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The girls quietly chat among themselves as I stand awkwardly at the end of the aisle.
Tiffany hovers near me. “Have you actually made a decision or are you winging it?”
I shrug.
“That’s what I thought.” She groans and storms off.
She’s lucky I’m here at all.
I take a deep breath. Scanning the contestants, I land on Natalie. She smiles and gives me a thumbs-up. She would be the obvious choice, the safe choice.
I continue looking at the women and find who I’m looking for. She’s talking to the woman next to her, but she must feel me looking at her because she turns her head.
I feel myself holding my breath as our eyes lock.
Her eyes widen and she quickly breaks eye contact.
I walk up to the start of the aisle and let out a breath. It’s time to do this.
CHAPTER 9
MILLIE
I’m talking to Lana, reassuring her that cutting the date short wasn’t a bad thing and she still has a shot. Macey and Alex hinted that that’s not the case at all, but I don’t want to be mean.
She runs her hands down the skintight red dress she has on. Something I would never be bold enough to wear.
We all had to choose from the same clothing options, so it was a bit of a blood bath. The Southern girls largely went for the sparkly ones. The influencers picked the ‘on-trend’ gowns, the extroverted girls picked the daring gowns, and the rest were a mixture of classic, couture and skimpy. To each their own, everyone looks gorgeous.
Natalie chose a beautiful, heavily embellished silver gown, and was ecstatic to finally be wearing heels instead of cowboy boots.
I look down at my light blue one-shouldered dress that cinches at the waist and brushes my curves but still flows. It was the most conservative of the options and the one no one wanted.More than anything I just want to get out of these heels; they are wildly uncomfortable.
I allow myself a tiny glance at Aaron in his tux. I notice the stubble on his face that has grown more prominent since our date.
Something passes between us as our eyes lock. For a moment, it feels like there’s no one else in the room. I feel myself becoming very aware of what is happening and turn back to Lana.
If I allow myself to really think about it, maybe during our date I found myself feeling jolts of electricity when he touched me or a weird pull toward him or just an energy between us. Maybe I’ve done everything possible to push it down and push it away and ignore it… maybe.
I know that my behavior on the our repulsed him and after hearing how the other dates went, I’m confident that I’m only on his radar in a bad way. Thankfully.
Natalie is the clear front runner and I’m so glad. She is the kindest person here and it sounds like they had a good date. I’m happy for her. I just hope Aaron treats her well.
Aaron steps up to the start of the aisle of roses and candles. Everyone goes quiet as the cameras start rolling.
“I’d like to thank you all for your time and patience and for coming all this way. I’ve enjoyed spending time with each one of you. This was a very hard decision to make as you’re all extraordinary women.”
I shift uncomfortably. If I had to guess, Tiffany wrote this for him to say. After observing her, I admire her hustle. She doesn’t let any of the men push her around. It’s refreshing andimpressive considering there are very few women behind the scenes.
Aaron continues on for what feels like a lifetime and the cameras circle us to make sure they get enough shots of everyone.
I think about how most girls gloated about how magical their dates were. It was hard to tell who was embellishing and who was accurately describing what happened because if what they told us happened didn’t go to air, they could just say it was cut. At least that’s what Fiona told me. Aaron threw up on her on their date, poor girl.
He has so many good options, I feel confident that it won’t be me.
He pauses and then looks up. “Millie, if you could please join me.”
My mouth drops. I stare at him. Did he just say my name? Is he insane?
