“Wasn’t half-bad at it,” he repeated playfully.
“I wasn’t,” I insisted.
“Well, I’m sure you’ll have plenty of opportunities to show off those skills in the next challenge,” he said in mock seriousness.
I crossed my arms. “I bet I will.”
Our knees bumped carelessly and I jerked away.
Eli’s face turned serious. “So, how are you? I know yesterday was a little extreme.”
I knew what he was doing. He was trying to lure me into a meaningful conversation where we both got vulnerable and shared something about ourselves. I might not be the biggest fan of reality TV, but I knew how these scenes usually played out.
“No more extreme than today, considering I almost got eaten by a goat.”
He tipped his head and gave me a look that said,you’re really not going to talk to me?
“Fine,” I huffed. “I’m doing fine. This is all a bit much.” I waved to the small cameras pointed down at us. “But it’s only for a couple of weeks.”
Considering this, he leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees, hands clasped together near the fire. “I’m kind of surprised you agreed to stay after you ran out,” he admitted.
A hollow laugh escaped my lips. “Brady so kindly reminded me that I have a contract, and that they would slap a hefty fine on me if I left.”
He shrugged. “Contracts can always be broken. There’s no way they’d enforce some kind of stupid fine and risk you giving them bad press by complaining to the media. You could have left if you were really determined.”
Biting my lip, I met his eyes, once again surprised by how sincere he seemed. Was this all for show, or did Eliactuallywant to get to know me?
It didn’t matter either way. I wasnotletting him in. Not in this lifetime.
“My sister convinced me,” I said.
His brow furrowed. “They let you talk to her?”
I leaned against the armrest, trying to gain a few additional inches of separation between the two of us.
“Brady knew I was about to bolt. He was desperate. He let me talk to her to prove that I wasn’t here by mistake.”
“Wow,” he breathed. “What did she say? How did she justify what she did?”
His interest felt genuine. He was in the same boat as me, after all. Neither of us was here by choice. It felt so raw to repeat the conversation I’d had with my sister to him. But Ihadpromised Piper that I would put myself out there.
“She said she was worried about me,” I said, willing my eyes to stay dry. “She and my mom—we’re all close. So, they see the best of me, and the worst of me. The last couple of years...let’s just say they haven’t been great.”
“What about your dad?” he asked carefully.
“My dad lives in Florida with his new wife. My parents have been divorced since I was ten, and I’ve always been closer to my mom,” I said. “I love my dad, don’t get me wrong. I spend time there every summer and most holidays, but my mom, Piper, and I have always had this different bond. They’re my people.”
I didn’t want to admit it, but my relationship with my dad had grown distant since Michael passed. He was concerned about me, but he didn’t know what to say. I honestly couldn’t blame him. Piper and Mom were sometimes at a loss for words too. The difference was that they would never stop trying.
“And your sister just did all this because she cares about you,” Eli guessed.
“She wants me to move on. Both she and my mom think I spend too much time alone. They think I’ve pushed away all my friends.”
“Have you?”
I thought back to all the times I had turned down a dinner invitation. How my friend group had begged me to go on that trip to Mexico with them, just to break up my routine. How many times I had seen one of their names flash across my phone before I’d hit ignore. How they had come over every week to bring me takeout and talk. But those talks always turned back to one thing. Michael.
Because at the end of the day, that was the problem. They had beenourfriends, not mine. Everything about them reminded me of him.
