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Day 37
It still feelsunreal that Jace is gone. No explanation beyond he broke the rules.
What rules specifically?
We were together most of the time during his last few days. I didn’t see him doing anything he shouldn’t have been. In fact, he was the most cautious of all the guys I’d like to think. Not just because he wanted to stay here but because of his reputation outside the competition.
He knew people would figure out who he was after he confessed to me. He knew his secret would be out once the show aired. He wouldn’t be able to go back to being the anonymous bartender at his clubs. He was putting a giant target on his back, and he was doing it for me. So I knew what I was getting into.
He was giving me the choice. To be with him after this was over. He wanted me to know who he really was. He wanted me to know all of him. He invited me to be a part of his life, and I was ready to accept the invitation.
Mind, body, and soul. I was willing to give him my heart.
I still am.
If I could get him on the phone.
I’ve texted him at least a dozen times since the elimination ceremony last night. Called just as many times only for his phone to go directly to voicemail.
I’ve been stonewalled. I can only imagine it has something to do with where he is right now. With the rest of the eliminated contestants in a hotel somewhere. Waiting for the show to be over.
Poor Kyra has been stuck with Gage since the end of the second week. That’s a nightmare just to think about.
You can’t talk to anyone. You can’t tell them where you are.
The light at the end of the tunnel is that the competition is almost over.
I just don’t get it. No one does. Lennon and Milo have no insight as to what led to him being eliminated.
We had a secret meeting last night. In Gage’s villa, assuming the cameras were more than likely shut off since he’s been gone for weeks now. Why record an empty space, right?
Lennon cased the entire place before we snuck in. None of the cameras appeared to be turned on, but to be safe, we covered the lenses with a shirt of Gage’s that we found sticking out from beneath the bed. Lennon ripped it into smaller pieces and tossed them over the cameras.
“It makes no sense,” I said for what felt like the hundredth time in less than five minutes. “What could he possibly have done wrong?”
“It had to be Teegan’s doing. She had to have set him up,” Milo offered when no one else spoke up.
“Set him up to take the fall for what? It’s not like she was alone with him all that often. He avoided her at all costs,” Lennon explained as he continued to pace the room while Bella, Milo, and I sat on the edge of the bed. “If she set him up, they would have known. There are cameras everywhere. He must have done something he didn’t know was against the rules. Walk us through your day again, Presley. Don’t leave anything out.”
Closing my eyes, I thought back to the day of the toga party. I told them everything we did from the time we woke up to the moment Ed and Claudia approached. Nothing stood out. We spent most of the day in bed. Changed and went to the party. Nothing special or out of the ordinary. Nothing that would get him in trouble. Hell, the only time we were apart was the few minutes it took each of us to change into our designated outfits for the evening.
Thirty minutes tops.
And that’s only because I fixed my hair and makeup before coming back out in my costume.
“It had to be earlier in the week, then. Something that maybe they didn’t catch right away on camera,” Bella stated, tucking her legs beneath her and scooting farther onto the bed.
“We could debate all night what he may or may not have done. It’s not going to change the fact he’s not here anymore. I’m sorry, Presley, I really am, but there’s nothing we can do.”
Milo was right. Without knowing what he did, we couldn’t defend him or his actions.
Our secret meeting ended on that note, and we all went back to our villas, me with a frown on my face.
One I feel so deeply in my soul that I’m hoping it doesn’t leave permanent wrinkles.
At least today is intended to be relaxing. No dates or parties. We’re not trapped on the ranch with nothing to do. Bella and I have been granted a bit of freedom to spend the day at the spa.
We’re being pampered in anticipation of the final few events.
