Blaire's POV:

Sitting on the pontoon with the other contestants, I pinched myself just to reaffirm that today was real, that it was really happening, something that I had been doing ever since I'd gotten the call and told that I was going to be one of the contestants in Season Five of Redneck Island: Battle at the Lake. Having been a fan of the show since it started, I'd watched every episode with my friends, each of us joking about how we would have played the game or strategized to get through the challenges. In fact, one of those watch parties had led to three of my friends and myself auditioning for the show. By some miracle the show runners had picked me, a girl who weighed in at all of one hundred and ten pounds and stood at a height of 5'3" claiming that I "had heart and that was what it took to win the money" I sure as shit hoped they were right, because the $100,000 grand prize could sure change my life for the better.

But looking around the other contestants, even I could see that I was going to be at a disadvantage. As the shortest and obviously the lightest of the twelve people on the pontoon, I knew that I was going to have to make sure that everyone knew that dynamite came in small packages and that no one should underestimate me because of my height and weight. Then again, letting them think I was going to be the weakest competitor could play in my favor; would allow me to prove to them that I might be small but I was mighty.

But the amount of people that I was on the pontoon with was one thing that had me curious. Every season prior to this one has had twenty-four contestants. Including me, there were twelve people competing this year. Instantly, my mind went to scanning the others on the boat, trying to figure out who would make a good partner. Because of my height and weight disadvantage, there was one clear option; Bo, a guy who was built like a Dallas Cowboys linebacker who was sitting right across from me. With arms that looked like he spent hours in the gym, a physic that looked like he played every sport known to man, and height that would mean we would have the advantage on every obstacle, he was my choice for a partner. Plus, there was the fact that he wasn't going to be hard on the eyes either. Not that I came here to find a boyfriend, but if I found someone to share my time with while I was here, what was the harm in that?

The harm in that is that you cant have casual sex chided that snarky voice that lived inside my head. As much as I hated to admit that the voice was right, I knew that it had a point. Sex had always meant something to me. I had to have a connection with the person. I had to be able to see myself spending time with them doing more than just randomly hooking up. I had to be able to know that while there was a chance I could get hurt and end up with a broken heart, I would still learn from the experience and have it as a memory of my 'wild twenties'. And if Bo was who I was picking as a partner in the competition, them he would definitely be the one that I was picking to hook up with, should I decide to actually do it. I mean, we would be spending a lot of time together so it's possible that something could come out of it right?

Thoughts of who I might or might not hook up with were still floating in my mind when the most gorgeous lake house I'd ever seen came into view, causing the eleven other people on the pontoon with me to start screaming with excitement. Even the men and I have to admit, the way a couple of them was screaming -mainly Bo- wasn't very manly. In fact, Tuff, the girl who looked like she broke wild horses with her bar hands was more manly about seeing the house that. Pretty sure we know what team she bats for came that snarky voice again. Silently telling the voice to shut the hell up, I pushed the unmanly screams and the voice telling me that Tuff wanted to make her lesbian lover to the back of my mind and focused on the house once again. Looking much like a massive log cabin, it sat on the side of a hill with a wraparound porch, rocking chairs, a wooden swing, and just about everything a person could want to have in order to relax after one grueling competition at the end of the day. I could already see myself sitting on that swing, swaying back and forth and I sipped from one of my famous margaritas. Okay, maybe not famous to everyone but it was the one drink I was know for in my circle of friends.

Following the others off the boat, I made my way up the walkway that led to the house. Even from a distance, there was no mistaking the man standing on the deck with his arms crossed over his chest. The trademarked bald head of his seemed to almost glisten in the sunlight, making me wonder if her put baby oil on it to make it shine like a bowling ball. That voice in my head sounded off then telling me that I better not ever let Stone Cold Steve Austin comparing his head to a shiny bowling ball. That if he caught wind of it, he would be putting the smack down on my ass.

"Welcome to Redneck Island." Said Steve as the other contestants and I reached the stairs that led up into the house. "This year, were in Hartwell, Georgia on the most badass lake in the state." A resounding 'Hell yeah' came from all of us, using his trademark line that he used during his wrestling days.

Steve went through the rest of this speech about how this was going to be a grueling competition that would test out endurance and see just how much heart was packed into each of us. Even introduced us to Melissa Rycroft who was helping cohost the show this season. But still, it was bothering me that there were only twelve contestants. Did that mean that the challenges would be harder, making it much harder for someone to finish them? Would we be competing against each other? To be honest, that last thought almost had me climbing back onto the pontoon because there was no way in hell that I would be able to go up against some of these folks and not get my ass handed to me. Bo alone would break me in half if I stood in his way. Hell, even Tuff would.

"As you can see, we're missing a few contestants this year. What do you say we remedy that?" said Melissa, pulling me from my thoughts of running back to the boat with my proverbial tail tucked between my legs. So there are more contestants... But those thoughts immediately came running back as I watched 12 people walk out of the house, all of whom had participated in the show over the past seasons. How the hell was I supposed to go up against people who had played this game before, a couple of them even making it to the finale last year?

I was still contemplating those thoughts when I saw a familiar face. Well, not familiar in the way that said I knew him but familiar in the way that I had seen him before and not just on television either. No, the tall, leanly built man who walked out of the house last was none other than season 4 contestant Riley Greene, someone whom I'd just seen at the Watermelon Festival in Monroeville a few months ago. He hadn't been there riding the coat tails of his short-lived time on the show though. He had been there playing on one of the stages, singing covers of popular country songs. I remember watching him perform his whole set, his voice washing over me like a smooth whiskey. My friends Daisy, Maria, and Ariel had all tried to get me to talk to him but I'd been too much of a chicken shit to do it, using the excuse that he was going to be the next big thing in music and that he wasn't going to want to meet someone like me. Sure, it was just me being my typical self, not thinking that I was pretty enough to catch the attention of someone like him, but it was the way I'd always been and it was definitely something that I was working on every day. Competing in this show was a huge step towards building my confidence.

Feeling a bit like a girl who had just laid eyes on her crush, I watched as Riley's long legs walked down the stairs, catching glimpses of his face from beneath the hat he had pulled down low on his head. All my thoughts from earlier about how Bo was going to be easy on the eyes were pushed out of my mind. If I was going to contemplate having a fling while I was here, Riley was going to be the one that I wanted it to be with. I mean, he had been the star of a couple of my dreams in the passing months, one of which involved him sitting in front of a fireplace naked as he strummed his guitar, jokingly writing a song about the sex he and I had just had. Just thinking about how I'd woken up panting made my pussy clench with need.

To make matters worse, all the veteran players came and stood in the semi-circle that the rookies had been in. And guess where Riley was. Right behind me. I could feel him towering over me. But it was the smell of man mixing Irish Spring soap that wafted on the breeze and filled my nose that had me wanting to bury my head in his neck and take a long, lung filling breath.

"... player will pick a rookie team player to compete in the game." Said Steve, pulling me from y erotic thought as he talked about what was in store. I'd been so lost in my thought of Riley that I hadn't even heard what Steve had been saying up until that point. Shit, I hope I didn't miss something important. Forcing myself to ignore the man standing not even a foot behind me, I listened to Steve. "Each of you will get a chance to plead your case to who you want as a partner for the competition but the choice will ultimately fall in the hands of the veteran players as to who they are partnered up with. Remember, this is a game and there is One hundred grand on the line. Pick your teammate wisely and you could be sitting at the finish line $100,000 richer. Now haul ass and have some fun."

I was reaching for the handle of my rolling suitcase when I came in contact with a big hand, knowing who it was without having to look back. But I couldn't force myself not to. Turning slowly, I lifted my cerulean blue eyes and locked eyes with the bluest orbs I'd ever laid eyes on. A smile tugged at his lips before he spoke. "This might be a competition, but no woman should ever have to carry her own bags." He said, his Alabamian accent washing over me and reminding me of home. Not to turn all cliché and start quoting movies, but like Lucas Black said in the movie Sling blade, I liked the way he talked.

"Thank you. But it might send the wrong message if I have you carrying my bags in. Don't want people to think that I'm too weak to carry my own things. Puts a target on my back from the get-go and we ain't even had out first challenge yet." I said, reaching for my bag once more.

"And what kind of message would it send to my mama if I let you carry your own things? I don't know about you but winning this competition ain't gonna change the fact that my mama will still tan my hide if I disrespected a woman in any type of way. Even if my share of the $100,000 would go a long way in helping her and daddy out with the farm."

"Sounds like your mama is a pistol." I said with a smile, thinking of my own mama who would practically be beaming at the fact that Riley was offering to carry my bags, saying how it was romantic that he and what a man is supposed to do for a woman. To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if him offering to carry my things inside wouldn't be enough for her to start planning Riley and I's wedding. Mama was beginning to get impatient with me not being married. But what was the rush? I'm only twenty-five. I still have plenty of time to find a man that I want to spend the rest of my life with and have babies with. It's 2015 after all, not 1960. I wasn't going to turn into one of those crazy cat ladies if I wasn't married before I reached thirty. And even I did, what if that's what I wanted out of life? Even as I asked myself the question, I that becoming the neighbor cat lady wasn't anywhere close to what I wanted out of life. I wanted that love that my mama and daddy had shared for the past 27 years. I wanted to know what it felt like to have a child that was equal parts of me and their father.

"Sweetpea, you have no idea." Said Riley with a chuckle. It was obvious that he adored his mama.

"Sweetpea huh?"

"Yep."

"And what made you come up with that?" I said as Riley lifted my suitcase as it it was weightless. Truth be known, I was kind of glad that he was carrying it because it had been a pain in the ass to wheel up from the dock.

"I'm not sure." He said with grin, flashing that perfectly dazzling smile of his; The same smile that had made me chicken out when my friends had dared me to talk to him a few months back. If they could see me now...

"Then I guess I have to come up with a nickname for you." I said. Even to my own ears I sounded like I was flirting so there was no way that Riley could miss it.

"How about partner?" He said. I knew he was just joking -surely he wouldn't pick me as my little self as his partner willingly. Unless he means partner in a whole nother way chided that voice in my head, already stretching and warming up to the idea. I mentally told her to shut the hell up and focused on walking up the stairs. Probably not the best idea for someone who's as clumsy as me to compete in a show that was built around needing balance and cat like reflexes. Yet here I am in all my falling-over-air glory...

"Seriously?"

"Sure. Something tells me that even though you're the smallest girl here, you have heart and a determination that can get you through to the end. Can't think of anyone else I would rather be partnered with." Said Riley as we were walking into what would be my room.

"You say that now. But you haven't seen how capable I am of falling over thin hair, choaking on my own spit, or losing my balance simply because I looked the wrong way. Pretty sure if you ever saw any of that, you'd be rethinking your choice of partner." I said.

"Then I guess it's a good thing that I have what you call a savior complex then huh? Gonna need to stick close to you to make sure you don't get hurt." Said Riley. To prove his point, he stepped closer to me, making me step back in response. My back hit the wall and Riley stepped closer. Mere inches were between and the delicious smell of him buoyed around me once more, making my head spin because of how close he was to me.

Riley must have noticed this he was affecting me because a knowing smile came over his face just as one of his hands landed on my hip, encompassing nearly the whole thing. That simple touch sent an electric shock through my system, making me wonder what his hands would feel like on other parts of my body. Thoughts of that old saying about a man having big hand wasn't helping matters none either. Not that I was so experienced in how a mans hands size equated to other parts of his anatomy, but I could say that my ex had very big hands so if we were using him as the only example I had to use, then the saying was 100% accurate.

When my blue eyes met his, I saw something in them and it sent a delectable shiver down my spine. If I was reading him correctly, he wanted to kiss me in that moment. And lord help me, did I want him to. I watched as his tongue darted out, wetting his lips and it made my heart begin to race. I'd thought that the feeling of his hands on me had been a turn on but watching that tongue of his dart out as he touched me was so much more. It left me feeling needy and bold. Which is the only excuse I have for doing what I did next.

Riley's POV:

One minute I'm thinking about kissing the tiny little blonde, working up the nerve to do so. The next, she's tugging the collar my shirt, bringing my mouth down to hers and closing the distance between us. From the moment my lips touched hers, I felt like I saw stars. I didn't even know this girls name and I wanted her -beneath me, in bed with me, wherever I could get her.

Bending my knees, I looped an arm beneath her ass and lifted her, deepening the kiss and I pushed her back further into the wall. Her legs wrapped around my waist. If not for the barrier of clothes, I could take her right her and not even think twice about it. Needing to feel her, I slipped a hand beneath the tank top she was wearing, letting my fingers glide over her ribs. The moan that escaped her lips had one slipping from mine as I changed the pace of the hiss from lazy to lustful.

"Guess we know who Riley chose as his partner. Hooking up with teammates is just going to make winning this game easier so have at it man." Said a voice from the door, breaking the moment between the blonde and me. I didn't have to turn around to see who it was. I'd remember that voice even if I was deaf. It was none other than Cody, the one who had sent me home in the second pit challenge last year, no giving me the chance to show them all what I was made of.

"Shut the fuck up Cody." I said, breaking the kiss but still not putting the woman in my arms down. I had every intention of picking back up where I left off just as soon as his slippery ass back out of the door. But if he insisted on standing there, I'd give him the show he was obviously wanting.

"Do your thing man. We can work out whatever beef we have in the pit. I'm dying to send your ass home again." Said Cody with a wicked laugh as he walked off down the hall.

Alone once again with the blonde, I looked down into her blue eyes. I thought mine were blue but hers were so much more than that. Up close, you could see gold flecks mixed in with the blue, reminding me of what all those Spanish galleons at the bottom of the Caribbean must look like. Her lips were kiss swollen and she had the beginning of a beard burn on her face.

"I don't even know your name, Sweetpea." I said, wanting to place my lips over hers again but not wanting her to think that I was only here for one thing.

"Blaire." She said, her breathing still labored from the effects of our kiss. Can't say I wasn't right there with her.

"I'm Riley."

"I know. I watched you on last season but I also saw you at the county fair in Monroeville a few months back. You have an amazing voice." She said.

And that's when it all clicked into place. Ever since I'd walked down those stairs and caught a glimpse of her face, I'd been wondering where I'd seen her before. She was the girl out in the crowd that I hadn't been able to take my eyes off of but when I was done with my set, she had been no where to be found. A vision of her from that day popped into my head. Cut off shorts, tight white tank, hair piled on top of her head in a bun with a pink bandana tired around it, and cowgirl boots -and not the kind that had only been brought for that occasion- she had been the most beautiful girl Id ever seen. And that was at a distance. Up close, she was show-stopping.

"I looked for you after the show." I said, needing her to know.

"Really?"

"Yep. You were the prettiest girl in the crowd."

"You're just saying that because my legs are wrapped 'round your hips and you just kissed me senseless." She said.

"God's honest truth, Sweetpea." I said, holding up two fingers like I'd did when I was a boy scout and swearing on something. I watched as she searched my face, trying to see if I was bullshitting her or not; which I wasn't.

"My friends dared me to talk to you that night."

"And why didn't you?"

"'Cause I'm a chicken shit." She said with a laugh.

"Well, it doesn't matter now because here we are." I said, placing the palm of my hand on her cheek. I could have beat my chest like a caveman when she leaned into my touch.

"Here we are." She said, parroting my words.

Unable to fight not kissing her any longer, I lowered my head and placed my lips over hers. There was a lot at stake in this competition but damn if I wasn't going to make sure she was right by my side the whole way through. The seasons title was Battle at the lake but damn if it wasn't looking like it was going to be Love- or at least lust- at the lake for me. I hadn't come here looking to hook up with anyone but with Blaire in my arms and her lips pressed against mine, I was hard pressed to think about anything else at the moment.

***

With the teams picked, each of the 12 teams headed out to the lake for our first challenge and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't replaying the scene with Blaire and I back in the room from earlier. The feel of her lips. The way her tongue danced with mine. The taste of her kisses. All of it filled my mind and made concentrating on the challenge before us harder than it should have been since it was an easy challenge: all we had to do was slide down a huge water slide, swim out to out paddle boards, and make it back to shore in the fastest time. The two of us watched as a handful of teams went before us, putting together a game plan for how we were going to win this challenge. When the team before us took off down the slide, she stepped up onto her tip toes as I leaned down.

"Guess now is a good time to tell you that I was a champion swimmer in college." She said, whispering in my ear. Her breath breathing over my ear made my dick twitch with interest but it was her words that had a smile tugging at my lips. We had this challenge in the bag.

When it was out turn, Blaire took off running towards the slide, her legs carrying her faster than I would have thought was possible given her height. When she reached the top, she seemed to almost sail through the air as she tossed herself onto the slide. She slid down the slide so fast, that I was instantly worried that she was going to hurt herself when she hit the water. But my worrying was for nothing because she hit the water with a perfect dive that was like something you would be expecting judges to be giving her a score for. When she popped up from her dive, she had swum about 75 feet beneath the surface, leaving her with 75 more until I could make my way down the slide. I watched at her arms propelled her through the water with lightning speed, reaffirming my choice in a partner.

As soon as she passed the yellow buoys, I pumped my legs, giving all I had into the run before jumping onto the slide. Because of my height and weight, I sailed down it, feeling as if I was flying. Within moments, I was diving into the water, using my arms, and kicking my feet with everything I had in me. When I passed the buoys, I caught sight of Blaire as she climbed onto her paddle board. Knowing that she was waiting on me made me work harder.

Within minutes, I was climbing up onto the paddle board, every muscle in my body screaming from the fast pace I'd set on my swimming. But still, I couldn't think about that. We had to win this challenge. Paddling with all my might, I made my way towards the banks of the lake, pleased to see that Blaire was right alongside me, meeting every stoke of my ore. Cheers sounded from the banks, giving me the strength I needed to finish this quickly.

My paddleboard hit the bank first, followed by Blaire's. With every cheering us on, I lifted Blaire into my arms and swung her in circles a split second before my lips landed on hers in a kiss that was both feverish and consuming. Whistles from the people standing around floated over my ear drums, but I couldn't care less.

After everyone was finished, Steve announced the winner of this challenge and the team that was automatically same from elimination. That team was Blaire and I.

"We're going to win that $100,000. You and me, sweetpea." I said, leaning down and whispering in her ear. I couldn't help but skim my teeth over her lobe before standing up straight, loving the fact that it caused her to inhale sharply as her nipples hardened from the confines of her bright blue and neon green bikini. Lord knows, if I have my way after the pit tonight, I'm going to see what those nipples look like after I've had my mouth wrapped around them.