Page 68 of The Wrong Bachelor

I shook my head at him. “I wasn’t pretending.”

“I know,” he grinned. “Hence why I said you’re a natural. People are going to be so torn when they see that you might be starting to like Laurie instead of Madi. Good job on getting that kiss in, by the way. I knew you were a team player.”

“Is this all just some game to you?” I asked. I was struggling to keep my tone calm.

“Cole, this is a show, and we’re garnering quite the following. It’s not a game, but we are in the industry of entertaining people.”

I scowled at Angus. He sounded so conceited, and I was starting to worry about him. He was growing more interested in how many viewers the show had than how much money it was raising for charity.

“Just remember why we’re doing this,” I grumbled, before walking back to my car. The competition was making Angus lose his grip on reality, and I felt like it was beginning to make me lose my mind too. In what world would I ever let Laurie get away with kissing me? I was still seething over the fact it had happened, but I also kept thinking about Madi. How would she react when she saw the episode?

I didn’t want it to upset her, but a part of me was worried she wouldn’t care at all. Whatever her reaction, I just hoped it didn’t mess things up between us. I finally felt like we might have a chance together, and I didn’t want us to end before we’d even begun.

19

Madison

Ihad barely made it to my locker in the morning when I was greeted with news of Laurie and Cole’s date the previous night. It hadn’t even appeared on the website yet, but apparently people already knew what had gone down.

“Did you hear?” Evan said, coming to stand beside me as I opened my locker door.

I fished around the back of it for my history book as I looked at him. “Hear about what?” I asked.

“Laurie and Cole made out on their date last night.” He watched me carefully as he waited for my reaction.

I turned to my locker as my hand grasped the thick textbook I was after. I gripped onto it tightly but didn’t pull it out as I gave myself a moment to try and breathe. Evan’s news had stolen the breath from my lungs, and my stomach sank as a heavy feeling took root in it. Finally, I gave the book a yank to release it from under the other texts.

“They did?” I asked, trying to keep my voice neutral.

“Yeah, I thought I’d tell you before one of Laurie’s minions came to gloat.”

I grabbed another book out of my locker before I responded. I was struggling to remain calm in front of Evan, but my insides were in total turmoil. I’d finally admitted to myself that I liked the guy, and he goes off with Laurie of all people.

I felt Evan’s arm at my back. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“Sure,” I replied, giving him a tight smile. He was looking at me like my reassurance didn’t fool him, so I quickly turned the question around on him before he probed too deeply. “Are you okay?” I nudged him with my arm.

“Well, my heart is clearly broken. It may take me many moons to put it back together again.” He winked at me, drawing out a pathetic laugh. It sounded more like a choking noise, and I hoped he didn’t notice.

“Actually,” he continued. “I think Cole will be the one with a broken heart. I met someone.”

“You did?” My question lacked its usual enthusiasm; I couldn’t seem to get Cole and Laurie out of my mind. I felt like I was being a bad friend, so I tried my best to focus my whole attention on him.

“Yeah, it was when we were at the ice arena last weekend.”

“Who was it?” I asked. The place had been closed for a couple of hours while we’d been filming, so it’s not like there had been anyone around.

“Do you remember the hot guy who organized our skates?”

“Um…”

“The one who kind of looked like Thor?” he prompted.

“Oh, him. He was kind of hard to miss, Evan.”

“He was, wasn’t he?” Evan grinned. “We’re going on a date tomorrow.”

“That’s great!” I gave him a smile, but it lacked any warmth. I clutched my books in tighter to my chest, wishing I were better at pretending everything was okay when it really didn’t feel like it was. I felt like an echo of my usual self, and I hoped that Evan couldn’t see how affected I was by the news of Cole and Laurie kissing.

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