B y the time Blair staggered up the stairs to the flat above the restaurant she was shattered. The irony of flying from Rome to London and then making a connecting flight via Hong Kong to Auckland wasn’t lost on her. Briefly, she’d been in the same city as Draco and he hadn’t even known it. With the number of time zones she’d been through, she felt as if she’d been traveling for days, even if it had only been something over thirty hours. But she was here. Home. Where she was needed and wanted.It was nearing lunchtime, but all she wanted was to fall into bed and sleep. She made a quick call to the hospital and asked to be put through to her dad, but her call was intercepted by a nurse who told her he was resting comfortably. Blair left a brief message with the nurse for her father, disappointed she couldn’t speak to him. She’d only be able to manage a few hours’ sleep before she’d need to be on deck downstairs. Calling him again would have to wait until morning.Bu

SUMMARYI have a secret. I’m in love with my best friend, but I’ve never told her. Sharing feelings is right up there with all-time terrible things. Instead of saying it, I show her how I feel every day. I watch Big Brother with her. We have scary movie night. I hold her hair when she’s puking. That’s love in my books. Only…she’s not been the same recently, and I don’t know how to fix it. I hope she knows I'd do anything for her.I have a secret. I’m pregnant with my best friend’s baby. One drunken night, one missed birth control, and boom, it’s baby time. I’m thrilled but…Mack is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. He’s celebrated my successes and held me during my trials. His family has become my family. If I'm being honest with myself, I've been in love with him for a long time. But if I tell him I'm having his baby, will it ruin everything?MACK“MAYBE I SHOULD GET A BOOB JOB,” SUNNY MOANS. “OR AT LEAS

 MACKHAD SHE SEEN ME JACKING OFF AND THAT TURNED HER ON SO MUCH THAT SHEhad to fiddle with her clit? The thought makes me lightheaded. Good thing I’m sitting down. It’s also a dangerous path that is going to lead nowhere. I shut that down immediately. No point in entertaining things that aren’t ever going to happen.I turn the volume down on the TV and double check to make sure the show is being recorded. On screen, Jeff massages sunscreen into Jordan’s back. I’m not sure how he’s not getting wood from all that contact with Jordan’s bare skin. He’s got more self-control than me, that’s for damned sure.Like Sunny, Jordan drifts off. Jeff gets up and looks around for a blanket. When he doesn’t find one on the pool deck, he heads inside. Another contestant, Chris, is debating the hot topic of pineapple on pizza with Nina. She hates it, but she would say the sky was green if Chris said it was blue because Chris broke an alliance with her

MACK“NINA, THIS EVENT IS SO FUN!” CRIES SANDRA BENNINGTON AS SHE RUNStoward us, her hands outstretched. My date beams and catches the other girl in her arms.“Thank you for saying that. I thought people would find the games dumb. Some people”—she casts an evil look in the direction of her stepbrother, who is trying very hard not to stare at Nina’s chest, which is about to fall out of her dress—“were very skeptical of it all.”“Eric, why are you so dour all the time?” Sandra slaps the man across his biceps. He doesn’t move. “This is supposed to be fun. It’s for charity.” She reaches out her hand to hit me, but I’ve had enough of all this social contact. If one more society woman comes up and rubs her tits on my arm, I’m going to lose it.“He was born dour,” replies Nina.Over her head, Sunny’s eyes meet mine. I jerk my head to the side and then separate myself from Nina. She doesn’t notice as she’s too intent on arguing with Eri

MACK JELL-O SALAD IS FUCKING HARD TO PREPARE. SO HARD THAT I HAD TO CALLmy mom to come over.“You took the day off to make this?” Mom pokes at the finally completed Jell-O salad. With her help, the final product looks exactly like the picture.“She was desperate for it last night and started crying when we read the instructions, and it said you had to let the whole thing sit for three hours.” Then we had the best night of my life. Hers, too, I hope, although her first thought in the morning was about the damned Jell-O salad. I used my tongue to successfully distract her and had a brief mad thought that she could transfer her craving for a particular food to me.After she left for work, I slapped myself in the head and decided to win her over the right way—and went to the store.“Upset stomach and unusual food cravings,” Mom murmurs. She taps her chin in thought.Alarmed, I bark, “Are those the symptoms of some kin