A group of men wait for me, as I enter the lobby, dripping all over the floor.
“Looks like you got rained out,” Rand says, hurrying up to me with towels.
“It sounds like it’s going to be a bad one,” Jon tells me. “They’re worried the power will go out.”
“It’s okay—Spence here will heat things up and tell us what happened with him and Lyra.” Basher bumps my arm as I run the towel over my face.
“How was it?” Tanner asks.
Basher had his own one-on-one date with Lyra. So did Tanner, standing behind him. I’m only one in the process. Who will be next? Jon? Rand? Boone?
How am I supposed to get through that now?
“Good. It was good,” I manage.
“What happened?” Jon demands.
“Nothing. We… talked. We…”
“Did you tell her you’re in love with her?” Charlie demands.
“No, but we—”
“You kissed,” Rand supplied. “Yay, you. But—”
“What happens now?” I ask them. There’s going to be another group date, another one-on-one date. There are still weeks to go until Lyra makes her choice. It might be me. I want it to be me. But, “She might pick me,” I say. “She might pick any of you, and there’s nothing I can do about it. There’s nothing any of us can do.”
No one argues with me.
“You—” I point to Tanner. “—or you—” this time I point to Basher. “Could end up with her. She might fall in love with you. Or you—” I look at Ashton and shake my head. “Not you.”
“Hey!”
He laughs and I sink onto one of the couches, head in hand. “I don’t know what to do. I gave it… maybe not my all, but a lot. But she’s still here, and there’s you. Anyone of you could take her from me.”
“Except me,” Ashton drawls.
“The lack of control is the hardest thing.” I look up with surprise to see Rand with a serious expression on his face.
“I’m not used to it,” Basher agrees.
“This is why The Suitorette is so popular with women,” Liam says. “They would all love the chance to make the big decisions. To think about themselves for once.”
“Yeah,” Tanner says with a bewildered expression. “How do you know that?”
“I have sisters.”
“Coming on the show means Lyra can make a choice based on what her heart is telling her, not her head. She’s not considering logistics about what would happen after—she’s making a leap of faith, trusting it will all work out.”
“Sometimes it doesn’t,” Basher points out. “I’ve got a sister too, and she watches this stuff religiously. She gave me the stats.”
“Look at the stats in real life,” Ashton mutters. “Nothing is guaranteed.”
I look around at the worried expressions. Lyra is in full control of the situation, and I trust her.
But along with Lyra, the show has control here because they have Lyra under a contract. Lyra may know who she wants to end up with, but the producers may not let her pick me.
And after more dates, with the numbers dwindling, who can say Lyra may not second-guess choosing me.
