Chapter 33

From her vantage point in the corner, Cas could see no fewer than a dozen people running around backstage.

She couldn't see the soundstage from where she was sitting, but she could hear the crowd—the laughter, the conversation, the shuffling as people got to their seats. They were all anxiously awaiting the reunion, hoping, probably, that the drama that would unfold would be worth the time it had taken them to come into Central London on a Friday night.

If Cas weren't waiting in the wings, planning to surprise most everyone there, she would have bet that this reunion would have been just as boring and pointless as all the other reunions for the last decade.

Cas didn't know who knew, beyond the production staff, that she was going to be there. It should have been a foregone conclusion—she was on the show for almost the entire summer, she shouldn't have to fight to be on the reunion—but with the way she'd left, Chloe had insisted time and time again that there would be a lot of pushback if the audience even thought they were going to see her face at the reunion.

Cas still didn't know why Chloe had caved in the end, but having got her way, she wasn't going to question it.

Cas was assuming, too, that they hadn't told the lovers that she was attending, probably in the hopes of some dramatic reaction shots, but it put her in an awkward situation over the past week. Once everyone else returned home, she had debated reaching out directly to her friends over DM to apologize. She wanted them to know how sorry she was, and to give them a heads-up that she planned to clarify a few things at the reunion.

Uncertain of how they'd react, she'd decided against it, but just barely. She was still arguing with herself about it now as she sat there, tucked away in the corner, turning her phone over in her hands.

She'd done everything she could to make herself feel ready for tonight. Skye had helped her reach out to brands on social media and, after a couple of promising DMs back and forth, had sourced a dress for the night. It was white (Perfect if you're trying to convince everyone you're innocent, Aisha had said) with a slit so high that Cas had had to buy special underwear for the occasion. The top had corset detail and fit Cas like a second skin.

It wasn't the most comfortable dress to sit in, but it looked gorgeous when she was up on her feet.

"There's no way Ada will be able to take her eyes off you," Skye had said as they were helping get Cas ready for the night.

It was a pipe dream, probably, this idea that Ada would be transfixed by her, but it was one Cas had clung to in the car on the way to the studio.

Now Cas tried her best not to smooth her sweaty hands along the dress, instead running them along the leather jacket she'd slung over the back of her chair.

The producers were still running around a few minutes later when the lights in the studio went up, and on the screen a few meters away, Cas saw Mila walk onto the stage in a gorgeous skintight black dress with a maze of cutouts. She hit her mark on the stage and posed for a long minute, hands on her hips, just beaming at the camera before she finally started speaking.

"Welcome to the Hot Summer reunion. I'm Mila Sexton, and I'm so excited that you're all able to be here tonight!" Mila held for applause, grinning at the camera as the audience cheered. "We have some big surprises in store for you tonight, but first, let's start with a look back at our summer in Cyprus."

They cut to a long montage of all the best moments from the villa, and Cas felt surprisingly nostalgic as she watched. She expected she'd be cut from the footage given the way she left, but she kept catching glimpses of herself—she was there in the arrival section, in the background during the obstacle course event, they showed Ada grinding on her during the nurse challenge. She saw, for the first time, clips from Rita and Charlie's hot air balloon date, Sienna and Femi's dinner on the beach at Aphrodite's Rock, and, of course, the two of them winning it all at the finale. It was bizarre, seeing these moments, many of which she'd lived through, from another perspective, outside of the context of her own memory.

When the montage was over, Mila busied herself with talking to some of the lovers who had spent the least amount of time in the villa—Maddison was up first, and, for someone eliminated in the first week, she was all laughs and smiles in her bright pink dress. Lexi was brought up in the middle of Maddison's interview, and the two of them shared a heartfelt reunion that drew a strong round of applause from the audience. Reece and Tia gave their interview and though there was a bit of suspicious distance between them on the sofa, they both denied that anything was wrong when Mila asked about it.

Although Cas definitely noticed that Tia's hand twitched away from Reece's on the walk back to their seats.

"Now"—Mila's voice was lower, more intense—"we want to talk about one of the most dramatic and controversial moments of the summer."

Cas's heart started hammering in her throat. This was it.

She could do it. She was nervous as hell, but she could do it.

"In order to start us off"—Cas expected to see a cameraperson approach her, but was surprised, instead, to see the camera moving through the tables where the lovers were sat—"let's talk to Ada. Ada, would you mind coming up onstage?"

Suddenly, Ada was there on the screen and she was gorgeous. God, she was gorgeous, in a one-shoulder, royal blue, figure-hugging full-length dress that popped against her freckled skin. Her face was highlighted to the heavens, and combined with her dark smoky eye and subtle pink lip, she looked like a siren ready to drag Cas straight into the sea.

Cas was up on her feet before her better judgment could take over. Was out in the wings, at the corner of the soundstage before her brain caught up with her feet.

This was a terrible idea. She should wait until she was called. Until Ada said her piece. Because maybe Ada didn't want to hear from her, maybe Ada was glad that Cas was out of her life.

But she was already halfway out now and some of the audience had clocked her.

"Oh my god, is that Cas?"

"Cas is here?"

The whispers seemed to carry through the audience, down to the lovers' tables, to Mila on the stage. Cas stood there, still frozen in the corner, but she saw Freddie stand up, neck craning, his eyes blowing wide when he spotted her standing there. He turned around and shouted something—Cas couldn't hear what—but Femi stood up next, his eyes immediately locking on Cas's.

And, thank god, his whole face brightened.

He smiled and waved, and immediately started tapping Sienna on the shoulder. She stood, and though her own smile was more guarded, it was there.

And that was all Cas needed to see to know that she was doing the right thing.

"Wait." Cas wasn't sure if her mic was on, but if it wasn't, she was certain they were hitting all the buttons to make sure it was as she spoke. "Before you talk to Ada, I have a few things I need to say."

Mila only stumbled for a second, but she recovered quickly.

"Cas Morgan, everyone." She gestured toward Cas, inviting her onstage, and the crowd applauded. There were a few scattered boos—to be expected—but it was far less than she would have thought. Most people were probably too stunned to see her there to work out how to respond appropriately, but, whatever.

Cas moved as quickly across the soundstage as her towering heels and dangerously high slit would allow. Mila extended her hand to help Cas clear the step onto the stage, and as Cas turned to sit on the neon pink couch, her eyes immediately found Ada at the other end.

Her mouth was hanging open with surprise, but her expression was guarded. Uncertain. She didn't look angry to see Cas, more like she wasn't quite sure what to do about it yet.

And, you know what? Cas would take it.

"So, Cas," Mila said, settling into her own chair, this one neon blue. "You said you had a few things to say."

She knew she needed to be careful, but she had spent hours combing through her NDA with her friends to figure out exactly where the lines were. She ran through the list of permissible things again in her head and took a deep breath.

"Everyone knows that I left the show in week seven and, as it's since come out on social media that I used to work for Friday, a dating app—"

Mila sat up a little straighter. "?‘Used to'?"

She was walking a very thin line here and made sure to choose her words carefully. "I left after it became clear that we had very different perspectives on how to address this."

Mila nodded slowly, her fingers drifting, almost subconsciously, toward her earpiece. Cas could only imagine the things the producers were saying now that Cas was a little too close to throwing them under the bus.

"Anyway, Friday had entered into an agreement with Hot Summer because they're interested in building connections with broadcast programs." She had never been more grateful for the Twitter sleuths than she was in this moment; she never would have been able to say this publicly if they hadn't already uncovered it and released it. "I can't confirm behind-the-scenes conversations for legal reasons I'm sure people can understand, but I wanted to set the record straight. As much as I can."

"What do you think is unclear?"

"People seemed to think that my goal remained the same throughout the summer. That the only reason I was still in the villa was because of an agreement between production and my former employer. That I was manipulating Ada somehow in order to stay until the finale." Cas could feel the audience watching her, but she refused to take her eyes off Ada. She was only speaking to Ada anyway. Only cared what Ada thought about what she had to say.

"What other reason could you possibly have?" Mila asked.

"My relationships. I made real, hopefully lifelong friends in the villa." She looked to them now, Femi and Freddie beaming at her, Sienna, still reserved, but growing a little warmer. "They're people I never would have met on the outside, and after spending hours and hours with them, they became some of my best friends. It broke my heart to leave without getting to explain everything fully to them, and I hope they know that the minute they're ready to talk about it, I'm ready to tell them everything."

"You're already forgiven!" Freddie shouted, and Cas couldn't help the laugh that bubbled out of her. A matching laugh rippled through the audience, and as Cas looked, she saw more and more people who seemed open to what she was saying.

"More than anything, though," she said, turning back to Mila, "it was my feelings for Ada that motivated me. I think anyone who watched me with Ada knows that the minute I saw her, everything became genuine for me. I was never manipulating her, all of that was real. Terrifyingly real."

Cas let her eyes find Ada again, and she tried to put every single emotion she'd ever felt into her gaze. To make Ada really feel, really understand, just how much Cas meant what she was saying.

"I know I said it on the show a few times, but I really struggle with opening up, with being vulnerable. And when I went on Hot Summer, I didn't think that was going to change. But the more I got to know Ada, and the more I fell for her, the more I wanted to tell her. The more I needed her to know me. It wasn't about trying to stay on the show longer or get better rankings. I don't know if you remember, but when my rankings started to improve, I actually freaked out. I didn't want Ada to think that that was the only reason I was opening up to her and exploring our connection."

Cas took a deep breath before she continued. "I won't lie, the truth of the situation is really messy," she said, turning back to Mila. "It's complicated, and I know it's easy to boil it all down to the idea that ‘I was just there for work and none of the connections were real,' but from the moment I got there, it was instantly more layered than that."

"Why do you think so many viewers were so quick to believe the narrative, though?" Mila asked.

"I recognize that my own comfort on the show changed and shifted over time, and that may have looked suspicious to people. Part of that is just the way in which I open up, but I think when my own company and Hot Summer didn't bother to contradict any growing rumors, I think it spoke volumes to people." This was outright combative of her and she knew it. "They allowed people to believe a version of events that suited them, even if it made me out to be someone I'm not. Even if it made my relationships appear false."

Mila's mouth opened to say something, but Cas barreled on. Refused to let herself be contradicted.

"And I think—you know, as someone who's watched this show every summer—we see people every year who are obviously only there because they want the brand deals at the end of it. I think that makes viewers skeptical of people's motivations. And, after all, you don't know me, what reason would you have to believe me when I say that, yeah, I wasn't there for love originally, but I ended up staying because of it? It's easier to believe the lie you're being sold when the truth isn't nearly as dramatic."

This was the last bit. The hardest bit. She caught Ada's eyes again, and in that moment, there was no one else in the entire world.

"I didn't go on Hot Summer to find someone, but I did. I found someone who changed me for life, and I don't say this to pressure you, Ada, but I need you to know the truth. If you want to be friends, if you never want to talk to me again, it's whatever you want. But it was never about deceiving you—I was always, am still, head over heels for you."

"Well," Mila said, clapping her hands together. The sound snapped Cas to attention, and her head whipped around. Her smile was tight and Cas was preparing to get unceremoniously chucked offstage when Mila said, "Since we're making dramatic declarations to Ada right now, there's one more person who I'd like to bring out before we hear from Ada herself."

As soon as Mila said it, Cas knew who was going to be walking out onto the stage, but she still couldn't believe it. Couldn't believe that, after all this time, after everything he'd said and done, that they'd bring him out right now.

The boos were so loud that Cas didn't hear when Mila said his name. Mila gestured toward the opposite wing, and in spite of herself, Cas looked over to see Brad walking out. His blond hair was slicked back, he was wearing a too-tight baby blue button-up shirt tucked into gray trousers, and he walked out like he was holding the world in his hands; clearly production had been planning to bring him out this entire time. Even after the show had ended, they just wanted to twist them all around for maximum drama. Cas jumped up before he could even approach the stage—they would get a picture of her sharing a stage with Brad over her dead body.

Only to freeze after about five steps when Ada shouted her name.

"Cas." Ada looked pointedly at the camera now barely a meter from her face. "Meet me outside?"

Cas didn't even hesitate before tearing her microphone off and handing it to the producer standing, slack-jawed, staring at her, and fucking hell, Ada smiled.

Ada didn't even spare a glance for Brad on the stage before she walked out to meet Cas in the wings.