The Challenge

Chapter Six

She's not sure how she got here but she is now seven shots of tequila in with her fellow cast mate grinding on her lap.

What she can remember, is that she was on such a high from winning that she threw her reservations about taking other people's drinks out the window and accepted every tiny glass from her partner that was shoved into her face. Nobody partied this hard after the first elimination win but she suspects it has to do with a champ returning to the house to claim the title.

So, here she is, sitting on a chair in the middle of the living room with Killian beside her. Tink is forcefully shoving her tongue down Killian's throat as she gifts him a lap dance and he is all too eager to reciprocate. Everyone is blissfully wasted, all inhibitions benched for the evening as they celebrate to their fullest potential. Someone decided it would be hilarious to gift the winners lap dances and somehow the living room has turned into a strip club.

The light are dimmed and people are whooping and hollering and everything is a little fuzzy. She blinks, long and hard to refocus and she realizes The Challenge Legend, Neal, is the one rolling his hips upon her lap. Once upon a time ago, she had the biggest crush on him, all because of that bad boy reputation. She has a weak spot for the mischievous ones and she knows it has everything to do with her lack of parents and role models growing up.

Even though he has changed so much and come such a long way, he's still charming as hell, witty, and above all, makes her laugh like nobody else can. It's crazy how she used to see him as someone unattainable because he was on television and she's a homeless orphan, but now here she is with him on her lap. She's breathing the same air and she wonders what it would be like to kiss such a mogul.

Without another thought, she eliminates the space between them and kisses him, hard. He chuckles, low and deep in the back of his throat and then gently cups her cheek and kisses her back. He slows down the pace, because clearly she's drunk and sloppy but he never backs away. The entire cast is cheering and that's when she remembers this is all being filmed and her blood sizzles with embarrassment.

Gently, she ends the kiss but he simply smiles at her and pecks the corner of her mouth one last time. "You wanna go get a drink?" He asks in the heated space between them and she wants nothing more than to escape the crowd, so she nods along.

He climbs off her lap, in nothing more than a pair of his spandex shorts for the game with his name across his bottom, and then takes her hand. He leads her out of the room, everyone making snide comments and she just knows the audience is going to assume she is trying to sleep her way to the top. Her heart panics and for some reason her eyes are searching for Regina, waiting to be mocked. Except, Regina is nowhere to be found.

A cameraman that usually follows the Vets, trails behind them and she is just about to protest going to his room and demand that she doesn't want to win this way but he leads her to the kitchen. Bewildered, she observes as he unscrews a bottle of vodka and pours her a drink.

"Umm...thanks," she sheepishly says, blissfully ignorant to her morals with this much alcohol swimming through her system.

"I thought I owed you a drink as congratulations on tonight's elimination," he kindly says through a broad smile that shows off a dimple deep in his cheek.

"Cheers," she says, tapping her red solo cup against his before taking a sip to control her nerves about speaking with the legend. "So, Neal, what's your story?"

"My story?" He laughs. "Interesting choice of words, considering my life over the past decade has been played out for America on cameras," he quips, leaning heavily on the countertop between them.

"I mean, you have been known for being the bad boy. What happened? Why such a drastic life change?"

Neal stretches the back of his head and sighs. "Uh, my story is that I was in a screwed up situation and I left and it kinda screwed me up even more."