‘You two are going to say no at the altar. Both of you. That way, neither of you get married.’
‘And that puts you in second place behind Whit and Malachi,’ Dolly finishes. ‘You don’t get the nest egg, but you might get the clout.’
‘Lina and Zack are hardly competition. It’s just you four.’ She shrugs like this is nothing. ‘I knew you were a game-player, Dolly. Too bad you spent all your energy cheating on your fiancé instead of using that brain to beat me.’
‘And what if we say no?’ Dolly’s teeth are gritted.
‘I tell production that you were sleeping together the whole time,’ Bridget says calmly. ‘I’m pretty sure the show doesn’t take kindly to cheating. You’d all be ejected from the show, and the media would be informed, I’m sure.’
‘You wouldn’t,’ I gasp. ‘Bridget, youcan’tdo that to me. I thought you were my friend.’
‘You fucking scumbag,’ Dolly hisses. ‘Youworm. Carys isn’t even out. You want to do that to her? You want to take that from her? It should be her choice when she gets to tell people, ifever. You don’t understand what you’re doing.’
‘I understand perfectly, and I don’t want to out you,’ Bridget says, like she’s talking to two unruly children. ‘So if you just agree to my deal, we won’t have to even consider that.’
‘Forgive me if I don’t believe a jot of that,’ Dolly spits. ‘Lina warned me not to trust you, and I should have listened. You’re a fucking snake.’
Bridget sighs like she’s getting fed up of this. ‘The fact is, girls, you two broke the rules. We should all have been fined for your finger-fucking or whateverlesbiansget up to.’ She sayslesbiansin the same way that I’ve heard that beautiful word weaponised my whole life; spat, with disdain. ‘And I doubt that Warren and Patrick are all-in on this side project you’ve got going on.’
‘I thought you were my friend,’ I whimper, just as Dolly snarls, ‘Fuck you.’
‘I think there’s been quite enough of that for one series,’ Bridget says, admiring her manicure. ‘Now, do we have a deal?’
‘I do not make it my business to make deals with homophobes,’ Dolly rages.
‘Stop calling me a homophobe. I’m not a fucking homophobe!’ yells Bridget, and I think, deep down, she believes it. It’s funny the things you can believe about yourself even in the face of glaring evidence. ‘I just refuse to lose to you fakers! What Jackson and I have is actually real.’
‘Please stop shouting, or someone is going to hear,’ I beg, my hands shaking. ‘Please, Bridget. You can’t do this to us.’
‘Carys.’ She spins round to face me, and tries to take my hands in hers, but I step backwards away from her, stumbling into the wall.
‘Don’t touch me,’ I snap. ‘Don’t fucking touch me. I can’t believe you’ve done this.’
I burst into racking sobs, and sink to the floor, just as Patrick and Warren storm down the corridor.
‘What the hell is going on?’ Patrick says, wrapping his arms around me.
The worst part is that I can see all the fight go out of Dolly. ‘We were just having a conversation,’ she says.
‘All’s fair in love and television,’ Bridget says, striding off down the corridor.
I barely register Patrick lifting me and guiding me back into the flat, tucking me in bed, because I can’t stop hysterically crying. He keeps asking me what she said, but how can I even begin to tell him?
What the fuck am I supposed to do?
Chapter Thirty-FiveDolly
Excerpt from podcast Rox’s Docs, interview between Dawson Roxford and the Hannahs
ROX Okay, girls, who do you think is the fakest?
HANNAH S. Bridget!
HANNAH C. OMG, Hannah, shut up.
ROX You think she and Jackson could beWedded Bliss’s Ottie and Seb, Hannah P.?
HANNAH S. I’m Hannah S.
