Isla laughed loudly and then winced. She touched her temple with two fingers.
Tamsyn mouthed an apology. She didn’t want to see Isla hurting. She wanted to take the pain away. But she also needed to get all of this off her chest, which, frankly, was overwhelming. “You deserved to win this season, Isla. Out of everyone there, you’re the most worthy.”
Isla parted her lips to speak, but Tamsyn didn’t let her.
“You don’t realize what you do to people,” Tamsyn said quietly. “And I don’t know how to explain these feelings other than coming across as extremely corny.”
“I like corny,” Isla said, batting her eyelashes.
Tamsyn’s heart fluttered. “Well then, here goes.” She took a deep breath. “When I first saw you at Mallory’s place, I nearly made Mikey leave with me. It was like seeing someone larger than life. I was intimidated. But then I plucked up the courage and introduced myself, and never in a million years did I think we’d end up together in that powder room. And then we said goodbye, and I went back to Santa Monica, and I thought about you every day. I can’t count the number of times that I wanted to DM you. My notes app is full of half-written letters to you. ButI was scared, which is hilarious because I jump out of planes for fun. I couldn’t face the thought that you wouldn’t get back to me. And then I saw you during that run out here in Flinders. And looking back now, it was fate. We were meant to bump into each other. We were meant to pair up.”
“You forget that I pretended I didn’t know you,” Isla pointed out.
“That was just a hiccup,” Tamsyn said, chuckling. She stepped closer. This time her hip bumped the bed. “A glitch in the matrix. Easily overlooked because being around you feels like that first warm kiss of sunlight on your cheeks after a week of grey skies. It’s intoxicating. Sometimes I can hardly breathe around you.”
Isla’s eyes were teary. Her lip trembly.
“I’ve never met anyone like you. I love you, Isla Stone. And I know the real world is messy. I know this wasn’t reality, and you live in New York, and I live in Santa Monica, and statistically speaking, long-distance relationships are—”
Isla grabbed her wrist. Her fingers were soft and strong. Tamsyn nearly melted into a puddle at her touch. “I’ve never cared much about statistics,” she said, pulling Tamsyn even closer.
Then she kissed her.
Isla’s lips found Tamsyn’s in the softest touch ever. They were like a feather skimming the water. Tamsyn inhaled deeply, and before she could even ask if kissing was allowed with a concussion, Isla’s mouth pressed harder. Her teeth teased, her tongue flicked in a sudden, electric brush that made Tamsyn lean in. Her hand rose instinctively to cradle Isla’s jaw. At the same time, Isla’s fingers slid across the back of Tamsyn’s neck.
“I love you too,” she muttered against Tamsyn’s lips. “I love you so much.” Then the kiss deepened. But only for a moment before Isla winced. Just a little, but enough for Tamsyn to softenthe kiss. When they finally pulled apart, both of them slightly breathless, Tamsyn rested her forehead lightly against Isla’s.
“By the way, the ramps were apparently supposed to be clean before we started the challenge. One of the testers left a smear of mud on the wood. If you wanted to, you could sue.”
Isla shook her head but didn’t once lose contact with Tamsyn. “I don’t care about a lawsuit,” she said, smiling. “I only care about you.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Isla had never felt so much FOMO in her life. Not even the time she’d missed the Versace couture show in Milan. The one where she’d been booked to walk the closing look in a sculptural silver gown that looked like liquid metal poured over a human body. She’d been twenty-two, feverish with some violent twenty-four-hour flu. She had watched the shaky livestream clips from her hotel bed while the biggest opportunity of her career had happened without her.
This was somehow worse.
Because if it hadn’t been for that fall, she was pretty certain she and Tamsyn would’ve been in that final battle for the title ofUltimate Outlast Her.
“Shoot!” Nadine cried, smacking her thigh with her hand. “How did Barra drop that ball? Are her fingers made of butter? What the hell are you doi—”
“Wait,” Petra interrupted, leaning forward in suspense. “She’s got it again.”
“Shoot the fucking ball!”
Production had set up what they’d been calling the Final Circle for the last five seasons. This time around, it took place on a lush grassy patch beneath a cluster of crooked gum trees, where the last six eliminated contestants watched the final challenge. A large white screen had been stretched taut between two metal poles, and a projector hummed on a nearby folding table, throwing a bright image across the canvas.
On the projection, Aggie and Josie were battling it out against Dominique and Barra in the final challenge that would determine which pair became the last team standing.
“How on earth are Aggie and Josie leading this thing?” Petra gasped, completely astonished. “I mean, Aggie can’t throw to save her life. I watched her throw a stone into the creek once, and it literally landed at her feet.”
“There’s a million dollars on the line,” Kendall said around a mouthful of trail mix. “Amazing what a little financial motivation can do for your hand-eye coordination.”
Isla couldn’t believe it either. Though she wasn’t nearly as sour as Petra seemed to be. Yes, a million dollars would’ve been nice. Extremely nice. Life-altering nice. But Isla had walked away with something else—or more like someone else—and some might say love was the only prize that made life a little richer.
“Honestly, if Aggie and Josie win this, it might be the biggest plot twist of the entire season,” Isla said, shifting slightly where she sat on the blanket. Her right leg was stretched awkwardly out in front of her, thanks to the walking boot strapped around her foot. The plastic shell caught the sunlight every time she moved, and she didn’t even want to think about all the sweat currently marinating inside it.
Tamsyn sat beside her with one arm lazily draped over Isla’s shoulders like she worried Isla might fall over if left unattended. Which, to be fair, wasn’t entirely impossible. The pain meds made her loopy enough to be a fall risk. This morning, however, she’d refused to take them. She needed a clear head for the final challenge. Unfortunately, that meant the broken fibula throbbed in dull pulses whenever she shifted too quickly.
