Page 103 of Hot Summer

She knew she needed to be careful, but she had spent hours combing through her NDA with her friends to figure out exactly where the lines were. She ran through the list of permissible things again in her head and took a deep breath.

“Everyone knows that I left the show in week seven and, as it’s since come out on social media that I used to work for Friday, a dating app—”

Mila sat up a little straighter. “ ‘Used to’?”

She was walking a very thin line here and made sure to choose her words carefully. “I left after it became clear that we had very different perspectives on how to address this.”

Mila nodded slowly, her fingers drifting, almost subconsciously, toward her earpiece. Cas could only imagine the things the producers were saying now that Cas was a little too close to throwing them under the bus.

“Anyway, Friday had entered into an agreement with Hot Summer because they’re interested in building connections with broadcast programs.” She had never been more grateful for the Twitter sleuths than she was in this moment; she never would have been able to say this publicly if they hadn’t already uncovered it and released it. “I can’t confirm behind-the-scenes conversations for legal reasons I’m sure people can understand, but I wanted to set the record straight. As much as I can.”

“What do you think is unclear?”

“People seemed to think that my goal remained the same throughout the summer. That the only reason I was still in the villa was because of an agreement between production and my former employer. That I was manipulating Ada somehow in order to stay until the finale.” Cas could feel the audience watching her, but she refused to take her eyes off Ada. She was only speaking to Ada anyway. Only cared what Ada thought about what she had to say.

“What other reason could you possibly have?” Mila asked.

“My relationships. I made real, hopefully lifelong friends in the villa.” She looked to them now, Femi and Freddie beaming at her, Sienna, still reserved, but growing a little warmer. “They’re people I never would have met on the outside, and after spending hours and hours with them, they became some of my best friends. It broke my heart to leave without getting to explain everything fully to them, and I hope they know that the minute they’re ready to talk about it, I’m ready to tell them everything.”

“You’re already forgiven!” Freddie shouted, and Cas couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of her. A matching laugh rippled through the audience, and as Cas looked, she saw more and more people who seemed open to what she was saying.

“More than anything, though,” she said, turning back to Mila, “it was my feelings for Ada that motivated me. I think anyone who watched me with Ada knows that the minute I saw her, everything became genuine for me. I was never manipulating her, all of that was real. Terrifyingly real.”

Cas let her eyes find Ada again, and she tried to put every single emotion she’d ever felt into her gaze. To make Ada really feel, really understand, just how much Cas meant what she was saying.

“I know I said it on the show a few times, but I really struggle with opening up, with being vulnerable. And when I went on Hot Summer, I didn’t think that was going to change. But the more I got to know Ada, and the more I fell for her, the more I wanted to tell her. The more I needed her to know me. It wasn’t about trying to stay on the show longer or get better rankings. I don’t know if you remember, but when my rankings started to improve, I actually freaked out. I didn’t want Ada to think that that was the only reason I was opening up to her and exploring our connection.”

Cas took a deep breath before she continued. “I won’t lie, the truth of the situation is really messy,” she said, turning back to Mila. “It’s complicated, and I know it’s easy to boil it all down to the idea that ‘I was just there for work and none of the connections were real,’ but from the moment I got there, it was instantly more layered than that.”

“Why do you think so many viewers were so quick to believe the narrative, though?” Mila asked.

“I recognize that my own comfort on the show changed and shifted over time, and that may have looked suspicious to people. Part of that is just the way in which I open up, but I think when my own company and Hot Summer didn’t bother to contradict any growing rumors, I think it spoke volumes to people.” This was outright combative of her and she knew it. “They allowed people to believe a version of events that suited them, even if it made me out to be someone I’m not. Even if it made my relationships appear false.”

Mila’s mouth opened to say something, but Cas barreled on. Refused to let herself be contradicted.

“And I think—you know, as someone who’s watched this show every summer—we see people every year who are obviously only there because they want the brand deals at the end of it. I think that makes viewers skeptical of people’s motivations. And, after all, you don’t know me, what reason would you have to believe me when I say that, yeah, I wasn’t there for love originally, but I ended up staying because of it? It’s easier to believe the lie you’re being sold when the truth isn’t nearly as dramatic.”

This was the last bit. The hardest bit. She caught Ada’s eyes again, and in that moment, there was no one else in the entire world.

“I didn’t go on Hot Summer to find someone, but I did. I found someone who changed me for life, and I don’t say this to pressure you, Ada, but I need you to know the truth. If you want to be friends, if you never want to talk to me again, it’s whatever you want. But it was never about deceiving you—I was always, am still, head over heels for you.”

“Well,” Mila said, clapping her hands together. The sound snapped Cas to attention, and her head whipped around. Her smile was tight and Cas was preparing to get unceremoniously chucked offstage when Mila said, “Since we’re making dramatic declarations to Ada right now, there’s one more person who I’d like to bring out before we hear from Ada herself.”

As soon as Mila said it, Cas knew who was going to be walking out onto the stage, but she still couldn’t believe it. Couldn’t believe that, after all this time, after everything he’d said and done, that they’d bring him out right now.

The boos were so loud that Cas didn’t hear when Mila said his name. Mila gestured toward the opposite wing, and in spite of herself, Cas looked over to see Brad walking out. His blond hair was slicked back, he was wearing a too-tight baby blue button-up shirt tucked into gray trousers, and he walked out like he was holding the world in his hands; clearly production had been planning to bring him out this entire time. Even after the show had ended, they just wanted to twist them all around for maximum drama. Cas jumped up before he could even approach the stage—they would get a picture of her sharing a stage with Brad over her dead body.

Only to freeze after about five steps when Ada shouted her name.

“Cas.” Ada looked pointedly at the camera now barely a meter from her face. “Meet me outside?”

Cas didn’t even hesitate before tearing her microphone off and handing it to the producer standing, slack-jawed, staring at her, and fucking hell, Ada smiled.

Ada didn’t even spare a glance for Brad on the stage before she walked out to meet Cas in the wings.

34

Ada called a car the moment they stepped onto the pavement.

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