‘Hi,’ he said, sitting. ‘How’s it going?’
‘Good, good,’ she said absently, before fixing her intense gaze on him. The red light blinked on. ‘So, how are things with Eavie?’
‘Things are great,’ he started cautiously. ‘I think she’s the girl for me.’ He could hear the boredom in his own voice, the repetition of words he’d been regurgitating for two weeks. He thought of his conversation with Maeve the night before, of the fact that the audience turned on couples who weren’t involved in enough drama. ‘Could you…?’ he asked, gesturing to the camera.
She flicked it off. ‘What is it?’
‘Could you tell me what you think is a good strategy?’ It felt weird to ask for her advice outright.
Paige frowned. ‘To be frank, your ratings aren’t great at the moment. People like you, but you need to be packaged correctly, and it’s not working as well as it used to with Eavie.’ She paused before adding, ‘I still think you have potential to win this, if you trust me.’
He was surprised by her harsh presentation of his chances. ‘So… what? It doesn’t matter what I say about Eavie?’
‘Exactly.’
He scratched his head. ‘So why ask, then?’
‘Because I want to know how it’s going before we jump in. Just give me your honest answer.’
Oliver wasn’t convinced that honesty would work in his favour, but he nodded anyway. The red light blinked on again. ‘It’s been a tough week for me, and Eavie has been incredibly helpful.’
‘What’s been going on?’
Oliver should have anticipated that follow-up. He decided to be as vague as possible, hoping she would move on quickly. ‘I guess I didn’t expect to make it this far, and I didn’t realise how hard it would be to be away from my mates.’
‘And you’ve now lost Niall, and you and Declan are on the outs as well?’
Oliver stiffened. ‘Yeah…’ he said. ‘It’s been tough, since those were my two strongest friendships in the villa.’
‘So… what is your relationship with Declan now?’ Paige asked neutrally.
Oliver’s heart raced – her expression was unreadable as ever, but he knew how easily she sensed weakness. ‘Weweremates,’ he said, hoping in vain that she would leave it at that.
‘It’s clear that the two of you didn’t have just any friendship.’
‘Things get intense in here,’ Oliver said, his face growing hot. ‘I got a lot closer to people than I expected, including him.’
‘How close?’
‘What kind of question is that?’ Oliver said, tone clipped. ‘You want me to quantify how close our friendship was?’
Paige stared back at him with that same blank look. ‘No, actually, I’d like it if you were honest with me.’
‘What—’ he started, scrambling. He took a steadying breath. ‘What exactly are you asking me?’
‘I’m asking you if your relationship with Declan is entirely platonic.’
Oliver lost any feeling in his face. ‘Of course it is. That’s ridiculous. Men can be friends and touch each other and talk about their feelings.’
‘Yeah?’ Paige asked, her voice growing tight, a hint of emotion finally coming out. ‘How many of your mates have you been snogging?’
‘Turn the camera off.’ Oliver didn’t realise he’d said the words, but when he heard them, he knew they were his own. He couldn’t feel any part of his body other than the pounding of his heartbeat in his ears.
Paige’s poker face broke, and she looked concerned. It reminded him of how she’d acted in the living room at the manor house, cajoling. ‘Oliver, you’re not in trouble here, okay? But I need to know what happened. That’s my job.’
‘Turn the camera off,’ he said again, his voice firmer.
She hesitated before flicking the switch on the camera. ‘I’m listening.’
