Page 65 of Hot Summer

“One!”

Even in the frenzy, though, there was a heat to this kiss that surprised her. She knew that she was attracted to Ada—it was hard for her not to realize that by now, she was borderline obsessive—but to feel her attraction so obviously reciprocated... It was going to Cas’s head.

“Two!”

Cas couldn’t put her finger on it, couldn’t explain how she knew. Maybe she hoped more than anything, hoped that this wasn’t one sided, that she wasn’t alone in feeling this.

“Three!”

But Ada was pressing closer to her, sliding across the slick fabric of the sofa, and Cas was sure.

“Four!”

They settled into a rhythm, the breakneck speed of the kiss slowing down into something worth savoring. Ada’s hand landed experimentally on Cas’s hip, her fingers flexing automatically as they came in contact with skin.

“Five!”

It wasn’t an immediate shift, but a subtle one, a gentle descent from the top of a cliff that, as soon as Cas slid her hand to the outside of Ada’s arm, started them climbing all over again.

“Six!”

Even in the middle of the kiss, Cas was having a hard time believing it. Believing that she was here, with Ada, that Ada was kissing her back like this. She knew it was just part of a game, she knew it, but that didn’t match up with the intensity in the way Ada was holding her, in the teasing pressure of her lips—there, but just lightly enough that Cas knew she’d pull away, leave breaths of space between them to send Cas chasing if they weren’t being timed.

“Seven!”

Ada’s hand slid up over Cas’s biceps, curving over her shoulder before her fingertips tangled in her hair. It was a steady pressure, the kind that left Cas feeling like she was reaching for it, stretching out the boundaries of her body just to feel it.

“Eight!”

Cas needed to test the boundaries of this. Needed, more than anything, to kiss Ada properly. She swiped her tongue along Ada’s lower lip and Ada’s soft, shaky exhale—

“Nine!”

Cas’s tongue just touched Ada’s, an experiment, and, god—

“Ten!”

Cas pulled away then, aware that they needed to respect the game more than wanting to end the kiss. She hovered for the barest hint of a moment, her breath coming in waves, as she tried to reorient herself. Because this—whatever it was—was something massive. Something that had turned Cas completely inside out.

It was only then that she realized that Sienna and Freddie were cheering.

And then Delilah’s phone beeped.

“Villa girls win the point!”

And the entire group erupted.

22

The villa girls and bombshell boys won the competition by one point.

Though they’d celebrated when the result had been announced, Cas knew that there were going to be some tense conversations later that evening about the games themselves.

Who had kissed who, who had rubbed up on who, what the status of people’s relationships were now.

It was the same drama every year, and it was exactly why the producers continued doing it, but it was surprisingly awkward, living it in real life. She’d loved this drama when she was watching from home—the twists and turns of it, the intense reveals, the shouting rows—but now, it felt like an invasion, listening in whenever anyone got into a fight like that. They all sat in corners, heads ducked, pretending to be anywhere else.

She could feel Ada’s eyes on her as they got dressed for the highlighter-themed party that evening, and felt her own gaze drawn to Ada’s side of the room time and time again. But she knew she had to stay focused, just move through the motions. Choose her dress. Apply her makeup. Do her hair.

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