Page 60 of Hot Summer

Cas sighed. “Great. What’s happening today, then?”

“Not a clue,” Sienna said. She was fanning her face to help her sun cream dry and the errant breeze felt nice against Cas’s skin.

Cas slid over to the vanity. If they needed to get ready, she needed to get a move on. She grabbed her SPF and started dotting it on her cheeks. “I’m glad you and Femi finally got together, by the way, Sienna.”

“Yeah, oh my god.” Ada started rummaging through the wardrobe, trying to find something to wear. “Did you two finally acknowledge that you’re soulmates?”

Sienna laughed. “I don’t know about soulmates.”

“Femi defo thinks you’re soulmates,” Cas said, raising her coffee to her lips.

“Femi’s a softie,” Sienna said. She was still smiling, but there was a warmth to it that made it clear it was more than just a joke.

“You’ve made him even softer,” Ada said.

Sienna snorted. “Girl, I fucking hope not.”

Cas laughed so hard she choked on her coffee.

In spite of the banter as they got ready, there was a definite tension in the air as the morning stretched on. Cas tried to stay in the shade to keep her makeup from sweating off, and she, Ada, Sienna, and the boys floated from spot to spot around the back garden, speculating about what they were going to be in for... whenever they were in for it.

“Maybe we’re all getting a day off,” Femi said.

“Yeah.” Ada unscrewed her water bottle and took a long swig. “Maybe they’re taking us to the beach.”

Cas peeked at Ada from over her sunglasses. “I very much doubt it.”

“Let a girl dream.”

It was, of course, just when Cas was starting to get comfortable that everything went completely to hell.

“Hello, lovers!”

Cas turned her head so quickly she actually cracked her neck.

Mila Sexton was standing at the top of the stairs, a smile on her face and an electric pink dress hugging her curves. This dress was more casual than the last outfit they’d seen her in, but that only made her stand out more. Only someone that gorgeous could glow in such a simple shape.

“Holy hell.” Sienna’s mouth was hanging open. She turned to look at Cas and Ada before turning to look back at the host. “Holy hell.”

“Why’s she here?” Ada said the words quietly, lips barely moving, like she thought Mila might be offended if she heard.

“Don’t know,” Cas said. She, too, was nearly whispering. “But it can’t be good.”

As soon as Cas said it, Mila started to move, and Cas could almost see the production shots coming together in her head.

Mila walking down the stairs in slow motion. Jump cuts to the faces of everyone in the villa, their jaws slack, eyes worried, some of them (Tia and, hilariously, Delilah) clutching desperately to their partners like they were already assuming the worst.

The producers of this show didn’t even need to try when they were giving them content like this.

Cas could almost hear the music track they’d put over the footage when they aired it, backed by the throbbing of her heart in her throat.

There were very few reasons that Mila would be in the villa, and one of them, an elimination, had just happened the night before. She might be here to announce a twist, but they’d already thrown the rankings in this summer and Cas couldn’t imagine a twist bigger than that. Which meant—

Mila reached the bottom of the stairs and threw her hands up over her head. “It’s Bombshell Week!”

All the color drained out of Ada’s face. “Oh god.”

Her worry, though, was drowned out by the excitement across the villa.

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