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“Damn, that’s harsh,” says Evie. I nod. Harsh, but smart. How else were they going to get through all these people in one day?
“Thank you for coming out,” says Cooper as the dismissed contestants make their way out into the crowd. “Y’all can just make your way out up the stands.” Low, pulsing music begins playing, reminding me of those celebrity awards shows when somebody’s been talking onstage too long.
“As for the rest of you,” says Cooper as the disqualified contestants make their way up into the audience, “congratulations! You’ve officially passed to round two.” The crowd’s applause is deafening.
It looks like maybe fifty or sixty people made it past the first round, including Evie and me. It’ll be nice to have a familiar face nearby for round two tomorrow, especially since we don’t know the details of the next challenge yet.
We’ve been instructed to leave cleanup for the staff, so Evie and I head for the winner’s tent with the rest of the round one competitors. I try to keep an eye out for Cooper or Drew, but no luck.
“What gives?” asks Evie as we line up to get inside. “You made it to the second round. You’re supposed to be smiling.”
“It’s kind of a letdown, isn’t it?” I ask. “All that work and nobody’s going to even try the food.”
“The judges will try it,” says Evie. “Didn’t you see that part? Anybody who gets through round one gets scored on their dish. The score will count toward your final tally. Highest scores at the end of the weekend make it to the final five.”
“Must have missed that part,” I say. “Shame they can’t just feed it to all these people.”
“Well, how else are they supposed to make any money off this circus?” she says, laughing until I laugh too.
“You’re right,” I say, thinking of all those vendors selling food outside the arena. “I’m parched. Let’s go get a beer.”
“Hey, Ross.”
I turn. Cooper’s standing right behind me. I throw my arms around him for a hug before I think twice.
“You,” I say, smacking a noisy kiss on his cheek, “were amazing up there!”
Coop laughs, squeezing me tight before setting me back on my feet.
“Thanks,” he says. “Apparently you’re not so bad yourself, making it past the first round. Veggie soup, huh? You’ll have to make it for me sometime.”
“Anytime,” I say. “Coop, this is—”
“Evie,” she says, thrusting a hand forward. “I’m a big fan.”
I swear to God, Cooper blushes. Blushes.
“Thanks,” he says.
“I’m outta here, Beezy,” says Evie. “I’ll track you down tomorrow. Nice to meet you, Cooper.” Evie blows me a kiss and wanders off in the direction of the bar.
“You want to grab a drink somewhere else?” says Cooper.
Hell, yes, I do. Coop’s already drawing attention among the other contestants and I’ve somehow managed to avoid Drew this long. Knowing my luck that won’t last, so I nod, following Cooper out of the tent.
8
Drew
Hugging Cooper Lawson was a mistake.
I blame stage fright, aka the main reason I’m content to stay backstage most of the time.
I figured he’d protest, despite the fact that we were onstage in front of several thousand people, or make a big joke out of it, but the guy took it in stride. Which, frankly, shocked the hell out of me. Pains me to admit it, but Cooper’s pretty damn good at his job.
Doesn’t mean I have to like it.
I sure as hell don’t like that I’ve been walking around half-hard ever since. Thankfully everybody’s too busy taking pictures of the pseudo-celebrities here for promotion today to notice my condition.
