Tiffany & Brent:110 Heart Points
(Mostly here for fashion)
Chad & Kiki:60 Heart Points
(Still don’t understand the game)
(Production reminds contestants that score changes may occur based on bonus or penalty points related to behavior. Yes, Joe—slimy cheaters are universally disliked.)
68
Plushie Ambush
Sloane
After the challenge, we all retreat to the hot chocolate stand. Even though… all this pink is starting to mess with our brains.
The mugs are heart-shaped.
The whipped cream is dyed fuchsia.
The napkins are printed with winking cupids.
There’s even an artificial strawberry scent bravely battling the aroma of coffee.
We’re packed around two wooden tables shoved together in what has officially become our unofficial headquarters.
Yes, at this point, you could say we’ve formed some kind of coalition.
I’m sitting next to Cohen.
Actually—
I’m practically melted into Cohen.
His arm is draped over the back of my chair, his hand absentmindedly playing with the hair at the nape of my neck.
Across from us, Lars pours an amber liquid from a silver flask into Lucy’s mug.
“It’s my grandmother’s remedy,” Lars murmurs in his deep voice. “Spiced rum. Melts the ice in your veins.”
Lucy looks at him like he’s just offered her the nectar of the gods and takes a sip, immediately blushing.
Lars passes the flask to Cohen.
“Thanks, man. I need this to survive all this pink,” Cohen says, adding a generous splash to his mug.
Then he glances at my half-full cup.
“You want some, Angel?”
“Just a little,” I say. “You know I can’t handle alcohol.”
He smiles, and I know exactly what he’s thinking about—my last drunken performance.
I drink.
Warmth explodes in my stomach and shoots straight to my head.
