Shatter (9 page)

“
True story. Just ask Jaymeson.
”

I narrowed my eyes.

“Sorry. Please continue telling me how awesome I am. I’m waiting.”

I leaned over to kiss her neck.
“Thoughtful, sexy…
”

She arched against
me as my lips moved to her ear.
“And mine. All mine.”

Demetri

“I want to know how the hell I ended up on the pink bunny team?” I shouted so everyone
could hear my irritation.
I was shirtless and showing the entire world my nipple rings like some escaped convict.
B
ut I didn’t care. I’d go naked if that’s what it took to prove my point.

Demetri Daniels does not wear pink shirts with fluffy bunnies on them
.
Bunnies? Were they high when they thought up this idea?

Alyssa came up behind me and jumped on my back
. “
Aw, is someone a poor sport?”

Ignoring her I poin
ted in Jaymeson’s direction
. “
If
anyone should be the bunny it’s him. He’s the one screwing like a rabbit every second
of every—
”

I stopped mid
-
senten
ce when I noticed Alec’s shirt.

“You were saying?” He pointed at his shirt and shook his head in disbe
lief.

“Pink bunny team sounds good.” I nodded and turned just in time for him to see me
laugh my ass of
f
. Alyssa put her hands over my mouth from behind, but I still couldn’t stop laughing.
I couldn’t put on that dang shirt fast enough.

“Right. Laugh it up
,
” Alec called out to me
. “
At least I don’t have to wear a bunny tail.”

From behind Alyssa dropped a fluffy bunny tail in front of my face. “Aw, hell.”

“You think your fate is any better?” I heard Nat tease
. “
I watched as she pulled out a pair of glittery wings and handed them to Alec
. “
Come on
,
good fairy, put them on.”

“How the hell i
s this teambuilding?” Alec jerked
the fairy wings
from her hands and lifted them
into the air. I could tell he was about five seconds away from setting them on fire
with his mind.

“Well…”
T
he producer of the show, aka the host
,
stood in front of each of us and clasped his hands together. “I’m so glad you asked.”

“Kill me now
,
” Alec muttered as we gathered
a
round. “Chris Harrison has nothing on this dude.”

“The Bachelor? Are you seriously comparing our fate to The Bachelor?”

“It’s the only show that’s close
enough
to Hell I can come up with.”

“How do you figure?”

Alec shrugged
. “
Catty women that all look like Angelica.”

“Agh…” I nodded
. “
Solid point.”

We both looked in Angelica’s general direction. She was trudging through the sand
in nothing but cut
-
off shorts
,
a bikini top
,
and a frog hat.

“Guess her and Jaymeson are the freaky frogs?”

“Toads
,
man
” Jaymeson corrected me
. “
We’re toads.”

“Like I care.” I smirked as Jaymeson pulled the ugliest green shirt over his body
and
held out his hand to Angelica.

She nearly tripped on her feet as he tugged her closer to his body in the protection
of hi
s
arm. Geez, seriously. I couldn’t do that. Not even if it was my job to pretend to
play nice. All I could think of when I saw that girl was either
strangling
her or praying for the ocean to swallow me whole.

“As I was saying
…
”
Ruben
, our producer clapped again
. “
T
his week is teambuilding week.”

“We kno
w
,
” Alec said under his breath.

“And, in order to make it interesting, we’ve divided you into teams for the viewers
to vote for.
We polled the fans and these are the team names they chose for you, so try to be a
bit more positive.”

“Well
,
no sense touring then, since our fans HATE US!” Al
ec all but yelled.

Ruben
ignored him and cleared his throat
. “
There
will be prizes for best sportsmanship, best teamwork, best
-
looking couple, and of course, the grand
prize of two days off the show where you get to go to a resort and spa with your partner!”

“Dude
…
” Alec hit me with his elbow
. “
No offense
, but I will freaking drown you and not
think twice about it. I need that time with Nat
.”

“Wow
,
I feel loved.” I nodded
. “
Thanks for the warning.”

“Let me win
,
”
h
e begged.

“Nope.” I shook my head
. “
Not gonna happen. Alyssa and I need some downtime too.”

“Hmm…” Alec squinted in Jaymeson
’
s direction
. “
Then let’s destroy them.”

“Goo
d talk.” I hit him on the back.

“Today
will be all about teamwork with your partner. People watching the show will vote for
whatever team can keep from fighting over the course of the twenty-four hour period.”

“Got that in the bag.” I high
-
fived Alyssa next to me and nudged Alec
. “
Haven’t you and Nat been getting in a few…
tif
f
s? The honeymoon
’
s nearly over
,
huh?”

“Bastard.”

I smiled gleefully and swept Alyssa off her feet, literally. “Winning!”

“I haven’t told you what your task is today.”
Ruben
cleared his throat.

Alyssa dropped back to her feet
. I turned to
Ruben
and waited.

His smile
was too wide and happy.
H
e was going t
o torture us. I just knew it.

“Um?” Jaymeson raised his hand.

“What?”
Ruben
groaned
. “
What do you want?”

“Can I be on my own team?”

“Why?”

Jaymeson looked at
Ruben
as if to say, seriously you really don’t know why? “My partner keeps glaring at me.”

Ange
lica rolled her eyes.

“And
…
” Jaymeson continued
. “
I’m pretty sure, given the chance, she’s going to either throw me into oncoming traffic
or
poison
my bottled water.”

“You’re an adult.”
Ruben
growled
. “
Deal with it. Thankfully, you’ve signed a release, so if you die
…
well…
Rest in peace.”

“You can tell
Ruben
really cares
,
” I
muttered
. “
Huge heart.”

“I
t’s just trapped like somewhere
outside
his body
,
” Alec added
. “
Where souls go to rot and people die.”

“Any more questions?”
Ruben
asked.

Alec and I both raised
our hands.

“Anyone else?”
Ruben
ignored us and looked at Alyssa and Nat, who were both happily jumping up and d
own ready to take on the world.

“Right.”
Ruben
put on his sunglasses. “Each team will start with the canoes. Once you
row to your destination on the map, you’ll need to start building your castle. Once
the judges deem your castle tall enough, you’ll move on to the next task. Instructions
will be at every point. This will last most of the morning before we give you your
first break. May the best team win.”

My hand shot up again.

“What, Demetri? Make it fast.”

“Why are we doing this?”

Ruben
sighed and ran his
fingers
through
his hair
. “
Do I really need to explain why shirtless celebrities sell, Demetri? Or do you
think you
got that one nailed down?”

“You are shirtless a lot on the show…”Alec muttered next to me.

I smacked him on the back of the head and ch
ose not to answer
Ruben
.
Idiot
.

“On your mark, get set
,
g
o!”
Ruben
jumped into the air.

None of us moved.

“Go!”
h
e urged again.

“Come on guys
.”
Alec called
. “
Let’s go.”

We all jogged to the canoes. Of course
,
Jaymeson and Angelica were last. She claimed the impact of jogging made her shorter
and she needed al
l
the height she could get. I for one just thought she was lazy.

“Come on, Lyss.” I helped her into the canoe and we were off, taking turns rowing
toward
the first
buoy
.

“Tell me
why we decided to do this again
.”
She grunted as she pulled the oars
.

“Let’s blame Alec
,
” I muttered
. “
If he wouldn’t have screwed up all thos
e
years ago
,
then I wouldn’t have gotten addicted to drugs, or ended up here
,
or had to do a stupid show in order to p
romote
our next
album
.”

Alyssa’s face fell.

I laughed out loud and kicked the bench she was sitting on
. “
Lyss, come on
.
Y
ou know I’m kidding. I wouldn’t change it for the world. Just think, a few more weeks
and we get off this
G
od
-
forsaken island and go on tour.”

“Seaside isn’t an island.”

“Y
eah, I was quoting
Survivor
, trying to get into the mental game of the competition.”

“Quoting
S
urvivor won’t make us win
,
Demetri.” Alyssa rolled her eyes
. “
You actually have to put effort into it. I swear it isn’t fair. You get a side
ache when you walk
,
yet you still have the body of a—
”

I smirked “The body of a what?”

Her eyes narrowed
. “
Nevermind.”

“No, really go on.” I winked
. “
Want me to take off my shirt again? I can go all Magic Mike on this love boat and—
”

“
Y
eah, I’m going to stop you before you hurt yourself trying to t
hink of more sexual innuendos.”

“Bummer, because I had this really good one about strippers and paddles a
nd—”

“No, Demetri. Just. No. Let it go.” Alyssa patted my hand
. “
Oh
,
and do us a favor and row harder. I can’t do all the work.”

“Fine.” I put my back into it and soon we were passing Jaymeson and Angelica, but
to be fair
,
it looked like she’d gotten a sliver and he was in the middle of trying to set her
on fire
.
E
ither that or he didn’t know that
the
lighters in the first aid kit were for other purposes.

“Yes!” Alyssa pumped her fist into the air
. “
Faster!”

I groaned
. “
I’m trying but it’s not like this is easy.
I’m sweating.”

“Poor baby.” She mocked a
nd then grabbed a bottled water.
“We only have a bit more to go. Besides
,
no way are we catching up with Alec and Nat
.
T
hey would kill on The Amazing Race.”