Page 102 of Hot Summer

It wasn’t the most comfortable dress to sit in, but it looked gorgeous when she was up on her feet.

“There’s no way Ada will be able to take her eyes off you,” Skye had said as they were helping get Cas ready for the night.

It was a pipe dream, probably, this idea that Ada would be transfixed by her, but it was one Cas had clung to in the car on the way to the studio.

Now Cas tried her best not to smooth her sweaty hands along the dress, instead running them along the leather jacket she’d slung over the back of her chair.

The producers were still running around a few minutes later when the lights in the studio went up, and on the screen a few meters away, Cas saw Mila walk onto the stage in a gorgeous skintight black dress with a maze of cutouts. She hit her mark on the stage and posed for a long minute, hands on her hips, just beaming at the camera before she finally started speaking.

“Welcome to the Hot Summer reunion. I’m Mila Sexton, and I’m so excited that you’re all able to be here tonight!” Mila held for applause, grinning at the camera as the audience cheered. “We have some big surprises in store for you tonight, but first, let’s start with a look back at our summer in Cyprus.”

They cut to a long montage of all the best moments from the villa, and Cas felt surprisingly nostalgic as she watched. She expected she’d be cut from the footage given the way she left, but she kept catching glimpses of herself—she was there in the arrival section, in the background during the obstacle course event, they showed Ada grinding on her during the nurse challenge. She saw, for the first time, clips from Rita and Charlie’s hot air balloon date, Sienna and Femi’s dinner on the beach at Aphrodite’s Rock, and, of course, the two of them winning it all at the finale. It was bizarre, seeing these moments, many of which she’d lived through, from another perspective, outside of the context of her own memory.

When the montage was over, Mila busied herself with talking to some of the lovers who had spent the least amount of time in the villa—Maddison was up first, and, for someone eliminated in the first week, she was all laughs and smiles in her bright pink dress. Lexi was brought up in the middle of Maddison’s interview, and the two of them shared a heartfelt reunion that drew a strong round of applause from the audience. Reece and Tia gave their interview and though there was a bit of suspicious distance between them on the sofa, they both denied that anything was wrong when Mila asked about it.

Although Cas definitely noticed that Tia’s hand twitched away from Reece’s on the walk back to their seats.

“Now”—Mila’s voice was lower, more intense—“we want to talk about one of the most dramatic and controversial moments of the summer.”

Cas’s heart started hammering in her throat. This was it.

She could do it. She was nervous as hell, but she could do it.

“In order to start us off”—Cas expected to see a cameraperson approach her, but was surprised, instead, to see the camera moving through the tables where the lovers were sat—“let’s talk to Ada. Ada, would you mind coming up onstage?”

Suddenly, Ada was there on the screen and she was gorgeous. God, she was gorgeous, in a one-shoulder, royal blue, figure-hugging full-length dress that popped against her freckled skin. Her face was highlighted to the heavens, and combined with her dark smoky eye and subtle pink lip, she looked like a siren ready to drag Cas straight into the sea.

Cas was up on her feet before her better judgment could take over. Was out in the wings, at the corner of the soundstage before her brain caught up with her feet.

This was a terrible idea. She should wait until she was called. Until Ada said her piece. Because maybe Ada didn’t want to hear from her, maybe Ada was glad that Cas was out of her life.

But she was already halfway out now and some of the audience had clocked her.

“Oh my god, is that Cas?”

“Cas is here?”

The whispers seemed to carry through the audience, down to the lovers’ tables, to Mila on the stage. Cas stood there, still frozen in the corner, but she saw Freddie stand up, neck craning, his eyes blowing wide when he spotted her standing there. He turned around and shouted something—Cas couldn’t hear what—but Femi stood up next, his eyes immediately locking on Cas’s.

And, thank god, his whole face brightened.

He smiled and waved, and immediately started tapping Sienna on the shoulder. She stood, and though her own smile was more guarded, it was there.

And that was all Cas needed to see to know that she was doing the right thing.

“Wait.” Cas wasn’t sure if her mic was on, but if it wasn’t, she was certain they were hitting all the buttons to make sure it was as she spoke. “Before you talk to Ada, I have a few things I need to say.”

Mila only stumbled for a second, but she recovered quickly.

“Cas Morgan, everyone.” She gestured toward Cas, inviting her onstage, and the crowd applauded. There were a few scattered boos—to be expected—but it was far less than she would have thought. Most people were probably too stunned to see her there to work out how to respond appropriately, but, whatever.

Cas moved as quickly across the soundstage as her towering heels and dangerously high slit would allow. Mila extended her hand to help Cas clear the step onto the stage, and as Cas turned to sit on the neon pink couch, her eyes immediately found Ada at the other end.

Her mouth was hanging open with surprise, but her expression was guarded. Uncertain. She didn’t look angry to see Cas, more like she wasn’t quite sure what to do about it yet.

And, you know what? Cas would take it.

“So, Cas,” Mila said, settling into her own chair, this one neon blue. “You said you had a few things to say.”

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