Page 81 of Pursuing Desire

She snorts. “Yeah, well, the ink isn’t on that paper yet. So, you’ll take your half, and I’ll take mine. Case closed.”

“Case opened back up. Either you agree to take the money, or I’ll stop the car here and refuse to finish the game.”

“Liar.”

“Busted.” I sigh dramatically. “You’re such a pain in my ass.”

“Good. Now that we can close that annoying subject, we can talk about our next stop. We haven’t gotten any other directions other than to head to Massachusetts. So weird. Usually, we at least have a hotel location by now.”

I nod in agreement. “Yeah, it’s strange. And why are we going to a location that’s so close to our final stop back in Manhattan?”

“And no prize for this stop, either. So apparently, there’s no need to rush.”

I notice the goosebumps on Jess’s arm and reach out to adjust the air. It must be too cold for her. She knows I get hot easily, and I’m sure that’s why she hasn’t said anything.

“Well, we have to get something soon. We’re at the point of having to make a decision on our next direction.”

Just then, the phone dings to indicate a text.

Jess flips over her phone. “You missed your calling. You shoulda been a fortune teller. Looks like we got the next set of instructions.”

“Perfect timing. What does it say?”

Jess clears her throat first and then begins to read the message.

“You’re almost there! In order to complete this task, you will follow the signs to Southwick, Massachusetts. You will take the next exit off the interstate and onto the highway.”

Jess looks at me, her eyes round. “That’s where my parents live. It’s a small town. This can’t be a coincidence that we’re being told to go there. What the hell?”

I nod my head toward the green light on the camera, warning her to be careful of what she says. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s a coincidence. I don’t know what’s going on. Why would they have us go to your parents’ house?”

“Dax, we can’t go there. They don’t know about our engagement, and I don’t want them to find out this way. They’ll flip out. I don’t like this at all.”

I drum my fingers on the steering wheel. I can’t see a way out of this. Jess’s parents know she was just recently engaged to Anthony. They aren’t going to understand why she’s engaged to someone else two months later.

“There’s no way around it. Taylor is sure to be there with the camera. We’ll have to tell them about our engagement.”

“I can’t,” she says. “No way. Let’s just skip the last stop. There’s no prize for getting there anyway. What does it matter?”

“We don’t have a choice,” I tell her patiently. “It’s our last task before the end of the show. I’m afraid we’ll get disqualified if we don’t go there. The contract specifically states that we have to make it to the end.”

She doesn’t say anything for a minute. The sound of the phone buzzing breaks the silence.

She checks the phone then looks down at her lap. “It’s confirmed. They just sent the address to my parents’ house. That’s our destination. My parents are going to be so disappointed in me. I don’t think I can do it.”

I clear my throat to get her to stop talking. She’s already said enough.

My hand reaches out to grasp hers. Squeezing softly, I tell her, “You’re their daughter. They aren’t going to be disappointed. We’ll call them once we get back to Manhattan and explain everything. They’ll understand.”

She turns her head to look out the window, avoiding my gaze, but she doesn’t pull her hand away.

I don’t know what type of relationship she has with her parents, nor do I know if Jess even told her parents about the breakup. I’m hoping they’ll just go with the flow once they see the cameras. If not, we could be in big trouble. They could ruin the entire thing.

All I can do is be there for Jess and do my best to steer her parents away from any potentially incriminating conversation.

I squeeze her hand again. “We’re turning off soon. It looks like your parents are only a few miles up ahead. Do you want to make a plan? How are we going to tell them about our engagement? I can be the one to tell them, if you want.”

“No,” she says quietly. “I’ll tell them. This is just all so screwed up. It’s like the show planned this.”