Page 40 of Fan Favorite

Everyone turned to watch Adam Fox and his entourage make their way down the beach. A woman dusted his face with powder while another handed him a set of cue cards he briefly glanced at before shoving them back at her. He settled on his mark in front of the girls. As the cameras got into place, Edie hoisted her boobs back into what was left of her swimsuit’s cups. There was no time to obsess over what she was wearing or Aspen’s hot take, only time to embrace the moment. Edie Pepper was finally on her very firstKeydate!

“Rolling,” the director yelled.

“Speeding,” the sound guy responded.

And then Adam Fox softened his face and began. “It’s week five, and connections are forming…” he recited to the camera.

Watching Adam Fox make the kind of speech Edie had seen him make a zillion times before was wild. On TV, his energy was all neutered father figure, earnestly doling out advice and making sweeping declarations about the power of love. But in real life he was a pompous egomaniac who easily flew off the handle. Knowing this was sort of sad, similar to the feeling Edie got when a Michael Jackson song came on the radio and her first instinct was to dance.

“—and it’s getting harder and harder for Bennett to say goodbye to these amazing women, but he has to stay strong if he’s going to find out who holds the key to his heart.” Adam Fox paused. “Time. Time to make and strengthen connections is so precious, which is why it’s more important than ever for the women to emerge victorious from today’s date and win thatexclusive one-on-one time with Bennett at a private concert featuring…Meghan Trainor!”

As if on cue, the girls squealed like a gaggle of tweens about to meet their favorite TikToker, jumping up and down and practically knocking themselves over with their bouncing bosoms. Edie was so shocked by their sudden outburst it took her a minute to catch up. “Yay!” she yelled finally, jumping a few beats too late, clutching her ragged swimsuit to her chest. “Yay?” she said again, looking around at the semicircle of girls who’d already composed themselves. Zo rolled her eyes so hard she almost fell over. From across the circle, Bailey gave Edie a sympathetic smile.

“Cut!” the director yelled.

“That was really great, Adam, really great,” the field producer said to Adam Fox’s departing back as he slogged back through the sand toward the clubhouse. “Reset for Bennett!” the producer yelled, and the girls were hustled into a new formation facing down a long length of beach. “Cue Bennett!”

And then, just like a dream, down the beach, Bennett Charles emerged. He was hard to take in fully, between the cameraman running backward down the beach in front of him, the PA grasping the cameraman’s T-shirt, guiding him across the sand, and the drone swinging around overhead. But from what Edie could tell, Bennett was jogging across the sand with a surfboard tucked under one arm. His wetsuit was unzipped to the waist, with the top dangling sexily behind him, and his pecs and abs were glimmering in the sun, like a real-life Dylan McKay.

“Hanging out on beaches all over the world is one of my favorite things to do,” Bennett began after he’d reviewed his cue cards, been sprayed down with oil, and settled in front of the girls. “So today, I thought we’d have some fun in the sun with a friendly game of beach volleyball. And today’s MVP, well, she’snot only going to get a Key to My Heart, but also a very special surprise from me.” And then, with a twinkle in his eye, Bennett Charles shook out his sun-kissed curls. Droplets of saltwater flew through the air, and when one hit Edie’s bare chest, she knew instantly—lovestruck—that nothing would stop her from winning this game.

15

On the south side of the beach volleyball court, Team Edie prepared for battle. Max, applying strips of blue zinc from forehead to chin in aBraveheart-inspired declaration of war. Bailey, gathering her lush locks into a high ponytail and double knotting her string bikini. Lily, contorted on the sand in lizard pose, stretching her hip flexors. And a newly energized Edie, shadowboxing Ted’s camera while bellowing, “The power of love courses through my veins!”

Max gathered the team. “Okay, we want to win this thing and score that extra time with Bennett, amirite?”

“Right!”

“And you know what’s gonna get us there?”

Unfortunately, the girls did not know what would get them there.

“Focus and communication!” Max yelled.

“Focus and communication!” the girls yelled back.

“Let’s talk strengths,” Max continued. “In addition to being a decorated runner, I’m also proficient in most sports, includingspeed skating, lacrosse, discus, and bowling. A little beach volleyball is no problem for me. What about you guys?”

“I was on the volleyball team in high school,” Lily offered, tying her hair in braids.

“Excellent. Bailey?”

“I grew up in Santa Barbara,” Bailey said with a smile. Her teeth were perfect. “All we did was play volleyball. And ride horses. My pony was named Teapot and she had these gorgeous freckles on her flank—”

“Awesome. Edie?”

Edie, who’d been scanning the beach for Charlie, snapped to attention. “Um, no idea?”

“Like, you’ve never played volleyball?” Lily asked. “Or you’ve never playedbeachvolleyball?”

Edie shrugged. “I was an indoor kid?”

“You poor thing,” Bailey said, squeezing Edie’s arm.

Max windmilled her arms through the air. “Okay, all right, now that we know where we’re weak, we can work around it. Most errors on the court come from being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Edie, we’ll keep you next to me. I’ll take seventy percent of strikes, you thirty. And remember, it’s timing over technique.”

Edie felt like she had questions, but the field producer bounded over and started shooing them toward the net. “Let’s go, let’s go, we’re losing light!”

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