Page 64 of Hot Summer

It would have been easy.

But when she really thought about it, there was no way it could be. No way that her feelings—complicated or uncomplicated—were going away that fast. She couldn’t escape Ada. Her sunny smile and easy laugh and the feel of her hand in Cas’s. She couldn’t escape the fact that Ada made her feel... safe.

It didn’t matter if there was a hashtag and whether it was good or bad. Hell, at this point it didn’t even matter what happened when she got back to Friday. Because, finally, Cas cared. And it was scary as hell but, fuck it, if there was one thing Ada was teaching her, it was that it was worth it, always, to be brave.

Cas drew in a deep breath. “Let’s say... friends.”

Freddie didn’t hesitate. He extended his cup across the table and Cas, smiling, clinked glasses.

“Friends.”

“I’ve got a text!”

Cas whipped around and found Lucy, one of the new girls, holding her phone high in the air. When she was sure that everyone in the villa was looking at her, she read the message. Cas had thought that they were going to be announcing the end of the dates, but Lucy apparently had something else in store for them.

“ ‘Lovers! We’re going to play a little game to help you get to know the new bombshells better. You’re going to be split into two teams, and the winners will receive a party this evening. Villa boys and bombshell girls, please go to the daybed. Villa girls and bombshell boys, please go to the fire pit. #BombshellBlitz #GetReadyToGetSteamy.’ ”

The minute Lucy finished reading the text, both groups took off to their sides of the garden.

Freddie was up and around the table in half a second, and he extended his hand toward Cas. After a moment’s hesitation, she took it. Freddie pulled her to her feet, dropping her hand before knocking his biceps lightly against her shoulder as they jogged to the fire pit.

“Ready?”

Cas laughed. “No.”

Cas had never been more prophetic. Because the game was wild.

“ ‘The tallest guy needs to snog the shortest girl for ten seconds!’ ”

Every time a dare was read out, the two people involved shot to their feet, the pair of them colliding in the middle. The kisses were sloppy and wet, the sounds of clashing teeth and sopping mouths drowning out even the loudest counting in the group.

“It kind of turns your stomach.” Cas had leaned over and whispered it softly into Ada’s ear, quietly enough that she didn’t think it would get picked up on either of their microphones.

Ada let out a short laugh and nodded her agreement.

“Definitely.”

Beep.

“ ‘The boy and girl with the longest names need to get into a sex position!’ ”

The score was announced after each dare, and the race was neck and neck as the challenge continued. Villa boys and bombshell girls had scored first, the villa girls and bombshell boys then scored twice in a row, then they were back at a draw, and the speed picked up with each and every challenge.

It might have been uncomfortable, all of them snogging one another within the first hour of meeting, but the promise of a party that evening was more than enough to get them past most of their inhibitions. It was the perfect carrot to dangle; most of them would have done anything if it meant they got to do something a little more exciting than just lounge around.

Ollie’s phone dinged and he shouted out the next dare at lightning speed.

“The person with the most tattoos should snog the person they fancy the most for ten seconds!”

Oh fuck. That was her.

“Uh!” Cas hopped instantly to her feet and spun around on the spot, looking at everyone in turn, skimming over the villa regulars and the bombshells. They didn’t have time for her to sort this out, didn’t have time for her to be thinking about this because they were going to lose the point and then everyone would kill her and—

Cas exhaled hard. “Fuck it.”

And then she dropped back down next to Ada, put her hand on Ada’s cheek. It was an invitation, a question, and normally Cas would have been panicking, convinced that her intentions weren’t clear, but Ada leaned in immediately.

The kiss was rushed, hurried, little more than a frenzied pass of their lips together as the crowd around them counted to ten.

---