“Gather around everyone, come in closer.”The sight of Rita in the lounge sent a wave of uneasiness through me. The last time we had seen her outside of a challenge was for the big reveal. Something major must be coming tonight.
“What do you think this is all about?” Trace asked.
“Probably nothing good,” I said.
Rachel snorted next to me. “You can say that again.”
My skin bristled. I should probably be happy for her and Arnie, I knew that. But I couldn’t shake the feeling of being blindsided. The only person who had attempted to warn me was Eli.
Rachel noticed my distant look. “Hey, are we alright?” she asked, worry etched on her face.
“Of course,” I said. And I wanted to believe it. It was almost the truth.
She didn’t look like she believed me, but she let it go as we took our seats on the couch. Speaking of letting it go, Sofia seemed to have no intention of doing so. As soon as she sat down next to me, she elbowed me in the side.
“Oops.” She feigned a pout.
She had been shooting daggers at me through the entire challenge, and I’m sure tonight would be worse. It didn’t seem to matter that Eli had been the one who picked me. I hadn’t had a say in the matter. In fact, I wouldn’t even care if she wanted to take him back. Go right ahead. But even the thought of him and Sofia together caused my stomach to sink. Despite my attempts to stay indifferent toward him, Eli had managed to infiltrate my thoughts. If I didn’t stop it soon, I’d have a full-on crush on him.
The guys sat opposite us. Eli’s eyes met mine and he winked. His look of concern from earlier hadn’t quite faded away, and just like that, my resolve not to fall for him wavered ever so slightly.
“So, everyone,” Rita said, standing in the middle of the two groups and waiting for a camera operator to zoom in on us. “The challenge earlier didn’t exactly go to plan. We had one injury, two incompletes, and only one couple who finished without issue.”
Rachel and Arnie smiled at each other, and I felt any weirdness toward either of them evaporate completely. If Arnie and I had been partners for this challenge, there was no way we’d have finished. He would have probably gone into a panic trying to calm me down, and then we both would have needed evacuation off the course. Maybe Eli was right all along. I wasn’t doing myself any favors by always sticking with the safe choice.
I met Eli’s gaze again before holding up my injured hand and shrugging. He tilted his head and shook it slightly while grinning.
Sofia shifted aggressively in the seat next to me, forcing me to turn my attention to her.
“You’re being so obvious,” she hissed. “He feels bad for you. He isn’tintoyou.”
Fear gripped my chest as she vocalized the exact words I dreaded the most when it came to Eli. I made an effort to focus on Rita and ignore Sofia’s comment. It was obvious she was upset about recent events, and probably a little jealous. I couldn’t take her words to heart.
“Since only one of you finished, it makes it a little difficult to decide what order the girls will be in to pick their partners for the next challenge. To remedy that, we’ll be playing a game tonight.” She had a devious look on her face. “And the winners will be the couple who have gotten to know each other the best.”
My palms already felt warm as she handed each of us a dry erase board, then explained the rules. She would ask us each personal questions about our partners and we would earn a point for each answer we got right. The team with the most points at the end would win, followed by second, third, and last.
“And we got the answers to all of these questions from your interviews or your loved ones, so no cheating.” She eyed us all playfully. “Question number one is for the men. What is your partner’s dream job? Ladies, write down the correct answer for the reveal.”
I wrote down my answer. This should be easy enough.
“Men, reveal.”
Danny flipped his board. “Professional Singer.”
Trace flipped hers. “Singer.”
“Ding Ding Ding. We have one point to Danny and Trace,” Rita said.
We went down the line.
Arnie. “Touring Back Up Dancer.”
Rachel. “Touring Back Up Dancer.”
Grant turned his. “Model?”
Sofia groaned and rolled her eyes next to me as she turned her card. “Actress.”
