Page 94 of Never Ever Getting Back Together

Maya’s next, and I resist the urge to cheer her on. It’s possibly not the best look to vocally root for her to beat the other two, after all. She lunges upward at lightning speed, even faster than Lauren. I suppose our pre-planning, combined with last night’s venture, helped more than I could’ve hoped for. She seems to know exactly where she’s going to put her feet next. She reaches the point she got trapped on last night, and my shoulders tense up, but, safely attached to the harness, she doesn’t hesitate to jump sideways to the next rock.

I’m glad she didn’t attempt that last night.

With a victory cry, she grabs the flag a full fifteen seconds faster than Lauren’s time. I clap enthusiastically as the producers undo her. She practically skips her way down the walking trail, and makes a beeline for me.

“Worth it,” she whispers right into my ear.

“Do you want me to kill you?” I whisper back, and she snorts.

It’s Perrie’s shot next, and straightaway, I can see the difference in comfort levels. She’s obviously done this a million times before.

“Is it bad that I’m rooting for my friend to lose?” Maya asks.

“Eyes on the prize,” I say.

“I guess.”

This time, it’s not possible to call it. Even without the practice, Perrie seems to be going just as fast as Maya did. Up, up, up, barely pausing to check the stability of each rock before trusting it with her body weight.

“Come on,” I whisper under my breath, and Maya takes my hand and squeezes it until I lose feeling.

Perrie snatches up the flag at the top and bends over, out of breath, and we dutifully clap for her.

When Perrie returns to the base, she, Maya, and Laurenline up in front of Grayson with the cliff in the background, and wait an eternity for the cameras to set up. Finally, just as I feel as though I’m about to die from the suspense, Grayson speaks.

“And the winner of today’s challenge, by a margin of only one-point-five seconds… our dark horse, Maya! Congratulations!”

Lauren and Perrie clap for Maya. I raise my hands to join in, then I lower them as the implications of Maya’s hard-earned win dawn on me fully.

So. Maya and Jordy will be alone together in a spa resort all night?

That’s wonderful.

I’m so very happy for her. For us.

Jordy sends Lauren home at theNotte Infinita.

She wilts when she realizes he’s not calling her up, and he gives her a prepackaged speech about how much it’s meant to him to have her on the show. I can’t help but feel they kept her around for the palace challenge, then sent her home at the first opportunity, but I keep it to myself.

Our odds have shot up to 66 percent. We’re more likely to win than not now, all things being equal.

Which, to be fair, they never are.

Afterward, I crawl onto the bed and watch quietly as Maya fusses around packing for an overnight trip. “I should bring my bikini, right?” she asks. “Is that the sort of thing you do in a spa?”

“There aren’t any weight restrictions on luggage, right?” I ask. “Youaredriving.”

“Right, duh. I’ll just take… everything.”

“Everything?” I ask.

“Noteverything,obviously, just… everything I could possibly see myself needing.”

She turns in a circle in the middle of the room, putting her hand over her mouth in distress.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

“Yeah. Yeah, I am,” she says. “Just a little freaked out about spending this long with Jordy, I guess. I wanted it so badly I forgot it’d mean I’m stuck with him. I hope we get our own rooms.”

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