Don't have sex with the Fiery Boys? Well, first of all, I didn't really believe that would ever be an option. But I had dreams, and if any of them came true, I was certainly not going to refuse. I wasn't sixteen years old anymore, and I didn't need daddy's permission to stay out all night.
I pushed back lightly. "Or if I do have sex with any of them, I should keep it a secret, right?"
Jason shook his head. "It's no secret that the contest winner is riding on the bus, and every fan expects the boys to screw your brains out. Even if you never go near them, we'll have a hard time convincing the fans of that. But if you show up at Chuck's orgies, the fans will get even nastier." He lowered his gaze at me. "Don't think they can't get nastier."
"Jeez, all right. I'll be good." Maybe. Unless River smiled at me-then I'd be bad. Real bad.
Jason nodded. "There's something you need to know about how you got chosen. Truth is, this was not a beauty contest."
I raised a curious eyebrow. Jason might not like me, but he was offering all sorts of useful information. Good thing I was meeting him first. "Okay, why did you pick me?"
"First of all, it wasn't me. The boys chose you. But I wouldn't allow anyone too pretty or sexy because it would anger the fans, so I culled them out. You see, by choosing someone plain, someone who looks like an average fan, the other contestants would think it could have been them. They wouldn't feel like they were ineligible because of their looks, just unlucky. So if you thought there were four horny boys on that bus who couldn't wait to jump your bones, you're wrong."
All right, hold on a second. Did he just tell me I was ugly? Did he say I was chosen because I'm no better looking than the average Fiery Boys fan? Wow, talk about a punch to the ego.
Look, I get it. I'm not a breathtaking beauty. Kira and Jo are both prettier than I am. But couldn't Jason let me hold onto the delusion that my smiling, beer-spraying countenance had somehow charmed the Fiery Boys? I didn't need to hear that I was an unappealing dog right before meeting them.
"Ugh. I'm sorry I asked."
"Hey, don't get all paranoid here. Besides, I have to say you're better looking than I expected." He sat back in his chair and studied me. "You only sent a head shot, so I assumed you had an unattractive body. But you're really not bad at all. Tall, too."