Page 79 of The True Love Experiment

The fire reignites in my rib cage. “He is.”

She looks over her shoulder at me. “Wow, you really choked on that admission, didn’t you?”

I point to my throat. “Champagne. I was swallowing a sip.”

“Why is it so hot when you lie?”

I ignore this and she rolls to her back, staring up at me with the light from the television illuminating her face. “Who do you think will win?”

“No idea.”

“You must havesomeidea. We’ll be down to four next week.”

“I think Isaac has a pretty good shot. Brenna tells me the Internet loves him.”

“Brenna tells you? Don’t you go online at all?”

“I’monlinefrequently. But I don’t go on social media if it can be helped.”

“This tracks.” She takes the bottle again. “I stalked your Insta. You have a picture of Stevie’s tiny feet on bike pedals and then a picture of a dog from, like, four years ago. That’s it.”

I laugh. “I don’t need the world to know what I’m doing every second.”

“Hot.” She studies me. “But as the producer, don’t you need to know what’s trending?”

“We need some of us to watch the show as its own thing, in isolation, so the story arc about finding you an actual soulmate staysconsistent and true.” Her brows go up like I’ve just confessed to being a principled vegan. “Fizzy, I’m not altruistic. Others on the team track the voting. I just get the final numbers. It’s really a giant mess until the window closes and I don’t relish watching it in real time.”

She rolls up to her side facing me. “So you want Isaac to win?”

There’s no good way to reply to this honestly without sounding possessive or jealous or delusional. “I think he’s the best remaining contestant.”

“That’s not really an answer.”

“Too bad, because it’s the only one I’m going to give.”

“Are there any you wish hadn’t been eliminated?”

“Jude—assuming he’s ousted this week—and purely for the comedic factor.” I tap her nose. “Colby because I like it when you’re scrappy.”

“Jude wouldn’t have the slightest idea what to do with me.”

“Sweet,noneof these poor sods have the slightest idea what to do with you, and that includes the bloke who’s already had a shot at it.”

She laughs at this. “But you do.”

“Course I do.” I grab the champagne back and take a long, draining pull of it. “Take you as you are by day and fuck you till you’re wrecked by night.” I pass the back of my hand over my mouth and reach over to set the empty bottle down on the nightstand.

Beside me, Fizzy’s gone silent. It’s my turn for a double take; her eyes are soft, lips slack. “What’s with you? Did I get that wrong?”

“No.”

She looks like she wants to devour me, and I laugh. “I can’t bethe first to see through all the hilarity and impassioned lectures, Fizzy. You’d enjoy a man who understands that you just want a hot best friend who makes you laugh and come in equal measure. Honestly, it’s not that hard.”

She falls onto her back again, staring up at the ceiling.

“What?” I loom over her. “Is that offensive? Have I disrespected your hidden depths?”

“Enjoy,” she says.

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