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Brandon and I introduced ourselves and shook hands, then Ali and I continued on our way. Once we were out of earshot, I leaned close, just to be on the safe side. “What was that about?”
Ali grinned broadly. “Georgia has a crush on Brandon. And it seems he has a crush on her.”
“A crush?”
Ali put her hands up. “Her words, not mine.”
I chuckled. “I’m not judging. I had crushes back in middle school too.”
She laughed, putting her hand on her stomach. “Exactly! He seems like a nice guy, though. He has the SBBFF seal of approval.”
“Did I get the SBBFF seal of approval?”
Her body stiffened, and I wished I could take back my words. I’d been joking, but perhaps it had been ill-timed, considering we were about to be on live national television.
“Sorry,” I said. “Bad joke, even worse timing.”
Then to my surprise, she smiled coyly at me. “Actually, you did. That night at the club.”
“And afterward?”
She tilted her head. “I didn’t need her seal of approval because I’d already given you one myself.”
Ali
I didn’t know what I was doing besides playing with fire. We’d never actually talked about our night together, and moments before the final results show of the first half of the season wasn’t the time.
Trenton’s unwavering belief in me had emboldened me over the past few shows—he got me to take risks on songs I wouldn’t have chosen on my own. Now, it seemed that boldness had crossed into other territories. I’d barely been able to keep myself in check at his house when he’d cooked me dinner. There was nothing sexier than a man in the kitchen with a towel thrown over his shoulder while he chopped vegetables.Oh, wait.Yes, there was—a man who did all that while also making sure my wineglass stayed topped off.
Trenton’s gaze met mine, but before he could speak, a voice on the PA instructed us to go to our places. If the reveal show had reminded me of a beauty pageant, the results shows were even more that way. All the pairs lined up onstage, and those in the bottom three were called forward. Neither Georgia nor I had ever been in the bottom three, thank goodness. The flip side was that the rest of us didn’t know how we were doing, comparatively speaking. For all I knew, Trenton and I could be barely above the cut line or ranked first.
He took my hand in his and brought it to his lips, just as he’d done every time we stepped onstage together. And just as it always did, it tugged at my heartstrings.
The show was taking a short hiatus over Thanksgiving week, and at first, I hadn’t been happy about it because I would prefer to simply keep going. I didn’t want to lose momentum. Now, though, I realized that some temporary distance from Trenton might be good for me. For all my talk about focusing on starting my career, over the past five weeks, my focus had been divided. Sitting thigh to thigh with Trenton on a tiny piano bench could do that to a girl.
We took our places, and the cameras started rolling. I plastered a smile on my face. To my credit, I was getting better at looking natural, or so Georgia told me. The reveal shows were the worst. We were supposed to act happy about potentially being eliminated and having our dreams crushed while millions of people watched.Please.Most of us would have settled for not breaking down. I felt for Titania, who’d been eliminated last week. The poor girl had been devastated, like full-on ugly crying on national television. But I supposed that was the risk of doing something like this.
At least the results shows were blissfully short. A fifteen-second clip of each contestant’s performance was played, and Evan made witty commentary, occasionally going into the studio audience to interview viewers.
This time, though, when the bottom three were called forward, my heart caught in my throat—Georgia was among them.
I clutched Trenton’s hand, and he wrapped an arm around me. His comment from earlier came back to me:only one of you can win.I was determined to, but for the first time, I realized how bittersweet it would be if that actually happened.
When Georgia’s name wasn’t called again, meaning she’d escaped elimination, my shoulders sagged in relief.
“It’s okay,” Trenton murmured. “She’s safe.”
When the cameras stopped, she turned to me, wide-eyed. As she walked toward me, I noticed her hands shaking. I took them in my own, and they were ice cold. “You’re freezing.” I rubbed them.
“I think my blood stopped moving as soon as I heard my name.”
I pulled her into my arms and repeated Trenton’s words. “It’s okay. You’re safe.”
She laughed. “I didn’t realize how much I actually want to be here until I heard my name just now. I’d been telling myself I would be okay no matter how it turned out.” She looked over her shoulder at Walter, who appeared agitated. Brandon had come onstage and was consoling the older man. “I’m a bad partner. I should have stayed with him.”
“Go,” I told her. “I’ll talk to you later.”
Everyone was ushered offstage. I returned to the dressing room I shared with Georgia, and though I took my time getting changed, she didn’t appear. I noticed I had a missed call from my mother and a voicemail. I stared at the notification on my phone. She’d called right in the middle of the results show, when she knew I wouldn’t be available.
