“More like in yours.” The moment the words left my mouth I winced and silently swore in my head as I glanced toward the cameras. I’d completely forgotten they were there. I was meant to be romancing Madi, not bickering with her. Angus was nodding enthusiastically at me though, and waving his hands, urging me to continue. He was eating this up.
Madi scoffed. “Real mature, Cole. Is this how you treat all your dates? I can see why they call you the one date wonder.”
“What, because all the girls wonder where I’ve been all their life?” I shuddered at my own words. Did I really just say them aloud? I sounded like such a tool.
“Oh,” Madi raised her hand to her chin in thought. “I thought it was because they all wonder why they wasted an entire night on you when they could have been home watching Netflix.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but Angus jumped in before I got a chance. “That’s five minutes you guys. You can stop trying to kill each other now.”
Madi let out a breath of relief. “Thank goodness. I’m not sure I could have suffered another minute of that.”
“Don’t pretend you don’t love every second with me,” I replied.
“I don’t mind the final second,” she said, before spinning around and walking back outside to join the other contestants. I’d missed the chance to fire back at her again. I really didn’t like that she kept getting the last word in.
“So, Cole,” Angus said, taking Madi’s vacated seat. “You need to pick your four favorite speed dates, and those contestants will advance to the final round. Who do you want to go with?”
I scratched the side of my face as I tried to think. I did my best to remember each of the five-minute dates, but all I could think about was Madi.
“Not Sally,” I eventually said, pushing down a shudder as a flashback from the party hit me. “And I don’t think Willow is cut out for this.” She’d hated speaking in front of the camera, and I didn’t think she’d forgive me if I kept her around for more of the torture tonight.
“I was surprised I got along so well with Teagan,” I continued. “I’ve never spoken to her one-on-one before, and she’s actually quite funny and sweet. I think she’s a definite. Also, Evan did a good job so let’s put him through.”
“You’re keeping the guy?” Angus asked.
I shrugged. “He did a lot better than most of the others; Evan deserves to stay.”
“Okay, who else?”
I contemplated the last few options. There wasn’t much to consider though. Laurie wasn’t my type, but she was great on camera, and I already knew exactly who the last girl would be. I’d known since the moment Angus asked me who I wanted to put through. “I’ll take Laurie and Madi as the other two.”
“You sure about that?” Angus frowned. “Madi despises you and Laurie looked like she was about to launch herself over the table and start sucking your blood.”
I laughed at his evaluation of the two girls. “I thought you wanted it to be entertaining?”
“True,” Angus agreed. “And those two certainly will be. Alright, let’s go tell them.”
Once the four contestants picked for the final round had been informed, the film club lit the fire pit in the back garden. Angus sat us all down in the booth surrounding it, with me in the center, Laurie and Evan on one side and Teagan and Madi on the other. It was such a strange set-up, and I was finally starting to realize how surreal the competition was going to be. I was technically on a date with all four of the people next to me. I was still trying to wrap my head around the concept, and I was pretty sure it showed. It was like I’d forgotten how to speak and my mouth was refusing to function.
“So, Cole, are you going to roast a marshmallow for me?” Laurie purred in my ear. She nodded at the bag Angus had placed at my feet, and I was suddenly grateful of the distraction.
“Uh, sure.” Leaning forward, I pushed one of the marshmallows onto a stick and hovered it over the fire. The others all followed suit, with Laurie waiting patiently at my side for me to finish toasting hers.
When I was done, I went to hand Laurie the stick, but she shook her head, a playful smile on her lips. “Feed it to me,” she said.
I swallowed uncomfortably, my eyes flicking around to the others in our group. Evan was looking at me with one eyebrow raised, while Teagan and Madi both looked like they were going to burst out laughing. I shrugged and tilted the end of the stick toward Laurie’s mouth. We had better get some good donations for this.
I watched as Laurie proceeded to eat the marshmallow in what I assumed she thought was a seductive way—licking it off the end of the stick in a slow and tortuous manner. It was awkward, and I didn’t find it at all appealing. Even Evan’s mouth had gone slack as he watched her. It was like we were witnessing a terrible car accident and the two of us couldn’t seem to look away.
I heard giggles to my side and looked over to see Teagan and Madi both slowly picking their marshmallows off their sticks with their fingers. They looked like they were struggling to take their eyes off Laurie’s display, and every time they glanced over, another round of giggles would start.
“Thanks, sexy,” Laurie said, pulling my attention back to her.
“No problem,” I replied. Though that was a lie. It was a problem. What I had just witnessed was going to give me nightmares for weeks to come. Laurie was like one of those spiders that devoured their mates, and the closer she got, the more she terrified me.
I needed to escape from the confines of the fire pit. I glanced at Angus, pleading him with my eyes to provide me with an exit. He must have noticed my desperation because he nodded.
“Okay, we’ve got some shots of the group around the fire pit,” Angus said. “I think it would be a good idea if you take each contestant for a walk around the garden for an intimate chat, Cole.”
“Sounds great,” I replied. I cleared my throat and turned to Madi. “Hey, Madi, do you want to go for a walk together?”
She frowned and glanced around at the others.
“Sure?” she replied. It sounded more like an uncertain question than an answer, but it was enough for me.
One of the camera guys walked ahead of us, taking slow steps backward with his lens pointed directly at our faces. This was hardly intimate, but I felt like I could breathe again after the marshmallow incident with Laurie.
The two of us were silent as we walked deeper into the back garden.
“Why don’t you both talk about the donut eating competition,” Angus prompted us.
I cringed. Were we really so hopeless together we needed Angus to script our conversations? I sighed and glanced at Madi. She looked just as unenthusiastic as I was at Angus’ suggestion, but she shrugged and nodded for me to go ahead.
“You were great at the donut eating contest earlier,” I said. Man, that was bad. I could almost hear Angus sigh with frustration.
Madi smiled in response though. “Baked goods are my biggest weakness.”
She looked so cute and genuine as she said it. Why couldn’t I be more like that in front of the camera?
“They’re mine too,” I replied. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you laugh so hard.”
Madi smiled. “Because it was impossible. Have you actually ever tried to eat a donut without licking your lips?”
I shook my head. “Can’t say that I have. Maybe we could have a rematch sometime.”
“Maybe,” she grinned.
Madi paused when we reached the edge of the pool and turned to me. The area was lit up with fairy lights that sparkled as they reflected on the dark water. It gave the illusion of romance, but I already knew that Madi didn’t have those feelings for me.
“Why did you pick me to go for a walk?” Madi asked. The question surprised me, and I glanced at Angus. He was nodding happily, urging me to answer. I turned back to Madi. Her gaze was challenging, and I could tell she was suspicious that I’d singled her out.
The corner of my lips lifted as I smiled at her. “Maybe I want to
get to know you better.”
She huffed out a breath and shook her head. “You already know me.”
“I never said I didn’t, Matthews,” I replied. “I said I wanted to get to know you better.”
For some reason this earned me a scowl. “Stop trying to smolder at me, Kingston. Your seductive eyes don’t work on me.”
I laughed. I hadn’t even been trying to make eyes at her. “So, you think my eyes are seductive, do you?” I took a step closer to her and she mimicked the movement, taking a step backward.
She lifted a finger and pointed it at me. “Don’t put words in my mouth.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” I captured her finger in my hand and her eyes snapped down to where we were touching. I couldn’t be the only one feeling the sparks between us, surely.
After a few seconds, she yanked her finger out of my grasp and I grinned.
“You’re pretty cute when you’re irritated,” I said.
“Well, you always irritate me so you must think I’m pretty cute all the time,” she said, with a roll of her eyes.
I couldn’t help but smile at her. I loved it when she rolled her eyes at me. I reached out to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Pretty much.”
Her eyes widened at my comment, and I could see how uncomfortable those two little words had made her. I suddenly regretted admitting them to her. But it was already too late, and she was freaking out.
She pushed my hand away and tried to take another step back to put some distance between us. The only problem was, she was already standing at the edge of the pool. Her boot caught and she started to fall backward. I reached out to grab her, but I wasn’t fast enough. The next moment there was a loud splash as Madi landed in the water.
She was under the surface for the briefest of seconds before she emerged, spluttering. She was thoroughly soaked, but she still managed to look beautiful. She looked like a girl in a swimsuit catalog, only completely clothed. The look of horror on her face was priceless though, and I burst out laughing before I could stop myself.
“What is wrong with you?” she screamed at me, causing me to laugh harder.
“I’m sorry, Madi, but you should see your face,” I replied, as I tried to catch my breath.
“You pushed me in!” she accused.
I lifted my hands and took a step back. “I did no such thing. I wasn’t even touching you,” I replied.
“You were trying to touch me!”
“That doesn’t count as pushing! You fell in all by yourself!”
Her scowl grew darker, but it wasn’t having the effect on me that she wanted. If anything, it only made her cuter.
“Well, will you at least help me out?” she asked, swimming to the side of the pool.
With a giant grin spread across my face, I stepped to the edge of the water and reached down a hand to pull her out. As soon as her hand latched onto mine, I immediately regretted my decision. She yanked down on my arm as hard as she could, and there was nothing I could do to stop myself falling forward.
I fell in next her, hitting the water with a solid smack. The cold water bit into my skin and my soaked clothes became heavy as they gripped to my body. I came up for air with a grin still stuck to my face as I brushed my hair off my forehead. “If you wanted company in here, all you had to do was ask,” I said.
She had looked so triumphant after pulling me in, but the fact I wasn’t bothered seemed to aggravate her once again. She sent a splash my way, as if I wasn’t already soaked enough.
“Cole Kingston, you are the worst,” she said, as she started making her way to the side of the pool.
I laughed and splashed her back. “Come on, Madi. Even you can admit that this is fun.”
She wasn’t listening though. In one smooth movement, she pushed herself up and climbed out of the pool. She didn’t look back, and she didn’t take any notice of the film club’s cameras pointed at her. She was clearly pissed. I swore under my breath and took off after her.
She was halfway back to the house by the time I caught up with her. The camera guys were right behind me, and the rest of the contestants had all gathered around to see what the commotion was. They all eyed our wet outfits with curiosity.
“I’m sorry, Madi,” I said, not caring that everyone could hear me. “You were right. It was my fault.”
She sighed and turned to look at me. I could almost sense the defeat in her gaze. “No, it was an accident. You’re not to blame,” she replied. “I’m sorry for pulling you in.”
I blinked. Surprised she had apologized.
“Are we done?” she asked, turning her attention to Angus. “I need to go home and get changed.”
“Uh, yeah, that’s fine,” Angus replied. “I think we’ve got enough content for the first episode. Why don’t we all call it a night.”
Madi barely waited for him to finish speaking before she turned and started collecting her things. I didn’t blame her, seeing as she was still saturated, but I hated watching her leave without saying goodbye.
“Great start tonight,” Angus said to me, as everyone else started to pack up.
“Thanks,” I replied. But I didn’t feel like things had gone well. As I watched Madi disappear inside the house, my stomach twisted uncomfortably. If Angus was going to honor Madi’s request to be voted out this week, then I’d just messed up my one and only chance with her.
8
Madison
My finger hovered over the small play button in the middle of the screen. It was Sunday night, and the first True Love episode had just gone live, but I wasn’t sure if I could bring myself to watch it. Instead, I took a moment to distract myself by looking further down the screen. There were pictures of each contestant in two rows under the video, and under each image was a voting button. The bright blue button under my face read, “VOTE FOR MADI - $1". I couldn’t imagine anyone actually voting in the contest—especially not for me. The photo they had used for my headshot didn’t give me much chance either.
“Seriously?” I muttered to myself. It was bad enough that photo had ended up in the yearbook. I didn’t need it to be spread any further. Couldn’t they have trawled my Instagram for a good picture?
I let out a sigh and returned to the video at the top of the screen. I needed to stop being so pathetic. Surely it couldn’t be that bad. Clenching my teeth and squinting my eyes shut, I hit play.
When I peaked an eye open, I could see the video started with a montage of Cole. There were highlights of him playing football and then a few snapshots of him from the group date on Friday night. Some cheesy music was playing in the background, and I could already tell how cringe-worthy the show was going to be. Just as I was about to give in and turn it off, Angus appeared on the screen.
“Hello and welcome to the first episode of True Love, Lincoln High’s first-ever dating competition. I’m your host, Angus Fable.” He was standing near the pool in Cole’s back garden with all the fairy lights glinting in the background. I was surprised by how professional it looked. At least, I didn’t want to tear my eyes out, but that was probably because I didn’t have to look at Cole.
“Ten contestants will be vying for the heart of our bachelor, Cole Kingston,” Angus explained as he grinned down the lens at the audience. There was an excited gleam in his eye, like he couldn’t wait for us to watch it unfold. “Each week you, the viewer, will be able to vote for the contestant you most want to stay.” The camera narrowed on his face before he continued. “Voting is simple. One vote costs $1 and all proceeds will be going toward the wildfire relief appeal. This is for a really great cause folks, so don’t forget to vote. Now, without further delay, let’s meet our contestants.”
I gasped when my face suddenly appeared on the screen, and I immediately slammed the lid of my laptop shut. I’d already seen more than enough, and I couldn’t bring myself to watch the embarrassing footage I knew was coming. Boycotting the rest of the episode was more an act of self-preservation than anything el
se.
My phone rang as I stood up from my desk and Hayley’s bright smile lit up the screen.
“You fell in the pool?” Hayley squealed down the line as I accepted the call. Unlike me, she must have been watching the show since the moment it went live. In the time I’d delayed, she’d managed to watch the whole thing.
I let out a breath. “Yeah, it was pretty embarrassing.”
“Are you kidding me?” she replied. “That was the hottest five minutes of T.V. I’ve ever seen!”
“Ha, ha, very funny.”
“I’m not joking. You and Cole are electric together.”
“Sure we are.”
“Don’t give me the attitude, Madi. Everyone can see the mad sexual tension between you two.”
My face screwed up at her comment. “Hayley, you’ve got to stop saying that. That’s not tension you’re seeing. It’s mutual dislike.”
I could almost sense her smiling on the other end. “So it was hate-kissing that we nearly saw tonight.”
I started pretending to gag, causing her to laugh. “I’m joking, I’m joking,” she said. “But seriously, you shouldn’t be embarrassed by the date. Even when you fell in the pool, you looked gorgeous.”
I sighed sadly on the other end of the phone. I didn’t care about how I looked after falling in the pool, but Hayley wouldn’t understand that. “Thanks, Hayles,” was all I replied.
“So, give me all the dirt on what happened behind the scenes,” she said. “Did Laurie really think eating that marshmallow off Cole’s stick was hot?”
I laughed. I’d almost forgotten about that. The episode might have been worth watching just to see that awkward moment again. The second I’d seen it happening on Friday, I’d distracted myself as quickly as possible with my own roasted marshmallow. The pool incident was embarrassing, but Laurie’s exhibition had been mortifying to watch.
“I don’t know what she was thinking,” I replied.
“Cole looked like Bambi caught in the headlights, and Evan’s eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head. If that boy’s ever had any curiosity about being straight, I think Laurie just cured him of it.”
The Wrong Bachelor Page 7
