Page 59 of Heart to Heart
One by one,we dropped our pins into the basket held by an aide to the executive producer who guarded them like they were the Hope Diamond. Four more of us faced elimination tonight. Macie, Juliette, Daisy, and Courtney had all been sent packing, leaving a dozen of us in the house.
While depositing my pin, I made eye contact with Tristan for a fleeting second before he was whisked away by his assistant, who bore such a striking resemblance to Denzel Washington that a couple of the ladies had begun looking for him to come back instead of Tristan.
And they were in luck. Especially since he was around a lot, often engaged with Tristan in hushed conversations, both of them looking far too serious for a reality dating show.
Since what had been dubbed as Brownie-Gate, which required the appearance of several workers in white hazmat suits and our confinement to our rooms during cleanup, the tone around the set had been more accusatory, with each of us unafflicted scrutinized by both producers and the afflicted in the house. We’d all been given the opportunity to fess up, to avoidassault charges. But no one took the bait, and tense suspicion continued.
But that wasn’t what had been occupying the space in my head. Since our night on the balcony together, my lips tingled where Tristan’s had brushed against them right before all hell broke loose in the ballroom. Technically, I guess that could be considered our first kiss. It would have totally counted in middle school, anyway. But this wasn’t middle school, and I was left—confused? Wanting more? Both?
Was this part of our alliance? Because I certainly didn’t remember those terms. Though if I were being honest, I wouldn’t have objected to them, regardless of the voice in my head screaming at me about what a bad idea it was to get any closer to Tristan than I truly needed to. I wasn’t here for love; I was here to save my mom’s business and our house. The two couldn’t possibly mesh, could they?
Ugh. What would Kiki do? Scratch that. I knew exactly what Kiki would do, and it would involve me in bed with Tristan with my ankles behind my ears. I wished I could talk to Sasha, but ever since finding her and Jay with their literal pants down in the pantry, she hadn’t so much as looked at me. Even in spite of our beds being right next to each other. So, it took me off guard when she joined me on our walk back to the house after the elimination ceremony.
“Thank you, Avery,” she said in a far too meek voice to be the Sasha I’d come to know.
“For what?”
She lowered her voice, her gait slowing to put more distance between us and the others. “Oh, I don’t know. For not telling the world that Jay was giving me a ride in more ways than one; that he parked his full-sized sedan into my garage; that he drove me home; that…”
“Okay, I get it. But seriously, a full-sized, eh?”
“Yeah, who would have thought he was packing some heat behind those chinos he wears.”
“Huh. Well done, Jay.” We walked in silence, the last of the group to enter the house. With the others a safe distance in front of us, I pulled Sasha into an alcove off to the side. “Do you have feelings for him?”
Her eyes watered despite her obvious struggle to remain resolute. I got the feeling there wasn’t much that made her cry, and the fact that she was about to do so over Jay told me everything I needed to know.
“What are you going to do?” I asked.
She shook her head, wiping tears away from the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand. “I don’t know. I really don’t know. I’m so lost right now, Avery.” Sasha sat down on a small window seat and stared out the window. I joined her, half expecting to see Jay’s van sitting outside with him pacing back and forth, a cigarette in his hand as he constructed sonnets in his head to recite to Sasha using Taylor Swift lyrics for inspiration. But all there was to be seen was the circular drive, devoid of any sign of our grumpy driver.
“I understand,” I said, trying to provide some comfort to her. “I mean, I don’t completely understand because it’s Jay, but I know what it feels like to hang onto something tearing you up inside. And if you want my opinion, I think if you truly care about him, you need to show him before you lose him forever.”
“You think I should quit the competition, then?”
“I think you need to do what will make you happy, even if it means leaving the competition. Even if I really, really don’t want you to leave because you’re the only person in this house I don’t want to stab with a fork.”
Sasha laughed. “Same.”
“Plus, something tells me Tristan isn’t down with sharing his women with other men, especially with an alpha male like Jay.”
“You know, he’s completely different when you get to know him.” She giggled. “He showed me so many different sides of himself on our rides back here while the others slept.”
“I honestly don’t think I need to see any more sides of Jay than I’ve already seen.”
“That’s entirely fair.” Sasha let out a sigh. “Besides, I don’t even know why Tristan has been keeping me around. We haven’t clicked with each other at all. On our group date, he seemed so preoccupied with other things. I think the only thing he asked me about was you.”
“What?” I asked, taken aback.
“Oh please, Avery.” She rolled her eyes. “Like it’s not painfully obvious you’re going to win this whole thing.”
Tristan must be putting forth an Academy Award-winning performance.
“Not when there’s women like Bianca in the house.”
“I mean, sure, Bianca is gorgeous, successful, smart, and completely makes sense. But, Avery, you’re…Avery. You don’t make any sense.”
“Thanks,” I replied. “I think.”
