Page 49 of Fan Favorite

“Aww, is Benny-Wenny in his feelings?” Carole singsonged before turning her tone icy. “Listen up, you ungrateful turd. I don’t care if kissing Edie Pepper shrivels your balls into tiny little pecans and makes you sneeze so powerfully you shoot them out your nose. This ismyshow. And if you think I’m going to let you derailmyshow withyourfeelings, then you’re even stupider than you look.”

Bennett’s eyes went wide.

“Not to worry,” Peter said, locking eyes with Bennett. “I’ve explained to Bennett the terms of his contract and advised him that he needs to think about his future. Being engaged to his high school sweetheart for six months will be worth everything that comes next. All the possible spin-offs, the book deals, the eventual collab with REI on a line of trekking gear. I can assure you; he gets it.” Bennett opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Jessa clambered over the bed and clamped a hand over his mouth. “We’re on the same page, Carole.”

“We better be. Shooting resumes tomorrow.”

And with that, Carole Steele hung up.

Jessa took her hand off Bennett’s mouth, and for a second, Peter thought Bennett was going to slug him. And, maybe, just maybe, Bennett’s fist smashing into Peter’s face might feel great.Like some sort of visceralFight Clubrelease, an explosion of pain blooming through his cheekbone, nose, eye, and how alive would he be then, right here, right now, with his neck snapping back and his head hitting the wall before he fell to the floor? But then Bennett shook his head—some passing look of disbelief and then something like resignation—and he sat down on the bed, his head in his hands. “You people are insane,” he said quietly. “You can’t just decide who someone gets engaged to. You’re not God.”

“But don’t you see?” A bolt of energy shot through Peter, and he waved his arms around like one of those wacky inflatable guys outside a used car lot. “I am.”

18

I’m not perfect!” Bailey protested while, honestly, looking pretty perfect.

After the disastrous group date, a distraught Edie had been deposited by the producers in an empty hospital cafeteria to wait out the crisis with Max and Bailey. A sound guy had given Edie his Nike windbreaker to put on over her stupid swimsuit, and she had zipped it to her chin to distract from the fact that it barely covered her ass. Bailey, however, never went to the beach without accoutrements and was once again beautiful, appropriate,coveredin a simple caftan, her face spritzed with Evian facial mist.

“Bailey, look, I love you, but you don’t get it because this would never happen to you!” Edie said with total certainty. After two hours in the cafeteria, Edie now knew that Bailey had been raised on a ranch in Santa Barbara with her parents, retired Olympic athletes Natalia (badminton) and Frank (triathlon), and her older brother Reynolds (sport climbing). She was also kind, supportive, and patient. Combined with her beauty andBennett’s clear interest in her, she really should be vomitous. In fact, Edie would hate Bailey if she didn’t like her so much.

“Ibreak people’s noses,” Edie continued. “BecauseI’ma total nightmare.Youare not.Youwould never break someone’s nose.”

“I broke a nose once,” Max interjected from the aisle where she’d been doing various calisthenics to ease her boredom. Even Max had packed a pair of track pants. She cartwheeled into a handstand and continued upside down. “Went for a header and took out number twelve’s nose. It’s all part of the game, Pepper.”

“Max,” Edie said, deadpan. “He wasn’t even playing.”

“Bennett’s an athlete!” Max propelled herself to her feet and then slid into the splits. “He knows scrapes and bruises. I’m telling you, he’s fine.”

“And you’re fine, too,” Bailey added.

But Edie knew none of this wasfine. Not only had she embarrassed herself every single second she’d been onThe Key, but she also knew that even if Charlie Bennett was a whole new person, scrapes and bruises were definitelynothis thing. She’d seen his face when his head was propped on Peter’s lap in the sand. She knew that face—despair, self-pity, a total commitment to the tragedy of the experience.Thatwas Charlie Bennett.

For an instant, seeing the real Charlie had been a comfort. Like Edie knew exactly who he was and exactly what she should do. How many times had Edie picked Charlie up with her pep talks and reasoned perspective? But then he’d been put into that ambulance, and she was left to wonder, once again, what exactly she was doing here.

When Edie barreled her way ontoThe Key, she’d understood that at some point Charlie Bennett had become this new person: Bennett Charles. But honestly, she didn’t think it would matter all that much. Sheknewhim. She’dalwaysknown him. Sure, there were all these external changes—the glow-up, the extremesports, the influencer status—but didn’t all of that just make him a hotter version of himself? Edie couldn’t help it—she was a child of Oprah. Self-improvement and living your best life were concepts she’d metabolized wholeheartedly. Wasn’t getting better each year a totally normal thing to do? Sitting in the cafeteria now, though, Edie felt like she’d missed something major—like, not only did she really not understand the internal changes that had driven Charlie’s metamorphosis into Bennett Charles, but she had also never even considered them. Like, did he even read Tolkien anymore?

Edie thought again about their key ceremony kiss. It had felt so romantic, after all these years, to be kissed like that by him. He was a much better kisser than he’d been when they were younger. She remembered him being more awkward then, their teeth clanking together. The key ceremony kiss, though—that kiss had made her feel wanted, desired, like she was exactly where she was supposed to be.

But now she couldn’t stop thinking about how, when he’d leaned in, she’d noticed he was wearing makeup. It hadn’t been blended well at his hairline, and some had smeared on his collar. Everything felt slippery, like too many possibilities were playing out at once: He was Charlie Bennett, pitiful in the sand. He was Bennett Charles, muscular, with this deep man voice, who knew how to kiss. He was Charlie Bennett, the boy she’d always known. And Bennett Charles, a total stranger.

Edie looked at Bailey and Max. After Zo’s incredible bitchiness on the patio that first night, Edie had assumed the other girls would hate her just as viciously, but Bailey and Max had taken care of her all day. They’d welcomed her onto their volleyball team and tried their best to make up for her lack of skills. They’d kept her company at the hospital and let her rehash the accident over and over again. Edie’s heart warmed a bit. If there was a silver lining to all this embarrassment, it was definitely making friends.

Edie double-checked that there were no cameras around before she took a deep breath and leaned in closer to Bailey. “The last time I broke his nose,” she said conspiratorially, “he didn’t speak to me for seventeen years.”

“Nowthat’sinteresting,” Max said, finally taking a seat at the table. “Tell us more.”

Edie waved her hand. “It’s stupid—it was an accident. Still my fault, though, just like earlier. It was his going-away party and we were making out and we got sort of tangled up together and my head hit his nose. But anyway, after that we went to college, and I never heard from him again.”

“Wait, why not?” Max asked.

“I don’t know!” Edie said. “He just, like,disappeared. It was awful. And I was really hurt because even then I’d thought about us spending the rest of our lives together, you know? He was myboyfriend.”

“Ghosting is for pussies,” Max declared.

“Oh my god, I’ve never even thought about it that way.” Edie’s jaw dropped. “My first ghosting…”

“It’s so weird to me that you’ve known each other forever,” Max said. “I don’t know why—people know each other. But you just seem like you’re from two totally different worlds. You’re really down to earth. He’s… I mean, he’s Hollywood, right?”

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