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CHAPTERTWENTY
Oliver
I stared,openmouthed at my most recent ex standing beside the other new housemates and Troy. Julie was here, and honestly, it was nice to see a friendly face.
Troy hammed it up for the cameras and told us what was about to happen. “Instead of the usual dating show script, where the new arrivals choose who they’d like to go on a one-on-one date with, we’re going to send you off into two groups. The guys will go with Nicoletta and Julie, and the ladies will go with Ryan, so you can all get to know each other.”
Julie scanned all of us standing on the dock. She looked cool as a cucumber, aside from the brief twitch in her hand—the only tell she had when it came to nerves.
We’d broken up six months ago; it wasn’t a profoundly deep relationship or anything, but we’d met through mutual friends and hit it off at the start. We’d remained friends, and she was even at the send-off party when I left for this thing.
She was sweet and fun, but we didn’t mesh well, despite growing up in the same suburb of London and having pretty similar upbringings. She had a penchant for the impulsive and dramatic that got bothersome and exhausting after three months. Not to mention my spouting random facts drove her batty. Apparently, for friendship, it was fine, but the extra exposure while dating was too much.
We weren’t well suited. But you know who was perfect for me?
Sophie.
If only I could make her see it.
I tried to avoid her all week and give her the space she’d requested, but it was becoming increasingly harder as the days went on. Sophie had made me feel safe in being myself around her. Like she was someone I could share these little idiosyncrasies with, and she wouldn’t judge me for them.
The newcomers all headed over toward us, shaking me out of my pity party of one, and Julie leaped into my arms for a hug.
“Oliver, darling, I’ve missed you.” Her smooth voice was full of joy, and after Kayla’s accent and the vileness she spewed for the past few weeks, it was nice to have one similar one to my own. And the best part was that Julie rarely spoke badly about anyone—a welcomed trait at this point.
I squeezed her back in a friendly hug. “Missed you too, Jules. Welcome to paradise,” I said with a cynical laugh.
“Oh, believe me. I’ve been watching. I’m excited to get to know Sophie.”
“Wait, what was the last thing you saw?”
“Oh, well, I’ve been in Haiti for the last week without access to the internet as per our contracts. They said they flew half a dozen of us in and would pick who would join you all on the island, based on the situation on the show. Anyway, they didn’t want us to know what we were walking into. So the last thing I saw was you, Sophie, and Diego all curled up in a bed together.”
I groaned. “Yeah, that’s all gone to shit.”
She pulled back and clapped my cheeks with her hands. “Oh no! I liked her for you.”
“Yeah, me too, but we’ll talk about that later,” I said as the other guys gathered around us.
The other new girl, Nicoletta, was standing by Diego and casting glances between him and Zander, comparing her options.
We all headed up toward the villa with our respective groups. I looked over my shoulder at Sophie as the girls and Ryan followed us along the path and tried to keep the longing out of my gaze. Her eyes were trained on the ground, but she lifted her face as if sensing my desperate need to check on her right then. When her eyes found my face, I tried to convey how sorry I was that Ryan was here. She didn’t need that dick in her life.
The smallest of smiles lifted the corner of her lips when our eyes met. It was so small that it probably didn’t matter in the long run, but I’d take that morsel of hope and cling to it.
“All right, lads,” Julie said, interrupting the future I’d been building for Sophie and me in my head based on that one tiny smirk. “Where shall we chat?”
I looked at Julie, but not before watching as Sophie took a deliberate sidestep away from Ryan, who seemed to be inching closer.
Aaron had been suspiciously quiet since Kayla’s departure. Not that I could blame him; she was exhausting to deal with, and I didn’t put up with her half as much as Aaron did.
Over the last few days, trying to give Sophie space often left me in the same vicinity as Kayla since she was obviously steering clear of Sophie as well. She took that as possible interest from me when it was most definitely not. The girl was… How could I put this? Difficult to dissuade. So, I was thanking my lucky stars she was out of here.
All she did was lounge around in skimpy swimsuits and talk shit about Aaron. I’m not sure why she thought I was a good sounding board for that nonsense, but I shut that down quickly. Aaron was a good guy, and I enjoyed working out with him every morning. Not only did I not agree with anything she said, but I wouldn’t be able to look him in the eye if I’d let Kayla prattle on about what she perceived were his faults.
Then, she tried to do the same character assassination to Sophie, and I had to make that stop as well. We may have been taking some space, but I wouldn’t stand for pettiness.
Our group reached the cabana and took a seat while the girls and Ryan took up the loungers by the pool—still within eyeshot, but far enough away that we couldn’t hear them.
