Ava chimes.
“There has been a breach of the rules,” she says, andeveryeye in the place goes directly to Blake, Pax, and their guilty-ass expressions.
When all is said and done, the two of them have cost the group three thousand dollars and cost themselves a few budding friendships. Vincent looks downright murderous, but the other contestants don’t seem to share his bloodlust, so he settles for pouting alone. Ariana is the only one who seems thrilled for them, catching Blake after the crowd has broken up to fling arms around his neck and jump up and down in excitement.
“So, Paxton,” she says, shifting back only to slap Blake on the arm surprisingly hard for such a little girl. “He seems helpful and… dreamy.”
She’s so bright-eyed and genuine, Blake can’t resist the smile that crops up on his face. He easily lets her hook an arm through his and escort them over to grab some dinner from the kitchen. “Helpful?” he questions.
“Oh, uh…” Ariana looks around furtively and then leans up to whisper in Blake’s ear. “I might’ve been feeling a little anxious earlier, and Pax noticed. He was nice enough to share his ‘medicine’ with me, if you catch my drift.” Ariana (badly) mimes smoking a joint, and Blake laughs.
“Yeah, he’s pretty cool,” Blake agrees, his gaze involuntarily searching the man in question out. Mr. Pretty Cool is currently standing across the way, eating a chicken leg over a paper plate while watching Ariana and Blake collect their own dinners. When he sees Blake looking, he waves, mouth full andsaid chicken leg still in hand. “Alright, maybe notcool,” Blake amends. “He’s pretty dorky.”
Ariana elbows him in the ribs, in between plopping several giant scoops of rice onto her plate. “Guess dorky must be your thing, Romeo,” she teases.
“Guess so,” Blake replies, before he even realizes what he’s saying.
As soon as dinner is over, production turns the heat up a notch. They’re all told to prepare for another party, which sends the girls scattering to change outfits and fix their makeup and sends the guys to the bar. The night is fun, everyone seemingly forgiving Blake and Pax for their slip-up (though Vincent keeps a skeptical eye on them at all times) and accepting them back into the fold.
There are free-flowing shots and glow stick necklaces wrapped around necks and wrists, plus loud music and dancing. The breeze is warm and the atmosphere is beautiful, the sun’s dying rays taking endless hours to melt completely into the horizon, leaving the sky streaked red and orange for what feels like ages.
Overall, the party turns out to be a fantastic way to take the pressure off of all of them, and the first night of living under the rule change. For a while, Blake is actually able to forget how ridiculously horny he is, how much he wants to “get to know” Pax in a more intimate way.
By midnight, everyone is wasted, and previously guarded inhibitions are beginning to drop even further. Somehow, Blake finds himself in the pool in his boxers, playing a game of chicken with Leah perched on his shoulders. Her opponent is a very-wobbly Dani being held up by Dr. Matt. Blake still thinks the guy has the personality of wet cardboard, but he’s definitely more fun when he’s drunk.
It’s only when Dani finally topples Leah in triumph, assisted by Dr. Matt’s sneaky foot sweeping behind Blake’s already unsteady ankles, that the night goes a little sideways. Dizzy from the booze, Blake’s completely unable to regain his footing, going under the water right alongside Leah.
He sputters as he surfaces, while Leah shrieks and clings to him, yelling about her mascara and asking Blake if it’s ruined. He laughs, because of course it is, running down her cheeks in black rivulets the more she blinks. Leah is surprisingly good-natured with it all, making a joke about how if she doesn’t find love here, she’s screwed. No one is going to want to date her back home after seeing the wet raccoon look she has going on camera.
She’s funny, and Blake thinks she’s pretty cool, so he doesn’t think twice about going out of his way to grab her a towel and help her wipe the worst of the mess away. It never even occurs to him that what he’s doing might be interpreted as flirting, by Leah or anyone else, because he’snot.For the first time in a long time, actually, physical attraction or no, Blake’s just trying to be friendly — tomakeand keep a friend.
Nothing seems amiss until after Dani comes over to where he and Leah are sitting across from each other on two of the poolside lounges. Blake is ultimately making things worse on her poor face at this point, and Dani rolls her eyes, grabs Leah’s hand, and drags her off to the bedroom to get her fixed up. As they run away giggling, Blake sighs and sits back, looking around for someone else to talk to.
Vincent and Amber are in the pool, engaged in what looks like a pretty deep conversation. Sure that he would not be welcomed into it, Blake leaves them be. Dr Matt is back at the bar, mixing himself what looks like a bucket-sized purple beverage filled with a shot of everything on offer, and Blake wantsnopart of that.
Finally, his eyes find Pax. He’s tucked into the shadows of the hot tub that sits on the other side of the wall of the gathering area beside the pool. Catching a flash of a red not found in nature that can only be Ariana’s hair, Blake eagerly shoves himself vertical and stumbles somewhat drunkenly over to his friends.
The hot tub is bubbling ferociously, and it’s late enough now that the breeze coming in off of the ocean has turned cool, so it looks plenty inviting. “Hey,” Blake says brightly, looking up from the churning foam to find Ariana scowling at him with her arms crossed. The ends of her long red hair trail over the surface of the water, soaked and darker than the rest as she slumps down in the corner of the tub. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Why don’t you ask your buddyLeah?”Ariana scoffs. “Since you like her so much. Guess everybody just prefersLeah,guess my life is over and I’m going to die alone.” With a very dramatic sigh, Ariana sinks down into the water until her eyes are submerged. She lasts less than thirty seconds like that before surfacing with a gasp. “Okay,hot,”she splutters, reaching over the side of the tub and grabbing her beer to take a large sip.
Confused, Blake turns to Pax for help, but his eyes look different, closed-off somehow. Still, he obliges. “She’s concerned that Dani is courting Leah and is no longer interested in getting to know Ariana.” There’s silence for a moment, and then Paxton lifts himself out of the water, sitting on the edge of the tub before swinging his legs over. The water drips from his body in a way that would be tantalizingly distracting, if Blake wasn’t so worried about Pax’s dull, disinterested tone. “If you’ll excuse me.”
“Pax, wait—” Blake starts, but Pax is already walking away, leaving a dark trail of damp footprints in his wake. Blake turns back to Ariana, scratching his head. “Okay, I’m drunk, but I’m notblackoutdrunk. The hell did I miss here?”
Down in the water, Ariana just raises her eyebrows, draping her arms over the ledges on either side. “Dani’s not the only one in the doghouse,” she says vaguely, and it takes another moment for Blake’s alcohol-soaked brain to click online.
“Wait,” he says in disbelief. “He thinks — me and Leah? Dude, no.”
Ariana just shrugs, somewhat despondently. “Me and Pax made a club. The Losers Club. We even have a slogan, want tohear it?” She doesn’t so much as give Blake a chance to open his mouth before continuing. “We Hate Love. It’s good, right?”
“Kay, first of all, you’re an idiot,” Blake replies, holding his hand out for emphasis. “I mean, I can’t speak for Dani, but if she’s dumb enough to pass on the coolest chick here, that’s her goddamn loss. And hey, there’s still the money. But don’t get ahead of yourself, alright? Pax sure as fuck did. Me and Lee — there’s nothing there, Ariana.” He glances off into the dark, in the direction Paxton walked. He’s long gone now, but Blake has a pretty good idea of where he went.
“Go on,” Ariana tells him, giving a “get-lost” wave before pointing in the direction of Matt, who’s rounding the corner of the house with his giant, over-filled drink in hand. “I think this Jacuzzi and that concoction are all the therapy I need right now, anyway.”
“Thanks Ari,” Blake replies distractedly, already moving off of the patio and into the night, pulling his t-shirt on over his head as he goes. “I’ll check in with you later, okay? You need a bed buddy, I’m here for you.”
Ariana snorts. “That’s just what I need, to be the tuna in yours and Pax’s peanut butter sandwich.”
