Free Bedroom Games by Jill Myles Page B

was interviewed and commercials ran. We had that
time to change out of our TV clothing and switch into challenge
gear. I switched into a sports-bra, tank top, yoga pants, and
sneakers just in time for the bell to chime once more.
    “House Guests, please proceed to the
challenge area for this week’s Power Play.”
    We filed out into the backyard, and I was
shocked at how the challenge area had been transformed. The entire
roped off area had been raised up, and it looked as if it had been
filled in with dirt so the ground was at least two feet higher than
it normally was. The raised ground had been set up to look like a
graveyard, complete with tombstones, and each tombstone had two
names written on it. It weirded me out to see one labeled “Brodie
& Kandis.”
    Above each open grave, there was a pulley and
what looked like an enormous bag.
    Liam walked forward and took the card
dangling from the first pulley and began to read. “Since I cannot
compete, I will be in charge of this competition. This challenge is
called ‘Up from the Grave.’ Each team will lay down in an open
grave. When the buzzer sounds, I will yank on a pulley and your
coffin will be buried. You must then dig yourself out and hit the
buzzer above your grave. The first team to hit their buzzer will
win Power for this week. As the winners of last week’s Power Play,
Katy and Liam may not participate.”
    I sucked in a breath. “We’re going to be
buried alive?”
    “It’s cool,” Brodie reassured me. “We’re on
national TV. It’s nothing bad.”
    I crossed my arms under my breasts. It was
either that or start twitching madly. Buried…alive? I didn’t like
this. Not one bit.
    “Contestants,” Becky’s voice piped in over
the intercom. “You have thirty seconds to get in your graves and
close your coffin lids. Go.”
    Coffin lids?
    Before I could protest, Brodie grabbed my arm
and dragged me forward, leading me toward the grave marked for our
team. Numb, I followed him and stepped down. Sure enough, it was a
big coffin, complete with red satin lining. “God, this is creepy,”
I said.
    “Just lay down,” Brodie instructed me. “I’ll
handle the rest.”
    I did, and Brodie immediately laid down,
practically on top of me, nearly squashing me. I yelped, but the
sound was smothered by his chest in my face. The coffin lid slammed
shut, and we were enveloped in darkness.
    “Oh my god,” I breathed, panic flicking over
me. “Oh my god, oh my god. We’re buried alive.”
    “Shhh, Kandis, it’s just a game,” Brodie
said, his mouth close to my ear in the darkness. His voice was low
and soothing, and his hand stroked my hair to calm me. “This isn’t
a real coffin. The lid’s made of some sort of chocolate bark. They
have speakers hooked up to this and an air tube. We can’t
suffocate. It’s just a game.”
    My shallow breathing slowed, just a little.
“It’s really dark,” I said in a choked voice. “I don’t like the
dark.”
    “Just think of it as playing seven minutes in
heaven,” he said, shifting. His weight was pressing on me, his knee
pressed between my legs. The coffin was barely big enough for both
of us, which made this extremely cozy—or awkward, depending on your
choice.
    A nervous laugh bubbled out
of my throat. “Seven minutes in heaven? With you ?”
    “I’m a good choice,” he said, and sounded a
little stung by my amusement. “Why’s that so funny?”
    “You only kiss a girl to get ahead in this
game,” I told him breathlessly.
    “All contestants are now buried,” Becky
Bradley’s voice said from a small speaker somewhere near my ear.
“Start digging your way out at the sound of the buzzer.”
    “You’re wrong,” Brodie said.
    My thoughts were nervous, mad flickers. Where
was that buzzer? What if we didn’t hear it? Why was Brodie still
talking to me? “Wrong about what?”
    “I’d kiss you without gameplay being
involved,” Brodie said, and I could have sworn his tongue flicked
against my