“By blackmailing?”
Alexis laughed, her head tilting. “By taking my shot.”
The song ended, and Alexis looked just about ready to spin her into a new song when Skye twisted out of her grip. “I need some air,” she said quickly. Before Alexis could protest, she was already rushing out, making a beeline for the beach.
If Marla or any one of the production team noticed, they didn’t come after her, and she was glad for it. She needed some space and some time to think.
Skye kicked off her heels as soon as she stepped onto the beach and walked midway between the ocean and the grass before she sank into the sand. She pulled her knees to her chest and stared out at the ocean. The moonlight shimmered across the waves, painting silver streaks across the dark surface. The waves lapped gently onto the shore and retreated, leaving behind thin trails of foam that clung to the sand before vanishing.
What would happen if she came clean and just told everyone that she had slept with Lucy? Would it matter if she’d spent every waking moment since their trysts either imagining what it would be like to do it a third time or trying hard to shove those thoughts so far down that she swore she could feel them buzzing in her bones?
But as soon as she thought it, she felt sick with worry. Marla would never sign off on her raise, and her carefully managed show would probably unravel in a single scandalousheadline. Not to mention that her job would be on the line. A job she didn’t even know if she wanted anymore. Lately, it seemed it was a job that often made her so miserable she was basically coasting off sarcasm and caffeine. And then there was Lucy. Just thinking about her made Skye’s chest twist in ways she hadn’t expected. Skye had spent so much of her life controlling everything and keeping everyone at arm’s length, that feeling like this about someone, even in flashes, was terribly disorienting.
Skye dug her fingers into the sand. She didn’t want to admit that she wanted Lucy. Not just the sex but the way Lucy looked at her, like she both saw her andwantedto see her.
Suddenly someone cleared their throat behind her, and Skye felt her stomach leap into her throat.“Alexis,” she said. “Please. Can you just give me five minutes before you start hounding me?”
But it wasn’t Alexis. Skye snapped her head back only to see Lucy standing a few feet away. She was barefoot, her dress was hitched just above her knees, and her hair was pulled back from her face in an exasperated-looking bun.
“Are you alright?” Lucy asked, still standing stiffly. She took one step back as if she thought it was a mistake to follow Skye and then shook her head, looking confused. “Why did you think I was Alexis?”
Skye didn’t know how to answer that. It should be simple.Alexis has been following me everywhere. She knows about us. She’s blackmailing me.
But for some reason, the words felt like a wedge had been stuffed down her throat. To utter them out loud, she’d basically have to admit she’d let herself get cornered, that she wasn’t in control of this game anymore.
“Why are you here, Lucy?” she asked instead, sounding sharper than she meant to. Her voice was almost brittle, like a glass she was daring Lucy to tap and watch shatter.
But if Lucy noticed a crack hiding in her voice, she didn’t say it. She simply pressed those lovely lips into a thin line. “I came to see if you were alright,” she said. “You looked upset when you ran away from Alexis. Did something happen?”
“Did I?”
“It kind of looked that way,” Lucy said, tilting her head.
Skye nodded slowly. “Do you think anyone else noticed?”
Lucy shook her head, and a small smile tugged at her lips. “No,” she said. “Everyone’s busy watching Nova and Amy playing flip cup at the bar. They’re both surprisingly good at it.”
Skye nodded but didn’t laugh. She didn’t even crack a smile. She just flicked her gaze back to the ocean and waited for Lucy to leave. But she didn’t. Instead, she closed the few steps between them and lowered herself to the sand. The hem of her dress spilled around her like a puddle.
“You’ve been ignoring me again,” Lucy said, looking ahead. “And I honestly don’t know why this time. But I can’t keep doing this, Skye. It’s like I’m on a rollercoaster. Every time I get to the top and I think I know what’s coming for me, the entire track shifts. You shift.”
Skye dragged a breath in through her nose. She hoped the extra oxygen could turn into courage if she got enough of it. “Alexis,” she said finally, the name burning hot on her tongue.
Lucy turned toward her and blinked. “What do you mean,Alexis?”
“She knows about us.”
“She does?”
Skye nodded. “She’s been holding it over my head. It’s why I keep choosing her to go on dates. It’s why I’ve been ignoring you, because I’m scared that if I choose you, that if Ipay you any attention, she’ll blurt it all out. If Marla finds out, if the other contestants—” She cut herself off and exhaled hard. “I have no idea how much she actually knows, but it’s not worth the risk.”
Lucy didn’t blink. She wasn’t even breathing as far as Skye could tell. And then, suddenly she was laughing so loud her body vibrated. It was so loud her laugh carried across to the ocean and back to the veranda, and Skye had to whip her head back in case Marla heard and came running at the noise.
“What the hell?” Skye snapped. She was surprised, and maybe even a bit terrified for Lucy’s sanity. Because surely, only insane people laughed like that.
“Sorry,” Lucy choked out, slapping a hand over her mouth. “I didn’t mean to laugh. I… I just thought you were sleeping with her.”
Skye’s mouth fell open in shock. “Why on earth would you think that?”
