Page 88 of Hot Summer

Lucy grinned and wiped her mouth as she stepped back, barely bothering to spare a glance for Leo as she flipped open her envelope.

Reece

Cas’s jaw actually dropped.

Tia whipped her head round, expression incredulous. “Does that say ‘Reece’?”

Sienna’s jaw dropped. “What the hell?”

Tia ran her tongue along her teeth, her eyes lasers as they swung round and found Reece. He looked like he was melting into the decking, desperate as he mouthed, We’ll talk later, but Tia just waved him off.

Freddie’s phone beeped next, and he plunged his hand into the bowl, coming up with a few envelopes stuck between his fingers. He held them up, sealed, and turned back to the boys.

“Which one do you think? One, two, or three?”

He indicated each with a nod of the head, and the boys burst out in a flurry of shouts. It didn’t sound to Cas like they’d all agreed on any envelope in particular, but Freddie made an executive decision. “Three it is, then,” he said, before chucking the other two back into the bowl.

“ ‘Hot Summer fans convinced that Freddie and blank should get together!’ ” He hummed theatrically before making his way over to the girls. “I have a sneaking suspicion about who this one could be...” he said, throwing an overdramatic wink Cas’s way.

As he stopped in front of Cas, he flicked his gaze toward Ada. “You all right if I kiss your girl? You know she’s all yours.”

Ada laughed, spots of pink blooming on her cheeks. “It’s a game, go ahead.”

Freddie leaned down and placed a swift, chaste kiss on Cas’s lips, swerving to place another one on her forehead before straightening up. “Okay,” he said, waving the envelope in the air, “let’s see who we’ve got...”

The boys started stomping their feet making the entire platform shake with the force of their makeshift drum roll.

Freddie opened the envelope and, sure enough:

Cas

“Yes!” Freddie jumped and punched the air before sprinting back to the boys. They swarmed around him as they reached him, all jumping and chanting like they’d just been told they’d won half a million pounds each.

“All right,” Sienna shouted, rolling her eyes. “It’s my turn, you idiots.”

Cas hadn’t even heard Sienna’s phone beep in all the shouting. She made her way over to the bowl while the boys straightened themselves out and grabbed one of the envelopes off the top.

“ ‘Fans think blank will bag the hundred-thousand-pound prize now that he’s coupled up with his dream girl.’ ”

Sienna didn’t even hesitate. She walked straight to Femi, his smile growing with each step she took toward him so he was all teeth by the time she reached him.

Their kiss was slow by comparison to the others, savored, and Femi seemed unwilling to let Sienna go as she pulled back a few seconds later to open the envelope. He kept his arms around her waist, his fingers toying with the tie on her bikini top as she unfolded the paper.

Femi

Cas and Ada immediately applauded, and Freddie, to Femi’s right, wrapped his arm around Femi’s shoulders and gave him a little shake.

“You’re taking us all out when you win, Fem,” Freddie said.

“I don’t care if we win,” Femi said. He was smiling, laughing with them, but he only had eyes for Sienna. “I’ve got what I need.”

Leo was up next, and now that Sienna had tied the score, he seemed to take his role extra seriously. He swirled his hand around in the fishbowl, pretending to choose a few envelopes with intentional slowness so, after about half a second, they were all shouting at him.

“Leo!”

“Hurry up, mate!”

“Come on!”

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