“This is my first time in a mud bath,” Bianca said, settling lower until the mud lapped at her collarbone. “I’ve always wanted to do one, but every time I head to the spa, I opt for a deep tissue massage or a facial.”
“Not me,” Lyra said, dragging her fingers across the surface before she smeared a streak along her neck. “I grew up on a farm. After heavy rain, my dad would dig out a shallow pit by the barn that filled with water, and we’d all jump in until it turned into this giant mud puddle.”
“Weren’t you worried about leeches?” Louise asked, nose wrinkled.
Lyra pulled a face. “You’re joking, right?”
But Louise didn’t look like she was joking. She looked dead serious. “Leeches live in mud. Haven’t you watched Bear Grylls? He’s forever covered in them.”
“Leeches live in ponds or lakes, silly. They certainly don’t live in the pit my dad made.” But then Lyra hesitated. She tilted her head and frowned so deeply there was a ridge between her brows. “At least, I don’t think so.” Then she shrugged. “Whatever. It was so long ago, I don’t remember all the details.”
“How about we talk about something else,” Alexis said, skimming her hands across the surface of the mud. “Anything besides leeches.”
Birdie wished she were alone with her. She wanted to slip her foot under the mud and find Alexis’s ankle. She wanted to slide her toes along the curve of her calf, maybe even venture to her inner thigh just to feel her reaction.
And then a thought dawned on her. Why couldn’t she do just that? The bath was opaque. Nobody would even notice. It would be sexy. She just needed to make sure she wasn’t stroking the wrong leg, because that would be the opposite of sexy; it would be humiliating.
“So, what’s the weirdest treatment you’ve ever had?” Bianca asked, glancing around the circle. “I once had a facial where they rubbed caviar on my face. It smelled like low tide.”
“Thai face slapping,” Lyra said immediately. “I went to this place in Bangkok, and the massage therapist literally slapped my cheeks for like thirty minutes.”
“That sounds like torture.”
“Oh, I’ve heard of that,” Alexis said. “It’s apparently great for circulation.”
Lyra smoothed a hand across her forehead. “And wrinkles.”
“I once did one of those fish pedicures where the fish eat the dead skin off your feet. But then, like months later, I read this article about a woman who lost her legs doing that because of some bacteria. Never again,” Louise said, shaking her head.
Birdie didn’t join the conversation. She was too busy sliding her toes forward under the mud.
Her mind was too preoccupied, praying that she’d land on Alexis’s calf, and not say, Bianca’s shin, since the Olympian was sitting right beside Alexis… in Birdie’s rightful spot.
She inched her foot forward slowly and surely, watching the mud’s surface in case any bubbles popped up. She was so close, and then she was right there, one breath away.
But then Louise said, “I know this might be perceived as rude, but I’m going to change the conversation. I think it’s time we address the elephant in the room.” And Birdie’s entire body seized.
The elephant in the room. What elephant? Her toes jerked back like they’d touched an electric fence, and a rush of panic suddenly fizzed in her throat.
Fuck!Louise had clocked them. She knew. That was why she had asked Birdie if she’d kissed Alexis the other day. She was testing her, and now, she was going to say it out loud in front of everyone, here in the mud, in this gorgeous room, and then Birdie—and possibly Alexis too—would have no choice but to sink under the surface and die.
Birdie sucked in a breath. “What are you talking about?” She didn’t dare look in Alexis’s direction in case she gave something away. Although the shrillness of her voice wasn’t exactly convincing. But Louise didn’t answer her. She just flicked her gaze toward Alexis and smiled. Not that there was anything accusatory on her face, which Birdie found both interesting and weird. If she’d found out that one of the other contestantswas sleeping with the bachelorette behind everyone’s back, she herself would be pissed.
“Last season ofThe Sapphic Match,” Louise said. “Alexis, I know you’ve probably been asked this a million times, and I’m sure you’ve mentioned it in an interview somewhere, but I really just want to know, what were you thinking?”
Birdie’s jaw fell open so wide she could probably catch a fly. It wasn’t the question she had expected, but damn, it was nearly as surprising. She shut her mouth just as quickly and looked at Alexis. The bachelorette’s expression was calm, cool, and unreadable.
She gave a tight-lipped smile and said, “I wasn’t thinking.”
Bianca nodded as if she understood perfectly, and Lyra looked angry at Louise for even bringing it up. The question was answered. Done. Birdie expected the conversation to move on. But it became clear Louise had a death wish. She wasn’t just poking the bear; she was readying it for a wrestling match. “If you could go back to last year, would you do it all over again?”
Alexis’s gaze flicked to Birdie for the briefest second before she focused back on Louise. “Yes, I would,” she said. “I wouldn’t change a thing. I’d do it all over again.”
“Really?” Louise asked, sounding every bit as surprised as Birdie felt.
“Yes,” Alexis said matter-of-factly. She ran her hand over her shoulder and left a streak of mud across the side of her neck. “If I hadn’t done what I did, I wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t have met any of you and gotten this experience. I wouldn’t have learned what I needed to learn or even become the person I am today. So, no, I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Louise smiled, seemingly satisfied with Alexis’s answer. Birdie, not so much. Alexis hadn’t been this calm the last timethe conversation had come up. So, what had changed? Why was she suddenly accepting her past behavior?
