Lucy didn’t answer. She was too busy staring. Because there, across the fire pit, partially backlit by tiki torches and trying not to be the center of attention when she most certainly was, stood Skye. Her red hair was half up, half down, and it looked like fire caught in motion. Her skin was as white and smooth as alabaster, which either meant she never went into the sun or the makeup artist was one skilled professional.
Lucy couldn’t look away.
She hadn’t expected Skye to be beautiful in the way that she was. She wasn’t effortless, not exactly, and there was something tense about her posture. There was something clenched beneath the surface, like she was holding back a version of herself. Frankly, Skye didn’t seem like all the other bachelorettes, or at least not the way Ben had described them to her as all glossy and polished and overly cheery. She felt real, unsmooth, and completely impossible to read.
Then, suddenly, Skye looked in her direction. But it wasn’t anything like Lucy had hoped for.
The bachelorette’s gaze skimmed across Lucy in the same flat, indecipherable way she looked at everyone. It wasn’t warmer. It didn’t linger. And it was most certainly not curious in a way that Lucy had imagined it would be. Which shouldn’t have mattered. Not this soon in the game. But it did. And a small, rather sharp sting bloomed low in Lucy’s chest.
Was she that forgettable?
“Did you hear what I just said?” Amy hissed. “My spine is slowly folding in on itself.”
“Sit,” Lucy murmured out of the corner of her mouth. Her gaze was still on Skye, whose hands were loosely clasped in front of her, posture straight, thin straps of her slip dress resting on shoulders. “We’re probably starting soon anyway.”
And sure enough, the short woman with the headset on her blonde head flicked a hand toward the production crew, who instantly began adjusting lights and repositioning cameras around the fire pit. One of the producers, who had just crouched outside the frame, suddenly motioned for the bachelorette to go ahead.
Skye took a breath as if she were about to dive underwater, and then, with a sort of forced enthusiasm, she smiled.
“Welcome everyone,” she said, rehearsed.
A crew member suddenly stepped into the frame just long enough to hand her a flute of champagne, which she accepted with a slight nod.
Lucy looked down at her own glass and had a sudden desire to chug the bubbly liquid down. Her nerves hadn’t settled yet, and seeing the woman she’d waited in anticipation to meet for three long weeks since she got the call that she’d been cast, wasn’t helping.
“Tonight marks the beginning of something unknown,” Skye went on, looking everywhere but nowhere all at once. “We’re all here for the same reason. Whether that’s for the kind of love that changes everything or just a moment worth remembering, that’s what we’re here to find out.” Skye paused and, more purposefully than before, she scanned the faces around the fire pit.
Lucy tried to will Skye to look her way the same way she used to will her dishes clean when she was a student living alonein her first apartment. But nope, Skye’s gaze somehow skipped her face, and she felt that ridiculous sting of being overlooked.
“So, here’s to the unknown,” Skye went on. “To the risks we take when we open ourselves up to the possibilities that come when we dare to try. May tonight be the start of something meaningful, in whatever shape that is.”
There was a brief pause, just long enough for Lucy to feel the static hum in the air. She could’ve sworn Veronica, who was standing stiffly next to her, was holding her breath. And out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Amy shifting nervously from foot to foot.
Everyone was teetering on the edge of doing something. Clapping. Cheering. No one seemed quite sure what the protocol was. Or maybe it was just nerves. Maybe all the other contestants were as nervous as Lucy was.
But then, a man in cargo shorts with a headset seemingly glued to his ear stepped forward, ruining the moment.
“Okay, ladies,” he called out cheerily. “Cameras are still rolling, so if you want a quiet moment to chat with our bachelorette, now’s the time to make your move.”
For a split second, nobody moved. But then, as if someone had hit an invisible starter pistol, the group began to splinter.
Suddenly, it was every woman for herself.
Lucy skimmed the crowd. Some of the contestants were already laughing, though it sounded kind of forced, like they were doing it only for the camera. Others were already drifting toward the bar, and a few, including Charlotte, who looked like a woman who never showed up anywhere without a plan, were already pairing off, whispering to Alexis, likely discussing strategy.
Lucy recognized the energy around the fireplace immediately. It was all just competitive flirting disguised asbonding. She’d seen it in college when she joined the queer student group and realized even safe spaces had hierarchies. And again, when she’d joinedOutlook Magazineas a column writer and realized thecommunity feelthe editorial team were constantly talking about didn’t actually exist. Like, not at all.
And now, here it was again. All of it centered around one woman.
Skye was sitting on one of the white rope swings near the edge of the fire pit circle, barefoot now, one leg curled under her and the other hanging lazily. That emerald-green dress she wore had crept up higher on her thighs, and she didn’t seem to notice or care.
Sitting close beside her was a brunette in a fitted lilac dress. Her name was Alexis. No. Alexa. Or maybe it was Alexandra, and she didn’t like to be called anything else. The brunette laughed and reached over, her hand grazing along Skye’s knee.
Lucy’s fingers tightened around her glass.
It was a game. That was all. Her instincts were clearly kicking in. It was just her competitive drive, nothing more. She wanted to be noticed. To win. That little twist in her chest had absolutely nothing to do with how beautiful the bachelorette looked.
“You’re being way too obvious.” A voice came from behind her. Amy’s voice. It seemed the woman was following her everywhere.
