Big Bang: Hopeless Places 13/15
Everyone’s in a pretty sour mood the next morning. They all had to sleep in the same room, which was awkward to say the least. Kitty spent all night glaring at Cowboy and Jared barely slept because the bed felt odd without him.
They get a seven AM wake up call, and Kitty bolts out of bed so fast neither of them get the chance to shower.
They bounce like kids on the hotel beds instead, trying to get to the porn on the TV. Kitty walks out of the bathroom in a rush of steam, rolling her eyes at them before grabbing her suitcase. It sucks that she hates them now. She’d been the only one on their side. Jared would hate himself too if he was in her place, but there’s not much he can do about it now.
Soon there’s a knock on the door and they’re face to face with another camera man. He points down towards the lobby and all three of them crowd into an elevator. Cowboy’s hair is plastered to one side of his face and Jared still has morning breath. It’s not a good start to the day.
They wait in the lobby for an eternity. People keep stopping to point and take pictures. Some even try to talk to them but production quickly ushers them away. Jared had no idea this many people would know who he was. By the time Justina and Justin step out of the elevators there’s a small crowd gathered to watch.
They wave to everyone standing there waiting and get a loud cheer in return. Skipping the preamble they join hands and face the last three contestants, “Today will be your final challenge!” Justina exclaims.
This gets an even bigger reaction from the crowd. Someone’s even holding a sign now. “I LOVE KITTY CAT.” Kitty’s blowing them kisses, her mood greatly improved by all the attention.
Justin continues the speech, “The winner will pick the order of your individual dates later today, and who they’ll be with.”
Jared smiles. If they win this they could put Kitty on a date with Justina, they’d have it in the bag.
Justina finishes, “Are you ready to start your final challenge?”
Jared mutters, “No.” Under his breath, and Cowboy snickers back at him. They’re led out to the pool side of the hotel anyways.
There’s two speedo’s and a bikini at the side lines, their names embroidered on the back. Jared picks his up with a sigh, there’s no way he’s getting through this without a ball slipping out. Cowboy must be thinking the same thing because he casts Jared a look before disappearing into the change rooms.
The emerge from the rooms one by one, Jared trying to cover himself as best he can. They have to walk by the twins to take their places by the pool and Justin slaps Cowboy’s ass when he goes by, checking him out obviously. Jared runs a nervous hand through his hair.
“Okay guys, there are ten keys at the bottom of the pool. You each have to retrieve all of them. The person with the fastest time at the end is the winner!” Justin says.
Jared’s already scoping for keys. He knows that Cowboy’s faster in the water than him, but is he faster than Kitty?
“The order has been randomly selected and Kitty you’re up first!” Justina says.
Kitty hops into the pool immediately. She’s so tiny she’s almost over her head in the shallow end.
“Ready, set, go!” Justin says. She’s dips under the water with a big breath, frantically searching the bottom.
The pools huge but Kitty seems to scale it in no time, coming up for air only briefly to put her keys on the side of the pool. Jared keeps track of time in his head, and by his guess she finishes the challenge in just under five minutes, which is intimidating. He hadn’t expected her to do so well.
They all have to turn around as Justina tosses the keys back into the pool. “Tex, you’re up next!” She announces.
Jared jumps into the pool with a splash, hoping the cool water will calm his nerves. The keys are much harder to see now that he’s in the water. This might be harder than he thought.
“Ready, set, go!”
He gulps in air and lowers himself under the surface. Chlorine burns his eyes as he searches the bottom. The first couple of keys easy, but by the 6th Jared feels like he’s searched every inch of the pool twice and he’s starting to panic.
Jared finally finds the last four scattered in the far corner, blown over in the current. He picks all of them up, swimming to the edge to toss them up with the others.
He climbs out of the pool with a smile, noting the way Justina looks at his abs before his face. Cowboy gives him a thumbs up. “You totally beat Pussy Cat.”
Kitty glares at them, arms crossed over her chest. Justin hasn’t seemed to notice. They all turn around again while one of the twins throws the keys back into the pool.
Cowboy canon balls in loudly, surfacing with a laugh. He barely waits for go before he’s under the water.
Jared loses track of time laughing at him. The other man splashes around, nothing like the feminine grace of Kitty. Luckily the majority of the keys seem to have congregated in one place and he’s done in no time.
Jared privately wonders if Justin helped him out on purpose but either way Cowboy was way faster than Kitty. Jared grins at him when he comes out, shaking water all over him like a dog.
“You see, Tex? Faster than a shark.”
Jared rolls his eyes, “Sure, man.”
Justin checks the stopwatch in his hand with a smile, “Kitty, your time was 4:38. Good job!”
Kitty looks worried. Both of theirs seemed a lot faster.
“Tex, yours was 4:00.”
Cowboy punches his arm, Jared knows what’s coming next.
“And Cowboy, you did it in 3:20. Congratulations, you’ve won this challenge!”
Cowboy runs over and scoops a squirming Justin into his arms. “You’re getting me all wet!” He shrieks. But he lets Cowboy kiss him anyways.
Back in the room Kitty curls up on her bed without a word. Jared takes one look at her and drags Cowboy out into the hall. A camera man follows them dutifully and Jared tries his best to ignore him.
“What order are you going to pick them?”
Cowboy shrugs. “What does it matter, there’s no way Kitty’s going with Justin.”
Jared nods, as long as she doesn’t get a chance with him, Cowboy’s home free. He’s just worried the other girl will manage to charm Justina.
Cowboy looks at him. “You want to go before or after her?”
Jared mulls it over, “After. I want to get the last impression.”
“Sure thing. So they gave me two hours to figure it out, and that took two minutes. You want to check out this hotel?”
Cowboy knows just as well as Jared does that the casino is just downstairs. He gives the other man a look. “You sure that’s a good idea?”
“Name one of my ideas that haven’t been good.”
Jared doesn’t even have to think about it. “Drunk day.”
Cowboy shivers. “That was your idea.”
“Was not.”
“Was too.”
Cowboy opens the door to their room. “Doesn’t matter. I’m not spending two hours in this room, so you can come with me or you can stay here.”
Jared looks at the other man pick up his cowboy hat, standing expectantly at the door. Then back at Kitty pouting on the bed.
“Fine,” he says.
Cowboy grins, taking his hand and leading him towards the escalators. “Turn that frown upside down Tex, I won’t lead ya wrong.”
Three hours later Cowboy’s managed to talk a middle aged woman out of half her chips in exchange for a lap dance. Casino security is watching them warily and the camera man who’s been following them the whole time has been on his radio for the last half hour, talking frantically and making gestures towards the exit.
They’ve managed to gain back all the chips they lost at the poker table on the slots and Jared’s in no hurry to get back upstairs.
He hears some bells from Cowboy’s side and leans his head over to see what happened. “Fifty bucks, baby! We’re going to be rich.”
Jared laughs. “You better win the million!”
Cowboy smiles at him. “Don’t worry, we will.”
The camera man finally breaks and taps Jared on the shoulder. “You guys gotta get upstairs, you’re like an hour late.”
Jared fakes surprise, “Holy shit!”
They exchange their chips in a hurry, Cowboy laughing all the way. Cowboy keeps the majority of the three hundred dollars because it was his lap dance money that got it.
They walk into their room to two very pissed twins and one pleased looking Kitty. Cowboy throws the money in the air. “We’re rich!”
Justin crosses his arms. “We’ve been waiting for an hour!”
Cowboy pouts. “Aw, hun. Don’t worry, I’ll make it up to you.”
Justin’s eyes light up at that. “Does that mean we’re going on the date?”
“Of course. You and me, and Justina and Kitty.”
Kitty’s face falls at that, matching Justina’s. Jared shrugs ruefully at her. “Later, babe.”
Justina and Cowboy both kiss him on the cheek before they leave, and Jared’s left sitting on his bed. Surrounded by money.
He falls asleep at some point, and when he wakes up Justina’s standing over him at the bed. “C’mon sleepyhead, time for our date!”
Jared glances around the room and notices Cowboy’s nowhere to be seen. Must be with Justin. He straightens his hair in the mirror and follows Justina out the door.
Their date is remarkably similar to his and Cowboy’s morning. Only this time they can buy the chips themselves and Jared’s a lot more bored. He makes Justina blow on his die again, the girl never seems to get tired of it, and rolls them down the board.
She jumps up and down, screeching. “Double snake eyes! You did it babe!”
Every man at the table has their eyes glued to her bouncing tits, barely hanging on to a scarlet dress. Jared fights not to roll his eyes.
Justina bores of the casino after blowing all their money. They sit at a private booth at the restaurant instead. Justina orders a fruity cocktail and turns to him, suddenly serious.
“I know you’re not happy you know.”
Jared’s a little surprised, he’s not used to her picking up on things. “I’m just nervous. About the elimination.”
Her expressions softens and her hand covers his. “I wouldn’t worry about that baby.”
Jared’s feels the tension fall from of his shoulders. Did she just say he was winning?
They make out in the back booth for the rest of the time and say their goodbyes at the door. Jared was expecting to spend the night with her but Justina shakes her head. “Big day tomorrow, Tex.”
She winks, giving him one last kiss before disappearing around the door.
Jared walks into the room grinning ear to ear. Kitty’s out on the balcony, puffing angrily on a cigarette. Jared locks the door on her.
Cowboy walks out of the bathroom in a puff of steam. Jared glances at the hickey’s coating his neck before jumping on the bed and switching on the TV.
“Looks like you had a good time,” Jared says.
Cowboy rubs at his neck, pulling on a pair of pants. Jared keeps his eyes on the television. “Yeah, you?”
Jared nods. He quickly find that the only channel he can look at is the guide, guess they don’t want them to be able to watch re-runs of their own show. He watches Cowboy curl up in bed instead, it’s weird without his blue blanket around him.
“You should get some sleep,” the other man says.
He’s right. If Justina picks him tomorrow he’s going to have to tell her that he’s choosing the money. It’s all going to be over.
Jared flops onto his back. Holy shit, it’s all going to be over.
By now Kitty’s pounding on the glass, face turning a funny shade of red. Jared watches for a moment before getting up and unlocking the door.
“I can’t believe I used to like you assholes,” she says, storming past him.
Jared would feel bad, but tomorrow the whole country will probably hate him. What’s one more person?
Kitty goes to bed without another word and Jared turns off the light. “Night Kitty,” he says.
“Fuck you.”
“Night Cowboy.”
“G’night Tex.”
Finale