Demi stepped into the clearing in a metallic dress, the fabric clinging and shimmering as if it had been made of actual molten gold. Her skin glowed, kissed by the last rays of the setting sun, and her red hair blazed like fire—flames I longed to bury myself in, flames I wished would burn away the darkness waiting for us tonight.
She was a goddess.
She smiled as if to say it would all be okay, but deep down we both knew it wouldn’t be.
When everyone was staged around the dais, my crew gave me the go-ahead.
“Welcome to the matching ceremony. Tonight, we gather to honor love—the force that binds us, shapes us, and sometimes breaks us. We’ve spent this season searching for it, testing it, and celebrating it. And now, we stand at the edge of fate, ready to see who will be matched, and who will walk away alone.”
I paused to scan the circle of faces surrounding me. My gaze repeatedly drifting back to Demi. She was a vision. She stood like a statue carved from flame and gold, her eyes fixed on the horizon where the moon would soon rise.
My voice tightened.
“Love is not a game, though we’ve tried to make it one. It’s not a title, though I’ve been called the architect of it. Love is sacrifice. Love is courage. And tonight, we will see if it is enough.”
Please let it be enough.
The crowd shifted, restless, waiting for the ceremony to unfold. But all I could hear was the pounding of my own heart, echoing the prayer I dared not speak aloud:Don’t take her from me.
“Jax and Paloma, please join me.”
They walked up the steps opposite each other, beaming as if the whole world had come down to this moment. Jax immediately reached for her hand, and Paloma gave it without hesitation, her fingers threading through his like they’d been waiting all season for this touch.
“Is this a match?” I asked them, my voice carrying across the clearing.
The crowd leaned forward, breath held, lantern light flickering across expectant faces. Jax’s grin widened, Paloma’s eyes shimmered, and they answered in unison:
“Yes.”
Applause rippled through the circle, harp strings swelling to meet it.
This scene repeated with Blaine and Jessica and Liam and Brinley and Braden and Maggie.
With the first four couples matched, that left four couples and Demi. Asher had eliminated himself and wouldn’t be joining us.
As the circle of remaining cast members grew smaller, the air seemed to grow heavier.
“Carter and Laila, please join me.”
They moved slowly, hesitantly, as if the weight of their past still hung heavy between them. Yet when they met in the middle of the dais, their hands found each other, clinging tightly, as though holding on to the possibility of a second chance.
“I know the road for you hasn’t been easy,” I reminded them. “But . . . Is your love worth a second chance? Is it a match?”
They turned toward each other, eyes searching, hearts laid on the line. For a moment, silence hung heavy, the crowd leaned forward, waiting. Then, quietly, they spoke in unison:
“Yes.”
The crowd once again applauded.
I looked around at the darkening sky, panic now setting in. But the show had to go on.
“Cassie and Jonas,” I called next. I was interested to see how this would turn out. Their union bothered me, even though Demi never spoke ill about either one of them. In fact, she didn’t want to talk about it. It was odd.
They walked confidently across the stage, neither looking at each other nor at me.
“Yours might be the most controversial relationship of the season. Some might say you betrayed a friendship. Only you can answer if it was worth it. Are you a love match?”
Cassie burst out laughing, the sound unnaturally cutting through the clearing.
