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Barely cracking the door to the bathroom open, I heard Rose walk into the room. “Why aren’t you changed yet? I’m starving, and I can’t find Hunter anywhere. Paul said he left him here in the room.”
“He, um, he wasn’t here when I got here.”
There was an awkward silence. “What have you been doing?”
“Staring out the window and thinking.”
“I hope you’re thinking about how to pay Jack back for his little stunt tonight.”
“I was actually thinking about what you said.”
I heard a noise but couldn’t tell what it was. “I say a lot of things, Kipton, you need to be more specific.”
Kipton let out a nervous bubble of laughter. “What you said about me and Hunter.”
“What about it? And you should change while we’re talking before Jack sends a search and rescue for you.”
“Right,” Kipton said. When she spoke again, she was closer. She was in the bedroom changing. Would it be a total dick move to watch her undress?
Yes it would, Hunter.
“Say you’re right, and he is attracted to me—”
“He is!” Rose interjected. “Even Jack noticed.”
I closed my eyes and rested my head against the door. I needed to be more careful when I was around Kipton. Especially now that I had a small piece of her and wanted a hell of a lot more.
“Do you think we should hold off on our feelings until after the show?”
No. Just no. I wanted to burst into that bedroom and kiss the hell out of her again. What was she thinking?
Rose was quiet for a moment as Kipton zipped up the bag, then her footsteps padded out of the bedroom. She’d changed quickly. Must’ve been all the practice from her days competing in pageants.
It was so quiet now, I wondered if they’d both left. Then…
“Hunter, come out. I know you’re here somewhere,” Rose called.
For half a second, I thought about staying hidden, but I knew my cousin. If she’d already suspected I was here, she wouldn’t stop searching.
I made my way out of the bathroom and stepped into the living area of the suite. Rose stood there, her hip leaned against a chair, as she smiled at Kipton and me.
“Staring out the window and thinking, my ass,” Rose stated. “By the flush on your cheeks, Kipton, and the way Hunter’s smiling, I’m going to assume something happened between you two?”
“Something, but not what you’re thinking,” I quickly said. Kipton turned to look at me and smiled.
Rose sighed and said, “I sure as hell hope the two of you are pretty good actors, because you’re going to need to be for the next month or so. And no, Kipton, I don’t think you should wait to explore what’s happening. I say have fun during the time you have off from the show…but, Hunter, don’t lead any of the women on. Although, if Hunter keeps swiping left, there aren’t going to be any women for him to date.”
“It won’t be much of a social dating experiment if we’re secretly dating behind the scenes,” Kipton said.
Rose let out a bark of laughter. “Please. The dates are preplanned, the girls are strategically picked each week, the producers tricked you into being part of the date tonight—which was also planned all along. There’s nothing truly experimental about any of this. And Jack and Travis knew all of that going in. That’s why they’re dangling that extra cash in front of your nose, Hunter, to keep dating the last person standing for a certain amount of time after the show ends. They want people to believe this works.”
I nodded. “It actually could, if they found the right guy.”
Rose looked between me and Kipton. “I’d keep this attraction you’ve discovered between the two of you. The less people who know, the better.”
Kipton shook her head. “Jack already knows we have feelings for each other.”
I walked over to Kipton and took her hand. “All he knows is we’re attracted to one another, that’s it. We just play it cool, and when we’re on set or around anyone from the show, we’re just friends.”
