Protein Shake

“Yeah.” She steps closer, looking me in the eye. “Just tell me one thing, Tristan.”

I shrug, and she takes that as a yes.

“Do you really care about Megan? Like honestly and truly care about her?”

I sigh, running my hands through my hair. What’s the point in denying it? I’ll tell Megan soon enough. As soon as she doesn’t think it’s just a ploy to get her to sleep with me or to choose me over Madden.

“Yeah,” I say finally. “I do. I really do care about her.”

The way she smiles is like I just told her she won the fucking lottery or something. “What am I missing here?” I ask.

She shakes her head, pointing up. “Sorry, five minutes are up.” Tossing me my mic pack, Maya heads toward the stairs leading to Megan’s room. Where Megan’s been camped out all day. I haven’t seen her since the flight.

“What are you doing?” I ask suspiciously.

She gives me a wink. “Saving your ass.”

Megan

I wince with every blow, my body jerking. I want to look away from the scene unfolding on my flat screen in my bedroom, but my eyes are glued to the footage of Tristan and Madden fighting like they’re going for the Sugar Ray Robinson Award.

I can’t believe it. The things they’re saying sound like they’re arguing about business, but it’s obvious they’re fighting about me. I don’t know what to think about it or how I feel.

Other than horrified that the two men I might be starting to care about are taking each other out in the gym. I know it’s not a live feed, so there’s no point in going to break it up. But I can hardly stand it.

Maya bursts through my door without so much as a knock, takes one look at my face, and hauls me up off the bed and into the bathroom behind her, shutting and locking the door.

I sigh. Obviously she wants to talk in secret again.

“Don’t you think you’re going to get in trouble if you keep coming in here and talking to me like this?” I ask.

Maya shrugs like it doesn’t matter. “That’s not what’s important right now.”

I stare at her, incredulous. “Seriously? It’s your job.”

She shakes her head. “Look, do you know why they were fighting?”

I purse my lips and don’t say anything. What’s the point? She’s just going to tell me anyway.

She doesn’t disappoint. “They were fighting over you, Megan.” Maya stands there with her hands on her hips, looking at me expectantly.

Throwing my hands up, I pace around the bathroom. “What do you want me to say? That I’m swooning over the fact that two hot men are fighting over me? Or that I’m disgusted by their caveman behavior?”

“You tell me.” She continues to watch me.

Heaving a frustrated sigh, I stop in front of her. “Fine. I will. I’m really fucking upset, Maya. I don’t want them fighting over me. Not like this. I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

She scoffs a little. “Haven’t you ever seen a reality show? People always get hurt. It’s good TV.”

I glare at her. Not what I want to hear right now. “What happened, Maya? Why were they fighting over me? Things have been fine all day.” At least as far as I could tell. I’ve stayed up in my room, and things have been quiet in the house. Why did they start tearing into each other all of a sudden?

Thinking back to the footage I was watching, I remember that they were both radiating with anger at the beginning.

Maya looks around, not quite meeting my eyes for a minute, then sighs. “Look, Megan, you just need to worry about yourself.”

What is that supposed to mean? How can I just worry about myself when I already feel like I’m getting in too deep? And now it’s coming to blows. Literally.

“What are you thinking?” Maya continues. “Be honest with me.”