Chapter 7

The outfits that the producers left out for them in the dressing room were, without a doubt, the most ridiculous things that Cas had ever seen in her life. They were giving Lara Croft if you put all her clothes through a woodchipper—a lot of clingy spandex and tiny, tiny pieces of fabric.

Ada saw Cas's expression and laughed. "I know. Even my arse is going to be out in these, and it's concave."

Sienna snorted and then immediately covered her mouth. "Sorry—"

"Don't be." Ada waved her hand. "It's true."

One of the boys whistled as the girls filed into the entry, and a quick glance around revealed it to be Brad. He wrapped his arm possessively around Ada when she walked over, and he said loudly enough for everyone to hear, "Damn, babe, you look fine."

If Cas wanted to elbow him in the nose, well, that was her business.

On TV, it always looked like the challenges were held in some grand arena, but in reality, the challenge spot was a large square platform in the middle of a dusty field behind the villa. They'd trooped through the gate hidden in the hedge fence surrounding the villa, all of them talking and laughing in anticipation, but with every step, Cas was dreaming of going back and lying by the pool.

It would certainly be more fun than standing here doing... whatever the hell they were about to be doing.

There were cameras set up along the railing lining the platform and a few more on posts around the perimeter and, most likely, several hidden within the challenge space itself. There was one foam-covered slide running down the center of the platform toward a tower of inflatable rectangles that were painted to look like blocks of ice and, at the top of the slide, a stool with a plastic box full of cards.

Cas knew that Hot Summer wasn't exactly known for the most intricate challenges—they were mostly about getting lovers soaking wet and grinding on one another—but there was something particularly tragic about the challenges in real life. Especially because they'd be spending half the challenge time building the towers back up so they could get destroyed again.

Maddison's phone dinged as they climbed into the arena and she scanned her screen before flashing a bright grin at them. "?‘Welcome, lovers, to the first Hot Summer challenge!'?"

Everyone applauded, Cas the most enthusiastically of them all. She would rather have put her head in the way of a cricket mallet than do this, but she absolutely could not show it.

"?‘Today,'?" Maddison continued, "?‘you're going to be competing in a little game called Break the Ice! You'll each choose a statement from the box'?"—she slapped her palm down onto the box—"?‘and then you'll slide down the luge into the blocks of ice at the end. After you've broken the ice, you'll kiss the person you think the statement is about!'?" Maddison's excitement increased as she read, so she was practically squealing by the time she reached the end. She beamed up at all of them. "?‘Now, who's ready to Break the Ice?!'?"

Everyone on the deck cheered, and, thus, the game began.

Charlie bounded up first and grabbed a card from the box without much fanfare. "Who says that they've had sex in at least three different outdoor spots?"

It seemed a little perilous when Charlie sent himself barreling down the waterslide into the inflatable ice blocks, especially because they were all standing there waiting at the end, in the direct line of fire. He was dripping with foam as he popped to his feet, neither he nor Lexi seemed to mind as he pressed her back into the railing and planted a snog on her that even Cas felt a little uncomfortable watching.

She hooted right along with the rest of them, but this definitely felt more like something they should be doing on their own, rather than in front of nearly a dozen other people and as many cameras.

Lexi was panting as Charlie pulled away, and he grinned as he tugged the card from the waistband of his shorts, waving it teasingly in the air.

"Okay, let's see if I was right..." He peeled the sticker off the card and revealed Lexi written at the very bottom.

"You're a bit of an exhibitionist, then, Lex," Maddison said, her words barely audible over Charlie's celebration.

"Not on purpose," Lexi said. "I just get, like, really horny outside for some reason, I don't know."

"Remind me to take you on lots of hikes when we get home," Charlie said.

Femi ran up next, and he made a big show of swirling his hand around in the box. "Ohhh, let's see..."

"Just pick one, you arsehole," Sienna shouted, and Femi flashed her a bright grin.

"All right." He plucked a card out and flicked it upright in his fingers. "This one says, ‘Kiss one of the four lovers who say they've kissed more than two people in one night.'?"

As soon as Cas heard it, she knew it was about her.

And three other people, but still. Her.

Femi seemed to hit every pile of foam Charlie missed on his trip down the slide, so he was covered from head to toe by the time he reached the end. Despite his rapid blinking and the rushed way he was trying to wipe the soap off his face, he was grinning from ear to ear as he popped to his feet.

"We need one of these in the garden," Femi said, coming to stand in front of Cas. He'd worked out she was one of the names, then.

"You guys would smash your heads in."

"It'd be worth it," Femi said, grinning at her. "Ready for this kiss?"

Cas rolled her eyes, smiled. "Sure."

Femi's touch was tentative, his eyes on hers all the time as though he was gauging her reaction. She decided to make it easier for him and leaned forward, closing the distance between them.

His lips were soft and the scratch of his stubble against her skin wasn't unpleasant. His lips parted slightly and the taste of him, warm mint, was nice. She'd had a thousand kisses like it in her life—a good time, something she could lose herself in if she really tried, but lacking that spark, that thing that made her feel like she was crumbling in their hands.

There was enough there that Cas knew she could lean in to it if Femi was interested, but judging by the few quick, largely closed-mouth passes of his lips over hers before he pulled back, she would bargain that they were on the same page.

Femi smiled gently, awkwardly at her as he stepped back, his hand falling away, and Cas couldn't help but smile. "Thanks."

Femi laughed and wrapped his arm around Cas's shoulders. It was an easy gesture, a warm one, and it settled the anxiety in Cas's stomach. "?‘Thanks.' Careful with those compliments, they'll start to go to my head."

And then he peeled the sticker off the card, and sure enough, there it was.

Cas. Alongside Maddison, Charlie, and Brad.

Which was fucking great. Of course she somehow had something in common with Brad.

"Okay," Charlie said, raising his hand. "Who's done more than two? I'm just two."

And Cas knew exactly how this moment would be played out on TV: Brad, leaning back against the railing, arm around Ada, smug smile that would paint him immediately as a lad about town, a scoundrel who you couldn't quite help love (or undress for) anyway. He'd be their Tom from Season 6, the one everyone loved to hate so much that he made it to the finals, especially once he appeared to "reform" in his final couple with Crystal.

It was a stark contrast to the way Maddison was presenting herself—pink in the cheeks, downturned eyes. She was shy, playing at ashamed. A reformed party girl here to find love.

And then there was Cas. Unapologetic. She could almost hear the slut-shaming posts.

"In my defense," Cas said, "mine was a speed-dating event my friends dragged me to. You had to kiss everyone when your time was up to check for chemistry."

"I've got no defense but tequila," Maddison said with a little self-conscious laugh. The rest of the group joined her laughter and Cas could kick herself. Yet another moment she'd let herself get outshined.

Brad was actually jumping up and down when it was his turn. He was stretching out his arms like he was getting ready to fight a bear rather than rush down a water slide and then kiss someone.

"?‘Who went viral on TikTok after a breakup with their ex?'?"

Brad flung himself down the slide and, without even stopping to check that she was ready, pressed Ada back into the railing and smashed his mouth against hers. Ada let out a squeak, whether in surprise or in protest, Cas wasn't sure, but her arms remained by her sides rather than wrapping around Brad's waist in an attempt to pull him closer.

Brad still had Ada's head in a vise grip, his mouth moving very aggressively over hers, when Sienna grabbed the card from Brad's waistband and peeled off the paper.

"That's correct!" Sienna said.

Brad's mouth popped off Ada's like a suction cup yanked off tile.

"Holy shit, really?"

Ada's cheeks were blood red. "Yeah." She tucked a piece of stray hair behind her ears and very discreetly wiped her mouth. "I made a video about some when-you-break-up-with-your-partner stationery I carry and apparently it struck a chord."

Brad nodded absently, clearly only half listening, and Cas knocked her elbow lightly against Ada's.

"That's cool. You'll have to tell me more about it later."

Though the challenge had felt like little more than a chore for the first few rounds—especially when it came to setting up the "ice towers" again and again—things rapidly devolved as more and more of them were covered in foam and slip-sliding across the platform.

Something that, of course, didn't stop them deciding to race and see who could build their section of the wall first.

"Holy fuck!" Cas slid into a near split, sending her blocks flying out of her arms. Sienna had just caught her around the waist, but Cas's momentum sent the pair of them flying into Ada and, most tragically, back into the stack of ice they'd spent the last few minutes building.

"Ha!" Femi leaped over them, catching himself on the railing to keep from falling over, the final block for his section of the wall in his hands.

Reece had just announced the final question when someone else, someone new, spoke from behind them.

"Got room for one more?"

A petite brunette jumped up onto the challenge platform, her crop top barely covering her breasts, the spandex shorts tight against her perfectly full thighs. Her T-shirt featured a bomb emoji, and it only took a fraction of a second for Cas to figure out what was going on.

Everyone else, meanwhile, was still screaming.

It was rare that they brought a bombshell in this early—it was normally a few days, a week, before they threw everyone into chaos. If the producers were doing this this early, the summer was probably going to be a lot more dramatic than usual. And a lot more difficult to survive.

The brunette walked over to Reece and handed him a card. Her steps were lithe, longer than you would have expected for someone her height. There was a grace about the way she moved, like she was dancing across the stage rather than simply walking.

Reece traced his eyes over her for a long beat before he cleared his throat and looked down at the card she'd handed him.

"?‘Last question. Bombshell Tia will kiss the person she thinks matches the statement. Tia...'?" Reece flicked his gaze to her again. It was clearly meant to be brief, but their eyes caught and held for a long moment before Reece turned back to the card again. Maddison shifted her weight awkwardly.

"?‘Tia,'?" Reece continued. "?‘Who do you think brags that he's slept with more than three hundred women?'?"

Cas felt her stomach turn. Not about the number, she didn't give a shit about the number, but bragging about it? Childish.

Tia hummed thoughtfully, her hand even coming up to her chin to complete the perfect image of woman in thought. She walked along the line of people in front of her, her eyes raking over every single man as she walked past. When she reached Brad at the end of the line, he was physically vibrating, clearly desperate to be the one to get to kiss her. Tia either noticed his excitement and wanted to play into it or just felt like he was the most attractive (wrong, but Cas supposed everyone was entitled to their own opinion) because she slid her hand up his forearm and immediately stepped in for her kiss.

But Brad, apparently, wasn't ready to let Tia control the pace. He swept down and crashed his mouth to hers so forcefully that Cas was pretty sure she heard the sound of their teeth smashing together.

Even standing at the opposite end of the line, Cas could hear how wet the kiss was. That seemed to be Brad's style, and though the thought definitely made Cas ill, she could only imagine what it must sound like to the people standing closer, or, god, to Ada, who was standing on Brad's right side, just trying to pretend it wasn't happening.

Brad didn't pay the slightest bit of attention to the way that Ada was now staring at her feet. Instead, he added salt to the wound as he disconnected from Tia and shouted, "Best kiss all day!"