Page 93 of Hot Summer

“I don’t know if I believe that.”

The words were a knife to the chest.

Cas felt herself desperately trying to deflate, but she refused to let herself give in to it. Not yet.

“I know you’re angry with me,” Cas said, “but—you have to trust me. There’s so much more going on here than I can explain right now.”

“But I don’t trust you. I don’t know how you could expect me to trust you when you’ve been lying this entire time.”

“I only lied about what first brought me here,” Cas said. “Everything after it was the truth.”

“But it wasn’t.” Ada practically spat the words. “You said you’d never used a dating app and you fucking worked for one. You said you were a party planner. You said you didn’t know what the next step was in your career when, the whole time, you’ve known exactly where you’re headed the minute you’re out of here.”

And it was true. She fucking hated it, but it was true. She had lied, but the truth was tangled up with every single fib. But how could she untangle it here, in front of these cameras, the NDA hanging like an ax over her head?

“You lied to me over and over again, and now you expect me to just forget that?”

“I just need you to believe me when I say that there’s more to this story. There are things I can’t tell you here, but if we leave together now, we can talk about them. Please.”

Ada was quiet for a long moment. “I’m not going to leave with you. And I don’t want to see you again on the outside.”

Cas’s heart couldn’t break any more. It was already ground down into dust, blowing about in her chest. But Ada’s no was the final straw. She felt the walls start going back up, could feel herself retreating, away from this moment, away from this woman, away from this villa and everyone watching her and everyone knowing that she’d shown her raw, emotional underbelly on this stupid show for someone who, again, would do nothing but disappoint her.

Would do nothing but abandon her at the first opportunity.

Cas huffed angrily, swiping her hair back off her face. “I can’t believe I stood there, in front of all of them, and told them that I’d found what I was looking for. That I was happy.”

“It’s hard to believe you were actually looking for anything,” Ada snapped. “You came here for work. That’s it. You said it yourself!”

“That was my initial reason, yes,” Cas said. “But that isn’t what kept me here!”

“Right.” Ada laughed sarcastically. “But how am I supposed to believe that when partnering up with me is exactly what kept you here?”

It was a low blow and they both knew it. Ada’s expression twitched, just enough to give her away, but she didn’t take it back. Didn’t apologize.

Cas half laughed, the sound hard and bitter. “I don’t need the reminder that I’m now universally hated, thanks.”

“I’m sure you’ll manage on the outside,” Ada said. She wasn’t looking at Cas, but staring at something over her left shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll get more than enough opportunities and payouts to make you forget all about it.”

Cas, furious, opened her mouth to reply when the Voice of God sparked to life behind them.

“Cas, please come pack your bags. It’s time to leave the villa.”

Before Cas could move, before she could even say anything, Ada stalked off without saying goodbye.

31

They kept her in a hotel for fifty-six hours.

Cas was alone, barred from leaving under any circumstances (unless, they were quick to reassure her, the hotel caught fire, in which case, she was perfectly free to leave).

In any other scenario, lounging in a bed all day and ordering free room service would have been a luxury, but here, isolated in this tiny room unable to talk to anyone...

It was a fucking nightmare.

She hadn’t been given her phone back yet, which, while annoying, was probably for the best. Cas knew herself well enough to know that she had self-destructive tendencies at the best of times, and she didn’t need the Hot Summer team to help her along in that regard.

There’d be plenty of time for her to obsess over whatever people were saying about her online in a few days.

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