“Naturally,” Isla replied. In her dreams, the weather was always moderately warm and sunny. Surely this should be no different.
“I’ll pick you up in the morning and we’ll grab coffee from Dogtown. You’ll complain about waking up early, and I’ll ignore you and suggest we walk our coffees down to the beach before it gets crowded.”
“I don’t like crowded beaches,” Isla said, feeling so giddy she could quite possibly be drunk. Was that possible? To be drunk without even a sip of alcohol?
“I assumed so,” Tamsyn replied, looking like she was bursting to smile. Then she continued. “It’s early enough for the marine layer to hang low, turning everything soft and grey. We’ll sit in the sand with our shoes off and pretend we’re the only people awake in the city.”
This time Isla didn’t speak. She just watched Tamsyn’s mouth move.
“Then we’ll rent bikes and ride the Strand all the way down toward Venice Beach,” she went on. “You’ll pretend you’re not competitive when you absolutely are. Then we’d walk the little bridges of the Venice Canals and make up backstories for the houses as if we lived there. You’d pick something modern and monstrous, and I’d choose something with plants and peeling paint.”
“What about food?” Isla asked. Not only were her hips quaking at their hypothetical date, but her stomach was rumbling too.
“We’ll do lunch at The Great White,” Tamsyn said. “I’ll get the crispy chicken sandwich, and you can get the fish tacos, although you’ll probably end up stealing my pickles.”
“I don’t like pickles.”
“You would that day,” Tamsyn said calmly, and Isla believed her. She’d love pickles that day. “In the afternoon, we’d wanderAbbot Kinney Boulevard, and you’d say you don’t need anything but end up buying a ceramic mug and a hand-poured candle that smells like lemongrass and lavender.”
“That sounds like me.”
“Late afternoon, we’d head back to Santa Monica, to Palisades Park, and we’d sit on one of those benches overlooking the water. I’d kiss you smitten, while the sun turned the sky gold.”
“Sounds romantic,” Isla said, because she couldn’t help herself. What could possibly be better than being kissed smitten under a golden sky?
Tamsyn winked, then went on. “Supper is Tar & Roses,” she said. “We’ll sit at the bar and share small plates of chili crab cake, ricotta gnocchi, and yellowtail crudo with white soy, and we’ll order a wine we can’t pronounce.”
“And after?”Please let there be an after, Isla thought. Her breath was all raspy and wanting, but she didn’t care. She didn’t have to care. Not with Tamsyn.
“After, I’ll take you back to my apartment,” Tamsyn said.
Isla’s heart thudded in her chest.Yes. Yes. Yes.
“Then I’ll put on music, maybe something light like The Lumineers or Lord Huron, and I’ll pour us each a glass of wine. The good stuff. I keep a bottle of Belle Glos for special occasions.”
Isla felt honored.
“We’ll then dance around my living room while the moon shines through the window. Nice and slow to the beat ofStubborn Love.” Tamsyn reached up and tipped Isla’s chin upward. “And then I’d kiss you.”
And she did.
Tamsyn kissed Isla so senselessly that the rock fell away and the sky too, and somehow they were a thousand miles away in Tamsyn’s apartment in Santa Monica.
Chapter Eighteen
Tamsyn could barely keep her eyes open, let alone compete in a reward challenge. Last night—or more accurately this morning—she and Isla had snuck back into camp only to be woken up after what felt like a second later by Kendall and Frankie brandishing an envelope like they were delivering a royal decree.
She’d never heard of a reward challenge taking place at the breaking of dawn, but then again,Outlast Herwas never predictable.
“Today’s reward challenge will work a little differently from usual,” Vivian announced brightly. She was dressed in faded blue jeans and a charcoal tank top. She looked like someone who had gotten a delectable eight hours of sleep.
Tamsyn, on the other hand, not only felt like shit, but she was pretty sure she looked the part too. She squinted into the rising sun; the light already harsh as it bleached the red earth pink.
Beside her, Isla stifled a yawn.
“Instead of a reward, the winning pair will receive an advantage,” Vivian said.
The word advantage detonated across the group. Everyone perked up. Whatever sleep had clung to Tamsyn’s lashes fell away, and when she caught Isla’s eye, the model looked like she’d just smelled blood in the water.
