Page 86 of Hot Summer

Cas sat down heavily on the end of one of the deck chairs, pressing her knees together in an effort to keep the cameras from being able to see up her too-short skirt, and took another drink.

She wasn’t upset exactly. Part of her was actually quite happy with where she’d ended up, happy that, after weeks, she’d finally managed to get herself into the position she’d been hoping for since the beginning. And given Ada’s placement, it was almost a sure thing that they’d be in the finale at this point.

But there was something undeniably sticky about the reality of the situation—the fact that it was probably less Cas herself and more the relationships she’d fostered that had led to this reversal in her fortunes.

She knew that was part of her initial strategy—she wanted that friendship couple, wanted good connections—but she hadn’t expected to care so much about the people in the villa. Hadn’t expected to feel so guilty about using those relationships, manipulating them to get something she wanted.

Everyone was buzzing around up in the kitchen, conversation lively as they poured prosecco, celebrated their spots, enjoyed clearing this latest hurdle. This was the last ranking until the public vote at the end of the next week, the final vote before they were in the Hot Summer finale. They knew they wouldn’t all last that long—Cas thought that most of them who weren’t in a stable partnership, like Freddie, weren’t expecting to make it to the final three—but there was a rush around it all the same. At being this close to going home, to testing out their relationships in the real world.

Or, if you were Cas, being one step closer to fulfilling her contractual obligations.

She could have just let herself get swept up in the connection she had with Ada and enjoy the very real benefits in terms of her popularity, but it felt gross, thinking about that side of things. Thinking about their relationship as something that had a kind of payout. A cold, calculated transaction.

She preferred thinking about it like she had in the peach orchard: beautiful, untarnished, with untold amounts of promise.

She was staring out at the horizon, sipping away at her prosecco, when someone came and sat down beside her. Cas knew who it was without looking, and, all at once, Cas felt something settle in her chest.

“Hey.” Ada’s voice was soft, a perfect match to the moment. “Are you okay? You disappeared kind of quickly.”

“Yeah.” Cas twirled her cup around in her hands, watched as a leaf floated down off a nearby tree and landed in the pool. “I was just feeling weird about the rankings.”

“Were you hoping to be higher?” There was no judgment in Ada’s voice. How she managed it, Cas would never know.

“God, no. I was shocked I was third.”

“I’m not.” Cas looked at her, surprised, but Ada’s expression was even. “You’ve been more yourself recently. I feel like you’re so much more relaxed than you were at the start of the summer.”

“I don’t feel any different,” Cas said, but Ada was already shaking her head.

“You’re not different, exactly, but you’re just... you feel less tense, you know? Less aware of the cameras all the time.”

Cas’s brows pinched. “What do you mean?”

“In the first week or two, it seemed like you were always so afraid of saying the wrong thing or doing the wrong thing. I always wondered if maybe it came from all your knowledge of the show or something,” Ada said, and it was that exactly. It was scary how well Ada knew her without Cas even having to say anything.

“I think maybe you were just thinking too hard about it,” Ada continued. “It seems like you’ve stopped thinking so much.”

“But what if people only like me because I’m partnered up with you?” Cas didn’t quite know what she was asking Ada to say, if she was hoping for a confirmation or a denial, but she needed these feelings in her chest to go away.

“People are going to rank us for whatever inane reason, we can’t control that.” Ada said it so simply, like it wasn’t the cause of so much of Cas’s turmoil at the minute. “But I don’t think that’s why things changed for you. Really, I don’t.” She took Cas’s hand, squeezed it like she was trying to press the words into Cas’s skin. “The public is just starting to see the real you, Cas. And I know that’s probably stressing you out, but it’s okay to let them see you.”

And, god, how prophetic those words would end up being.

#HotSummer—Live Updates

@tiffstuff: I’m so obsessed with cada like you don’t understand

@dayla14: what are the odds of them uhauling the second this show is over

@tiffstuff: alksdjf pls there are no odds its 100%

@charleybee: did you hear that rumor about Cas though???

@tiffstuff:... What rumor?

@ciarap1246: uhh... did everyone know that Cas worked for a dating company?

Link: dailypost.co.uk/entertainment/hotsummer/11july...

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