Chapter 23

The best night of Cas's summer should have been followed up by the best morning of Cas's summer.

It was, however, unfortunately followed by an early morning text message going off in the (now very crowded) bedroom.

Cas groaned and stuffed her head under the pillow, and when the phone beeped again, she grabbed an extra pillow and slammed it on top for good measure.

Rita's voice was muffled as she read her message. "?‘Rita—this morning, you can choose one lover to go on a date. Choose now and get ready. You and your date will leave in ten minutes. #SkyHigh #BallooningFeelings.'?" Rita was quiet for a second, considering, before she said, "Charlie—fancy going on a date?"

Cas was grateful she'd thought to put a second pillow over her head, because Charlie almost immediately tripped over one of the new beds crammed into the bedroom and swore at the top of his lungs.

Cas didn't really think anything of that first message, but then Leo got a date message of his own when they were all sitting on the pool deck eating breakfast. He'd wrapped his arm around Lucy's shoulders and, as soon as she agreed, pressed a kiss to her temple and stuffed the rest of his pastry into his mouth before jogging up to the bathroom.

"It must be date day," Cas said, watching Leo run off. They did something like this every summer, usually during Bombshell Week, a series of dates held outside of the villa for people to get to know one another better. It was an opportunity for lovers to explore a new connection with a bombshell or, if they were planning to stick with their original match, to take their partner out of the villa and spend some quality time together without the pressure of a dozen other people overhearing their conversation.

Ada tipped her sunglasses down and glanced at Cas over the rim. "Who else do you think they're going to pick?"

"Hopefully us," Cas said, laughing. "I think we could use a few hours out of the villa together."

"Oh, that'd be nice." Ada slid her glasses back up and threw her arm behind her head, stretching her body out in the sun. "What do you think they'd have us do?"

"Read each other's tarot cards or something," Cas said, and Ada barked a laugh into the sky.

"Followed by a make-your-own-pasta workshop and a six-hour-long conversation in an indie coffee shop," Ada said.

They were only kidding, but it actually sounded like Cas's perfect day. Especially the make-your-own-pasta workshop.

"If that isn't the date we get, we'll have to do that when we get back to London, then," Cas said.

"Deal."

If today followed the trajectory of Hot Summer series past, there would be about five date slots total. In spite of her jokes, Cas didn't think she'd be lucky enough to get one, especially with this thing between her and Ada so new, so she was genuinely surprised when her phone beeped later that afternoon as she was lying by the pool with the girls.

"?‘Cas, it's time for your date! Choose who you'd like to ask out... you leave in ten minutes! #PeachyKeen #Pick'EmWell.'?" Cas looked over to Ada, now sitting up on the deck chair next to hers, the barest hint of a smile on her face. "Ada? How about a date?"

Ada leaned across the space between their deck chairs and pressed a quick kiss to Cas's lips. "See you in ten minutes."

Cas practically tore her wardrobe apart grabbing options before she was ushered into the bathroom to get ready.

She could hear Sienna and Gemma in the dressing room, talking Ada through her options, helping her pick out her makeup and do her hair, but every time Cas's attention drifted over there, Tia snapped her fingers in Cas's face.

"Focus! Stop trying to ruin the surprise!"

Cas tried on a long white pencil skirt with a crisp white crop top, a pair of denim shorts and a flowy floral blouse, but nothing seemed quite right. She didn't know what they were going to have to do—from the hashtags alone, it was probably something to do with fruit, which was a little on the nose, but it didn't tell her too much in the way of how she should dress.

If she were back home, she'd wear her usual jeans, a crop top, and her leather jacket, but the idea of wearing a leather jacket in this heat...

"What about this?" Delilah grabbed a set of linen separates and held them up. They were rusty orange, a deep, rich shade that would pop nicely against her tan and her brown hair. Because the fabric was light, it wouldn't be too warm, but she'd be shielded from the sun in case they were spending the afternoon somewhere without any access to shade.

"How do you think I should wear it?" Cas took the top and held it up against her chest. "Unbuttoned, obviously," she said, her fingers already working the buttons, "but what underneath?"

"Black bralette," Tia said. She rummaged around in the pile and, after a few seconds, held out three separate bralettes in Cas's direction. "I think the lace will be too much of a contrast, but you can wear this plain one. And then we'll make your hair really slick and straight..."

Tia was flitting around the bathroom as she talked, grabbing hair oil and a hairbrush and the hair straightener.

She'd originally planned to pair the outfit with her leather sandals but decided at the last minute to throw on a pair of crisp white trainers in case she needed to do a lot of walking. Once she was satisfied with her reflection, Tia ran to check that they were safe to leave before hurrying Cas down the stairs to the entry.

"Ada's almost done, so just wait here," Tia said. She pulled Cas into a quick hug before turning and running off toward the bedroom, followed shortly by Sienna who blew Cas a kiss as she ran down the stairs and disappeared.

It was surprisingly nerve-wracking as Cas waited in the entry. It was ridiculous—she'd already spent so much time with Ada this summer, it wasn't like they were strangers—but the nerves were swimming in her belly all the same.

She wanted this date to be perfect. Needed this date to be perfect.

Cas looked up as she heard the sound of Ada's footsteps in the hall and her heart stopped in her chest.

Ada looked gorgeous. Absolutely astoundingly gorgeous.

Her long red hair was done in soft, romantic waves that fell over her shoulders, and her makeup was light and dewy, a perfect sun-kissed look for the dress she was wearing. It was a simple tie-shoulder midi dress with a slit that extended to the outside of Ada's left thigh. The dress was powder blue with a white and olive floral pattern, and the fabric flowed gently as she walked down the stairs. There was a subtle glow to her skin as she moved, the barest sheen of champagne gold in the sunlight streaking through the front windows.

It was just a dress, just a date, but seeing Ada walk down the stairs, a bright smile on her face, was more than Cas could handle.

Cas took her hand as Ada came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs. "You," she said, leaning down and pressing the lightest kiss to Ada's lips to avoid ruining her lipstick, "are so beautiful."

"You are, too," Ada said, stepping back and examining Cas's outfit. "Hey," she said, her smile growing, "our shoes match."

She tapped her white trainer against Cas's, and Cas grinned.

"Great minds."

There was a Jeep waiting when they walked outside, and Ada waved to the driver as she opened the back door and climbed inside.

"This feels like our first day here," Ada said, buckling her seat belt. "I was so nervous then."

"Were you?"

Ada took Cas's hand as the driver started down the hill, her thumb tracing Cas's knuckles. "Terrified. Weren't you?"

"I didn't feel that nervous," Cas said. "I felt like I had a pretty good idea of what to expect."

"I bet you spent every possible second studying this show before you arrived," Ada said, leaning back in her seat. "Party planners love details, don't they?"

"I—" Oh god. This conversation was uncomfortably close to the truth.

"Cas." Ada was grinning, her expression absolutely wicked. She clearly thought she was catching Cas out, but Cas wasn't panicking because she was afraid to admit she was an obsessive Hot Summer consumer.

"I actually watch this show every summer," Cas said. "It's unironically one of my favorites."

"Oh my god." Ada was smirking with something like victory in her eyes. "Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"So, you're a superfan."

"I wouldn't say that ..."

"You're a superfan," Ada said. She was grinning, absolutely fucking grinning. "You are obsessed with Hot Summer. That's why you're really here."

"You caught me," Cas said. Her laugh was tight, but if she noticed, Ada didn't say anything.

There wasn't much to look at out the window for the first few minutes they were on the motorway, just red soil and low scrubland, but as the road curved higher up into the white hills, the bright blue sea appeared beyond the cliff's edge. There weren't many houses visible from the road, but Cas sometimes caught glimpses of towns by the seaside or on the hills in the distance.

After thirty minutes in the car, they turned off the motorway onto a smaller side road and, five minutes later, a tan gravel drive through a wooden gate with a large hand-painted sign hanging on the beams.

Fruit Orchard

"I knew it!" Ada pressed her hand into Cas's knee, leaning over her so she could stare out the window. "I knew we were going fruit picking!"

The driver stopped along the edge of the gravel car park and switched off the engine.

"Okay," the driver said, turning around, "wait here for about thirty seconds. We've got a few camerapeople at the edge of the grove"—he pointed out the window to the rows of trees that seemed to stretch out toward the horizon—"and you'll follow them into the orchard. You can also follow the yellow string they've tied at the edges of the trees. There's a picnic set up there with more instructions."

"Okay." Ada ran her free hand over her dress, smoothing it out. "Do they want us to do anything in particular, or..."

"Just walk, laugh, that kind of thing," the driver said. "They're going to use it for B-roll." He unlocked the door and smiled at them in the rearview. "Have a good date, you two."

Cas climbed out first and Ada took her hand as she stepped out into the car park. Their hands swung easily as they walked, and Cas was glad, as the dust kicked up, that she hadn't worn sandals today. The gravel gave way fairly quickly to grass, and with the camerapeople leading, Cas and Ada made their way through the orchard.

As much as Cas wanted to take in their surroundings, it was unsettling seeing people behind the cameras again. She had gotten so used to the mix of hidden and not-so-hidden cameras in the villa, that it was easy to forget at some points that they were being filmed. To believe that what they were experiencing was for them alone, not for a team of producers and editors, and then the hundreds of thousands of viewers.

Now, though, walking through the orchard with two guys wearing Steadicams, it was a lot more difficult to ignore the reality of their situation.

"It's so weird, seeing them. It almost feels like we're actually on TV," Ada whispered.

Frankly, the reminder of the cameras was sobering. As much as she'd been choosing to ignore it lately, all of the real reasons why she was here—her contract, Friday, a shiny new job—suddenly it felt overwhelming. It was becoming harder and harder to keep it from Ada.

As they continued walking, Ada took a step closer and, with a quick press up onto her toes, captured Cas's lips in a kiss. It might have been short, a peck, but Cas's free hand immediately came up to Ada's cheek and held her there.

And if Cas stumbled in a dip in the grass, it was worth it for the feeling of Ada's mouth against hers. For the smell of Ada's perfume that close.

They'd been walking for a few minutes when the camerapeople turned down a row in the orchard, and Cas spotted the picnic set up in between the trees. There was a perfect white blanket draped across the grass, a number of orange, pink, and yellow pillows dotted around for them to lean on. There was a pair of empty baskets sitting on top of what looked like an ice chest and, beside the baskets, an empty pitcher.

Perched on one of the pillows, in a spot where they couldn't possibly miss it, was a white envelope with their names scrawled on the front in calligraphy.

Cas scooped the note off the blanket and handed it to Ada. "I'll let you do the honors."

Ada tore open the envelope and slid out a peachy pink note card.

"?‘Cas and Ada,'?" Ada read, apparently doing her best imitation of Mila Sexton. "?‘Today you're going to enjoy a picnic in this beautiful orchard. There are a number of peach recipes for you to enjoy... but you'll have to pick your own fruit so you can finish assembling them. Take your baskets and get picking!'?"

"Love a bit of manual labor on a date," Cas said, starting to roll up her sleeves. She grabbed the baskets and handed one to Ada before dropping hers onto her arm.

"How many peaches do we need?" Ada asked. She shifted the pitcher aside, looking for recipes, and opened the ice chest when she came up empty. "Oh, okay."

She lifted out a large bowl with smaller containers inside and a label—Summer Peach Spinach Salad: 2 peaches needed—stuck on top, as well as a bag with small bottles and chopped strawberries, labeled, Peach and Strawberry Sangria: 2 peaches, raspberry lemonade, and wine needed.

"So only four peaches, then," Cas said, watching as Ada put everything carefully back into the ice chest. "I think we can manage that."

"Oh no, we're not just getting four," Ada said, chuckling. "If we're picking peaches, we're picking peaches."

It was one of those moments that Cas knew would be gilded in her memory. The sun shining through the trees, the feeling of the breeze on her skin, the way Ada laughed as Cas stretched and stretched, trying to get a peach that was just out of her reach. Even if Cas caught herself sometimes paying attention to the cameras, it was easy for Ada to bring her back. For Ada to take her hand, kiss her cheek, whisper in her ear, and every time, the entirety of Cas's focus was on this incredible woman in front of her.

No amount of cameras could have distracted her.

It was a line of thought that, a few weeks ago, would have scared the shit out of Cas. Would have made her turn and run, never to look back, but maybe here, trapped in the villa, unable to leave without losing everything, maybe this was the perfect place for Cas to work on letting herself be vulnerable. Especially because Ada made it so easy to forget all the reasons she shouldn't let herself get tied down in the first place.

"What do you want your life to be like after Hot Summer?" Ada asked a bit later.

They were sitting on the blanket, Cas assembling the sangria while Ada carefully chopped up peaches to add to the enormous bowl of salad ingredients.

"Do you mean, like, romantically or...?"

It was evasive, a question designed to buy her a few seconds, but Cas didn't miss the way Ada's right eye squinted just a little bit at the suggestion.

"Anything." Ada's voice was a little too breezy, and Cas quickly swept in to correct the misconception.

"Well, obviously, I'm hoping that we get to continue exploring this. I know that it's probably too early to put any labels on it, but..." She trailed off, unsure where to go from there. It was early, this thing between them, technically not even a few days old, but it felt like their relationship had been building for weeks. "I guess, professionally, I'm just going to be curious what's out there when we leave. I've been in the same job for four years and I only got into it in the first place because I needed something to distract me from everything with my ex."

"Really?"

Cas nodded. "I couldn't face those long lonely nights sobbing into my pillow. I was still violently depressed, but I was at least out and having fun and spending time with people."

Ada laughed. "That's one way to distract yourself, I guess."

"It worked at the time. But I don't know, lately..." She didn't want to say unfulfilled, even if it was true. Robert probably wasn't watching, but someone surely was, and would no doubt pass the message along if she started slagging off Friday on national television. So she decided for the most neutral option she could think of. "I feel like I'm ready for the next step in my career."

Ada grabbed the tongs and started turning the salad around in the bowl. "And what does that next step look like?"

"I don't know." And it was true. She didn't have a complete sketch of what her responsibilities would be like in this new role, but she knew what she was hoping for. "I want something a bit more steady. With regular hours and a desk, and I want to be home for dinner every night, even if the workday is busy." Cas handed Ada a glass of sangria. "That probably sounds phenomenally boring."

"I don't think so. It sounds like you're just craving stability." Ada took a sip of the sangria, her eyes going wide at the flavor. "Wait, this is actually really good!"

"I just followed the recipe," Cas said. She started picking up the bottles strewn across the blanket, and Ada hummed happily through another sip.

"Well, you did an excellent job following the recipe."

"Thanks. Anyway"—Cas set the bottles in a neat row and poured herself a glass of sangria—"what's your big-picture dream? Like, in five years, what do you think your ideal life would look like?"

"I'd be midthirties by that point," Ada said, dishing up heaping portions of salad into the white, flower-trimmed bowls the producers had set out for the occasion, "which is kind of scary to think about. But I'd love to see my stationery business thriving—I don't quite know how much more I could grow it without hiring a team, though, so maybe that's the dream. A small team, a little office space. Maybe a physical store?"

"Where would you want the store to be?"

"In my dream of dreams, it's back home in Brighton," Ada said. Even as she said it, her voice went all wistful, eyes sparkling with hope. "I'd love to get some little storefront in the Lanes, maybe live upstairs, and then every day after I close up, walk down and eat dinner on the beach. We used to do that a lot growing up, and the smell of the salt, the sound of the waves on the rocks... it was magic."

"That does sound like a dream."

From the very first time she'd stepped foot in London (at fourteen when she lied to her parents, skived off school, and caught the train because she just had to see all the "danger" they kept telling her about) she'd felt, in her heart, that she was going to live there forever. It had spoken to something in her, something that was dreadfully ignored back home in Surrey, and once she left school, she made her way to London and never looked back.

But hearing Ada talk about Brighton—the picture she painted and the love in her voice—it was making Cas wonder if it might be worth considering a few other options for her future.

"Right? I think I'll probably still be in London for another few years, but I'd really love to go back there one day."

"Anything else you see for yourself?"

"I'd like to be in a committed relationship, too. Married, I think, but I'm not dead set on it, I just want a commitment," Ada added, carefully studying Cas's reaction. "But you were engaged... Is that something you see for yourself?"

Cas hummed. "Honestly, that was such a weird time in my life. Obviously it didn't work out and I thought I'd never think about dating anyone seriously again and then, well..." She held Ada's gaze for a few moments before she looked down at her salad bowl in her lap.

"It's something I'm interested in again," Cas finally said, looking up. She found Ada still staring at her, and a small smile formed on Ada's lips as their eyes met. "A commitment."

"Here's to that, then," Ada said. She grabbed her glass and held it up. "To commitment."

"To commitment," Cas repeated.

And, gently, they clinked.