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“That’s right. This can be our little secret for the next few days or forever. Your choice,” I continue when she doesn’t reply.
“He posted a picture on his social media after he arrived. Happy now?”
“No, I’m not. Because if he posted it after he arrived, that means you guys have been sitting on that information for the past few weeks waiting to kick him off the shows when it suited you.”
Again, she’s silent, and I take her silence as confirmation of my accusation. Not that it matters. I already agreed to keep her little secret, and she gave me the information I needed. As soon as she slams my door behind her, I let out a sigh and plop down on the sofa in defeat.
Because I didn’t win. Not even close.
At least it doesn’t feel that way right now.
Sure, I know why Jace isn’t here anymore, but I still feel like our relationship was controlled by the producers. We were allowed to be together until it didn’t suit them anymore. Then we were ripped apart.
I’m sick of them scripting my life. I’m sick of pretending to follow that script and fighting them at every turn. I want more than making out with Lennon to bring them down. More than a cheap trick to pay them back for the inhumanity they’ve shown me. Shown all of us.
Pulling out my phone, I shoot Claudia a text.
ME: The finale is going to blow up in your face unless the producers find a way to fix the mistakes they’ve made. Courtney, Jace, Gage... I suggest you start rewriting the script before it’s too late and they discontinue any talk of another season.
It’s a shot in the dark mentioning Gage especially without any proof, but I take it anyway.
“Are you serious?”Milo asks as the waiter pours us each another glass of wine.
All four of us were ushered off the ranch shortly after I sent my text to Claudia and dropped at the bowling alley. An hour after arriving, Bella and Lennon were picked up and told they were going to be taken to a restaurant for dinner. The same driver came back for me and Milo shortly after.
To my surprise, there’s not a camera in sight. No one followed us into the restaurant. The driver didn’t even wait outside for us to finish. We are on our own for the next few hours.
And it feels freeing.
“Yup. She basically admitted they sat on the info until it suited them to use it.”
I was going to tell everyone at the bowling alley about my conversation with Claudia, but we weren’t sure if we were being watched or not. I didn’t want someone to overhear us.
“What a bitch. Not that I’m surprised. The more we learn, the more I see what’s been going on over the past few weeks.” Milo’s statement catches me off guard.
“Like what?”
“Like when I saw Gage and Claudia laughing the first day.”
Thinking back, I remember seeing Gage for the first time. He was with Claudia, walking to his villa. Milo hadn’t arrived yet. It was only me and Jace.
“When was that? Jace and I saw him when he arrived, and they were laughing together, but you hadn’t shown up.”
“It was when I showed up. She showed me to my villa, and he was standing outside his. He called her over, and they had a short conversation, but they were laughing together. She struck me as a serious bitch from the get-go, so I remember how odd it seemed.”
“So, Gage was the insider.”
“It makes sense now, but he gave us no reason to assume that when he was here.”
“Neither did Courtney,” I reply flippantly.
Milo nods as he takes a small sip of his wine. When he sets his glass down, he reaches across the table and takes my hands in his, caressing my knuckles with his thumbs.
“I know you’re ready for this to be over and everything, but I really hope we can stay friends after this, Presley. I like you, and if for some reason things don’t work out with Jace, I was kind of hoping we might be able to see if we could explore being more than friends.” The sincerity in his voice causes me to tear up. My emotions are all over the place right now.
“You’re sweet, Milo, but if things don’t work out with Jace, I think I’m going to need a break from dating for a while. A long while, in fact.”
“Because of your ex?” he asks, still caressing my hands.
