Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 41935 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 210(@200wpm)___ 168(@250wpm)___ 140(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41935 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 210(@200wpm)___ 168(@250wpm)___ 140(@300wpm)
Misty groans. “That’s my cue. Bye, guys.”
She goes over to the rest of the cast, and Alex throws his arms in the air when he sees her.
“Can we finally start filming? We’re already twenty minutes behind.”
I pick up my plate, holding my fork against it so the wind can’t pick up either thing and make noise while the cameras are rolling. There are several camera operators on the boat tonight, all of them working at the same time. There’s limited light and Alex wants to get as much footage as he can.
“Lorenzo!” Alex says. “Can I trouble you to get your ass over here?”
Dalton, who was talking to a production assistant, smiles good-naturedly and walks over to the place Alex wants him. He sits down on the other side of Farrah, sandwiching her between the two athletes.
It occurs to me, then, that in setting up a competition for Farrah between Dalton and JP, Alex has pretty much shut Misty out. She gets airtime, but there’s no one guy the producers seem to be steering her toward.
Dalton and JP start their usual banter, Farrah radiant as they both focus their attention on her. I feel off when I watch Dalton looking at her, his arm slung casually over the seat behind her.
Probably best not to look at him. Our conversation from our walk earlier is still playing on repeat in my head, and so is that hug. It was so much more than a hug, really. It was the first time in forever that a man had held me. I’m always the one doing the caretaking, never the one receiving the care. It felt good to just let go of everything in his arms, even if it was only for a minute.
We walked for an hour and a half, going all the way to the pier and then past it before we turned around. I told him more about my family, and he told me about the single mom who raised him and his sister, a strong Italian woman. I can’t remember the last time anyone listened to me like he did and truly showed interest in what I was saying.
It’d absolutely be you.
I force myself to focus on Misty and Dom, who are talking about music. Dom likes a wide variety of music, which I wouldn’t have guessed. He got his start playing a drum set that was in the back room of a Laundromat his parents bought. While they worked, he played.
“How about you?” he asks Misty. “What made you start gymnastics?”
“I watched the Olympics on TV and knew I wanted to be there someday. I was the only Black girl in my class and the more the other girls made fun of me, the harder I worked.”
Dom holds her gaze, something passing between the two of them.
“That’s badass,” he says. “And look at you now.”
“It took a lot of hard work to get here. It takes even harder work to stay here.”
“Gotta make some time for fun, too, though. You’re too young and beautiful to work all the time.”
Giana pokes me and we exchange a look. I sneak a glance at Dalton and our eyes lock.
Holy shit. He is looking at me.
This is starting to feel dangerous. I can’t pursue a man Farrah’s interested in. Just the thought is laughable.
I look away again, reminding myself what’s at stake.
Everything.
My dad’s care, my parents’ home, even my brother’s career. If I can’t make enough to support our parents, he’ll drop out of medical school so he can help me support them.
I can’t let that happen. There’s too much on the line. A man like Dalton is just a dream for me. Maybe someday I can have that, but not right now.
ten
Dalton
“What’s up with you?” JP asks me over breakfast the next day. “You’re normally a lot chattier than this.”
I shrug and push the last bite of my omelet around on my plate. “Just tired.”
“Did Farrah go back to your room last night? You can tell me if she did.”
“No, she didn’t.”
The sunset cruise sucked. Alice wouldn’t even look at me for most of it. I shouldn’t have hoped for time alone with her while the entire cast and crew were packed onto a sailboat, but I did.
She looked so damn cute in those jean shorts and that T-shirt. The shorts fit her round ass perfectly and I couldn’t stop looking at it.
The female contestants on the show were all made up and wearing dresses, and the guys all had to wear nice pants and collared shirts. But as the sun was setting and the boat was cutting through the waves, I was wishing I could be walking on the beach with Alice, wearing shorts and a T-shirt myself.
Maybe we’d walk to a beachfront restaurant for dinner. Spend hours talking and laughing over a bottle of wine.