Fairytale Love - Becca & Brian(49)

"Brian," she moaned as he kissed the spot he'd just bit. Between labored breaths, she said, "We need … to talk."

He wanted to ignore her. To keep kissing her until talking was the last  thing she wanted to do. But he'd been doing that all week, and he knew  that he was just being selfish. Trying to steal every moment he could  and fill it with pleasure and memories.

He knew she was right. They needed to talk.

"I know," he said as he settled back against the cooler and tucked her head beneath his chin.

They were both silent for a moment, watching the fireworks before she  said, "I don't care what happens tomorrow or the next year. All I care  about is you and us being together when this is all over."

He knew that she believed what she was saying, and he knew that she  meant what she'd said, but he didn't think she was really taking into  consideration the way she'd felt after she'd seen what had ‘looked' like  him having sex with Brooklyn.

Yes, they'd worked it out. But that's because they'd been in the same  city. In the same house. Face to face. If things like that came up-and  he was pretty sure things like that would come up-and they were states  away and not actually ‘together,' he knew it wouldn't turn out with  having hot sex in the shower.

"Becca, it's not that simpl-"

"I'm serious, Brian." She sat up and turned around so she was facing  him. After taking a deep breath like she was trying to build up courage,  she said, "I've been thinking about this all week. And one of us  winning the show is the only way that we'll have enough mone-"

"One of us?" he interrupted. "We'll have enough money?"

No way in hell would he take her money if she won. She could use that  for school or to start her own practice. Or whatever she wanted-but he  was not taking it.

"Yes," she said calmly, and she set her hand over his pounding heart.  "We have a sixty-six percent chance at winning this. And from what  Jessie keeps texting me, with the way all the voting is going, it's even  better than that. So if you win, great. You'll have the money you need.  But if I win, that'll be great too, because you'll have the money you  need."

This situation was shitty enough. He was not going to add her having to  pretend to date a guy to the pile of crap. If she wanted to do it for  her, then great. But no way was he going to take the money like a pimp.

Brian didn't want to fight with her, but he wanted her to know how  serious he was about this. So he said firmly, "No, Becca. I'm not going  to take your money. That is not happening. I'll figure something out.  You don't need to worry about it."

He saw the look of fire spark in her eye as she crossed her arms. "Do you love me?" she asked-more like demanded an answer.

Trying to stay calm, he said, "You know I love you. It's not about tha-"

"Do you think I love you?" Again, she demanded more than asked.

"Yes, I know you love me, but-"

"So if the situation were reversed …  If I were the one who had to figure  out how to help her family, you wouldn't give me the money?"

"Becca-" Brian heard the warning in his tone. She, however, ignored it or didn't heed it.

"Answer. The. Question," she said, evenly spacing her words, her blue eyes boring into him.                       
       
           



       

Brian scrubbed his face with his hands and then raked his fingers  through his hair. He knew where this was going and he didn't like it,  but he answered honestly anyway, saying, "You know I would. I would give  you anything, do anything for you."

Her hands flew up in exasperation. "Oh, so you are allowed to love me.  You are allowed to always be there for me. To take care of me. To worry  about me. To never let me down. To be everything to me." Her eyes  started filling with tears. "You are allowed to sacrifice for your  family. To put your life on hold for the people you love. You are  allowed to put everyone else's needs before yours. But I can't?"

The tears were now flowing from her face as she said, "I love you,  Brian. You are my family. You are everything to me. Nothing makes sense  in my life without you. If you're not okay, I'm not okay. Let me put you  first. Let me take care of you. Let me love you."

His chest felt like someone had just punched it. It killed him, put him  in physical pain, to see Becca this upset. And it was his fault. He was  so mad that they were in this situation. He was so frustrated that he  had no idea how to get out of it, take care of his family, and be with  the only person who made his life make any sense. His head was pounding  and his heart was racing.

Not knowing what else to do, he pulled her into his arms and held her, burying his head in her neck.

Her arms wrapped around him as she whispered, "I'll take that as a yes."

He smiled against her neck. That was the same thing she'd said after  she'd told him off about smoking weed in the park. She'd asked him if  he'd understood what she'd said, and when he'd just stood there silently  staring at her, she tilted her head and said, "I'll take that as yes."  Then she spun around on her heels and stomped away.

This situation was a lot worse than when he was getting high in a park,  but he sure liked having her in his arms better than her stomping away  from him.

Now, he just had to make sure that's where she stayed.





Chapter Twenty-Five





This is it. For better or worse, at least they'd know what their future held.

Becca tried to remember to breathe and not squint as she sat on the  stage. For some reason, the lights seemed brighter than the last time  she'd been on this stage. When she walked onto the set twenty minutes  ago, she'd been relieved to see that they had switched things up for the  finale. Instead of standing, they'd all be seated for the show, which  made sense because, instead of a half hour, this show was an hour long.  She'd been worried about staying on her feet that long. As it was, she  was shaking in her chair.

They were all seated in a semicircle with Lance positioned in the  center. The girls were all on one side and the guys were on the other.  Becca was in the middle with Brooklyn closest to Lance and Madison at  the end. Brooklyn had leaned over and whispered that the seating was an  indication that Madison and Jax were getting eliminated first.

They'd been instructed that, fifteen minutes into the show, they would  be eliminating the couple with the least amount of votes. Becca figured  that Brooklyn could be right-her logic made perfect sense. But Becca  also knew that Brooklyn also might just be saying that because, if you  followed that logic, it would mean that Brooklyn and Brian would win  because they were in what she called "the number one seats."

That's what Becca should've been hoping for. And part of her was. That  would be the easiest resolution to this mess. If Brian could earn the  money his family needed, that would be the best outcome. Becca wasn't  kidding herself into thinking that he'd actually agreed to what she'd  proposed last night, even though she'd said that she'd taken his silence  as a ‘yes'. He would come around. He just needed time. But he would  never be okay with it. And she didn't want their relationship forever  tainted by this.

The applause track began playing and Becca jumped, startled. Her palms  grew damp as the AD counted them back from the commercial break. This  was the segment when the first elimination would take place.

Breathe.

"Welcome back! I'm your host, Lance Sparrow, and this is the live finale  of Fairytale Love. I am sitting here with the remaining three couples  on their journey to fairytale love, but in a few moments, only two  couples will remain."

There was a dramatic pause, which Becca had learned from seeing snippets  of the show on YouTube were usually when they did close-ups of the  couples. Becca tried her best to keep her face looking even and pleasant  even though, inside, she was freaking out.                       
       
           



       

"Brian and Brooklyn … you did not get the majority of the votes … "

No! Becca knew that she didn't want to see them playing kissy face for a  year, but until this moment, she hadn't known just how badly she'd  wanted Brian to win, no matter what that cost her. Her eyes flew to his  and he looked totally self-contained and self-assured as he waited for  Lance to continue.

How did he do that?

He needed to win this. So much depended on him winning this, but he looked like the poster child for calm, cool, and collected.

" … But you did earn enough to be safe. Yes, Brian and Brooklyn have  earned enough votes in this portion to earn a spot in the final  elimination round," Lance finished, and the track of clapping and  yelling played.