More than Fashion

34

He scowled as he glanced across the room at the other table, where Nika and Derrick were conducting another session of the Jeff Jayson Fan Club. Jeff was in the middle of a story that made me want to choke him.

“After last season, the show made me fly coach when they sent me across Europe to tour all the big fashion capitals. Paris. London. Milan. And it wasn’t even Fashion Week in any of them.”

“Ridiculous,” Nika said, while Derrick nodded eagerly. I wanted to scream at Jeff that he should feel lucky to even be sent on such an amazing trip, especially one he didn’t have to pay for, but they just ate it up.

“Nika should have been kicked off,” I said to my table. “It all feels so…rigged.”

“I always did suspect the producers influenced the judging,” Trina said. “Every year the people who cause the most drama stay on longer, while the boring ones go home early. And Tom was definitely boring. He barely said a word to anyone. Nika, on the other hand…”

Trina’s words brought back what my roommate Maddie had said about her time on a different reality TV show, The Sound, where bands competed to win a record deal with a major label. The producers had manipulated the results of that show, too, to make sure a certain band won. Could the producers be doing the same thing here? Kicking off the more boring designers while keeping the ones who created good TV?

Kelsey’s comments rushed back to me, about how the producers would love it if Gavin and I got together. And with a sinking feeling, I knew what I had to do to stay on the show.

***

I took a long, hot shower and felt a thousand times better. My cold was pretty much gone, thank god. I couldn’t afford to spend another challenge sick.

When I finished up and left the bathroom, the living room was a ghost town. The communal areas always cleared out quickly after dinner. Some people took showers before bed, but most just crashed, hoping to get as much sleep as possible before the next challenge in the morning. Especially tonight, when so many people were still sick.

Gavin emerged from one of the other bathroom doors a moment after I did, and I spotted my chance to get him alone. Before he could say anything, I grabbed his arm and yanked him back inside his bathroom. I shut the door behind us, checking to make sure no one had seen us go in together. The cameras would catch the entire thing, but that would only help my plan.

The bathroom was small, and when I turned back to Gavin, he was close, nearly touching me. If he was surprised I’d pulled him in here, he didn’t show it. The room was steamy and his hair was damp, so he must have just gotten out of the shower himself.

His hands slid around my waist. “You know, you could have gotten me alone the other night if you hadn’t given your room to Molly. Though I have to admit, that was a pretty nice thing you did for her.”

His voice was right at my neck, sending goosebumps across my skin. God, I loved his accent. And he smelled so good, like soap and heat and the promise of s*x. I put a hand on his chest but couldn’t summon the effort to push him away. Instead, my fingers dug into his shirt, tugging him closer. “Don’t get any ideas. That’s not why I dragged you in here.”

“No?”

He didn’t wait for me to answer. He lowered his head and caught my mouth with his, claiming my lips in a passionate, demanding kiss. I groaned as his tongue found mine, sliding, stroking, making my every nerve dance. His hands tightened around my waist, pulling my hips against him, closing that slight distance between us. I gripped the collar of his shirt, kissing him back even as my mind yelled at me to stop, that this wasn’t why I’d wanted to meet with him. But my body didn’t want to listen.

Finally my brain reclaimed control, and I pulled away. “Stop that.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Stop what?”

“Kissing me.”

“You’re the one who kissed me.”

“I did not!”

“At the very least, you kissed me back.”

He had me there. I stared at the blue tile in the shower behind Gavin, hoping if I kept my eyes averted I’d be able to get through this conversation without jumping him. Good thing I’d given away my room the other night. Being alone with Gavin made my body lose control of itself. I couldn’t trust myself around him, and for once, I was trying my best not to sleep with a hot guy.

“This is the only safe place to talk without being recorded,” I said. “And I have a proposal for you.”

He leaned against the counter, an arrogant smile on his lips. “A proposal? Maybe we should go on a date first, love.”

“Not that kind of proposal.” Aaaaaaaand there went the desire. Now I just wanted to smack his sarcastic, smug face. His really handsome, sarcastic, smug face.

Never mind. I still wanted to jump him.

“It’s related to what we discussed at dinner. How the judges are keeping people who cause drama over people who are better designers. And I don’t want to go home.”

“I’m not sure I follow.” “Kelsey told me the producers want us to get together because they think it would make for good TV. I bet if we pretended to hook up, it would increase our chances of sticking around ‘til the finale.”

“You want to pretend to be what…a couple?”