“Would you mind doing my back?” Lucy asked, a little too bright and a little too suddenly as she pulled the tube out of the bag and held it up.“I can never get the sunscreen smoothed evenly.”
There was a pause. Not long, but long enough for Lucy’s brain to screamAbort, abort. This is a bad idea. How can you be so stupid?
But then Skye smiled and said, “Sure.”
And so, of course, Lucy’s cheeks started burning. She turned quickly and pulled her hair up and away from her shoulders before Skye could change her mind. She tried very hard to look relaxed. But when she heard the soft click of the cap on the sunscreen bottle, her heart rate sped up. Her own heartbeat sounded loud in her ears.
It became even worse when Skye’s hands touched her back. And by the time Skye’s hands swept over her shoulder blades and across the nape of her neck, Lucy had to do everything she could not to let out a moan or make a face or say something stupid like,Your hands are ridiculously soft.
“You feel very tense,” Skye said, sweeping her hands along the sides of Lucy’s ribs.
“Sorry,” Lucy mumbled and let out a quick, awkward laugh that sounded nothing like her normal laugh. “I think I’m still on a high from the jet ski. You know how adrenaline soars through your veins during that kind of thing.”
Skye’s voice was soft behind her. “Makes sense,” she said. And then she dropped her hands.
Lucy resisted the urge to sway backward in order to chase the warmth of Skye’s hands that had just disappeared. Before she could even pull her hair back down, Marla appeared out of nowhere with a clipboard pressed to her chest.
“Hi, ladies,” she chirped. “It’s time to go paddleboarding. Remember when you first paddle out, keep your mics above the waterline, and if you’re having a conversation—”
“Wearehaving a conversation,” Skye interrupted flatly. She stepped aside and grabbed her paddleboard off the ground.
“Right,” Marla said, undeterred. “Also, please keep your conversations playful and natural, but also like give us content, you know. I want flirty, introspective… even vulnerable if you think you can manage it.”
Skye let out a breath and turned toward Lucy. She gave her a look, not a big one. It was barely more than a twitch of her eyebrows and the tiniest roll of her eyes. But Lucy caught it. And just like that, her stomach was doing an acrobatic flip.
Damn. She loved that. Loved the little cracks in Skye’s exterior, the way she didn’t bother pretending for production. Like earlier at volleyball, when she’d looked no happier to be standing on the side of the court than at a funeral. It made Lucy feel like they were somehow in on something together. Like she was meant to be on the show and like they were meant to find each other.
Which was ironic considering the only reason—well, at least the main reason—she was on this show was because of Kat. Because Kat had decided to fall in love with someone else, someone who wasn’t Lucy, and propose no less than two months later. If there was ever a slap in the face, it was that. Kat had practically submitted Lucy’s application for her.She was the real reason Lucy had replied to the email and applied to be a contestant onThe Sapphic Match. Lucy wanted Kat to see it. The hurt part of her wantedherto see Lucy falling for someone else. The unhealed part of her wanted to rub it in Kat’s face.
Kat, just like Ben, had been obsessed with the show. Reality TV was like a religion to her. And so, what if a small, spiteful part of Lucy had wanted her to have a front-row seat?
“Flirty. Introspective. Vulnerable,” Skye repeated, her voice dry as dust. “Got it.”
Marla missed the sarcasm entirely. “Perfect,” she beamed. “We’ll be filming from the dock and from that kayak over there, but don’t worry, you’ll barely notice us.”
Lucy almost laughed. Sure they won’t.She took the other paddle and followed Skye down toward the floating dock. A PA handed her a dry bag and clipped a mic onto her bikini top. Lucy tried not to squirm.
“You ready?” Skye asked, already steadying her board with one foot on the dock. Maybe Lucy had it all wrong. Maybe Skye actually liked water sports. Maybe she was even good at them. Which made Lucy all the more nervous.
Lucy nodded. “I want you to promise that you won’t judge my form.”
“I can’t promise that.”
Lucy laughed. It was half-panicked, half-flirty. Despite the fact that her legs were strong, her body muscled, and she looked like someone who could throw a ball and catch it, her body often forgot how to function in three dimensions.
She crouched to push off. Her knees stayed bent, her legs wobbled, but somehow, she stayed upright.
The water shimmered beneath them. The sun sparkled above, and the cameras buzzed somewhere in the distance. Lucy didn’t say,I like you, Skyeout loud, but she thought it a little too loudly. Loud enough, maybe, that it echoed all up and down her arms and legs.
Chapter Nine
The sun was setting behind the palms, with gold bleeding into orange and then bruising purple where it touched the ocean. Skye sat cross-legged in the sand with her heels buried, and her sunglasses still on even though the light was slipping away. She was just far enough out of the designated film zone to trust that there weren’t any cameras lingering.
This was her space, her time.
“What are you doing?” Marla’s voice came from behind her.
Skye whipped her head back. “Hiding,” she said, not bothering to lie about it. She turned back and stared out at the ocean, and at the tide rolling up toward her toes. The water stopped short, leaving a glistening thread of foam behind on the wet sand.
