Chapter 27

The next morning, Cas woke up to the sun on her face.

She'd thought they'd closed the curtains the night before, but now Cas saw that there was a tiny sliver of window visible at the far edge. Perfectly positioned to cast a stream of light directly into her eyes.

She groaned softly, arching her spine, and turned her head away from the light. Only to bump her nose into Ada's forehead.

Ada was lying on her side in the exact same spot they'd fallen asleep last night. Her arm was draped over Cas's waist, fingers lying on her hip and face hidden in Cas's hair.

Ada drew in a breath and then her fingers flexed very lightly on Cas's stomach. She burrowed her face deeper into Cas's neck, and Cas exhaled a laugh as she reached up and brushed Ada's hair off her shoulders.

"Good morning."

"Morning."

"Why are you so happy?"

Cas shrugged, though she could probably think of a few reasons. "Femi's not jumping on me for once."

Ada snorted. "He's saving all his jumps up for when they kick us out of here."

"Great. I'm dead, then. Especially now that he's got Freddie in on it with him."

All this past week, they'd taken turns dive-bombing Cas's bed, apparently intent on causing so much seismic disruption on her mattress that she bounce off the thing entirely.

Ada patted Cas's stomach. "It was nice knowing you."

Cas frowned. Or tried to. "I'd say the same if you weren't throwing me to the wolves."

Ada laughed and hooked her leg over Cas's, pulling her closer. "Oh, please. Dramageddon."

"Not dramageddon," Cas said. She rolled onto her side, slid her leg farther through Ada's, pressing against her center. "I could die. This is serious."

She was really trying for serious here, but her smile kept betraying her.

"You seem really worried." Ada brushed a stray piece of hair off Cas's cheek. "How can I help get your mind off it?"

"I don't know." Cas slid her arms around Ada's waist, pulling her close. "I'm just so devastated."

Ada laughed and rolled her eyes before pressing forward and quickly giving Cas a chaste kiss. "You're so dramatic, I swear."

Ada rolled onto her back, and Cas buried her face in her neck.

"I'm not."

"You are." Ada brushed her fingers through Cas's hair. It was so soothing, this simple gesture, and Cas felt her eyes fall closed again.

"Maybe a little," she agreed. She'd never live it down at home—she'd been evading this exact charge for years—but she supposed there was no denying it really.

Neither of them said anything for a few long minutes. Cas, eyes closed, nose in Ada's neck, was perfectly content to stay here for as long as the production team would let them, but she knew they were probably on borrowed time. She didn't know what hour it was, didn't know if anyone else was already awake outside, but she could feel herself trying to catalog this moment, track as many of the details as she could and store them in her mind.

It felt fleeting. Like the moment she opened her eyes, it might cease to exist altogether.

"I was thinking about the ceremony last night," Ada said quietly. She was still staring at the ceiling, but Cas thought she saw her peek at her out of the corner of her eye.

"What about it?"

Ada started tracing her fingers absently along the duvet. "What would we do if we got separated? Like, if they wanted to make one of us leave?"

"I'd pick you up at Heathrow," Cas said. If it was going to be one of them, they both knew it would be her going first. It should have made her anxious—the Friday contract still there, in the back of her mind, but she felt... at peace with it.

Cas didn't know how much longer they had in the retreat, how much longer they'd be free of the cameras, but if there was a moment to talk to Ada about her contract, it was this one. Here, away from prying eyes, she might be able to get away with it, but even as she thought it, she felt the clauses of the NDA digging into her.

Yes, she was forbidden from saying anything, but maybe they wouldn't find out. Maybe her microphone was off, maybe Ada was really good at keeping secrets, maybe...

No matter how much she tried to think through it, though, there was no way Cas could figure out how to tell Ada without getting herself sued.

Maybe they could talk about it when they left. When they were shut in Cas's room at home, no cameras or recording devices in sight.

"The height of romance," Ada said, laughing. "You must really like me."

"I do," Cas admitted. Her voice nearly cracked, nearly revealed just how much she meant those words, but she wrestled back a bit of control at the last second.

Though maybe she hadn't if the way Ada's features immediately softened was to be believed.

Ada spread her fingers over Cas's ribs, raising goose bumps across Cas's exposed skin. Cas shivered, and the smile on Ada's lips widened, became that saucy, powerful little smirk Cas was already in love with.

In like with. In like with.

"I really like you, too," Ada said. She then went quiet for a moment, her expression contemplative.

"You know," she said, gaze flicking down to watch the progress of her fingers as they traced up and down Cas's forearm, "if they send you out of here, I'd leave with you."

"Would you?"

It was reckless and vulnerable, asking that question.

"Yeah," Ada whispered softly. Cas leaned forward and pressed her forehead against Ada's, desperate for one last moment of contact. One last press of Ada's skin against hers. "I'm not going to stay here if you're not here."

Cas laughed. "You might. What if you get a better offer?"

Ada pinched Cas's hip. "I already have the best one."

Cas leaned down and pressed another kiss to Ada's lips, a firm press that led to another, softer, lingering pass.

"They could always try to make you stay. Imagine Chloe emerging from the beach hut, full of righteous fury. She'd try to drag you back by the hair."

"Maybe I'd like that."

Cas laughed again. "If I'd known you were into hair pulling, we could've had a lot more fun last night."

"I had plenty of fun," Ada said. Her cheeks were pink, but her words were sure.

"I did, too," Cas said.

"It'll be nice to be out of here, though. The villa," Ada clarified, "not the retreat."

"Yeah." As she said it, Cas could almost see it. The pair of them walking out of the villa together, hand in hand. Sitting next to each other on the flight home. Kicking her bedroom door closed, half their clothes already on the floor. Taking Ada to her favorite coffee shop down the street, walking along the canal with her, kissing her under the streetlamps on their way home.

In three weeks' time, it would all happen. They just needed to last three more weeks.

Ada turned to look at her, tilting her head back a little so she could make eye contact. "Isn't it wild to think, like, we didn't know each other at all five weeks ago. And now the idea of being apart is so sad."

"I guess that's what happens when you're trapped together," Cas said.

"It's more than just that, though—"

One of their phones beeped from the bedside table and Cas swore before snuggling back into Ada's neck.

Ada laughed. "I don't think that's going to work."

As though determined to prove her point, the phone beeped again.

"All right." Ada slid her arms from around Cas and, resisting Cas's attempts to pull her back into bed, rolled over to grab her phone.

"?‘Cas and Ada, we hope you enjoyed your evening in the retreat. Please gather your things and return to the villa.'?" Ada scanned the next message and then looked back at Cas, wide grin on her face. "The second text says, ‘The lovers have a little surprise for when you return.'?"

"Oh god."

"What do you think it is?"

"Knowing them? It could be anything."

They thought they were ready—had spent the better part of ten minutes batting ideas back and forth as they got dressed and gathered their things—but nothing prepared them for what they were greeted with when they stepped outside.

There was a trail of fake rose petals all along the pavement that led from the retreat to the kitchen, and as they rounded the corner, Cas saw that they'd set up quite the display. There was a huge array of breakfast options on the island and a handmade sign proclaiming Cas and Ada 4 Life hanging from the ceiling. It was absurd, and Cas had no idea where they got the supplies from, but it was the best thing she had ever seen.

Freddie hooted as soon as he saw them. "There are our lovebirds!"

Cas rolled her eyes and held her middle finger up at him, unable to hold back her grin.