“Two weeks. In two weeks you get to decide whether you want to pick someone else.”
“Or quit.”
I catch her off guard as she starts to nod. Pausing, her eyes flicker behind me before fixing on me. “Yes,” she sighs. “Or quit.”
“And this whole thing ends…”
“Three months,” Edward confirms.
I smile. “Eddy. I can call you that, right? Eddy?” He scowls. “With all the respect in the whole entire world, I don’t think you guys have to worry about us making it three months.”
“Amar—”
“No,” I stop him. “When I signed up for this show, I wasn’t doing it thinking that I would be paired up with someone from my past. I came here for a new experience. Toopen myself up to someone who may actually be my partner for life. Not someone you guys paired me with because the drama would be good TV.”
I should have known better, sure. Absolutely. There is no world in which I should have thought,hey, these producers absolutely have my best interest at heart, and they will be pairing you up with someone totally unproblematic.
Because to some extent, love is supposed to be boring. It’s supposed to be amazing, and wonderful, and beautiful, but it’s not supposed to makegood TV.
Iknewthat. But part of me had hoped.
Tears well in my eyes, and I brush my hair out of my face in an attempt to discreetly wipe them away. I catch sight of one of the cameras, my chest squeezing. “I don’t want the cameras here while I pack,” I state calmly.
Lindsey considers this.
“I won’t have them here,” I push.
She puffs her cheeks out, looking around the room. “Fine. We’ll cut filming today. But you need to get moved into Cooper’s, and then we’ll be filming ITMs about how you felt doing it tomorrow, okay?”
She holds my gaze firmly, both of us testing each other.
I nod once. I’m getting what I want, and that’s all I can really ask for, right?
The crew packs up and heads out.
I love my home. It’s been my sanctuary. My happy place. No matter how stressful life becomes, I can come here and immediately unwind. Let myself just be me.
Cooper can either live in the nastiest, most rancid place known to man, or he could live in the nicest. I’m not sure. I didn’t care to ask anyone.
Fluffernutter brushes against my leg, letting out a loud purr. “I know, handsome. I don’t know why we’re doing this, either.”
Bending down, I scoop him up, heading to my bedroom.
Placing him on the bed, I head to my closet to dig for my large suitcase. I can come back for anything else I need.
I get halfway through my clothes when my buzzer goes off, alerting me to someone at my door. And while I wish it’s one of the girls, my intuition knows better.
Storming out to my door, I hit the button to let them in.
If he knows where I live, he knows which apartment I’m in.
I’m in the middle of folding another t-shirt when my door opens slowly, Cooper’s head peeking around it.
“What do you want?” I ask, barely looking up.
He steps in, all six foot five of him, and momentarily, only for the briefest of seconds, I forget why I’m mad at him.
Because he looks sogood.
