Chapter 16

Despite Ada's ease at the end of her turn, she grew stiff as the rest of the challenge passed by.

The sun was just starting to dip below the horizon as they all walked back up to the house, most everyone laughing and dissecting the challenge. Ada had won the sexiest dancer on the girls' side, and she was twirling the plastic medal they'd given her between her fingers as they walked, her eyes trained on the ground.

Brad never returned after his tantrum, and while it was hilarious to witness, even Cas couldn't deny that there was probably quite the storm waiting for them when they got back to the villa.

Ada slowed and Cas, unwilling to let her fall behind, matched her pace. After a few seconds, she and Ada were a few meters behind everyone else, the sounds of their conversations already getting carried away on the wind.

"I hope it was okay that I recruited you for the dance," Ada said suddenly. Cas must have visibly blanched, because Ada grimaced. "Or, okay, if it wasn't, I hope we can make up?"

"No, no, it was okay." It was more than okay. Cas would be thinking about it for at least the next fifteen years. "You're a great dancer. Put the rest of us to shame."

Ada's cheeks flushed. "Thanks. I was on the dance team at school."

"I hope you weren't dancing like that at school."

Ada laughed softly, the sound subdued. "No. Well, not at official dance team events anyway."

They were quiet for a beat. Cas had half a mind to leave the Brad situation alone, to let Ada bring it up if she wanted to, but then she was trying to avoid... well, avoiding things.

"Are you going to go talk to him?"

Cas couldn't decide if it was better for Ada to completely ignore him or for her to squash this then and there. On the one hand, squashing it meant that they might be able to get along somewhat civilly for... however long they had to wait until the next partnering ceremony, but he had also seemed really, really pissed when he'd stalked off.

Ada sighed. "I guess I have to, don't I?"

"Probably," Cas said. "It'll take years off your life, I'm sure, but it seems best to get it over with."

Ada let out a small laugh, her eyes dipping down toward her shoes. "I don't feel like I have many years left at this point, so I hope not."

Cas knocked her elbow lightly against Ada's. "Come on, you can do it. Go tear him a new arsehole."

Cas had spent half her life running away from confrontation and now here she was, actively encouraging Ada to go challenge Brad to a fight in the back garden.

Ada groaned—a sad, miserable sound, very reminiscent of a kicked puppy. "Are we sure it has to be me? I bet we could get Femi to tell him. Or Leo. Either of them seem like they'd be up to the job."

"I'm sure they would be," Cas agreed. Femi looked like he wanted to rip Brad's throat out when he stormed off. "But he probably needs to hear it from you."

"I doubt he's going to listen."

"I mean, yeah, I'm sure he's far too much of a misogynist to hear what you're actually saying. But that doesn't mean you don't deserve to demand that he hear you."

"No, yeah."

Ada didn't move, so Cas stepped forward and flipped the latch, pushing it open just enough that they could slip inside the back gate.

Brad was sitting at the fire pit, head bent, and even though a chill ran down her spine at the sight of him, she tried to smile encouragingly to Ada.

"Go now. And then it's over." Ada hummed evasively, and Cas raised her eyebrows. "You can't avoid it forever."

"Rich, coming from you," Ada muttered, and Cas just laughed.

"Yeah. So if I'm telling you you need to go talk to someone, you really have to go talk to them."

Ada huffed. "Fine."

Cas grabbed a spot on the pool deck and kept a careful eye on their conversation, but she had to remind herself, again and again as Ada's gestures grew wilder and angrier, that this was Ada's situation to handle.

A few of the boys were in the gym area nearby, Femi, Jayden, and Leo all laughing among themselves as they swapped turns on the bench press. They appeared not to notice the conversation happening at the fire pit, but every now and again, Cas saw Femi look up, his eyes studying Brad and Ada, checking to make sure everything was all right.

Cas couldn't hear what either of them were saying, but she could just make out Brad's face from her spot by the pool. His expression, at first, was passive, dismissive, but the more Ada talked, the redder he got until he was standing, shouting. Damn near in her face.

"If you hadn't acted like such a fucking whore, Ada, then I wouldn't be angry!"

Femi, Jayden, and Leo were all instantly on their feet, their weights long since forgotten, and Cas was already halfway across the grass when the Voice of God crackled to life.

"Brad—report to the beach hut immediately."

"Fuck!" Brad walked past Ada, nearly knocking into her with his shoulder and, for good measure, kicked a beanbag into the pool on his way back inside.

"Hey!" Femi shouted. "Brad!"

Cas quickly shook her head at him. "Femi, let him go."

He needed to stay right where he was. The producers could deal with Brad; he didn't need to get involved. Didn't need to get himself kicked out, too.

Femi pressed his lips together, but he nodded. "Let me know if you need anything."

The only thing Cas needed right now was to talk to Ada.

Ada didn't move as Cas approached, just kept her gaze trained on the horizon. She looked like she was a thousand miles away, lost inside her own head, and a spike of anger shot through Cas's chest.

"Hey," Cas said, her voice gentle. "Are you okay?"

Ada nodded but didn't make eye contact.

Cas frowned and shifted closer, her hand resting lightly on Ada's upper arm. "You don't seem okay."

"No, I'm—" Ada sighed, one hand moving to comb through her hair and sending a few wayward locks falling across her face. She was quiet for a long moment before she finally looked at Cas.

"He was being such an arsehole," Ada said. "You should have heard some of the shit he was saying to me."

What he'd said loudly enough for the entire villa to hear was bad enough; she couldn't imagine him saying anything worse.

She was going to kill Brad. Fucking kill him.

But it was Ada in front of her now. Ada who needed her.

Cas opened her arms, and without even a moment's hesitation, Ada stepped into them.

Her arms went around Ada's shoulders as Ada's slid around her waist, her hands balled into fists at the base of Cas's spine. She buried her face in Cas's neck, her red hair spilling down Cas's back, and she took a deep, trembling inhale.

Cas squeezed her tighter, tried to press every good feeling she could into the hug. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm so, so sorry."

It wasn't enough, wasn't anywhere near enough. But then, what could Cas say that would erase the last few minutes from Ada's memory?

"I wish I could fix this," she said. She smoothed Ada's hair down her back, her fingers threading loosely through the strands. It was a nicer version of what she wanted to say—because she wanted to say she would run Brad over with a car the minute they got out of here—but the sentiment remained the same. She wanted to do something that would make this better. Would make Ada feel better.

"You don't have to fix it," Ada said. She hadn't picked her head up, so Cas could feel Ada's breath against her neck as she spoke. "You're here. That's enough."

It didn't feel like enough. It wouldn't feel like enough until Ada was smiling again, until she was light and easy and laughing.

"I can't even believe it," Ada said. She pulled back slightly so she could look Cas in the eyes, her arms still tight around Cas's waist. "After everything—and I didn't even want to be with him! I was only still partnered with him because they told me I should give him a chance—"

The words were barely out of Ada's mouth when the Voice of God spoke again. And, unfortunately, they weren't announcing Brad's immediate removal from the villa.

"Ada—please report to the beach hut."

All told, Ada was probably only gone for a few minutes, but it was long enough that Cas managed to turn over her last few words about fifteen thousand times.

Ada had admitted that she wasn't with Brad by choice. It wasn't because she had any sort of lingering attraction or wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. Instead, production had explicitly told her to stick with him.

They must have seen what kind of guy Brad was. Must have seen the kind of reactions that he was drawing out of Ada, even when she wasn't into him. The idea that they would have willingly kept him around, that they would have put her through that?

Cas thought she knew this game when she'd agreed to this whole scheme, but week after week, Cas was learning that she didn't know a damn thing about what she'd signed up for. What the reality was like behind the screen.

In spite of her better judgment, Cas had hoped that Ada would seem relieved, or at the very least less anxious, when she walked out of the beach hut, but she was pale as a ghost when she came back outside.

Cas scrambled down off the kitchen counter as soon as she saw her. "What did they say?"

Ada exhaled shakily. "He's been taken out front to cool down. He has to talk to someone, a production therapist or something, but he'll be back in an hour or so."

"They're not kicking him out?!"

Ada shook her head. "They said he didn't actually hurt anyone, so they didn't think it fair to remove him. Apparently he's ‘extremely remorseful.'?"

"That's bullshit." Cas knew this conversation was safe from being aired—they never showed it when people talked about the show like this—and they'd probably call her into the beach hut anyway, but Cas didn't care. She needed the producers to hear it. She needed to say it. "He was in your face! Who knows what he could've done if they hadn't called him away."

Or if he hadn't listened. Even thinking it made Cas feel sick.

Ada shrugged, defeated, and Cas could feel herself twisting angrily against the restraints of this feeling.

"This is fucked up."

"Yeah." Ada half laughed. "I told them the same thing about a thousand times in there, but they weren't budging."

"So he's just going to come back in after having some little chat and then what? We're supposed to go about the rest of the night as usual?"

"They're canceling the night-filming session tonight. After dinner, we're supposed to go straight to bed."

"And where are you supposed to sleep? Where is he sleeping?" Ada just stared at her, and, god, Cas hated that she knew the answer. "You can't be serious."

"The idea of him sleeping next to me..." Ada shivered, a look of disgust on her face. "It actually makes me feel sick."

"Sleep outside," Cas said. The words were out of her mouth before she even considered them, but she knew it was the best suggestion. "I'll stay out here with you if you want."

Ada's brow furrowed. "Doesn't production want us sleeping in the living room if we're not sleeping in our own beds?"

Cas had to admit that that sounded vaguely like a rule they were supposed to follow, but she couldn't be bothered to actually ask anyone about it or even consider following it right now.

If they weren't going to kick Brad out for the way he'd treated Ada, then they could fucking choke.

Cas shrugged. "Who cares? We're still sleeping in a public space; it's not like we're hiding from the cameras or something."

Ada nodded absently, her gaze trailing over to the large circular bed.

"Okay," she finally said, her voice getting stronger, surer, as she continued. "Yeah, let's do it."

"Great. As soon as dinner's over, I'll steal the duvet off your bed." Cas extended her hand, holding it there for a long beat before Ada took it and Cas lifted her to her feet.

"Don't steal the duvet." Ada's lips were twitching a little. "Brad'll need it, he's right next to the air-con unit."

"That's a him problem," Cas said. She turned round as they walked so she was facing Ada, her own smile growing as Ada's expression lightened. She didn't look completely like herself yet, but she was a lot closer to the version of her that Cas knew.

"Well, I guess he'll have the top sheet," Ada said. She was biting back a smile now and Cas's whole face exploded with her own.