Page 30 of Hot Summer

Cas nodded mutely, her gaze frozen dead ahead. Femi squeezed her shoulder again, leaning into her so she could feel the heat of him directly against her side.

“I adore you no matter what,” Femi whispered. “And the public’s wrong. People don’t know you like I do.”

Cas nodded again, though his words barely registered.

Last place.

Last fucking place.

She needed to get her game together.

And fast.

10

Cas hardly paid attention to the rest of the rankings—was only aware of the fact that, on the boy’s side, Femi scored the top spot, despite being shackled to someone as desperately unlikable as Cas.

The only moment of vindication she received was the fact that Brad was also ranked last on the boys’ side. But even that relief was short-lived when her brain whispered that that meant she and Brad were liked an equal amount by the British public.

Cas thought that was going to be it for the evening, but then, just as she was getting ready to bolt, Tia got a text. Luckily for Cas, it was harmless.

“ ‘Lovers! To celebrate your first successful ranking, the top two lovers are going out on a date! Sienna and Femi, please get ready to leave the villa now.’ ”

The girls ran up the stairs, and Cas mustered every ounce of energy she could. She was excited about this for Sienna and Femi, she was, but the urge to sit in a corner and sulk was almost overwhelming. Still, Cas worked diligently, dragging outfits out of the wardrobe alongside everyone else as soon as they got to the change room, taking direction from Sienna as she adjusted her makeup.

“I think I want to wear something pink,” she said, “or no, oh my god. Red. Ades—” Sienna turned around, still wiping lip balm off her lips. “Can you get that red jumpsuit?”

“The one with the ribbon top?”

“Yes.” Sienna whirled around in her seat and started rummaging through the lipstick container. “I don’t know how I’ll do the top yet, but I’m thinking crossed straps, around the neck?”

Cas started pulling shoe options from the wardrobe by the door. “Gorge.”

Sienna didn’t do much to her makeup—just freshened up her concealer in a few spots, swiped on shimmery eyeshadow, and applied lashes before deciding she wanted to add a light lip stain before her lip gloss. She was standing in the mirror trying to sort out how to tie the top when Femi shouted from downstairs.

“Sienna!”

Cas stuck her head out of the change room and gazed down over the balcony to the entryway. Femi stood there, black trousers and socks on, shirtless, several button-ups in hand.

“Where’s Sienna?”

“Getting ready. She’s trying to look hot for you.”

Sienna laughed from inside the change room. “I am not!” She shouted it loudly enough that Femi could hear, and he smiled, his nose wrinkling a little with the gesture.

“What color are we wearing, Si?” He raised his voice so she could hear him, and without hesitation, Sienna responded.

“Red!”

Femi glanced down at the shirts in his hands—yellow, green palm leaf, pink, blue—and swore softly enough that only Cas could hear him, before turning on his heel.

“All right, lads, anyone got a red shirt I can borrow?”

Sienna had just finished adding the final touches to her outfit when her phone beeped to let her know that it was time to leave. She examined herself one last time in the mirror, turning to admire the long line of her legs in those trousers, accentuated by the black, strappy pumps she’d chosen, before walking out the door.

And the look on Femi’s face when he saw her.

Cas was glad, for the first time, that she was living in a house with a thousand cameras, because it meant that that expression was captured from at least a dozen angles.

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