Chapter 29

Their seventh Monday in the villa started like every other week.

Femi and Freddie brought around coffee and smoothies as the girls got out of bed. The five of them lay in a beanbag circle on the grass—Femi, Sienna, Ada, Cas, and Freddie—their feet in the center as they played yet another game Freddie had invented that was allegedly football-adjacent but, really, just ended with them all having bruised shins and ankles. Ada slathered on coat after coat of sun cream and still, somehow, ended up a little pink across the bridge of her nose.

It had been a while since someone had gotten an afternoon text, so Cas wasn't necessarily surprised when Tia's phone beeped from across the garden. She was sure the public was getting desperately bored, watching them messing about all day, and the producers needed to do something to keep the viewers engaged. She wasn't thrilled at the idea of having to get up, though, or do anything other than lie here until it was time to get ready for the party that evening.

"?‘Lovers!'?" Tia's voice was so full of glee that it was almost impossible to understand her. "?‘Today, you're going to play the headline game!'?"

"Oh my god!" Lucy's shout was probably heard across the whole of Cyprus. "I've been waiting for this!"

She was jumping up and down. Literally jumping. Hands clutched to her chest and everything, like someone just told her she'd won the lottery.

Cas didn't have the slightest idea why Lucy was excited. Every time the show ran this challenge, they always picked the worst possible headlines. You might get a hint at public opinion based on whatever gossip magazine they pulled from, but most often, the headlines focused on tiny tidbits about the relationships from "third-party" sources. Random second cousins or grade school neighbors had intimate insight, and then suddenly every relationship in the villa was tested. Secrets were revealed and bonds between partners—and, in some cases, even friends—were shattered all in a matter of minutes. A few years ago, an entire cheating scandal had been revealed in the middle of this exact challenge and it ended in one girl deciding to leave the villa entirely. People still quoted her exit speech online.

Cas would bet almost anything that they were going to have a surprise partnership ceremony tonight, too. Really cap off the evening in style.

"?‘Remember,'?" Tia said, her tone extra provocative, "?‘whenever we read the headlines... things are not always as they seem. #TellTheTruth #WhosOnTop?'?"

After a quick get-ready session in the bathroom, everyone ran down to the competition ring, the stones kicking up and scratching at the back of Cas's calves as they jogged over. There wasn't much set up there today—just a few podiums and a board with something on it that, from a distance, Cas couldn't quite make out. It was better than seeing a rotating array of obstacle courses, but also a little more nerve-wracking when Cas considered the fact that there were cards up there with some (probably) very harsh and very public opinions.

"?‘Lovers—the boys will be competing against the girls in today's challenge, Fishing for the Goss. You will choose an envelope out of a fishbowl.'?" Leo held up the fishbowl and gave it a shake, and the sound of the envelopes scratching against the glass was strangely menacing. "?‘Read out the headline inside the envelope and then kiss the person that you think the headline is about. If you're right, your team gets a point. The team with the most points at the end of the competition wins a seventies disco!'?"

Everyone cheered, some of them genuinely, and Leo flashed a bright grin.

"Everyone ready to play?"

They all cheered louder, this time more excitedly, and after a short pause, Lucy's phone beeped, signaling that she should go first. She bounded forward and shoved her entire arm into the fishbowl.

"?‘Hot Summer's blank had real feelings for one of the bombshells—they should have partnered up!'?"

"Oh huh." Lucy twirled the card between her fingers as she walked over to the boys. She studied each of them as she moved down the line, swooping in on Femi and Leo like she was going to kiss them before turning on her heel and grabbing Freddie's face.

"Whoa!" Reece swerved, barely avoiding getting knocked into as Freddie stumbled backward. It didn't make sense—Freddie was one of the bombshells—but maybe Lucy had just been looking for an excuse to get a kiss in?

Lucy grinned and wiped her mouth as she stepped back, barely bothering to spare a glance for Leo as she flipped open her envelope.

Reece

Cas's jaw actually dropped.

Tia whipped her head round, expression incredulous. "Does that say ‘Reece'?"

Sienna's jaw dropped. "What the hell?"

Tia ran her tongue along her teeth, her eyes lasers as they swung round and found Reece. He looked like he was melting into the decking, desperate as he mouthed, We'll talk later, but Tia just waved him off.

Freddie's phone beeped next, and he plunged his hand into the bowl, coming up with a few envelopes stuck between his fingers. He held them up, sealed, and turned back to the boys.

"Which one do you think? One, two, or three?"

He indicated each with a nod of the head, and the boys burst out in a flurry of shouts. It didn't sound to Cas like they'd all agreed on any envelope in particular, but Freddie made an executive decision. "Three it is, then," he said, before chucking the other two back into the bowl.

"?‘Hot Summer fans convinced that Freddie and blank should get together!'?" He hummed theatrically before making his way over to the girls. "I have a sneaking suspicion about who this one could be..." he said, throwing an overdramatic wink Cas's way.

As he stopped in front of Cas, he flicked his gaze toward Ada. "You all right if I kiss your girl? You know she's all yours."

Ada laughed, spots of pink blooming on her cheeks. "It's a game, go ahead."

Freddie leaned down and placed a swift, chaste kiss on Cas's lips, swerving to place another one on her forehead before straightening up. "Okay," he said, waving the envelope in the air, "let's see who we've got..."

The boys started stomping their feet making the entire platform shake with the force of their makeshift drum roll.

Freddie opened the envelope and, sure enough:

Cas

"Yes!" Freddie jumped and punched the air before sprinting back to the boys. They swarmed around him as they reached him, all jumping and chanting like they'd just been told they'd won half a million pounds each.

"All right," Sienna shouted, rolling her eyes. "It's my turn, you idiots."

Cas hadn't even heard Sienna's phone beep in all the shouting. She made her way over to the bowl while the boys straightened themselves out and grabbed one of the envelopes off the top.

"?‘Fans think blank will bag the hundred-thousand-pound prize now that he's coupled up with his dream girl.'?"

Sienna didn't even hesitate. She walked straight to Femi, his smile growing with each step she took toward him so he was all teeth by the time she reached him.

Their kiss was slow by comparison to the others, savored, and Femi seemed unwilling to let Sienna go as she pulled back a few seconds later to open the envelope. He kept his arms around her waist, his fingers toying with the tie on her bikini top as she unfolded the paper.

Femi

Cas and Ada immediately applauded, and Freddie, to Femi's right, wrapped his arm around Femi's shoulders and gave him a little shake.

"You're taking us all out when you win, Fem," Freddie said.

"I don't care if we win," Femi said. He was smiling, laughing with them, but he only had eyes for Sienna. "I've got what I need."

Leo was up next, and now that Sienna had tied the score, he seemed to take his role extra seriously. He swirled his hand around in the fishbowl, pretending to choose a few envelopes with intentional slowness so, after about half a second, they were all shouting at him.

"Leo!"

"Hurry up, mate!"

"Come on!"

Leo just laughed, but his expression quickly sobered as he finally selected an envelope from the bowl. He took a deep breath before he read it out, his tone grave. "?‘Blank is on Hot Summer for a promotion! She's not there for love at all!'?"

As soon as Cas heard it, she felt her stomach drop.

Oh god.

Oh god.

Leo didn't even bother looking at the girls. He walked straight across the deck, stuffing the card into his pocket as he went, and Cas thought he was going to know it was her, somehow read it on her face, but he took Lucy's face in his hands. The kiss was quick and his movements were short as he pulled the card out of his back pocket.

Cas would have done anything, anything in the entire world, to keep him from opening that card.

Cas

Everyone on the platform was staring at her, mouths open in disbelief. This was the worst offense anyone could commit on this show. It never ended well for people who seemed to just be there for the money, but the idea that she was intentionally put there, that she could have been manipulating things the whole time, was the worst-case scenario Cas had feared since Robert and the Friday team even suggested this crazy scheme.

Cas felt for all of the lovers, but there were frankly only four she truly cared about, and they were all staring at her like they'd never seen her before. They were trying to make sense of her now, trying to put together a new picture of her in their heads, understand who she was and what her actions meant in light of this possible news. She hated it, how clearly stunned they were, but she could talk with them later.

Cas saved her biggest fear for last, the one she was dreading most of all. She pushed every single ounce of will out into the universe begging it, someone, to make everything okay. To make Ada at the very least willing to hear her out.

But the look on Ada's face.

It was shock and anger and disappointment and hurt all rolled into one. She was staring at Cas as if she'd never seen her before, like the woman standing in front of her now wasn't the same one she'd been sharing a bed with for the last week. Or, worse, like she was, but Ada didn't ever want to see her again.

The anger Cas could deal with, but the hurt? The disappointment? The rejection? Cas didn't know if they could recover from that.

Ada took a step back, almost stumbling in her haste, and Cas reached out for her.

"No, Ada, I— Please, let me explain."

Ada opened her mouth, paused, then closed it again before shaking her head. "I need a second."

And Ada ducked underneath the rope and started up the hill without so much as glancing back.

Cas's phone beeped a second later.

Cas—please report to the beach hut immediately.