AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Is it called a breakup if we’re not technically together? This whole thing is a dating show, right? We’re supposed to be getting to know each other. But right now, it feels like I’m being torn in two directions. You’ve both been patient while we navigate this, but it doesn’t feel the way it should. This is too hard, and the fucking guilt is eating me alive.
“It feels like I’m failing every minute that I don’t make a choice between the two of you. Today’s workshop made me think about how relationships need to start, and I don’t think we did it right.”
“So what does that mean?” he asked.
“I think it means we start from the beginning. But before we even do that, I need to make a choice. I can’t keep dating both of you and hoping one of you will edge out the other somehow.”
Our voices were still quiet in the room, and Daniel lightly snored in the bed next to us, further muffling our conversation. The low partition surrounding the bed gave an air of privacy, at least visually. But it would do nothing if we ended up in an argument and our voices rose.
“I can’t believe this,” he muttered. He shook his head, and his hair fell over his brow. I reached a hand up to move it out of his face, and he jerked back as if my touch would burn.
More than anything, I wanted to reassure him he was my choice—that the producers had gotten it right and that we were meant to connect on this island.
But I couldn’t.
So far, the only person I was absolutely sure about was Viv. She’d had my back the entire trip and talked me down when I panicked. Even when she encouraged me to choose and pick Oliver, she did it with care, compassion, and concern formywell-being.
The answer suddenly seemed so obvious, like a flash of lightning across a pitch-black sky. I was so ill at ease because I wasn’t putting my needs first. Instead, I was bending and twisting, trying to make everyone happy and avoiding the inevitable fallout.
Diego must have seen the change on my face, because he reached forward and grabbed my hand. The same one he’d just pulled away from.
“Whatever you’re thinking right now, Sophie, don’t do it,” he begged.
“I think it’s for the best, Diego. With all the pressure this is putting on me, I feel like I’m stuck. Like I can’t move. And I know it’s affecting more than just us. Even the producers have mentioned our unique situation, so it’s clearly impacting the show. It feels like I have to step back to move forward.”
Diego’s eyes widened as my meaning sunk in. “So, wearebreaking up.”
His thumb stroked the back of my hand with such gentleness, I had to close my eyes to soak it all in. It was the only way to shield myself from the pain on his face. I reveled in that soft touch and let myself hold on to it for as long as possible.
“Yeah,” I breathed, hating that it had come to this.
It was the right thing to do. There was no way we could continue on how we had started. And similar to my relationship with Ryan, trying to change course mid-way in would be a recipe for disaster.
* * *
The restof the week dragged by like a snail with a limp while I buried my head in the sand and focused on what was happening with everyone else. It was Friday again, and we were waiting for the call from Troy.
We’d had another challenge this week, one where we defied death—yes,again—by doing a ropes course where you guided your partner through it while they were blindfolded. This show really fucking loved their blindfolds. Kayla had complained through it all as she examined her nails, while Oliver and Diego avoided eye contact with me. It was a super fun time.
Viv and Zander were the lucky winners, and they enjoyed a date where they went paragliding and had a beach-side picnic. I was so glad for them and kept up my enthusiasm as Viv recounted every detail of their day away later that evening.
She and Zander had finally had some of the more serious conversations, including where they saw their futures and what kind of life they were looking for with their partner. They were sickeningly in line with their goals, and while I was happy for them, I was also internally screaming because of my own situation.
Diego and Oliver had kept their distance since Sunday, and while I still slept in the same bed as Diego every night, there was a chasm of space and disappointment between us.
Things shifted as soon as word spread around the villa that our little trio had broken up. I didn’t know all the details because I had begged Viv and Gia not to share them with me.
Keeping myself in the dark while I figured out what the fuck was going on was a test of self-restraint. One I was barely passing, because in a villa with no proper means of escape, the guys I had stepped away from were everywhere.
I was sitting by the pool with Aaron and yelling at myself to stop thinking about them when the phone rang.
“Good God, if they send me there with Kayla again, I’m going to risk it and swim home,” he said.
I chuckled. Aaron had taken up “Sophie watch” as he called it and had made it his mission to make me laugh every time I got a sad look on my face when my mind drifted to Oliver and Diego. “Not afraid of sharks?”
“There are sharks?!”
Snorting, I replied, “Probably. Still willing to risk it?”
