Page 12 of Hot Summer

“Oh my god, Mila! You’re gorgeous!” Lexi, predictably, was the first one off her stool, and she ran screaming to the bottom of the stairs to watch Mila descend.

Mila was immaculate—her cheeks were a soft, perfect rose, her skin glowing with summer bronze, and her cherry red lips were shining with gloss that perfectly matched her tiny bodycon dress.

“Come on, girls.” Mila’s Scouse accent was extra thick, a kind of performance in itself. “Let’s get you some men!”

She held her pose at the top of the stairs for a long beat before the cameraperson stepped back and Mila made her way carefully down the stairs, making sure not to spike her stiletto through the decking.

“Okay.” Mila’s voice softened as she approached the table, her smile present but not quite reaching her eyes as the cameras turned away. “Here’s the deal. There are bits of tape hidden in the grass.” Mila pointed to the stretch of lawn between the pool deck and the fire pit. “Doesn’t matter what order you’re in, just find a mark and stand on it. You’re not to move from that mark unless you’re going to step forward, and then you only move one full step”—Mila demonstrated, exaggerating for effect—“to show interest. Then move back to your mark.”

Mila paused for a moment as though she was expecting questions before she clapped her hands. “Okay, great. So get to your marks, we’re going to film some close-ups, and then the boys will start to arrive!”

And this was the moment. The first big test.

Cas had been thinking a lot about this initial partnering, trying to sort through as many of the details as she could without knowing any of the people she was going to be in the villa with.

She had long since decided that she didn’t want to get romantically involved with anyone this summer. It was too messy, too emotional, and a riskier bet, tying yourself to someone that the public might not like. Once you were in a couple, you were either saved or eliminated as a couple. And Cas would not get her heart tied to a sinking ship.

If she wanted to make it to the finals, she knew she would need to find a “romantic” connection at some point, but the real way to get herself through the summer?

A solid friendship couple.

It didn’t matter what kind of friendship couple you were talking—it could be a will they / won’t they, a pair of unlucky-in-love chronic singles, anything. A friendship couple was almost always the safest route if you wanted to make it to at least week five without any real difficulty.

Her concentration broke when Sienna grabbed Ada’s hand and pulled her along as they walked out from behind the table.

“Come on, babes,” Sienna said, smile warm. “Let’s get some boys.”

One by one, they lined up on the tiny dots of yellow tape. Cas stood at the far end, Ada on her right side. Sienna, Lexi, and Maddison, respectively, across the rest of the row on the small section of grass.

The cameraperson—Omer, apparently—took his time getting close-up shots of each of them. They didn’t have to move much, just stand on their marks, look off into the distance, and smile, but Cas was certain she looked less glamorous and more pained.

A great way to make an audience impression if there ever was one.

As soon as he finished filming, Omer ran to the top of the stairs, and Cas felt the butterflies start up in her stomach again. She only had to wait two seconds, though, before Mila plastered on her bright grin, waved her arm toward the stairs, and said, “This is Jayden.”

Cas knew that the Hot Summer producers spent the year scouring the country for the hottest people imaginable, but seeing Jayden make his way down the stairs was like something out of a film about, like, gods. Jayden was wearing bright blue trunks that popped beautifully against his light brown skin, and he had tattoos that danced along his arms and across his chest, a few of which seemed to match the tattoos Cas had down her own right arm. Even from here, Cas could see the muscles that cut into his skin—his biceps alone were probably bigger than her head. He was wearing simple white high-top trainers and he bounced on his toes in excitement as he came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, his gaze lingering over the line of women opposite him before he turned to smile at Mila.

Sienna and Maddison immediately stepped forward and Mila laughed. “You’re keen, aren’t you?”

“Uh, yeah,” Maddison said, her head tilting to the side so her ponytail swept over her shoulders.

Mila laughed again. “Well, Jayden, Sienna and Maddison have stepped forward for you. That must feel nice?”

Jayden smiled down at the grass for a moment. “Yeah, it definitely does.”

“I’ll bet. Sienna”—Mila pivoted on her heel to face them—“why did you step forward for Jayden?”

Sienna cocked an eyebrow and drew a short line in the air in front of her. “Look at him.”

Jayden laughed and ducked his head, his right hand coming up automatically to skim over his close-cropped hair.

Mila grinned. “Well, of course. Did anything else draw you to him?”

“Not that I’m going to tell him right now,” Sienna said. It was the perfect response—teasing and flirty, but still not giving anything away. The exact kind of quip Cas needed if she had any hopes of coming out of this first partnership ceremony as someone memorable. Sienna, definitely, was going to be a standout—between the comment and her expression, the slightest smirk tugging up the right corner of her mouth, her eyebrow still cocked in a challenge, she was a perfect picture.

If Jayden’s expression was to be believed, he very much agreed.

“Now, Jayden.” Mila paused for a long moment, first looking at Jayden then scanning across the women opposite. “You can choose to partner up with either of the girls who stepped forward for you, or you can choose someone who didn’t step forward. The choice is down to you.”

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