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Aaron looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded. “I like it.”
“And, yeah, we might not know how many are coming, but it doesn’t matter,” I said. “From Diego’s logic, they picked someone for everyone here. Then, they matched us up without us knowing, and unleashed us into this villa, hoping we would find each other and make for good TV. There’s no way they would add another person who I would match with. Life, and the producers, wouldn’t be that kind. Plus, I like the company I keep.” I batted my lashes at him, and he laughed, then swooped down and kissed my cheek.
I took another swig from the Patron bottle, upending it until the last drops touched my tongue. “We’re out of booze,” I griped. It had been less than half-full when we grabbed it, and I was kicking myself for not taking the full bottle beside it. We’d been out here for hours already, and my buzz was fading.
Aaron took it from me and tilted it into his own mouth. “Huh. You’re right. So I guess it’s a good thing I broughtthiiis,” he said in a singsong voice as he pulled out a full one from behind the palm tree.
I clapped and giggled, feeling like I was sitting on a cloud in the sky instead of in the dirt under a tree on an island I couldn’t name. I felt like Tom Hanks inCastaway. And Aaron had somehow become my Wilson.
“I never just say ‘fuck everything’ and drink. It’s nice to stop thinking and relax. Besides,” I said, picking up the conversational thread from earlier, “my luck isn’t that good. I had two awesome guys here, and because I was selfish, I lost them both. I can’t even have an orgasm properly. How am I supposed to start a new relationship here? What was I thinking joining the show? It’s all Esmeralda’s fault.”
“Okay,” Aaron perked up. “I think we need to unpack that.”
“Unpack what?” I asked. “Our clothes are already in the wardrobes.” I scrunched my nose.
Aaron just laughed and slapped my knee, leaving his hand there as he explained. “I meant unpack what you just said, Sophie girl. Let’s start with the most important thing. You can’t orgasm.”
Eyes wide, I screeched. “OhmygodIsaidthatoutloud!?”
Aaron just laughed.
“I didn’t mean to say that. You didn’t have to pick up on that! Wilson never asked Tom to unpack any of his secrets!”
“Who’s Wilson?”
“The volleyball!”
“Of course,” Aaron drawled. “So, back to the important things. No orgasms?”
Of course, that was the most important.
“Nope.” In for a penny, in for a pound, and it’s not as if it was a secret anymore. Anyone who watched the show would hear me talking about it with Oliver. Though, would I be too hopeful to think maybe they wouldn’t air that bit? Yeah, definitely. “I mean, Ican, just not with a partner. And trying not to think about that fact while getting hot and heavy in a room with seven other peopleandcameras was stupid. You know what I did? I faked it.”
“Youfaked it?” he asked. “You never fake anything! You’re one of the most realestest people I’ve ever met. Why did you do it?” His words made sense, but also, his grammar needed work. We were almost half a bottle deep in the Patron, and while we hadn’t cracked the new one yet, it was just a matter of time.
It felt safe talking to Aaron about this. Maybe it was because he and Kayla struggled to get thingsin syncwhen they fooled around in the beginning. Then again, it could have just been the booze. Or perhaps it was because he was my Wilson, but I think that links back to the alcohol. Either way, the words had just tumbled from my lips, and it felt great to just let it all go. Far less petrifying since I’d already said the words to Oliver, and thus, the cameras.
“Why not just tell Oliver and Diego they were fucking up? Or wait... Was it one of them? Or both?”
“Neither! I didn’t say anything because it’s embarrassing. I was finally about to have an orgasm with not just one partner, buttwo, and then, like every other time, I got caught up in my head and didn’t know how to explain that in the moment. So I faked it to save everyone the awkwardness.” I was spilling truths left and right, like a toddler with a cup of orange juice and no lid.
“Okay. First, if you’re caught up in your head, just try to stop thinking.” Aaron shrugged. “It’s really easy, watch.” His face twisted from concerned to entirely relaxed, looking like he was trying to pass gas in public and feigning nonchalance so no one would suspect him. “See, it’s that easy.”
I rolled my eyes, and he pulled me tighter against his side.
“Second,” he said, barreling on, “you’re not selfish. Neither of them made you choose. You were operating within the relationship you guys had set up. It’s not selfish. It’s testing the waters.”
I considered his words as I looked out of our little hiding place. Everything had a slightly shimmering outline, but I wasn’t so far gone on the hooch that I couldn’t put my thoughts in order. I could totally go for a ham and cheese Hot Pocket right now because the best thing to pair with sobering up is melted cheese.
“And third—fourth?—I don’t remember what number we’re on. Honestly, I’m glad your friend sent you on this trip. Or encouraged you to come. Or did she force you? She didn’t stick you in the trunk of a car, did she? That’s never a good thing. I’m not a fan of small spaces, so my friends know not to do that to me.”
“Is that a concern in your daily life? Being tossed into a trunk?” I asked. We led very different lives, if that was the case.
“Always gotta be vigilant, Sophie girl.”
I laughed. “Nah, no abduction, she just has puppy dog eyes I can’t resist.”
“Okay, she didn’t force you then. That’s good to know. So maybe this is all a good thing, even if it doesn’t work out with someone romantically. I mean, I know I’ve at least made a lot of good friends here. And you better believe I’ll be bugging Zander for tickets when the NFL kicks off again. Look at you and Viv! You guys have been having a great time, right?”
