“Thank you,” Lucy said with a voice barely above a whisper.
Skye nodded because ‘you’re welcome’ didn’t feel quite enough. It certainly was not enough for what this was, not for the stupid way her stomach kept flipping like she was fifteen again and had her first real girl crush.
For a beat, neither moved. Skye couldn’t seem to look away.
“You’re blushing again,” Skye murmured, watching the blush creep down Lucy’s neck.
Lucy looked mortified. “I know,” she said softly. “I can feel it on my ears.”
Skye chuckled, but that laughter was quickly drowned out by the other contestants clapping, some more strained than others. Alexis looked like she wanted to shove someone into the ocean. Veronica blinked, looking far too stunned, and McKenna sighed and muttered, ‘Of course’ before she gave a picture-perfect smile to the camera panning across their faces.
Skye registered all of it. She was trained to. She could already hear the editing notes Marla would give, the voiceover possibilities, and the far too dramatic music cues they’d edit in afterward. But she didn’t pay it much attention because she was too busy staring at Lucy. Actually staring.
Marla’s voice suddenly called from somewhere behind the camera. “And that’s a cut on the first impression ceremony. Thank you, ladies.”
Skye took half a step back, suddenly aware of how long she’d been standing there, looking at Lucy like an idiot. She cleared her throat and nodded.
“I have to go,” she said and then turned too quickly, nearly tripping over a drift of sand. But even that didn’t stop her. And she didn’t look back. She just felt Lucy’s eyes on her the entire way.
Chapter Six
It was nine a.m. the morning after the first impression ceremony, and the sand was already too hot to stand on for more than ten seconds. Lucy regretted her choice of no shoes and no SPF, especially considering the activity of the day involved sprinting across a makeshift beach volleyball court like a bunch of golden retrievers chasing a tennis ball.
She would much rather have slept in since she’d gotten very little sleep last night. Mainly because her mind had the audacity to replay the event over and over again. Skye calling her name. Skye setting the lei on her shoulders. Skye smiling in a way that absolutely should not have made her heart race the way it did.
Not once had she considered that something as silly as a first impression lei could affect her so much. Not once had she thought she’d be so invested in the show after only a few hours of being there. But apparently, all it took was a garland of flowers and the bachelorette’s crooked smile to make her weak at the knees.
And now, almost twelve hours later, Lucy was trying not to read into things. Or look too obviously in Skye’s direction. Which, frankly, was difficult because Skye had just stepped onto the sand looking like she regretted the decision to even take part in this nonsense. She was squinting behind oversized sunglasses and holding a bottle of water in her hands like it was an emotional support item. Her hair was up in a messy bun, tufts of red streaking over her ears, and her outfit made up of loose linen shorts and an oversized button-up shirt looked neitherappropriate for the activity nor remotely enthusiastic about being televised.
It was both hilarious and weirdly endearing.
Skye Wilder, bachelorette, apparently hated everything about beach sports. Was it the heat? The sand? The fact that they were about to get hot and sweaty? Or was it the prospect of being filmed while doing something uncomfortable that had her looking like she despised the very air she was breathing?
Lucy smiled despite herself. She wasn’t sure if she’d be finding Skye so incredibly adorable if she hadn’t bumped into her coming out of the bathroom last night and seen the tiniest bit of vulnerability behind that somewhat cool façade. A façade that the title of bachelorette gave her automatically. She also wasn’t sure if she’d be feeling this way if Skye were simply another redhead, a woman she’d met out in New York instead of someone who was up onThe Sapphic Matchpedestal. Would she have noticed her out in a club in Manhattan? Would she have given her a second glance? Probably. That red hair was difficult to ignore. But still, there was something about her that screamed, ‘Don’t look at me. Whatever you do, just don’t look at me.’
Lucy wondered if the other contestants had noticed.
“Alright, ladies,” a woman shouted out loud. Lucy turned to see the executive producer, Marla, trudge her way across the sand onto the court. “Here’s the plan for the next ninety minutes,” she said. “We’re filming wide shots of everyone playing beach volleyball. It doesn’t matter who wins. We just need energy, fun, laughter, and possibly a few cute saves if someone can do that. No injuries, please.”
She then gestured toward the shaded tent where camera operators were setting up gear. “We’ll be cutting in shots of Skye standing on the sidelines.”
Lucy couldn’t help but glance once more toward Skye, where she stood awkwardly beneath a parasol one of the PAs had shoved into the sand.
“You’d think she was about to melt,” Amy chirped softly beside her. “You’d think she was a vampire. She looks completely miserable in the sun.”
“Maybe she doesn’t want to get a sunburn,” Lucy replied, sipping from the branded coconut water that tasted vaguely like sunscreen. Somehow, Skye’s alabaster skin had become even paler since last night.
Amy shook her head. “It’s inevitable. She’ll need at least two tubes of SPF 50 to get through the morning.”
Lucy bit back a grin. She wasn’t going to say it, but Amy wasn’t wrong. With hair that red, Skye probably got sunburned just stepping outside to get into her car.
“Simply be yourselves,” Marla added, her voice loud and clear, which Lucy had learned was production speak forbethe version of yourself we can sell in a three-minute montage.
“And remember,” she went on, “Skye will be picking one of you for a one-on-one lunch at the end of this activity. That means she’ll be watching.” She gave a quick glance in Skye’s direction. Lucy swore she saw the woman cringe, but she could’ve been imagining it since the sun was sharp. “So, if you want her attention, this is the time.”
Lucy’s stomach did a little flip. Not a full somersault, but enough of a flutter to make her take another sip of the coconut water. She alreadyhadSkye’s attention. Or at least she’d had it last night. Briefly. Just long enough for the lei to touch her shoulders. Still, knowing Skye was watching and not participating, like she was some judge—which, technically, she was—added a buzz to the air.
Lucy shaded her eyes with one hand and squinted toward the lineup of girls warming up. Alexis was doing deep lunges justoff the court while Nova, whose legs were tall and thin, barely even leaving room for a waist, was doing star jumps.
