I shot a look at Sofia and raised an eyebrow. She just shook her head. “Ignore them. I’ve been trying to.”
“Believe me, I would like nothing more than for this conversation to be over,” Danny grumbled.
“Then just admit you’re wrong,” Grant said, taking a sip of his drink.
Danny’s face grew even redder. “You’re impossible. You pick the most asinine things to argue about, and then keep insisting you’re right.”
“I am right.”
“There is no ‘right’! You’re arguing stupid points. You can’t ski or snowboard anyway, so why do you even care?”
“I bet I could learn and be just as good as you.”
“I’ve literally won competitions. There’s no way.”
Relief washed over me as Rachel and Trace entered the room. Finally, some friendly faces. I hardly knew Grant and Danny, but together they seemed to form the opposite of a dynamic duo. They fed off each other’s negative energy and turned every conversation into a bickering match. Sofia appeared to have no interest in talking to me at all. She had her eyes glued to the door as if she couldn’t bear the idea of missing one second of Eli.
“Hey, y’all,” Trace greeted us. She didn’t sit right away, rubbing her hands up and down her bare arms. “Um, Danny, I was wondering—would you want to go to the bar and make a drink, and maybe go find somewhere more private to chat?”
Danny jerked his head up and rose to his feet. “Oh, um, sure. We could do that.” All of his aggression seemed to melt away as soon as he saw Trace. Maybe there was something there that I hadn’t noticed at first.
Rachel leaned on the arm of the sofa until her mouth was closer to my ear. “If I’m not back in thirty minutes, please send a rescue team.”
I stifled my laugh as she stood up and turned to Grant. “We should talk.”
He looked behind him before turning back to her. “Me?”
“Did I stutter?” She glared at him.
“Uh, okay?” He got up warily and followed Rachel to a far corner of the room. There was definitely no missed connection there. She was a good sport for not taking Arnie or Eli, though.
“Good,” Sofia said. “Those two better stay in their lane.”
I bristled at her snarky tone, the microphone around my neck a constant reminder that none of the conversations we had were private.
“They have every right to pick anyone they want. They won the challenge fair and square.”
She scowled in disapproval. “But can you imagine how desperate one of them would have to be to break up Eli and me? We clearly have a connection. He isn’t interested in them at all.”
“It’s been one day,” I reminded her, trying to be patient.
“So what? When you know, you know.”
“If you say so,” I murmured.
Fortunately, that was the moment Arnie and Eli walked in and saved me from the aimless conversation.
“Can I get you a drink?” Arnie asked, reaching us first.
“Just water is fine for me,” I said, already feeling a sense of comfort at his presence.
“Did you see Trace just check out Eli?” Sofia whispered, shooting daggers from her eyes at the other side of the room. “She better not get any ideas. I don’t care how badly her conversation with Danny is going.”
I winced. “On second thought, make it a vodka soda with a lime.”
Arnie grinned. “Coming right up.”
Eli filled the space Arnie had just vacated and shifted from foot to foot, glancing at me and then back at Sofia.
