Page 120 of My Irresistible Enemy

“But you wanted to stay on the show?” Nora prompted. Nolan nodded but didn’t say anything else. She gave him an apologetic smile. “Could you tell viewers a little bit aboutwhyit was so important to you to not go home?”

Nolan swallowed, but didn’t speak. We’d discussed all these questions with Nora ahead of time. But his lips were pressed together tightly, and his body was suddenly as stiff and immobile as steel.

I squeezed his hand again, and when he looked at me, whispered, “You don’t have to talk about this part.”

He closed his eyes for a moment, then shook his head. “No. I want to.”

He looked back at the camera. “I wanted to stay on the show because I needed money. I know that sounds crass, but it’s the truth. My mom is sick. And she has a lot of medical bills, and we don’t—” He bit his lip and looked away, out into the Wisteria’s front yard. “It’s just the two of us now. Things haven’t always been perfect, but I just wanted to be able to take care of her.”

“Viewers met your mom last week,” Nora said gently. “She talked a little bit about the bond you two have. Is there anything you want to add to that?”

Nolan was quiet for a bit. I pulled my hand free so I could wrap my arm around his waist, then brought my other arm around the front and squeezed him as hard as I could. I felt him shift and run a hand through my hair. A bird trilled from somewhere near the eaves of the porch as the camera watched us silently.

“I don’t always open up that easily,” Nolan said after a moment. “And I didn’t—didn’t want to invite the world into my private life, I guess. I didn’t want it to seem like I was trying to profit off my mom’s illness. She and I—I mean, I never expected her to talk about all of that. I didn’t even know the show had gotten in touch with her. I can’t pretend I wasn’t surprised.” I looked up and saw that he was looking right at the camera. “But I love my mom more than anything. And I would do anything for her. And in the end, that’s all that matters.”

“I’m sure viewers can understand the importance of family,” Nora said. She looked back at me, and I briefly considered sitting up straight before deciding that I was fine where I was.

“So you both had reasons for wanting to stay on the show. Reasons I’m sure viewers can understand, even if they wouldn’t have acted the exact same way. So tell us what happened next.”

“We fell in love,” Nolan said at the same time as I said, “I wore him down.”

He caught my eye. I shrugged, and he laughed.

“He’s not wrong,” he said at the same time as I added, “We did, though, he’s right.”

We both laughed that time.

“So a little bit of both?” Nora asked with a smile.

“Something like that.”

“Aiden’s joking,” Nolan said, “but in all honesty, he did wear me down. Just not in the way he thinks.”

I pushed back so I could see him without having to crane my neck. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that until I met you, I was just…a mess. A very controlled, very uptight mess who was good at pretending he wasn’t one. But inside, behind all the walls I’d erected, I was falling apart. And you broke through those walls. Exploded them, really.”

“That makes me sound awful.”

“No.” He shook his head. “You saved me. I was like the walking wounded, you know? Bleeding internally, but trying to pretend I was fine. I wasn’t even aware of how bad it had gotten. If it weren’t for you, I might never have admitted there was a problem. I would have just kept shutting down, shrinking myself smaller, until there was nothing left. You’re the person who made me excited for the future again. The person who made me want tolive, not just survive.”

“Youaremy future,” I told him, leaning in to peck him on the lips. Noraawedin the background, and I laughed when I pulled back. “That sounds cheesy, but I mean it quite literally. Like, good luck getting away from me. I’m gonna be stuck to your side from here on out.” I grinned at the camera. “Stuck like dried, tangy, white—”

“Yeah, we’re gonna be cutting that out too,” Nora interrupted. She glanced down at her notebook again. “I think we’ve got pretty much everything we need here, actually. I know they’re putting together a little explainer with Vivian, talking about how Tanner was found to be engaging in deliberately-vague-but-definitely-unethical behavior and abusing his power as a judge. But if there’s anything else you want to add…?”

Nolan tilted his head and looked at me, but I just smiled.

“No. Not really. Except that I want to say how grateful I am for the opportunity to be here. Even if I didn’t win the grand prize—even if nobody won it—well, I feel like I won something even better.”

“Oh, really?” Nora asked. “And what might that be?”

“The right to make all the cream pie jokes I want, now that the show’s over. Obviously. Though being with Nolan is a close second.”

Nolan shook his head. “I’m glad to see fame hasn’t changed you.”

I grinned. “Did you really think it would?”

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