Page 38 of Fan Favorite

“They don’t hate you,” Jessa interjected. “They feel threatened and they’re lashing out. That’s what girls do.”

“I mean, is it?” Edie yelled from the hut. “Because I would never do this shit!”

Jessa opened her mouth, but Peter held up a hand. “Of course you wouldn’t,” he said. “Because you’re an adult. So, look, let me apologize on behalf ofThe Key, and you can trust that I’m going to take this seriously. I’ll circle back when I have more information, okay?” Peter made some notes in his phone and shot a couple photos of the shredded swimsuit. “In the meantime, what about the date?” he asked Jessa.

“Two steps ahead of you, Captain,” Jessa said. “I already got her a new swimsuit from lost and found. I washed it—by hand,I might add—and dried it under the hand dryer, the whole time thinking,This is so hip. Reduce, reuse, recycle, zero plastic, zero waste—Edie’s like our very own no-fast-fashion upcycle warrior. It’s so zeitgeist I’m literally dead over it. Edie, come out, let us see how it looks!”

“Never!” Edie yelled from the hut. “Literally no one has ever looked worse in a swimsuit than I do right this second.”

“Oh, stop,” Jessa said. “No one likes how they look in a swimsuit. Let us see!”

“Gigi Hadid. That other Hadid. Any Kardashian. The Jenners, too. Cardi B. Jennifer Aniston. Jennifer Lopez. Lizzo. There are all sorts of people who like how they look in a swimsuit. But I am not one of them!”

“A swimsuit body is just a body with a swimsuit on it,” Peter added helpfully.

Jessa rolled her eyes. “Edie, you don’t need to look like Gigi Hadid. You just need to look like yourself. That’s the only person Bennett wants to see.”

“Lies!” Edie yelled from the hut. “Do you promise not to laugh?”

“Of course we promise,” Peter said. “You’re our number one girl.”

The door to the changing hut creaked open, and Edie Pepper stepped out onto the sand. Instantly, Peter’s face flashed with alarm. He didn’t know much about fashion, but over the years he’d seena lotof girls in bikinis and he knew that this—this was not it. The suit was faded purple with fuchsia hibiscus flowers and green and yellow palm fronds strewn every which way. A flimsy purple skirt was attached to the waist and hung toward her crotch in a ruffled V, giving the whole thing a bizarre tropical ice dancer flair. And not only was the suit itself abjectly ridiculous, but it also very clearly did not fit her. It looked old and saggy, like the elastic had lost its sap,and frankly he worried about it even staying on during the volleyball game.

Then he realized it would make great TV if it fell off.

Peter had to hand it to her—Jessa was really hitting her stride this season.

“See,” he said with a reassuring smile. “You look great.”

Edie looked at him like he was insane. “While I’m happy to concede this bathing costume is basically an outward expression of my very soul—which, as you may have guessed, is a cross between Bette Midler inThe First Wives Cluband Bette Midler inHocus Pocus—I also know I look really fucking dumb. I’m not blind.”

“I think it’s a totally nineties-inspired VSCO-girl realness moment, and I amfeeling it,” Jessa said with authority. She reached over and hiked a fallen strap back onto Edie’s shoulder.

“Jessa, you are the only person on the planet who could wear this swimsuit and make it look good. Related: I hate you.” Edie crossed her arms over her chest. “There’s no way I’m wearing this on camera.”

“Don’t be crazy—” Jessa began before Peter cut her off. If Jessa’s tactics were working, Edie would already be down on the beach with the other girls. He could tell by the look on Edie’s face that tough love wasn’t the way to go. But what was? Flattery? Sure, but also something else.

“No, what you’re going to do,” he said, stepping toward her and looking her intensely in the eyes, “is close your eyes. Do it.” She looked at him skeptically, but he was not deterred. “Do it,” he said again firmly. And she did. “Now, I want you to think about the way Bennett kissed you. And not just think about it—I want you to focus on it until you can feel his hands in your hair. Do it.” Peter watched her. Nothing much for a moment, but then her cheeks flushed, and a small smile played at her lips. “Good,” he said. He stepped closer, spoke softly in her ear, likethey were sharing a secret. “I saw the way he kissed you. I haven’t seen him kiss anyone like that. And you know what I thought? I swear to God I thought,That’s what love looks like.” Her eyes popped open, and they locked gazes. They stared at each other until out of nowhere Peter became very aware of her body, soft and curvy and full, and just how close he was standing to it. He’d noticed, sure, that Edie was charming in her girl-next-door sort of way. But this stupid swimsuit was loose enough that he couldn’t help but notice just how round her breasts were and—with a truly colossal amount of surprise—that he would very much like to push her back into the changing hut, and kiss her until she never thought about Bennett Charles ever again.

Where the hell hadthatcome from?

“So, are you going to let some bitchy girls get in the way of taking what’s yours?” Peter heard Jessa say. He swallowed hard and took a big step back. “This isyourlove story,” Jessa continued. “You’ve just got to go out there andwrite it.”

Peter was suddenly very hot, and he started fanning himself with his button-down. For all his years atThe Key, he’d been careful. Never too familiar with the girls. He didn’t even allow himself to think about them or their lives in any other context thanthe show. How many girls had he stood next to in bikinis? Never a problem.

“Now go make those hoes eat it on the volleyball court!” Jessa added, triumphant.

Then Edie and Jessa were hugging, and Edie was saying, “But I’m not even good at sports,” until finally she was trotting off toward the water where Lou had the rest of the girls gathered on the sand, posing for a camera sliding back and forth along a track. Of course, Peter understood this storyline, this low-key humiliation. They watched her for a moment.

“They’re gonna eat her alive,” Peter said.

Jessa cocked her head. “Is that a problem?”

“Not necessarily.” Peter sighed. First an inexplicable moment of attraction and now a crisis of conscience brought on by the presence of a normal person on set. Regular girls weren’t even his thing! Unless, maybe, sometimes they were? “How’d you pull this off?”

“You know I have my ways.” Jessa gave him a smirk and adjusted her ponytail. “Anyway, it wasn’t hard. Picked up the granny suit at the Salvation Army last night and sliced hers up this morning during breakfast. Zo was just in the bathroom. You know the drill. Barbie flu.”

“You’re going to hell, you know that?”

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