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I saw nothing but wavy blonde hair, and my ribs were being squeezed to their limit.
“Hi! I’m Julie!” the blur of blonde said in a cheerful voice with an accent similar to Oliver’s. “Nice to meet you.”
Weirdly, I believed her. Looking across the kitchen, I saw the other new woman, and she was looking at me more or less how I’d expected. A little disdain, a dash of skepticism, and a healthy dose of competition.
This was a dating show, and resources were limited.
“Hi—”
“What happened with Oliver and Diego?” she asked, not beating around the bush or bothering to lower her voice. Aaron scowled beside us. Then it deepened when Julie continued, “I thought the three of you were good together.”
I reached out, placing a hand on Aaron’s tense forearm. I didn’t know how we were approaching this recent development between us, but the last thing I wanted was for anyone else to get in the middle of whatever this was. Maybe it was just really great sex. But with how affectionate Aaron had been since, I doubted it, and I wanted to figure it out together.
“She’s not with them anymore.” Aaron offered, while carefully extracting me from Julie’s grasp and settling me beside him. I was grateful he didn’t throw a possessive arm over my shoulder; he just steadied me and stood by my side, making sure I felt supported without making me appear weak.
“So I’ve heard.” Julie turned, her gaze following the sounds of the others chatting in the living room. “How dull after all the polyamorous cheers the audience was giving you.”
My mind went fuzzy. “What cheers?”
Julie smiled and looked like she was fit to burst with excitement. She looked left and right, then lowered her voice. “I’m not supposed to share what the audience is thinking or whatever, but last I checked, there was a TikTok trend happening, Twitter had a hashtag of the three of you, #LoveOnDisplayThrouple, and they made a gif out of Oliver climbing into bed with you and Diego. That shit is popping up everywhere.”
Julie pressed her fingertips to my chin with a smile, helping me close my dropped jaw when my muscles refused to cooperate. “There are #TeamOliver and #TeamDiego people, but the throuple thing is being led by someone named Emerald Stitch Bitch.”
Esmeralda.
Of course, my best friend would start a social media campaign about my love life on the island.
“I honestly kind of figured everyone was judging me, especially after the producers made us stop sharing a bed.”
Aaron took a step closer, bolstering my confidence and stealing away my self-consciousness. I shook off the last remnants of it because I was a self-assured woman… for the most part, and showing weakness was a surefire way to give the haters more ammo.
“No one’s judging you, Sophie girl. They’re just jealous.”
“And if you guys broke up, it doesn’t matter, right?” Julie asked. There was a concerned look on her face, but one corner of her lips curled upward in a slight smirk.
“Right.” Though the thought sent a tendril of regret spinning through my stomach. I hated the way it all fell apart. While it was necessary to get some space for the whole situation, I knew it would have fallen apart, anyway. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Namely, Oliver’s rock-like abs and Diego’s hard dick. Both of them were amazing. The guys, not the muscles and dick. Er, well… you know what I mean. Choosing someone would have just hurt the other and myself. Better to choose neither than one of them.
Right?
And now, to put that final nail in the coffin, I found myself drawn to Aaron after spending the week together and getting little insights into who he really was. Kayla had bashed his sex skills, and it was weird to have that in the back of my mind last night as we… connected, but I had literally nothing to complain about. In fact, I was friggin’ rejoicing.
That frat-bro persona was clearly adopted for the camera. And the sex… I had never experienced someone so willing to let me guide myself there. Usually it was just take, take, take. But if there were ever two other souls who would hand over control like that, they would’ve been Diego and Oliver.
“So you and Oliver are officially done, then?” Julie pressed.
“Is anything ever officially done?” Aaron asked, surprising me. I looked at him, finding a grin on his face. “Oliver is a good dude, and Sophie obviously liked him. Who knows what this island will bring out in all of us?
“Come on, Sophie girl.” Aaron took my hand and steered me through the kitchen and the opposite door toward the cabana. When I turned around, I saw that Ryan and Cheryl were approaching the villa, with Viv a few paces out in front making crazy eyes at me to move my ass. Aaron was getting me out of what would undoubtedly be an uncomfortable situation.
“Thanks,” I said when we reached the beach. It wasn’t as hot as it’d been over the last few days, and the cooler temperatures were very appreciated. With the clouds gathering on the horizon, we’d likely get some rain soon and a break from all this muggy heat.
“You’re welcome,” Aaron replied with a small smile.
We continued walking in the surf in silence, letting the gentle waves wash over our bare feet before Aaron broke the silence again. “I told the others you and I sort of… connected.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, Julie and Nicoletta were asking who was single. I don’t know where you and I are going”—he squeezed my hand in his—“but I hope it’s somewhere.”
