Page 52 of Unscripted

But Callum simply mumbled a quick goodnight before rolling over and away from me. It felt like a slight, and I had no idea where it came from. If I had been thrown by his actions before, it was nothing compared to now.

I didn’t want to push it, though—didn’t have the energy to. So as the lights finally went out, I tried to forget about it.

It was no use.

Lying next to the man I had found myself hyper focused on, I couldn’t help but think that one day it’d be nice never to see the ice in his eyes again.

25

The next day was cloudy and gray, perfectly matching the tone of the villa. Callum and I weren’t the only ones on a complicated path.

The night before, Chiara had been brought to tears by Adam, who was not happy that after choosing to stay matched with him, she was still spending so much time with Hugh. When Jess and I went into the villa to comfort her, the drama had only continued. Hugh confronted Adam about making Chiara cry. Things got heated, and they had to be separated by producers for the rest of the evening.

It was a quiet goodnight when we all went to bed and an even quieter morning. The gloomy weather didn’t help matters, and a somberness permeated the villa for most of the day.

I knew I needed to try and get Callum and me back on track with our deal, that we needed to keep hanging out more. But something in his reaction the night before had my own guard shooting back up. I felt oddly sensitive and didn’t think I could handle his coldness, so I avoided him the best I could.

The producers must have picked up on everyone’s dour mood because after lunch, as I was drifting off to a lovely nap on one of the daybeds, a voice came over the speakers.

“All Bellas to the fire pit, please,” it said.

Groaning at the interruption of my plan to lie around for the rest of the day, I scooted off the bed and made my way across the lawn.

The fire pit had been removed from the middle of the circular deck and in its place was a round table, on top of which sat a glass fishbowl with strips of folded paper inside. It seemed we would be playing a game. The producer side of my brain understood that it would be an excellent way to both shake up a very boring day and also fan the flames simmering under the surface of many matches in the villa.

Jess grabbed the instruction card from the table and read it out loud.

“Bellas, it’s time for a game of ‘dare.’ Every completed dare is one point. If you make it to ten points, you’ll win a party this evening.”

Everyone cheered at the mention of winning a prize. I didn’t want to be the downer by pointing out that every night here was essentially a party and that it wasn’t much of a prize to win, so I stuck to smiling and clapping along with the others.

Jess looked around, wiggling her eyebrows as she picked the first dare out of the bowl and read from the paper.

“Kiss the Bella you think is the fittest,” she said.

Standing up, she walked around in a circle, passing us all and hamming it up. Everyone cheered and clapped, excited to see who she would choose.

Stopping in front of Chiara, she yelled out, “I’m kissing the Bella I think is the fittest who should never cry because of some silly little boy.” She side-eyed Adam, throwing her words in his face, before leaning down and pecking Chiara on the lips. Adam huffed and crossed his arms, less than thrilled.

Oh, yes. The producers definitely knew what they were doing with this game.

Chiara went next, having to lick the toes of the Bella seated next to her. Then it was Liam, who had to give a lap dance to the Bella of his choice.

Ella was up after that, and when she picked her piece of paper out of the bowl, her eyebrows rose in glee.

“Kiss the Bella who you think is the biggest game player,” she read out.

Now it’s getting interesting.

Ella looked around at the group before walking over and giving James a kiss on the cheek. It surprised me she didn’t give him a real kiss and that she had even picked him at all. I hadn’t noticed them spending a lot of time in close proximity since James had entered the villa. Something in my gut pulled in suspicion. What was it that made Ella choose James?

I didn’t have long to reflect on it because James was laughing it off and then drawing his own slip of paper.

“Kiss the Bella you would most want to be matched with other than your current partner,” he said.

He got up and looked around. His eyes caught mine and my blood iced over.

Oh, no. This would not be good.