Page 18 of Down and Dirty Celebrity Edition

Amy’s jaw dropped an inch. Again? Had Luna set herself on fire before? But before she could even think of asking, a shadow moved in next to her. And not just any shadow. Savannah slipped in beside her and slid her arm around Amy’s waist. It was only after Savannah’s fingers pressed firmly into the softness of her side that Amy realized she was shaking.

“That was my fault,” she muttered, her voice so soft she could barely hear herself. Guilt suddenly swarmed in her stomach like angry hornets. She could’ve done more. She could’ve tackled Luna to the ground since she had been the closest. But worst of all, Amy had imagined Luna falling into the fire just moments before. “I did that with my mind.”

She expected Savannah to snap away from her like she was radioactive, but then Savannah started laughing. She laughed so hard that there were tears in her eyes. Both Jade and Avery stared at her like she’d gone crazy. “Oh, baby,” she said, her arm looping even tighter around Amy’s waist. “As much as we all wanted to be Matilda growing up, it wasn’t you. Luna was asking for trouble with that dress of hers. It was blowing all around those flames.” Then she gave Amy a quick squeeze before she stepped away. “I’m going to bed. I think we all should do the same now that we know Luna is fine. I don’t know why, but I have a feeling we’re going to have a reward challenge tomorrow, and whatever it is, I want to win.”

IT TURNED OUT SAVANNAH’S feeling had been right. The envelope had arrived early the next morning, and before they knew it, they were lined up on the hot sand of a small cove about a fifteen-minute walk from camp.

“Welcome, contestants, to your second reward challenge,” Naomi said, looking fabulous in a sky-blue blouse that beautifully contrasted her amber skin. She wore a skin-tight pair of white jeans that had to be uncomfortable in this heat. The humidity was disgusting. “After almost four days in the game, surviving off beans and rice and sleeping on the ground, I promise this reward will be worth the suffering.”

And suffer they were going to. Behind Naomi, just beyond the breakers where the water was smoothest, stood a massive wooden frame supporting ten narrow horizontal beams. Judging by the lack of ropes, harnesses, or even footholds, this was an endurance challenge. Amy absolutely despised the endurance challenges. Her fingers and toes tingled at the thought.

“For today’s challenge, you will each take your position on one of the ten horizontal poles. Since both Sloan and Brenda left the game last night, Ezra and Avery are paired together and allowed to participate,” Naomi went on, her smile glistening.

Avery exhaled in relief. Ezra did too. This was the first time in Outlast Her that the remaining member of the pair could immediately participate in a challenge. Was it unfair? Previous players might think so, but then again, last night had been an anomaly.

“The rules are simple,” Naomi added. “Wrap your arms around the pole, lock your legs together and hang on for dear life.”

Amy had a sudden flashback to when she was twelve years old wearing an old Banana Republic T-shirt her mom had salvaged from Goodwill and a pair of black high-tops with the white laces switched out for bright pink ones. Back then, the weekends had always stretched out with endless, unsupervised hours, which was how she’d found herself slipping through a rusted hole in Mr. Olsen’s fence and straight into his peach orchard. Before Amy could even steal one sweet, fuzzy peach, Mr. Olsen’s Dobermans, Brutus and Nero, had chased her up a twisted tree at the edge of the property. For nearly forty minutes, Amy had hung upside down from that branch, convinced she was about to be torn to pieces.

That had lasted until Mr. Olsen finally whistled the dogs back to the main house. She’d thought twice every time she felt the urge to find that rusted hole and sneak through it again.

Compared to the Dobermans, a thirty-foot drop into the ocean was nothing.

“I’m pretty good at hanging off stuff,” Amy muttered as she leaned a little closer to Savannah. “Apart from playing ding dong ditch on Elm Street, I had a lot of practice hiding from guard dogs in trees.”

Savannah looked at her as if she’d gone crazy. Then she shook her head and bit at her lip to bite back a smile. Amy had to admit that she couldn’t stop looking at Savannah’s mouth. Her lips were pink and softly swollen from the salty ocean. She imagined kissing them. Then she imagined luring Savannah into the forest late tonight so they could have sex up against a tree. But she knew she wouldn’t. Savannah’s comment stuck in her head. “I don’t want to be your inspiration.” To try to initiate anything would be like saying I’m only using your body for my own selfish desires. And, well, Savannah wasn’t Maeve. Amy was known to be quite persuasive, though, so maybe she still had a chance.

“You surprise me every day, Amy Sandler,” Savannah said. Then she smiled, and it was a wonderful smile. Amy was just about to ask her what she meant, as in whether it was a good surprise or a bad one, but then Naomi clapped her hands three times and said, “Now do you all want to know what you’re playing for?”

There was a chorus of cheers and claps and one somewhat misplaced wolf whistle from Jade. Savannah was bouncing on the balls of her feet. “Oh, please let it be the spa reward,” she muttered softly. “My hair feels like a bird’s nest and my skin is a literal sandpaper factory.”

“If anyone needs the spa reward, it’s Kate,” Amy said, glancing at the actress, who looked like she’d been electrocuted. “I guess even people as fabulous as her aren’t immune to the humidity.”

“The winning pair will receive a camp comfort kit,” Naomi said slowly, dragging out the announcement until Amy held her breath.

A camp what?

“The winners will not be sleeping on the ground tonight,” Naomi said, shaking her head, clearly loving the suspense. “Instead, they will sleep on a brand-new, king-sized Nectar Premier memory foam mattress with six-hundred-thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets and cloud-like down pillows. To ensure you sleep soundly, the entire bed will be enclosed inside a zipper-sealed mosquito net to keep the bugs out.”

Savannah moaned louder than she had when she’d orgasmed. She even smacked her hand across her mouth, and Amy was immediately taken back to the rocks, to that first Outlast Her night. She could see the pale starlit swell of Savannah’s bouncing breasts and her naked hips rolling over Amy’s equally as naked stomach. The faint landing strip of pubic hair...

Amy nearly moaned herself, and it had nothing to do with the king-sized bed. Could she really resist? Could she really spend the rest of the game not pursuing Savannah?

Any chance of answering that question vanished when Naomi announced, “EVERYONE, TAKE YOUR POSITIONS!”

Less than five minutes later, Amy was hanging from the pole, her fingers white and her breath shallow. The dead weight of her body immediately yanked at her shoulders. She quickly adjusted her grip and instead locked her arms around the beam, wrapping herself tight as if she were trying to either passionately hug it or choke it to death. Then she pressed her cheek flush against the bark, closed her eyes, and squeezed her inner thighs with everything she had just to stay anchored.

It only occurred to her then that she was a solid twenty, possibly thirty, pounds heavier now than she had been as a tree-climbing twelve-year-old. Her body was too heavy, and her arms were nowhere near strong enough, and the mere thought that she could win this was becoming more and more laughable. She’d laugh if she wasn’t so terrified that a single chuckle would put her out of the challenge completely.

“This is highly unfair,” Luna grumbled from two rows over. “This is literally Maya Lin’s job. The last time I hung on a monkey bar I was nine and I got stung by three hornets.”

“I’m an artistic gymnast,” Maya Lin called back, her tone saltier than the sea beneath them. It clearly wasn’t the first time she’d heard that. “I don’t hang on the bars; I specialize in the vault and floor exercise. And even when I am on the uneven bars, it’s all fast momentum and releases. Not deadweight hanging from a beam in the middle of the ocean.”

“Well, your upper body strength is superhuman compared to the rest of us,” Jade snapped from her pole. “We don’t stand a chance.”

“Maybe you should sing a song for us, Jade,” Luna said. “One from your Calamine Lotion album. I’ll start you off.” Luna then cleared her throat, her voice trembling just the slightest bit as she belted out, “It’s a long, hot summer, and my heart’s on fire.”

“Stop singing, Luna,” Kate wheezed, her face turning a bright shade of plum. “You’re going to lose focus and fall. My arms are literally shaking already. You’re going to have to win this for us. I want to sleep on that bed!”