Page 25 of Down and Dirty Celebrity Edition

“Go where?” Amy asked.

But Savannah was already gone.

Amy watched the spot where she’d disappeared behind the foliage, then looked down at the four remaining canisters. “Did she seem angry?” she muttered to herself as she reached for one. She was just about to dunk it straight into the well when a voice came from her right.

“I hope one of those water bottles is mine,” Wyn said, sashaying into the small clearing. It was the only way to explain how Wyn walked. She was smiling, a little too widely. It made Amy shudder. “I’m parched.”

Amy glanced down at the steel can with W.C. engraved into the side. She hoped Wyn had caught them at the end of their conversation. Though did they even say anything incriminating? Amy tried to recall every word, but her mind was spinning too fast. She felt as if she were on a teacup ride at the fair. No one could ever think clearly on one of those rides.

“Here,” she said, handing her the bottle.

Wyn brushed her fingers deliberately against Amy’s. She knew it was deliberate because Wyn made a show of it. “You know,” she said. Whatever she was about to say, Amy was sure she wasn’t going to like it. “I didn’t fall for Quin right away. In fact, I found her kind of annoying. Did you know I saved her from drowning in the lake? But that’s another story. Anyway, Lake Sylvan is big, but it’s so tiny at the same time. Very much like here. We kept bumping into each other, over and over, and as much as we tried to fight something going on between us, we—”

“What are you getting at?” Amy asked, dunking another bottle into the well. Two left, and she could get the hell out of here.

“You know what I’m talking about,” Wyn said, glancing toward the exact spot where Savannah had disappeared. And she was right. Wyn couldn’t be more obvious if she were holding up a giant flashing neon sign that said I SEE YOU!

But Amy was as stubborn as she was polite.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Amy said, brushing past Wyn. The quicker she could escape this conversation, the better. But as she did, she caught a whiff of something sweet. The smell didn’t fit in a forest that was so dank and wet with the smell of rotted leaves that her lungs felt sticky.

And then it hit her like a lightning bolt right on her head.

“You found the advantage,” Amy shot, spinning around so fast she nearly lost her balance. “That’s why you’re out here. That’s why you smell like you just walked out of a candy shop. What is that?” Amy couldn’t pinpoint the smell, but her nose was a bloodhound on its best day, and she trusted her senses implicitly. She took a sharp breath through her nose. “Is that condensed milk?”

“The advantage?” Wyn scoffed, guilt written all over her face. It couldn’t be more obvious. “Of course I didn’t find the advantage.”

Amy wasn’t buying it. Every season, a double-elimination advantage, which could send both members of a pair packing at once, was hidden somewhere deep in the forest, or buried in the sand, or, like in her season, bobbing along the waves. And every season, it came paired with a decadent sweet treat. Last season, Outlast Her had gone back to the rugged landscape of Australia, except that time Allegra Minder, who had gone on to win the entire game, had found a batch of fresh lamingtons tucked into a battered vintage cookie tin. It wasn’t unbelievable that Wyn had stumbled across it. In fact, it was entirely plausible.

“I can smell something sweet,” Amy pushed. “And I can guarantee it’s not me.”

Wyn caught herself fast. She smoothed her face into something dangerously calm. But didn’t even the calmest of waters hold something? “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“What is the treat?” Amy asked. She wasn’t about to let it go, even if it was just a desperate distraction to change the subject. The last thing Amy needed now was a lecture on romance.

Wyn held eye contact for what felt like forever. She didn’t even blink. Amy, on the other hand, couldn’t hold out any longer. Her eyes were stinging, which forced her into a series of rapid, involuntary blinks. Yet she held as long as she could.

“Fine,” Wyn finally relented. She flicked her ash-blonde hair over her shoulder and sighed loudly. “It’s brigadeiro.”

“Briga what?” Amy asked.

The look on Wyn’s face was one of complete irritation. “Brigadeiro,” she repeated, albeit slower this time, as if she were speaking to a toddler about the rules of a sandbox. “They’re basically fudge balls made from condensed milk, cocoa, and butter. They taste like literal heaven, Amy. And don’t you dare ask me how many I’ve eaten.”

Amy’s mouth watered. She could imagine the sweet, chocolaty balls on her tongue and nearly closed her eyes and moaned. But there were more important things at stake than sugar. “Does Maya Lin know?” She even glanced over Wyn’s shoulder. If Maya Lin were hiding somewhere out of sight, Amy wanted to find her. But there was nothing beside the fan-shaped leaves of trees she couldn’t name.

“Are you and Savannah hooking up?” Wyn shot back, folding her arms over her chest as she cocked her head to the side. Her smile was so smug it would take a power washer to wipe off. But two could play this game.

“You first,” Amy said, literally digging her heels into the dirt. “Did you tell Maya Lin about the advantage?”

Wyn looked just about ready to pick Amy up beneath the armpits and toss her into the watering well. It wouldn’t be Amy’s first time, but it would be the most embarrassing. “No,” Wyn said, her nostrils flaring. “I only found the box this morning while I was on a walk.”

Walk, my ass, Amy thought. Wyn had obviously gone searching for the advantage. To be able to vote out both members of a pair was the ultimate power.

“And Luna and Kate?” Amy asked. She couldn’t imagine Wyn keeping a secret from them, but then again, sugar had a way of snapping even the strongest ties in half. “Do they know?”

“Uh. Uh. Uh,” Wyn said, shaking her head. “It’s your turn to answer my question.”

Amy didn’t want to. In fact, she’d rather walk on a bed of hot coals or eat the food her mother used to make. There was something about speaking your feelings out loud that made them that much more concrete.