“We’ll lose. And won’t we be in some kind of breach of contract?”
“Only if we don’t show up for filming and participate.”
“It’s fine, Amber, honestly. It won’t be for much longer anyway.”
“Yeah,” Harry echoed. “It’s only seven more days.”
Aww, he’s counting too.“Only a week.”
“All right. At least you’ve heard what I have to say. Just remember, you both need to start putting yourselves first. And by that I mean you need to put each other first.” She shook her head and chuckled, waving a hand in the air. “You know what I mean.”
“We do.” Evan grinned at Harry. “Sydney, here we come.”
17
“Welcome to Truth or Dare!”
The audience applauded loudly, and a few wolf-whistles sounded in the auditorium. Harry squirmed in his seat, the sweat beading on his forehead under the bright lights. The scene was so reminiscent of the earlier “how well do you know each other” disaster that he couldn’t help but feel apprehensive. He looked out over the crowd, focusing on a point on the back wall while he tried to control his breathing; anything to stop going into a meltdown. He gave himself a pep talk.It’s nearly over. You can do this.
He swallowed heavily and resisted the urge to sit on his hands, desperate to stop the fidgeting he knew would look terrible on TV, but it was impossible to keep still. He hated the unknown, the feeling that the boot could drop at any moment and he’d be put on the spot or embarrassed, or… Shit, he wasn’t like this at work or at any other time. Only John had the power to turn him into a jittery mess. He briefly wondered where the power had come from. How had John manipulated him in so many situations, and why hadn’t he had the strength to stand up to him? He shook his head to clear it. Now wasn’t the time to get into a deep psychoanalysis of their fucked-up relationship, and the important thing was that it wasover. Some of the nerves lifted. Harry glanced to his left where Evan sat, cool, calm, and collected. The corner of Evan’s mouth lifted in a small smile, the simple gesture going a long way to soothe Harry’s thoughts.It’s nearly over. Icando this.
He plastered on his own smile and turned his focus to the competition. Brian was addressing the audience while Louise was fulfilling her host role by parading across the stage with a large box.Damn!Perhaps he should have been paying more attention.What’s the box for? Did I miss some of the instructions?
The crowd laughed at whatever Brian had just said, words that Harry had missed.
“So, now let’s cut to the chase and find out who amongst our contestants is willing to tell us the truth, and who prefers to take their chances with one of our dares. Louise,” he gestured to where she was standing facing the audience with the large box held aloft, “are you ready?”
“I sure am, Brian.” She shook the box, and the contents rustled. “I can’t wait to see what answers we get to the questions, and oh my goodness, you should see the dares!”
When she turned to show it to the contestants, Harry’s gaze fixated on the box. It was navy and emblazoned with theSea of Lovelogo on the sides, the outline of which could just be seen where Louise’s hands didn’t cover it. The front of the box had two large circles cut out, with the titles of truth and dare written above each hole. He glanced along the row at where the other contestants nervously looked between Louise and Brian.
Brian approached the couple on the end, Stephanie and Stavros, and the rest of them breathed a sigh of relief, no doubt at not being selected to go first. This show was probably the only time in Harry’s life that he was actually relieved at not being chosen. Going second, or even last, meant he would get an idea of what to expect and had time to work out how best to respond to the situation and not incur John’s wrath.Argh. He gave himself a mental slap about the head—no more worrying so much about what John wants!
“Stavros and Stephanie, can one of you please choose truth or dare?” Brian asked.
The two of them looked between each other before Stephanie spoke. “We’ll take the dare, thanks, Brian.”
Brian chuckled. “Actually, you’ll be takingboth. Stephanie, please choose your dare.”
Stephanie and Stavros looked quizzically at Brian. Harry didn’t blame them—he had no idea what was going on.Aren’t we meant to select the option we’d prefer?
Louise stepped forward with the box. “Here you go, Stephanie. Inside this box you’ll find the dare that’s being asked of you tonight. Please choose one envelope from the right-hand side.”
Stephanie put her hand in the circular hole and slowly withdrew a small green envelope.
“Hang on to that a moment, please,” Brian said. “Now, Stavros, because Stephanie chose the dare, you get to select a truth, as chosen by our audience.”
Stavros delved into the box and quickly pulled out his hand, as if it was about to be snapped off by a creature inside. He held the red envelope up as he chuckled nervously.
Oh god, I’d feel the same way.Who knows what we’re in for once we open these envelopes?
“Okay, let’s give you all a chance to select an envelope before we start the fun and games!”
Louise quickly moved down the line. When it came to their turn, John plunged into the box and selected a dare, leaving Harry no option but to go with the truth selection. He reluctantly put his hand through the small opening, briefly closing his eyes and praying for an easy question before withdrawing the envelope. He opened his eyes to find one of the cameras trained on him. He plastered on the requisite smile and tried to look excited, but he had no doubt he probably looked tortured.
“Now comes the fun part!” Brian addressed the audience, then turned to the contestants and chuckled with an exaggerated eyebrow waggle. Harry was getting sick of seeing those perfectly manicured dark brows waggling in his direction. “Those of you with the dare, please open your envelopes and take a look inside.”
Harry shot his gaze to John, who was busy tearing into the envelope. He pulled out a small card and looked at it before turning it over to read the back. He held it up so Harry could see that it only had a single number printed on it. The other side was blank. “What the?” John mouthed with a frown.
