“Looks like we’ve got the winners right here!” Gaius announced, yanking me from my thoughts.
He’d finished sorting through the ballots. Each omega entered a card designating their guess as to which one of us was which.
I held back my smug grin. Thanks to my meddling at the meet-and-greet, the final result would be a total crapshoot. I’d told everybody I was Saffron, and since they had no way of distinguishing us, they’d take my word at face value. They might even think I thought they were special enough to be given the answer. I snorted at the thought. Like hell I’d fall for any of these omegas. In any case, their votes would either be flat-out wrong, or split at random.
Except Mylo.
My gaze crept back over to him as Gaius prattled on. He named a few omegas whose names didn’t ring a bell—they were the lucky few who managed to beat the statistics and guess correctly, but not with any real knowledge.
“...and finally, Mylo Furoe!”
I sucked in a sharp breath.
Standing humbly in the crowd, Mylo caught my gaze and held it.
He knew—and he knew that I knew, too.
Annoying little tube rat.
“All the winners are invited to a dinner date tonight with both alphas,” Gaius said cheerily. “Until then, feel free to relax and prepare for tomorrow’s challenge. See you tonight!”
As the contestants left and staff tore down the partitions, Saffron grabbed my arm and pulled me aside.
“Dude, this sucks,” he complained. “Why are we forced to have dinner with random omegas? I thought the bachelors got to choose the winners.”
While I totally agreed, his comment gave me whiplash. Saffrondidn’twant to enjoy a romantic evening with potential mates? Did my real twin get abducted by aliens and replaced by an aromantic clone?
I shook my head. “Dunno, but it reeks of Jade’s evil ploys. Are you seriously not interested in any of the contestants?”
Saffron didn’t respond immediately. He pursed his lips, staring out into the ocean. “I don’t know.”
My triumphant feelings were squashed by sympathy. Even if it aligned with my selfish desire for Saffron to be mateless, I didn’t like seeing him down.
“You could just need time,” I suggested. “It was chaotic today. A little privacy at dinner might help.”
Saffron sighed. “Maybe.”
He didn’t sound like he believed it, which made me feel worse. Curse you, conflicting emotions.
I put my arm around his shoulder. “Hey, chin up. This is our time. We’ve waited three seasons for this.”
He shot a sidelong glance my way. “No,Iwaited three seasons for this. You didn’t even want to be a bachelor, and then you—oh, never mind.”
“And then I what?” I asked, furrowing my brows.
Saffron lowered his voice to an accusatory whisper. “And then you fell for that Mylo guy.”
“What?” It came out as a disbelieving laugh. “Dude, you’re crazy.”
He crossed his arms. “Am I? When he tripped, you launched yourself at him like a torpedo.”
“Was I supposed to let him fall?” I countered.
“And then you let him skip the line.”
“Yeah, ‘cause it’d be weird if I caught him, then shoved him back into the queue.”
“No, it wouldn’t. You gave him preferential treatment.”
