Page 23 of The Wrong Bachelor

“In your dreams, Kingston,” she replied.

“More like in yours.” The moment the words left my mouth I winced and silently swore in my head as I glanced toward the cameras. I’d completely forgotten they were there. I was meant to be romancing Madi, not bickering with her. Angus was nodding enthusiastically at me though, and waving his hands, urging me to continue. He was eating this up.

Madi scoffed. “Real mature, Cole. Is this how you treat all your dates? I can see why they call you the one date wonder.”

“What, because all the girls wonder where I’ve been all their life?” I shuddered at my own words. Did I really just say them aloud? I sounded like such a tool.

“Oh,” Madi raised her hand to her chin in thought. “I thought it was because they all wonder why they wasted an entire night on you when they could have been home watching Netflix.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but Angus jumped in before I got a chance. “That’s five minutes you guys. You can stop trying to kill each other now.”

Madi let out a breath of relief. “Thank goodness. I’m not sure I could have suffered another minute of that.”

“Don’t pretend you don’t love every second with me,” I replied.

“I don’t mind the final second,” she said, before spinning around and walking back outside to join the other contestants. I’d missed the chance to fire back at her again. I really didn’t like that she kept getting the last word in.

“So, Cole,” Angus said, taking Madi’s vacated seat. “You need to pick your four favorite speed dates, and those contestants will advance to the final round. Who do you want to go with?”

I scratched the side of my face as I tried to think. I did my best to remember each of the five-minute dates, but all I could think about was Madi.

“Not Sally,” I eventually said, pushing down a shudder as a flashback from the party hit me. “And I don’t think Willow is cut out for this.” She’d hated speaking in front of the camera, and I didn’t think she’d forgive me if I kept her around for more of the torture tonight.

“I was surprised I got along so well with Teagan,” I continued. “I’ve never spoken to her one-on-one before, and she’s actually quite funny and sweet. I think she’s a definite. Also, Evan did a good job so let’s put him through.”

“You’re keeping the guy?” Angus asked.

I shrugged. “He did a lot better than most of the others; Evan deserves to stay.”

“Okay, who else?”

I contemplated the last few options. There wasn’t much to consider though. Laurie wasn’t my type, but she was great on camera, and I already knew exactly who the last girl would be. I’d known since the moment Angus asked me who I wanted to put through. “I’ll take Laurie and Madi as the other two.”

“You sure about that?” Angus frowned. “Madi despises you and Laurie looked like she was about to launch herself over the table and start sucking your blood.”

I laughed at his evaluation of the two girls. “I thought you wanted it to be entertaining?”

“True,” Angus agreed. “And those two certainly will be. Alright, let’s go tell them.”

Once the four contestants picked for the final round had been informed, the film club lit the fire pit in the back garden. Angus sat us all down in the booth surrounding it, with me in the center, Laurie and Evan on one side and Teagan and Madi on the other. It was such a strange set-up, and I was finally starting to realize how surreal the competition was going to be. I was technically on a date with all four of the people next to me. I was still trying to wrap my head around the concept, and I was pretty sure it showed. It was like I’d forgotten how to speak and my mouth was refusing to function.

“So, Cole, are you going to roast a marshmallow for me?” Laurie purred in my ear. She nodded at the bag Angus had placed at my feet, and I was suddenly grateful of the distraction.

“Uh, sure.” Leaning forward, I pushed one of the marshmallows onto a stick and hovered it over the fire. The others all followed suit, with Laurie waiting patiently at my side for me to finish toasting hers.

When I was done, I went to hand Laurie the stick, but she shook her head, a playful smile on her lips. “Feed it to me,” she said.

I swallowed uncomfortably, my eyes flicking around to the others in our group. Evan was looking at me with one eyebrow raised, while Teagan and Madi both looked like they were going to burst out laughing. I shrugged and tilted the end of the stick toward Laurie’s mouth. We had better get some good donations for this.

I watched as Laurie proceeded to eat the marshmallow in what I assumed she thought was a seductive way—licking it off the end of the stick in a slow and tortuous manner. It was awkward, and I didn’t find it at all appealing. Even Evan’s mouth had gone slack as he watched her. It was like we were witnessing a terrible car accident and the two of us couldn’t seem to look away.

I heard giggles to my side and looked over to see Teagan and Madi both slowly picking their marshmallows off their sticks with their fingers. They looked like they were struggling to take their eyes off Laurie’s display, and every time they glanced over, another round of giggles would start.

“Thanks, sexy,” Laurie said, pulling my attention back to her.

“No problem,” I replied. Though that was a lie. It was a problem. What I had just witnessed was going to give me nightmares for weeks to come. Laurie was like one of those spiders that devoured their mates, and the closer she got, the more she terrified me.

I needed to escape from the confines of the fire pit. I glanced at Angus, pleading him with my eyes to provide me with an exit. He must have noticed my desperation because he nodded.

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