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“So this is about more than just your business,” she says softly. “And it’s about more than being a spy for him.”
I shake my head. “No.”
“Fine. Okay. Remember that you made me do this.” She opens the bathroom door and goes into the bedroom.
“Do what?” I follow her, then squeak in protest when she steps on the bottom bunk and rummages around under my pillow.
“I knew it.” She waves my cellphone at me, turns it on, then gives me a look. “Oh, honey. No passcode? Amateur hour.”
“I’m not used to people stealing it,” I say, making a dive for it. “Lesson learned, and I’ll remedy it immediately. Give it.”
She’s taller than me, and holds it over my head, her thumbs flying across the screen before giving me a triumphant smile. “There we go!”
“There we go what?” I say, grabbing the phone.
I groan when I see what she’s done. “Oh, Paisley.”
She’s texted Gage: Meet in fifteen?
“I can’t. It’s only ten-thirty. People will know.”
“I told you, I’ll cover with Eden. I’ll say you weren’t feeling well after dinner and took a walk. And everyone else will be going to sleep soon. You know how it’s been—I’ve never heard the phrase ‘beauty sleep’ uttered without irony as much as I have on this show.”
“I don’t have anything to say to him.”
She waggles her eyebrows. “Who said anything about talking?”
I tap my phone against my palm. “You know that I’m also your competition, right? You’re supposed to want him for yourself.”
“And if I thought there was even a chance he’d like me back, I might. But I see the way he looks at you, El. Like he can’t figure out what to do with you, but definitely wants to do something.”
“He’s just baffled because I’m one of the few women who can spend an extended amount of time without wanting to hang his poster above my bed or get his name tattooed on my butt.”
“Have you kissed him?”
“No.”
She lifts her eyebrows and crosses her arms.
“Okay, fine, once. But only because I goaded him. It didn’t mean anything, and—”
“Was there a camera?”
I shake my head.
“Exactly. Whatever’s going on with you two, it’s not about the show, Ellie.”
“I do like him,” I admit. “As a friend.”
“Well, then, if that’s all it is, take it! There are worse things in the world than befriending Gage Barrett.”
My phone buzzes, and I glance down to see an incoming message from Gage: On my way.
Paisley laughs, and I look up. “What?”
She merely shakes her head. “If you could only see the happiness on your face right now. ‘Just friends’ my ass.”
I roll my eyes. “Whatever. I need to change.”
