Free The Hating Game by Talli Roland Page A

four, just like you asked.’ He met her flinty eyes.
    Silver looked down at the papers he’d plonked on her desk. ‘Get those off my sausage.’
    Sausage? Nate scrambled to remove the offending pile, uncovering a plate of what looked to be tiny chorizos. He hadn’t even seen them there. ‘Sorry.’
    Silver popped a whole finger-shaped sausage in her m outh and swallowed without chewing. Nate watched as the lump moved slowly down her throat.
    ‘ Let me see the contracts.’
    He handed them over, shifting his bulk from foot to foot as she flipped through.
    ‘ Fine, fine, yes, they’re all fine. Good variety, different enough professions, and you even got a foreigner in here.’ She looked up. ‘Did any of them ask for more money than what we offered?’
    Nate shook his head. ‘I just told them they’d get half the prize money if they won and that was fine.’ He still felt weird about that one – Mattie thought she’d get it all – but if that’s how the game was going to be played he didn’t have much choice. Anyway, it wasn’t like she’d get nothing. He’d kill for a hundred thousand pounds.
    Silver flipped through the pages. ‘ Any good potential here for conflicts? We can edit to make things interesting if we need to, of course, but it’s always better if it’s genuine. We need to keep the ratings up. And the only way to do that is to make every date explosive.’
    Nate stared. ‘Conflicts? But the purpose of the show is to get Mattie back together with an ex. Second Chance for Romance , you know . . .’
    Silver rolled her eyes and swallowed another sausage . ‘It doesn’t matter if they want romance or if they want to club her over the head! Love and hate are the best emotions for driving ratings.’ She tapped her finger against her chin. ‘Get these men into the psychological assessment with Wheestle, and tell him to really dig. I want dirt. I want to know everything about them. Then we can come up with some great storylines for dates.’
    ‘ Storylines ?’ Nate had thought Mattie and the men would just go out on dates with the cameras filming them.
    ‘ Jesus, Nate. Yes, storylines. You don’t think we’re just going to jolly around with a camera, do you? We need to make sure there’s action. And drama. Remember, we’re in control here. Mattie and that bunch of idiots are all pawns on our chessboard.’ Silver shoved another whole sausage in her mouth. ‘If you don’t get that, I don’t know what the hell you’re doing here.’
     
    *
     
    ‘ You can stop laughing now.’ Mattie threw one of her Liberty-patterned silk cushions at Jess. It was the night before the live kick-off show, and Mattie had invited Jess over to her flat for a much needed ego-boost after her slut-tastic makeover. But Jess was having the opposite effect. One look at Mattie’s new hairdo and Jess had burst into giggles.
    ‘ It’s not that bad,’ Jess said, after collapsing onto the gleaming resin floor to catch her breath. She tilted her head to the side. ‘Actually, the colour’s pretty good. It’s just that you don’t look like you any more.’
    ‘ I know,’ Mattie sighed. ‘I don’t feel like me, either. I haven’t done any work all week, I’ve been wearing PVC leggings, and then this’ – she tugged at a curl and made a face – ‘I don’t even know what to do with long hair.’
    Jess scooted over and dug an elastic out of her pocket. She grabbed a handful of Mattie’s extensions and quickly twisted them up into a knot, letting a few strands hang down around her face. ‘There. That looks quite nice.’
    Mattie walked over to the mirror above the faux-fireplace. ‘Not bad.’ With most of the sausage-like curls out of her face, it wasn’t quite as dire as it had been.
    ‘ So you ready for tomorrow?’ Jess asked, plopping back down on the sofa.
    Mattie shrugged. ‘I guess. I mean, what is there to be ready for? I meet the men and I pick the one I want the first date with. No