AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Aaron's shove sent Oliver careening backward, and Diego scrambled to catch him before he fell backward. A mighty splash got all of us as they both went under. Aaron pumped his arms in the air in victory and bent to press a kiss on Zander’s head.
“Take that #Zaniel lovers! New hashtag for the audience! #AtoZ!”
Zander chuckled, cupped his hands underwater, and sent the spray directly to Aaron’s face.
Aaron sputtered, then cheered when his opponents resurfaced.
“What did we win?” Aaron looked expectantly at Ryan and Daniel, who both shrugged.
“We didn’t assign prizes.” Daniel gazed at Gia. “Besides, I think I already won.”
Gia hid behind her hands, but not enough that we could miss her flaming cheeks, while the rest of us let out a collectiveAwww.
Zander tossed Aaron from his shoulders like he weighed nothing, waded over to us at the shallow end, and threw himself onto Viv. She shrieked as he soaked her with water, but she was a heart-eyes emoji personified.
“Sophie!” Jess called from the pathway. “Can I borrow you for a second?”
I turned, finding her with her Batman utility belt like always and a walkie-talkie gripped in her hand.
“They’re gonna kick you out for dating everyone,” Nicoletta muttered low enough that only Cheryl and I heard her.
“At least I’m going out with a bang,” I whispered back. I stood and made my way over, sending a reassuring look to Oliver, Diego, and Aaron as they moved to get out of the pool and follow me. “I’m good. You guys have fun!”
I turned back around and headed toward Jess, who looked worried. That was never a good sign.
“I’m in trouble, aren’t I?” I asked.
“No, you’re not in trouble. You have a call from your business partner about the winter line that she says can’t wait.”
“Esmeralda’s calling? Did she say it was a problem with the pattern? The seamstresses? Oh God, please tell me it isn’t the distribution contract. We ironed out those details months ago, and if they’re going back on—”
“Sophie! Stop panicking. I have literally no idea, but you get one phone call in your contract, and this is it.”
Right. Focus. Don’t freak out until you have all the information.
Jess led me away from the villa and up a path. “Where are we going?”
“To the crew house. The landline is there, and the cell reception has been spotty after the storm. I didn’t want the producers to stick to the letter of the contract that says you only get one phone call if it drops, so I transferred it there.”
I’d have been livid if they didn’t let me call her back if the call cut out.
“Good lookin’ out, Jess. Thank you.”
She nodded, and within five minutes, we were through a copse of trees, and I was looking at a mini version of the villa that had sustained far more damage than our place had.
“Thisis where you’re living?”
Yikes. It was still paradise, but this was more Cast Away than an island resort.
Jess sighed. “It’s not so bad, and everyone has their own space, but it’s nothing like the big house. Besides, we work in shifts, so there’s only ever a few people around at a time.”
“Does Troy stay here too?” I asked, just now realizing he was probably somewhere on the island for all the filming days. Then again, maybe not. Sometimes, he just called and sent us off to do workshops with experts the producers had brought in.
“He splits his time. There’s a bungalow a few hundred meters that way,” she said, waving her arm toward the beach. “And when there’s a gap in his filming schedule, he takes the boat back to Haiti and stays in a resort there.”
She led me through the kitchen and up the stairs, passing a few rooms with glowing monitors. This was like a command center, and the screens all showed different areas of the house. Another crew member was manning the station as it recorded, probably compiling the bits to edit into today’s episode.
We rounded the corner, and she stopped at a small bedroom with bunk beds. I recognized some of the clothes strewn on the floor and realized this was Jess’s room.
