Page 23 of Heat & Hard Candies

I watched glumly as Colt destroyed the wooden-ball maze puzzle, and reluctantly left with him.

He was nicer than Travis, at least.

We went back to the spa, and it turned into a repeat of the misery that was my first reward challenge with Ev. Same awkward short conversations. Same clothed massages. Same sleeping on the couch.

I was even more exhausted when we got back to the beach than I had been before the reward.

Travis had gone home while I was away, so that cheered me up a little. Going back into the heat and sitting down on the sand wiped away the cheer pretty fast.

I was tired of surviving.

Whose idea was this damn game in the first place?

And why had I thought signing up was a good idea? I could’ve been living in luxury in the Bachelorette mansion, but instead, I was just sitting there while the sun attempted to cook me. Sunblock prevented the burn, but it didn’t make it feel any less miserable.

Cold mist drifted over the back of my neck, and I suppressed a groan.

My eyes closed, and I realized that Kyle must’ve been using his magic on me.

Though I couldn’t thank him, hug him, or even look at him, gratitude welled in my chest.

I’d made a good decision.

I was going to survive.

And then, I was going to be with him.

Two days later,there was another challenge.

It wasanotherpuzzle.

I was going to lose my damn mind if it happened again.

I spent the day snorkeling with Nate, though, and it was surprisingly neutral. He didn’t ask me questions, or push me for answers. He was a lot like Oz, actually.

There was no talk about books, but by the time we got back that night, I felt like I could handle the last six days on the island.

Colt had gone home when we got back, which left us with a grand total of five men.

Kyle, Nate, Reid, Ev, and Ian.

Kyle was still the ringleader, of course. And I sincerely hoped it would stay that way.

There were only two challenges left, so there wasn’t too much more ahead of us. The final challenge was always a puzzle, and was always a statue of the compatible woman the guys were competing for. So, that challenge wasn’t Kyle’s to win.

The second-to-last one would have to be the comfort item challenge. Sometimes they inserted it into the game earlier, and sometimes they waited to the end, but they always included it. Itgave every one of the guys a chance to sit down with the woman they were competing with, so it was unique in that way.

Ever since they changed the way challenges worked, the winner would have an entire day to walk me through their bag of comfort items and relax at the spa with me.

I sincerely hoped that Kyle would win, and that we were still on the same page, because the end was approaching fast. What if he didn’t want me anymore or something?

Shit, that was terrifying.

With worry hanging over my head, the next two and a half days passed slowly. But, I survived them, and made it to the challenge.

Jordan announced everyone’s favorite competition: finding the bags of comfort items they had packed. The first person back would get the big reward. Everyone else would get five minutes to show me their bag and the asset folder with it.

All of that was expected.

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