Page 39 of His Choice

Brighton grinned. “Thanks. It’s supposed to be you and me with my daughter.” He scratched his ear. “It would be an ideal outcome…the three of us happy together, I mean.”

I was touched. “That’s lovely, Brighton. Thank you for creating this and sharing it with me.”

His grin broadened.

I felt compelled to hug Brighton, but Emilio already pushed me before Aaron, who seemed troubled by my reaction to Brighton’s handiwork.

I was impressed when I saw what Aaron had done with his cake. He must have cut it into multiple pieces that resembled bricks, then used frosting as mortar to hold them together into the shape of a house. He’d managed to keep it all from falling, even adding a sloped roof.

“How did you manage this?” I wondered.

Aaron shrugged. “I minored in architecture. I just needed to think of how to build the supports to hold the cake slices in place. It’s supposed to represent us making a home together.”

Again, my thoughts went to wishing this guy was gay. “That’s as sweet as it is remarkable. I love it.”

Aaron appeared happy. Even though we both knew the score, he probably was pleased he’d be able to wow the viewers.

Lastly, we walked over to Mikey’s station. His cake was a disaster and, somehow, that seemed to suit him. He was still struggling with the piping bag, trying to force out frosting that wouldn’t budge.

He peered over to me, his expression one of consternation. “Uh, I haven’t been able to get this thing to work.” Mikey lowered the bag to belt level for better leverage, squeezing with both hands. “I don’t understand,” he uttered before turning toward me. The next moments were a blur, as I reacted to him holding the bag like a phallic symbol, squeezing to apply more pressure, then the tip finally giving way as white frosting blasted all over my stomach and crotch. While everyone else but me and Aaron chuckled or outright howled, Mikey stood and sized up the situation, looking both horrified and apologetic.

“Well, that message might have been even more direct than Daryl’s,” Emilio stated in a lascivious tone.

“I am so sorry, Mr. Walker,” Mikey blurted, dropping the bag on the table and reaching to wipe the mess off me.

I backed away, realizing the contact would make things worse. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

Mikey’s mouth opened and closed a few times as he scanned the room. He wiped a hand over his forehead. “I didn’t mean to. It was like the bag was clogged the whole time. I was trying to make little hearts, but when frosting came out, the tip kept falling off and making a mess. I think there’s a tear in the bag or something.”

“You must have gotten a damaged one, mate. Could have happened to any of us,” Brighton jumped in. I appreciated that.

“Correction. It could have happened to any of us but the culprit who tampered with the piping bag,” Aaron added.

Emilio pounced. “What do you mean, Aaron?”

Aaron seemed to contemplate whether he should rat out Daryl. “I won’t say who, but I saw someone do something to Mikey’s bag when he went to the cupboard for decorations. I told the person to get away from Mikey’s stuff, and he claimed he had just walked back to the wrong station by mistake and thought it was his bag. I was suspicious, but I didn’t know for sure if he’d done something. I was too busy with my own project to see that Mikey was struggling. Obviously, my instincts were right.”

All eyes turned to Daryl. The contestants seemed to have his number, even if Aaron didn’t out him.

Daryl’s expression hardened. “If Mikey wasn’t so clueless, he would have asked for a new bag when he couldn’t get the frosting to come out. Okay—I jammed some of the candies in it, then reloaded the frosting. I just intended to slow him down. I didn’t expect him to spend the whole twenty minutes trying to figure out what was wrong. Maybe he’s drunk again.” People still glared at him. “Hey, this is a contest. You want Cliff, you need to fight for him. At least I’m showing him I’m ready to do whatever it takes. Pretty drawings and good craftsmanship don’t prove you’ll be a good boyfriend.”

“And dick cakes and sabotage do?” Aaron challenged.

“Have you watched the show before?” Daryl turned to Emilio. “Tell them. Contestants are here to prove their devotion and loyalty to the bachelor, not to each other. Nothing is unfair. That’s the program. I won’t apologize for playing it the way the producers intended. So far, I’m the only one who has shown Cliff that I’m passionate about being with him. The rest of you are behaving like you’re arranging school play dates.”

I was about to disagree, but Emilio responded before I could. “Daryl is right. He hasn’t done anything outside the rules.”

I guess I should have watched His Choice more than I had. I hadn’t realized cutthroat tactics were encouraged by the producers and directors. Whatever good feeling I had at the beginning of the competition disappeared.

Chapter Twelve

Mikey

The contestants were supposed to reconvene in the dining room to be filmed having a group dinner. I opted to head back to my room. I couldn’t bear the thought of another embarrassing scene.

I had made it as far as the bottom of the staircase when Aaron came jogging after me.

“I don’t want anything to eat,” I called out to him before he could try to coax me back.