Chapter 20

For the first time in a month, Cas woke up by herself in bed the next morning.

Things were subdued after Jayden's announcement last night. He had been debating leaving for a while, he said, and the re-partnering cemented it: As much as he loved them all, the format of the show just never really let him truly open up. Though Cas felt bad that he'd thought he needed to leave, she knew it was for the best and was glad for him, especially since it would be tough watching Sienna and Femi finally explore things.

She'd been enjoying all the extra bed space when Femi jumped back into bed with her.

"Good morrrrning, Cassie."

"Ugh." Cas buried her head under the pillow and shoved the duvet in Femi's general direction. "I thought I was finished with this."

"Never." Femi lifted the pillow and pressed a quick kiss to the back of her head. At least he had enough sense to dive back into his bed with Sienna before Cas lobbed the spare pillow at his head.

Sienna laughed as he bounced back onto their mattress. "One of these days, she's going to kill you and we're all going to say we told you to stop messing with her."

"She secretly likes it," Femi said. He was grinning, arms behind his head when Cas poked her head out from under the pillow. She held her middle finger up at him.

"It was hard to sleep last night," she mumbled, huffing as she gave up and pushed the duvet down completely. "Some people were over there grunting and moaning all night."

Femi looked down, shy, and Sienna laughed. "Please, we are not the worst. We're just lucky Reece and Tia were in the retreat."

"I never hear them."

"That's because you're all the way down there," Sienna said. "You should hear the noises coming from their bed."

"They are the worst," Leo agreed. He was sitting up, sunglasses on, duvet tucked up to his chin. "When I was over there with Delilah, I swear my sleep was cut to, like, thirty minutes a night. And I was having the weirdest dreams."

Ada snorted, pushing sunglasses onto her face as she propped her pillow up against the headboard.

"I bet it's a relief being down here, then. Cas is the best person to share a bed with. She's so peaceful."

"Until she tries to kill you in the morning," Femi said.

Cas glared at him, but Ada just shrugged. "She didn't try to kill me when we shared the daybed."

Femi cut his gaze to Cas's, his grin far too smug for her liking. Cas rolled her eyes and tugged the duvet back over her head.

The boys rolled out of bed and, after a few minutes, started bringing morning coffees back into the bedroom and drawing the girls out from under their duvets. Femi set a coffee by Sienna with a kiss and, blissfully, one beside Cas.

Cas wrapped both hands around her mug, smiling gratefully at Femi. "I'm still on coffee rotation?"

"You're always on coffee rotation," Femi said. Then he ripped the duvet off her legs. "Now get up and go get dressed."

Most everyone else was upstairs by the time Cas shuffled into the dressing room, and Cas sat down heavily into her chair and took a long, slow drink of her coffee.

She needed at least five more sips before she looked at herself in the mirror. Before she tried to do anything other than sit here.

"Tia got a text saying that we should get ready ready today," Ada said, glancing over at Cas.

Cas sighed. "Great. What's happening today, then?"

"Not a clue," Sienna said. She was fanning her face to help her sun cream dry and the errant breeze felt nice against Cas's skin.

Cas slid over to the vanity. If they needed to get ready, she needed to get a move on. She grabbed her SPF and started dotting it on her cheeks. "I'm glad you and Femi finally got together, by the way, Sienna."

"Yeah, oh my god." Ada started rummaging through the wardrobe, trying to find something to wear. "Did you two finally acknowledge that you're soulmates?"

Sienna laughed. "I don't know about soulmates."

"Femi defo thinks you're soulmates," Cas said, raising her coffee to her lips.

"Femi's a softie," Sienna said. She was still smiling, but there was a warmth to it that made it clear it was more than just a joke.

"You've made him even softer," Ada said.

Sienna snorted. "Girl, I fucking hope not."

Cas laughed so hard she choked on her coffee.

In spite of the banter as they got ready, there was a definite tension in the air as the morning stretched on. Cas tried to stay in the shade to keep her makeup from sweating off, and she, Ada, Sienna, and the boys floated from spot to spot around the back garden, speculating about what they were going to be in for... whenever they were in for it.

"Maybe we're all getting a day off," Femi said.

"Yeah." Ada unscrewed her water bottle and took a long swig. "Maybe they're taking us to the beach."

Cas peeked at Ada from over her sunglasses. "I very much doubt it."

"Let a girl dream."

It was, of course, just when Cas was starting to get comfortable that everything went completely to hell.

"Hello, lovers!"

Cas turned her head so quickly she actually cracked her neck.

Mila Sexton was standing at the top of the stairs, a smile on her face and an electric pink dress hugging her curves. This dress was more casual than the last outfit they'd seen her in, but that only made her stand out more. Only someone that gorgeous could glow in such a simple shape.

"Holy hell." Sienna's mouth was hanging open. She turned to look at Cas and Ada before turning to look back at the host. "Holy hell."

"Why's she here?" Ada said the words quietly, lips barely moving, like she thought Mila might be offended if she heard.

"Don't know," Cas said. She, too, was nearly whispering. "But it can't be good."

As soon as Cas said it, Mila started to move, and Cas could almost see the production shots coming together in her head.

Mila walking down the stairs in slow motion. Jump cuts to the faces of everyone in the villa, their jaws slack, eyes worried, some of them (Tia and, hilariously, Delilah) clutching desperately to their partners like they were already assuming the worst.

The producers of this show didn't even need to try when they were giving them content like this.

Cas could almost hear the music track they'd put over the footage when they aired it, backed by the throbbing of her heart in her throat.

There were very few reasons that Mila would be in the villa, and one of them, an elimination, had just happened the night before. She might be here to announce a twist, but they'd already thrown the rankings in this summer and Cas couldn't imagine a twist bigger than that. Which meant—

Mila reached the bottom of the stairs and threw her hands up over her head. "It's Bombshell Week!"

All the color drained out of Ada's face. "Oh god."

Her worry, though, was drowned out by the excitement across the villa.

"Hell yes!" Leo punched the air before he grabbed Femi by the shoulder. "It's time!" Leo's smile was so big, it consumed his entire face. "No offense, Ades."

Ada shook her head. Her expression was still nervous, but her words were entirely genuine. "I hope you find someone."

"Mostly she just wants her bed back," Cas said, grinning at Leo. "One night of your giant arse hogging the duvet was enough."

Leo barked a laugh and wrapped his arm around Ada's shoulders. "Are you complaining about me behind my back?"

Ada shrugged, but she turned to smirk up at Leo all the same. "I would never."

Leo snorted and nudged her, the action sending him and Ada careening to the side. She shrieked and smacked Leo in the chest, but Leo just laughed as he gripped her shoulder and pulled her back upright.

"All right, Leo," Mila said, holding her hand out toward their spot across the garden. "No need to dump Ada onto the ground, you can just re-partner next week."

Leo's laugh kept rolling. "Sorry, Mila, but she's proper clingy, this one."

Ada nudged him in the ribs, and Leo's breath huffed out of him.

"Okay, before these two kill each other," Mila said, laughing, "let's meet our bombshells! Everyone, come join me on the grass!"

Just like the first day in the villa, they were all directed to small dots in the grass, and rather than standing with their couples, the boys and girls were separated, a strict meter distance between the two lines, as if any closer they might just run back to their partners rather than pay attention to who was coming into the villa.

"Now," Mila said, rubbing her hands together like a movie villain, "we worked really hard this year to make sure we chose people who were a hundred percent perfect for everyone in the villa. Singletons are finally going to meet their match, relationships are going to be tested, and even the most solid couples are going to be left wondering... is this the right time for my head to turn?"

Cas shifted her weight anxiously. She wasn't ready for six new people to come into the villa. Hot Summer was notorious for its Bombshell Week, of disruption of epic proportions where the number of people suddenly doubled with new lovers. It was famed for how much chaos and confusion it brought, historically splitting up even some of the most secure couples. She figured it must have been coming soon—it was always around the midway point each season—but Cas was really looking forward to at least a few days of quiet first.

As Mila started to introduce the new bombshells, though, Cas began to feel some relief. They were hot, sure, but they were clearly intended for other people.

There was a white-blond blockhead named Ollie who looked so suspiciously like Brad that Cas would have sworn they were secretly twins. The gorgeous, tan brunette, Lucy, who made eye contact with Leo the moment she stepped onto the pool deck; he was already borderline drooling after her. A pale, freckled Ronan, who had a bright red beard like some sort of pirate, didn't seem to match anyone's taste that Cas could remember, but maybe the producers were trying to mix things up.

Cas almost felt bad for some of the people they'd brought in—the idea that Reece was going to turn his head, even for someone as pretty as Gemma, that Femi and Sienna were going to pay attention to anyone but each other, was absurd. But then, that was the drama of this part of the show.

Seeing what it would take to get people to break. To do the thing they said they would never do.

"Our next bombshell comes from way up north, but, if he's to be believed, he knows what he's doing down south, too." Mila delivered that line with far more sincerity than it deserved. She swept her hand toward the stairs, all smiles. "Lovers, meet Freddie!"

Cas was prepared to brush him off like everyone else who had walked in so far, but the man that rounded the corner then... was a problem.

He was obviously gorgeous and he had a ridiculous amount of muscles, but the tragic part of this was that, at this point, in this house, that barely even registered anymore. Cas was so desensitized to attractive people that even these men who had pecs you could bounce a 5p coin off didn't stand out.

Freddie was a problem for other reasons.

Freddie was clearly sent for her.

It was his smile that tipped her off more than anything else. There was a wariness to it, like he'd just woken up in the Jeep they'd arrived in, had no idea where he was, and was just hoping he could get away without getting caught out. Where most everyone else—and the other men in particular—had come in, broad smiles, assets out, Cas had always been a sucker for a bit of vulnerability in a man. It was a quality she rarely mentioned as a turn-on, but at the last minute admitted to loving on the intake form at the beginning of the summer.

Ironic, that.

His dark hair was longer on top, not quite as floppy as Leo's but long enough that it ruffled gently in the breeze as he walked down the stairs. Freddie reached up as he stepped down onto the pool deck, his fingers sliding easily through the strands as his eyes skimmed down to the ground, and, fuck, it was endearing, stupidly endearing, the fact that he seemed almost shy, half naked as he was, about standing here in front of a villa full of people who were actively assessing him.

When his eyes moved up, a slow, easy, unhurried slide that made its way along everyone lined up opposite him, Cas saw that they were a bright, perfect forest green.

She bit the inside of her lip.

"Freddie," Mila said, grinning at him as he came to a stop beside her. "Welcome to Bombshell Week. How're you feeling?"

"Okay. Bit nervous, but I'm sure we'll settle in." Freddie's voice was soft, his accent thick and northern and gorgeous.

Cas was sweating.

"I'm sure you will," Mila said. She smiled before flicking her gaze to the villa cast. She didn't even bother scanning for someone, just let her eyes land squarely on Cas.

"Cas, what do you think of Freddie?"

She knew it.

"He seems great." She was looking at Mila, but she could feel Freddie's eyes on her as she spoke. "I'm sure we'll get to know each other." Gradually, her eyes were drawn back to Freddie's.

Even in Cas's periphery, she could see that Mila's grin was wicked and satisfied.

"I'm sure you will."

Mila introduced the last bombshell—a gorgeous, dark-skinned girl named Rita—before clapping her hands together and beaming at them.

"Now, prior to arriving, each of the bombshells chose one of the lovers they'd like to have a date with. If your name is not called for a bombshell date, you must go onto the balcony off the change room. You can observe the dates, but you cannot interact with the lovers or the bombshells!"

Great. Nothing like a little bit of torture for all involved.

"Freddie, you're up first—who would you like to have a date with this afternoon?"

Freddie ran his hand through his hair again as he stepped forward. The gesture was so annoyingly endearing, and though she wanted to write it off as a performance, a way to make himself seem soft to the audience, there was a vibe about him that made it seem entirely genuine.

Freddie looked up, his green eyes landing immediately on Cas. And she knew it, knew it before he even said it, but the thrill still ran through her all the same when—

"Cas."