Page 28 of The Cuffing Game
“Ooh,” Celine said. “I wonder who cuffed with who!”
They threw away their trash and headed back outside.
“Hi, all,” Mia said when everyone was settled around the firepit. “I hope you enjoyed getting to know each other. It’s time to announce the cuffles. When it’s your turn, please stand up and link arms with your chosen match. Does anyone want to go first?”
Celine jumped to her feet and loudly declared, “Noah and I have decided to cuff with each other!”
It took all of Noah’s self-control not to wince. If he told Celine the truth and said he was having second thoughts, he’d embarrass her in front of everyoneandget her eliminated. It was far better to let her down gently tomorrow, when they could hopefully each cuff with someone else.
Noah stood up and linked arms with Celine, giving everyone his best fake smile. “Haha, yeah, we have.”
Ever so slightly, Mia bit her lip. But before he could think much of it, she turned around and said, “Okay. We have our first cuffle of Day One. Anyone else want to go next?”
Matías and Shirin exchanged glances, then both stood up.
“We’ve decided to cuff with each other,” Shirin announced.
They also linked their arms and stood next to Noah and Celine.
“We both made it through the first round,” whispered Noah, raising his hand to give Matías a fist bump.
“Huh? Oh, y-yeah.”
Matías half-heartedly bumped his hand. Noah frowned. Granted, he had known Matías for only an hour or two, but his roommate, who’d been loud and outgoing before, was now sweaty and quiet. He was even shaking a little. Noah made a mental note to check in on Matías when they were back in their room.
Tiana cuffed with Jack, and Caleb with Bethany, leaving Carlos sitting by himself on the bench. They all turned to look at him.
“Carlos,” Mia said. “I’m sorry but as the last remaining uncuffed individual, you are now eliminated fromThe Cuffing Game.Would you like to say any parting words before you leave?”
“Um, sure.” Carlos looked around at the other contestants. “Well, that was fun... I guess? I’m still not sure why I’m here, to be honest.Oneof you had a crush on me,but no one fessed up. Which I understand, since it’s only Day One. If you’re my crusher and still want to chat at the end of this, DM me when you have your phone back, okay? Have fun, do crime, et cetera!”
“Except, maybedon’tactually do crime,” Mia said, leaping in front of the cameras. “Carlos, thank you so much for your time and for the... very interesting goodbye. Everyone, thank you so much. I hope you enjoyed the first day ofThe Cuffing Game.You’re now free to go back to your rooms.”
The camera crew wrapped up for the night, and the contestants got up from the firepit.
“Good night, Noah!” Celine said, giving his arm a playful squeeze before she left.
Every muscle of Noah’s body tensed up. But he made himself relax. He wished she’d stop touching him.
“’Night,” he replied with the best fake smile he could manage.
Before he went back upstairs, Noah glanced over at Matías, who seemed to be in deep conversation with Shirin. Well, at least that cuffle seemed to be a good match. Rather than stand around and accidentally third wheel, Noah decided to scout for the overhead cameras before returning to bed.
It’d only been Day One ofThe Cuffing Gameand already Noah wanted to sleep a thousand years.
The In-Between
Chapter Ten
Mia
“What happened?” Mia hissed when the crew met up for the night in Alex and Damien’s room. “Wasn’t Carlos someone’scrush? Why did he get eliminated?”
They had until midnight to edit and submit all the footage for episode one. But first, she had to understand what was going on.
Alex shrugged.
Damien sighed and said, “A ratherinterestingphenomenon happened tonight. But before we discuss, we should set up the production room so we have a space to review all the footage from today. And Alex can start editing.”
