We Have to Stop Meeting Like This!

Jules sat in silence the whole drive to the beach. Fidgeting around in a light blue shirt and a red bathing suit, he looked around at the people with him in the van.

Ryan looked quite nervous in her baggy shirt and black men’s bathing suit. She’d whispered to Jules that she had to wear some pretty tight bindings to hide her chest from everyone. From how red her face was, she might’ve undersold it.

Ryan – Love.

Christian was snoozing in the front passenger seat, not caring to speak to anyone else in the car.

Christian – Money.

And Tyrone would occasionally glare at him, as was his want it seemed. He’d glare at Christian too, but never Ryan.

Tyrone – Love.

Knowing exactly the reason everyone was here wasn’t as gamebreaking as it sounded. Jules had already figured out Christian’s miniature alliance were all here for the money. And of the people he’d been on the basketball challenge with, Warren was the only one he’d had a question about.

It would only break the game open if Kristina got her hands on that information.

What concerned Jules was that such a list existed and had been handed to a contestant. Only the production staff should have access to that list. It meant someone wanted to put their thumb on the scale for how things went down.

How does one wreck a dating show when the people running it are this bad at running it?

----

The beach had been cleared out from the usual crowd, leaving the beach pristine save for a cleared out concession stand and a shower to wash off sand. The production staff were setting up a fire pit and a volleyball net further down the shore.

It was a picturesque scene; there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and there was just enough of a cross-breeze for there to cool everyone off.

And thanks to being on a dating show, Jules was stuck staring at nothing but shirtless dudes.

“Oil?” Jules snapped back to reality as a bottle was shoved in front of his face. Parker stared at him, his body already shining in the sun.

Jules waved him off.

“Your funeral.” Parker lathered up his chest with another handful before offering it to Ryan – who very quickly turned him down and made her way elsewhere.

----

That became a topic of conversation between some of the remaining bachelors.

Evan scratched his head through his thick tuft of red hair. “Anyone else get a weird vibe from Ryan?”

Warren nodded. He hadn’t applied any of the oil Parker was providing, but he was already covered in a sheen of sweat. “Yeah. He’s ridiculously good looking. I’m not into dudes, but if I was?” He whistled.

Parker agreed. “Yeah.”

The three men turned to Zach, whom Parker had to snap his fingers in front of to get him to stop staring at Warren’s abs.

Zach took a look over at Ryan, who was applying sunscreen to her arms. He shrugged. “I’m not seeing it.”

----

Jules needed to think.

If that list was accurate, then seven of the fifteen bachelors left were here for the money – Christian’s alliance of bachelors, himself, and one other guy he was certain was about to get eliminated.

That meant he would be an easy person to get picked off.

He rubbed his temples, trying to soothe himself as he stepped into that closed off concession stand to cool off. What was his next… move…

Jules realized too late that he was not alone in the concession stand.

Kristina was spinning around wearing nothing but a red two-piece bikini, trying to tie the back together. “Freaking hate these things, should’ve pushed to wear a one-piece…”

Their eyes locked onto each other, neither saying a word.

It was impossible for Jules to avoid looking. Kristina was holding her bathing suit in place, hands frozen behind her back with the strings. Even in the musty concession stand her muscles made her pop out.

Jules went to his knees in abject surrender, taking off his shirt and wrapping it around his head.

“I’m already dead,” he stated. “I know you’re going to kill me. Just do it quick.”

-----

Kristina’s first instinct was to grant him his request. But then she thought twice about it. Death – or an unceremonious boot from the game – was too good for him.

She stared at the shirtless man on his knees. His profile had said he was an office worker. He clearly didn’t exercise much but fell on the ‘skinny’ side of that divide. Not emaciated, but not enough meat on the bone.

She was going to have fun with this.

----

Jules felt the shirt be ripped off his face. He blinked hard, wondering why he wasn’t dead. Then he realized he was staring at Kristina’s bare back. The strings of her bikini were dangling down, resting against her built body.

“Tie me up, will you?”

He felt steam erupt from his ears. But there was no room to question how he was still alive. He took the strings and made a quick square knot to secure Kristina’s top.

In seconds, he was pinned against the concession stand wall. On each side of his head were one of Kristina’s hands, her face inches from his and her body positioned just right that he either had to stare at her in the eyes or at her chest.

“Maybe we are playing at being on a dating show. But I decide your fate.” An evil grin spread across her face. “You are going to do everything I say today. I want you to have to act like you like me. And if I hear one snide remark or one crack about my height, if I see one insincere glance in my direction?”

Kristina slammed her hand into the stand’s side. That part of the wall instantly crumbled to dust the second her fist kissed it.

“Now.” She leaned in to whisper in Jules’s ear. “Get out there and impress me, lover boy.”

Jules stood there without moving an inch as Kristina made her way outside. He could hear the approval of the other bachelors, some even catcalling and whistling.

He finally let out the breath he’d been holding in this whole time, clutching his heart. Why the hell was it racing so fast and why wasn’t it doing it out of fear?

----

Jules ran over to a cooler, dug out one of the bags of ice keeping the beers cooled, ripped it open, and poured it into his bathing suit.

The ice turned to steam in seconds. Water ran down his legs with every step he took.

He picked up a cold one and made his way down the beach. Several of the bachelors were playing a game of volleyball. Their bodies glistened with sweat and oil in the sun.

It was enough to keep Kristina’s attention, who was lying on a beach lounge chair under a large canopy. She stared at the display as they went serve after serve. Occasionally one of the men would flex or wink at her, and occasionally she’d dip her sunglasses down to make sure they knew she was winking back.

Time to play the part. He appeared next to the lounging Kristina and his eyes bulged. She was lying on her stomach with her bikini top untied, with Ryan massaging her back. Kristina looked pleased with herself while Ryan looked to Jules with a small nosebleed.

He could see her mouth the words, “Worth it.”

Jules eventually broke himself away from staring at Kirstina’s well-defined back muscles. “Would you like a beer?” He cracked the bottle open and offered it to Kristina.

“Mmm, thank you, dear.” Kristina gently took it from his hand and saw the other bottle he had. “Oh, could you give that one to Diane?” She gestured to a blonde woman with her hair tied into a bun, who herself was currently entangled in the canopy’s supports.

Diane blushed. “He doesn’t have to.”

“I insist,” Kristina purred. “You’re gonna sit here and enjoy yourself. In fact, can we get another lounge chair for Diane?”

From what Jules assumed was off-screen, he heard someone snap their fingers. “Elena! Put Diane in the scene!”

A whirl of pink and black screamed past Jules and to Diane, who was spun around out of the supports. In seconds, Diane was lying down in a second lounge chair wearing a blue one-piece bathing suit and holding Jules’s second beer.

How Elena got Diane in a bathing suit without anyone seeing anything when she’d been wearing jeans and a t-shirt defied any sense Jules could make. Or Kristina, for that matter.

Ryan whistled. “That’s kind of hot. How’d you do that?”

Elena looked at Ryan through a pair of sunglasses, a fresh blush resting just below the shades before she ran off.

Jules was left only with one of the bottle caps, which had something written on the inside.

You have found a secret challenge. Come to the fire pit after the next volleyball game finishes.