will closes his eyes for a second, then starts to explain, sounding far too calm. “It’s actually going to be pretty amazing. It’s calledThe World’s Best Survivor Challenge.You and I will compete as a team against the best of the best. The prize is a million dollars and, even better, it’ll get you away from your family for a month and give us a chance to be back out in the wilderness together.”
I cross my arms and let my nostrils flare. “And you said yes on my behalf without talking to me about it?”
“I had to if I was going to save you and your family from a shit ton of embarrassment.”
The words ‘save you’ stick in my brain, bouncing around until I’m furious. “Do you actually believe I need to be saved?”
“In this particular situation, you did,” he says. “And don’t turn this into some patriarchal, ‘he’s trying to run my life’ thing, because it wasn’t like that. I, of all people, get how tough you really are, but because I had left you to deal with the fallout from the show, and because you were tied up at the conference, I decided to do what any good partner would do—which was to handle it on your behalf. If I had waited until you came back, it would’ve been too late.”
