Page 19 of Lights, Camera, Love

Once we all had a mimosa in hand and made our way to the couches, Cheryl started us off. “So, what do we think?” She looked around our little circle with a curious gaze, excitement in her eyes. As cheesy as I thought some of this might be, it was easy to get swept up in the fervor of it all.

There was some hesitant eye contact, but then Gia launched into it. “Zander and Daniel are both my type. Nice, funny, gorgeous. You know, the important things.”

We chuckled and agreed with her assessment because, yeah, the show had picked some excellent eye candy for us to choose from.

“What about you, Kayla? Feeling those instant sparks with Aaron?” Cheryl asked with a shimmy. She’d led the chat so far, and I was happy to sit back and let her take the lead.

“He’s great. Sexy as hell, exactly my type, and a good shag,” she said with a shrug.

“Three times to find it, though?” Gia asked. “It’s literally front and center.”

The dam broke, and I wiped away tears of laughter. Kayla joined in too, but after a moment, she waved a hand to quiet us down. “Here we have the North American male specimen,” she started in a David Attenborough impersonation. “The hunt for the clit remains an elusive and unending mystery.”

She cackled at her own joke and clarified, “Truth be told, it’s improved already. I’ll have him fully trained in a week.”

I grimaced. That felt… like an odd thing to say. I felt bad that we were poking fun at him when he wasn’t here. But honestly, the man brought it on himself when he announced it at lunch.

“It takes time to get to know your partner,” I offered, hoping that was what she meant and not that she was training him the way she would a dog. The others toasted their agreement, Viv going so far as to tell a story about an ex that I sincerely hoped the cameras didn’t air. Poor guy got points for learning, but having a group of strangers—not to mention the audience—hearing about past sexual mishaps wasn’t fun for anyone.

Sometimes, it just didn’t hit the mark. I didn’t feel the need to mention that, sometimes, orgasms just didn’t happen.

I mean, seriously. Getting out of your head was hard enough, but paired with the pressure of failing to deliver? For me, it was impossible. And it made me feel alone a lot of the time, especially when Esmeralda showed up at work the morning after a hot date, talking about all her great sex.

Yes, I, Sophie Carmichael, had never had an orgasm with a real human man. Battery-operated penis? Yep, but not a flesh and blood one.

“What about you, Sophie?” Cheryl asked, redirecting the conversation and causing me to jolt so hard, a splash of mimosa leapt out of the glass and landed on my hand.

Fear that somehow I had said my earlier thoughts out loud shot through me. Not on camera. Please, for the love of God, no.

But no one was staring at me slack-jawed, so I subtly wiped off the droplet, shook off the nerves, and remembered we were supposed to be talking about the guys.

“Well, I agree that Zander is fine as hell. But I didn’t get a romantic vibe from him. More like siblings, I’d say. Aaron was fun to talk to, but I know his type. I’d climb that man like a tree, then ghost him in the real world,” I said with a grimace because I knew my patterns. “I don’t think we have too much in common, but we also didn’t talk too long.”

Kayla’s eyes narrowed when I mentioned Aaron, but how could I not? He had been a blast to chat with, and his charm was easy to like. Viv let out a sigh when I mentioned Zander, and her eyes had softened at his name. I instantly knew he was her top pick, and though we had all just met, I could see that working out.

“And Diego?” Gia asked. “After that kiss last night, I thought you’d be all about him.”

The others hummed. Yep, just like high school. But with more alcohol and sex, if that was possible.

What? We got bored out in middle-of-nowhere Montana and had easy access to our parents’ liquor cabinets.

I answered Gia, who was swinging her leg restlessly. “He’s a damn good kisser, and I wouldnotsay no to doing that again. Immediately. Like now. But I feel like I’m just cracking the surface with him. Oliver is also pretty great. We woke up early and talked over coffee this morning. He’s so chill and intelligent; I just want to pick his brain and listen to him spout random facts in that swoon-worthy accent.”

“Bloody right!” Kayla enthused, emphasizing her own accent. We shifted our attention to her. “What? Don’t tell me I’m not swoon-worthy, too,” she teased, flicking her hair over her shoulder and batting her eyelashes at us. “But yeah, I’m with you on Oliver. He’s got bants, and I like that.”

“What arebants?” Gia asked, looking as confused as I felt.

“Banter, love. Good chat. Huh, must be an Essex thing.”

“And what about Aaron?” Viv prompted from beside me.

“He’s fun for now.” Kayla examined her nails, then drained the last of her drink. “Just depends on how things shake out. Anyway, what about you, Viv?”

“Oh, uh…” she started. Everyone had already mentioned each of the guys, and it was awkward to name a guy you were feeling after someone else already had. “Zander or Diego for me. They love adventure, and we had excellent talks today. Though I’m leaning more toward Zander. I like his positivity a lot.”

“Nice,” I said, feeling a twinge of jealousy at the mention of Diego, but I shoved that shit back down. Sisters before misters and all that. I gave her an honest and easy smile, hoping it assured her that everything was good. “And you, Cheryl?”

“Diego and Daniel. They’re both so light-hearted; they had me laughing the whole time we talked. Give me a guy with dark hair, tanned skin, and dark eyes, and I’m a goner. Plus, have you seen Daniel’s abs? Drooool,” she exaggerated, making her face go slack and pulling laughter from most of us. “Aaron seems fun, too.”

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