Page 78 of Fan Favorite

The knocking continued.

“Just a sec!” Edie cried, untangling herself and, in the process, discovering last night’s thong trapped between the sheets. Shit! There were her jeans in a slutty pile on the floor. Her bra splatted across the desk lamp. Where in the hell was her shirt? Quickly, Edie abandoned hope of reuniting with her clothes and ran to the bathroom for the hotel robe. She shrugged it on, ran back to the door, thought better of it, ran back to the bathroom for a speedy gargle of Listerine, tried to fix her hair and rub the mascara off her cheeks, gave up, and then, breathless with anticipation, ran back to the door and threw it open.

“Good lord, what happened to you?” Jessa asked, breezing past Edie with her ponytail swinging. “You’re not even dressed! Chop-chop, girl, we’re got places to be!”

Edie stared at her dumbfounded.

And then it hit her.

The lock-in.

“We’ve got a full day,” Jessa said, stepping over the duvet and plopping down on the bed. Edie grimaced, wondering if she should mention the sex that had taken place right where Jessa was sitting.

“First some B-roll of my favorite lovebirds, Edie and Bennett, roaming around the most romantic city in all of theMidwest,” Jessa said, poking at her iPad. “Then I have something very special planned for you, something nostalgic that you’re gonnalove. But don’t ask—it’s a surprise. Then off to Mama Pepper’s for a little ‘meet the parents’ moment and some engagement talk—” Edie gasped, and Jessa looked up. “I know, I’m excited too! And then the very best part, the lock-in. Super-special, off-camera time for you and Bennett to say whatever needs to be said and then make it official with your hot naked bods.” Jessa wagged her brows suggestively at Edie.

Slowly and then all at once, Edie understood that BACK TO WORK literally meant Peter had gone BACK TO WORK producing the show. And that the corollary to BACK TO WORK was Edie as one of Bennett’s final contestants, Edie as one of Bennett’s options for marriage, Edie locked in a room with Bennett all night long. But Peter couldn’t possibly think that Edie should go on the lock-in like nothing had happened. Right? Edie was typically up for a lot, but there was no scenario in which she went from naked in a bed with Peter Kennedy to her mother’s kitchen table with Bennett Charles.

“Seriously, what’s with you?” Jessa snapped her fingers in front of Edie’s face. “Are you hungover or something? We don’t have much time.”

“Jessa…”

Edie sat down next to Jessa. She bit her knuckle, trying to figure out what made sense.The Keywas Peter’s realm, and maybe Edie should let him chart the way forward. Except, there was no way Jessa would’ve come here unless Peter told her to.

“Do you need to shower, or should I get you some flip-flops so you can go on this date as the guy fromThe Big Lebowski?”

Edie looked up at Jessa and nodded. And then kept nodding. Until she was nodding like an evil villain on the verge of a grand plan.

“I need to shower,” she said. “Let me shower, and I’ll meet you in the lobby in forty-five minutes.”

“Thirty minutes,” Jessa said, consulting her iPad. “We’ll do your makeup in the van.”

“Thirty minutes,” Edie agreed, standing up and guiding Jessa to the door. But then it occurred to her—it was still early. What if Peter just hadn’t seen Jessa yet? What if he was on his way to talk to Jessa, to tell her he was falling in love with Edie and that they needed to devise a plan for extrication? Wouldn’t Edie be jumping to conclusions if she didn’t at least ask?

“By the way,” she said, trying her best to sound nonchalant, “have you seen Peter?”

“Peter?” Jessa said, picking lint out of Edie’s hair. “He went running.”

“Running? When did he go running? And, like, where?”

Jessa made a face. “Girl, I don’t know, he went running. Around. That’s what he does when he’s in a mood.”

“Uh-huh.”

So, Peter was in a mood. Well. Edie would show Peter amood.

“If you see him,” Edie said, taking Jessa’s hands and squeezing them like she was a beatific bride and Jessa was her glowing bridesmaid and, together, they were full of wonder at the day to come. “Can you please let him know that I cannot thank him enough for everything he’s done to make my wildest dreams come true, which is, just a reminder,getting engaged to Bennett Charles. I cannot wait to give Bennettall of me. Know what I mean?”

“Aw, that’s fantastic, babe.” Jessa pulled Edie in for a hug. “But don’t give Peter too much credit. I’ve always known you and Bennett belong together.”

Edie laughed. And then started plotting her escape.

EXCLUSIVE:KEYPRODUCTION HALTS AFTER FAN FAVE EXITS DAYS BEFORE FINALE

BY LUCY LYONS

Alexa, play “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” by Taylor Swift!US Weeklyhas learned that fan favorite Edie Pepper has leftThe Keyjust days before the finale, when sources tellUsshe was a shoo-in for an engagement.

What went wrong between the extreme sportsman and his high school sweetheart? It appears Charles’s flagrant womanizing and bad-boy behavior played a big part. Rumors have dogged Charles for weeks, with former contestants coming forward to exposeThe Key’s “toxic environment,” even alleging Charles’s enthusiasm for physical attention contributed to a slew of sexual dalliances and subsequent breakups that left many of the women feeling used.

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