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  “Happy Birthday, Riles,” Travis whispered in my ear as I drifted off to sleep.

  I woke up to a dark and silent house. Without moving and waking Travis, I squinted towards the cable box to see what time it was.

  Three… in the morning. Ugh.

  As quietly as I could, I untangled my hand from Travis’ and scooted off the couch and out of his arms. He groaned and rolled onto his stomach, but continued to sleep. I debated for a moment whether to wake him and go to the bed to sleep or to leave him and just go back up to the main house. I was just about to reach out to him and wake him, when my brain kicked in and told me it was time to leave.

  As much as I loved cuddling with Travis, I needed to go to my own bed. Especially now, after everything that happened. I carefully covered Travis with the flannel blanket that had made its way down to his feet. Quietly I tiptoed into the kitchen and slipped on my shoes.

  Opening the door slowly, I stepped out into the cool early morning air. I checked that the door was locked behind me and quietly closed it.

  I started my way up the path from the guest house to the main house. My mind was traveling at warp speed trying to make sense of what those kisses meant for our friendship now. Or heck, what they meant for this stupid show. I mean, if I was in his position, I would choose us and move on with our lives. Is there really any question about that? We’ve known each other forever, it just makes sense he would pick me. I realized he was under contract with the show and wasn’t able to cut it short, but seriously, after this, what kind of show will it be? Or does Travis not think like me at all, and will he still continue to ‘date’ the other girls?

  Oh God, I never thought of that.

  No, he wouldn’t do that. Not after what he said tonight. He clearly feels something between the two of us too, and if he were to pursue the other girls, he would know what it would do to me. I mean, I am still a girl after all!

  I was lost in thought when I opened the door to the main house. I shut it quietly, but didn’t realize there was a light on.

  “What were you doing out there?” Nicki’s high pitched voice asked from across the kitchen.

  Startled I looked up and slammed my body back against the door. “Nicki…I…I didn’t see you there.”

  “Clearly.” She snorted. “You didn’t answer me. It’s three a.m. Why were you outside?”

  “Not that it’s any of your business, but I needed some air.” I lied easily, walking quickly to the staircase.

  “Like I believe that? If you needed air you could have opened a window.” Nicki rolled her eyes in my direction. “You were probably trying to get Travis to let you into his house.”

  I felt heat creep into my cheeks. “I’m not that insecure about where I stand with him, Nicki. I don’t need to sneak to his house for nightly visits to keep him interested.”

  Nicki glared at me, before releasing a huff and turning to leave the kitchen. I watched her back until it was out of view, then slumped against the handrail in the stairwell.

  That was too close.

  No more zoning out for me, I thought as I climbed the stairs. I could have dealt with anyone else catching me coming in at three a.m., but not her. Not Nicki who has it out for me and would probably try to use this against me. Once I got to my room, I threw myself onto the bed, exhaustion once again taking hold.

  I poured myself another cup of coffee, staring mindlessly out the window when I heard a light tap at the door. I turned and nearly dropped my mug when I saw Travis grinning at me from the other side.

  “What are you doing here?” I hissed, setting my coffee on the counter and stepping outside next to him. I pushed him around the corner to the side of the house, where no one would see us.

  “You know if you wanted to get me alone, there are easier ways to do it.” He grinned and wrapped his arms around me, pinning me against the side of the house.

  “Travis!” I squealed as he started kissing up my neck. “Seriously…stop!” I tried pushing him away but he was persistent. He trailed kisses up my jaw and gave me a small peck on the mouth before pulling back.

  “Why did you leave this morning?” He frowned as he questioned me.

  I sighed and slipped out of his hold. His frown deepened.

  “No Travis, it’s nothing like that. I just woke up around three and decided I should just head back up here.” I gently touched his arm, hoping it would relax him.

  “But why didn’t you wake me and tell me? Do you know what it was like to wake up with you gone?” He groaned and leaned against the house.

  “Sorry. You were sleeping. I didn’t want to wake you.” I glanced down at the ground mumbling. “And plus, it’s not the first time I’ve left your house while you were sleeping and didn’t wake you up to say bye.”

  “Riles, I’m pretty sure things are completely different now.” He lifted my chin so I would look at him. He gave me his sexy smirk before winking at me.

  Before I could stop myself, a snort escaped. Seriously, he just winked at me!

  “I’m aware of that, Trav. But I just don’t know…how things stand, with being on this show and all.” I felt even more confused after saying it out loud.

  “I’ll work it out Riles. I’m sure I have to finish the show, but we’ll figure it out.” He pulled me against him in a hard hug. “We’ll figure it out. It’s you. It’s always you,” he murmured into my hair.

  “If you say so.” I sighed into his chest. I wasn’t sure how he was certain we could figure it out, but I trusted him.

  “Riley. Travis. I think you should head your separate ways now,” Jim said from behind us.

  Startled, I jumped out of Travis’ arms and spun to face Jim.

  “Jim… um… hi.” I felt the blush inch onto my cheeks. “We were just… um…”

  “I’m aware of what you were just doing. You two are aware there are hidden cameras all over right? Inside. Outside. In the guest house…” He trailed off, and I blushed even more.

  “Oh. I knew there were cameras in the house. Guess I didn’t realize they were every other place too.” I meekly spit out.

  “You guys, I don’t have an issue with what is going on between you two. In fact, I’m sure the ratings will be amazing. Two best friends falling in love on TV—it’s gold. But you have to keep in mind, there is still a show being filmed. We have to milk it out until the end. Travis you can’t just choose Riley right now and be done. You still have to go on dates with the other girls.” Jim paused looking between the two of us. “I trust this isn’t going to cause an issue?”

  “No sir,” Travis said from behind me. All I could manage was to shake my head.

  “Good. Now, Riley why don’t you head back inside, mingle with the girls. Travis come with me, we’ll discuss upcoming dates.” Jim nodded at us expectantly.

  “Uh, well… see you later.” I gave Travis a little wave while making my way around the house.

  “You better!” He grinned at me before heading over to Jim, who immediately started talking and heading towards the guest house.

  I slipped back into the kitchen and grabbed my now cold coffee that I had set on the counter. Sighing, I poured it out into the sink and got myself a refill.

  Guess this was going to be more difficult than we thought.

  I made my way into the living room just as Addison came rushing in waving an envelope up in the air.

  “We have a group date!” she squealed, causing the rest of the girls to stop what they were doing and turn to her expectantly.

  Just as she started to rip open the envelope, Nicki came up beside her and grabbed it out of her hands, tearing the paper out herself. Addison cringed and moved to the side a few steps away from Nicki, who was currently reading the note to herself.

  “Care to fill the rest of us in?” I glared at Nicki until she looked up from the note.

  “It’s a group date for all of us.” Nicki rolled her eyes, “We’re going swimming.” She dropped the note on the side table by the sofa and s
tormed out of the room. “Dumbest date ever.”

  Addison grabbed the note again and quickly read it out loud. “Ladies, grab your swimsuits and sunscreen! Get ready for some adventure as we head out to my favorite swimming hole. I hope none of you are afraid of heights! I’ll be by to pick you up at noon. Travis.”

  “Swimming hole?” Taylor questioned looking at me.

  I shrugged, “It’ll be fun. It’s supposed to be a scorcher today!”

  “I wonder why Nicki was so upset about it. You’d figure she’d be happy to walk around in her bikini.” Kara mentioned from behind me.

  I turned and smiled at her, “Maybe the whole heights thing isn’t sitting with her well.” My grin turned bigger when I realized where we were going and what exactly those heights were.

  “What do you know?” Taylor whispered to me as we made our way up the stairs behind Addison and Kara.

  “I’m just putting two and two together,” I whispered back, slowing my steps. “Swimming hole and heights.” I drawled out slowly for her.

  Taylor just gave me a confused look and shook her head. “Sorry, no idea where your brain is.”

  I laughed slapping her arm lightly. “Cliff jumping.” I winked at her as we made it to my room.

  Her eyes went wide before a smile formed on her face. “Cliff jumping? For real? I’ve only jumped off a tiny man-made cliff before. I’ve always wanted to do the real thing.” She was bouncing in her shoes.

  “I can’t say for certain, but I have a good feeling about it.” I smiled as she squealed and skipped down the hall to her room. “See you in a few!” she called over her shoulder as she entered her room.

  I pushed my door open and walked slowly over to my dresser. I never had an issue wearing swimming suits around Travis before, but right now my stomach was in knots thinking about wearing one. I pulled out my simple black with white polka dots tankini and the black board shorts I always paired with it. I’ve had this same swimsuit since I was 21 and Travis had an event in Hawaii. Stupid me had forgotten to pack a swimsuit, so that was the first one I grabbed when I got off the plane. It was pretty worn out, a hole forming at the bottom where I would always pull it down when getting out of the pool.

  Probably should get a new one soon.

  I was just about to shut the drawer when I noticed a small brown paper package with a piece of twine wrapped around it sitting in the corner of the drawer. I picked it up and walked over to sit on the bed. Slowly I pulled the twine off and unfolded the package. Inside was a beautiful navy blue tankini with cream colored roped vertical stripes. I pulled it out of the paper and held it in front of me, taking in the thick halter straps and the bust that came together with a knot. A pair of navy blue board shorts fell to the floor as I held the top up. I reached down to pick the shorts up and a note fluttered to the floor. I reached down again picking the note up and reading:

  Thought you may need a new suit. You’ll look amazing in it! -K

  I quickly reached into the drawer on the side table and pulled out my phone.

  Me: You didn’t send me a new swimsuit, did you?

  I tapped my fingers on the table waiting for a reply.

  Mom2: No. Should I have?

  Me: Ugh. No. But I’m holding a new suit, with a note from…’you’.

  Mom2: I don’t know why Travis doesn’t just sign his own name.

  Me: No kidding.

  Mom2: Heading to the swimming hole today?

  Me: How did you know?!

  Mom2: Travis keeps me updated…

  Travis keeps her updated? How updated does he keep her?!

  Me: Is that all you know????

  Mom2: Sweetie, I’m a mom, I know everything.

  Me: Haha.

  Mom2: It’s about time though….

  Me: Yeah… okay, I gotta get changed.

  Mom2: Have fun!

  I shut the phone off and tossed it back in the drawer, before gathering up the swimsuits and grabbing a pair of cut-off jean shorts and a blue and white striped tank top from my dresser. I headed to the bathroom and quickly threw on the new suit and smiled when I saw myself in the mirror.

  It really wasn’t much different from my last suit, which I had loved. This one was a tiny bit sexier though, which caused my stomach to knot up tighter.

  Why would Travis buy me this suit?!

  Sighing I pulled my jean shorts and tank on over the suit, tossed my hair up into a messy bun at the top of my head and grabbed a beach towel from the linen closet before heading back to my room. I grabbed an extra pair of shorts and another tank, stuffing them along with the towel into a canvas bag. I slipped my feet into a pair of white flip-flops and tossed the bag on my shoulder before heading out of my room. I nearly ran into Nicki as I closed the door behind me.

  “Watch where you’re going,” she snarled at me. She was wearing a white strapless summer dress that was transparent enough I could make out her skimpy hot pink bikini underneath.

  “Excuse me for walking out of my room.” I rolled my eyes at her before turning and heading down the hall. I was so tired of Nicki and all her crap. She thought she was queen bee around here, and I was tempted to tell her she didn’t have a chance in hell with Travis. Luckily, I caught sight of the crew at the bottom of the stairs and bit my lip before I could turn around and blow my cover.

  Taylor was the only one in the living room when I entered, so I quickly made my way to sit next to her.

  “You’ll never believe the suit Nicki is wearing!” I whispered to her.

  She laughed, “I’m sure it can’t be anything worse than what she usually wears out at the pool.”

  I laughed thinking about all the barely there suits she had worn. Most were just good for lying out on the chairs getting a tan. If she were to jump in the water with any of them on, they would probably fall right off. The current one had spaghetti thin straps which didn’t look like it would hold up to anything, much less cliff jumping. But knowing Nicki, I assumed she wouldn’t even attempt to do anything adventurous.

  Seriously, why did Travis keep her here?

  Taylor and I stopped talking as Nicki huffed into the room. She glared at us before heading to the bar to find herself something to drink. I glanced over at Taylor whose face was twitching like she was trying to hold back a laugh. That one look undid me and I burst out laughing, Taylor finally letting go shortly after.

  “What’s so funny?” Nicki asked from behind us. Oddly enough, it wasn’t in her usual snide voice.

  “Nothing,” Taylor choked out before dissolving into another giggle fit.

  I had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure what we were laughing about anymore, but it felt good to let go.

  Nicki glared at us, before rolling her eyes and grabbing a wine cooler from the bar fridge.

  “Starting early, Nicki?” Kara asked as she walked into the room wearing a rainbow colored summer dress over her swimsuit. She dumped her bag on the chair before walking over to where Nicki was and grabbing a bottle of water. “Anyone else want one?” she asked lifting the bottle up.

  Taylor and I both nodded our heads and Kara threw bottles at each of us. Nicki stood there sipping her drink with an evil look on her face directed towards Kara.

  “Seriously Nicki, you keep looking at me like that, your face is going to be stuck in that position.” Kara breezed past her, back to the chair where her belongings were.

  I wanted to get up and cheer for Kara. She was the only other girl, aside from me, who wasn’t putting up with Nicki’s crap. As much as I loved Taylor, she still just kept her mouth shut around Nicki, even though you could see how much she wanted to burst, same with Erin. And Addison always clammed up whenever Nicki even looked at her.

  Addison and Erin came bounding into the room together wearing similar white tank tops and black shorts. They looked almost identical with their pink canvas bags slung over their shoulders. The only difference between them was Erin’s dirty blond hair thrown up in a ponyta
il, while Addison rocked that pixie cut with her black hair. I guess I had been too caught up with Travis to even realize those two had become so close. Which seemed slightly off, since they were both in this competition to win Travis over. But to each their own, right? After all, I had developed a close friendship with Taylor and I was pretty positive she wasn’t going to like me much after she found out who I really was and that Travis was more than likely going to pick me.

  Or at least I hoped he was going to choose me.

  Addison and Erin were grabbing bottles of water when Travis came walking into the room, wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of board shorts in a simple plaid pattern of blue and white, with a few stripes of orange mixed through. He finished it off with some simple black flip-flops. He looked casual and…freaking hot, especially when he ran his hand through his already messy hair and gave us that devilish grin of his.

  “You girls ready for an adventure?” He smirked at us, nodding his head towards the door.

  The girls all gave shouts of excitement before grabbing their bags and heading out the door. Nicki had drained her drink and gave a sarcastic cheer before following behind them.

  I glanced up at Travis who was now staring at me, “She’s not too thrilled about it,” I mentioned walking over to him.

  “Don’t really care what she thinks. This is going to be a blast!” His face turned into that of a kid in a candy store. This boy was so excited to do something adventurous again.

  “What about your ankle?” I asked glancing down at the boot on his foot.

  “Doctor says swimming is just fine, it’s healing up quicker than they thought, so I’m even allowed to take the boot off!” he explained with giddiness.

  “And what does your doctor say about cliff jumping?” I asked.

  Travis smirked, “He may not know about that.”

  I rolled my eyes and lightly smacked him, “If you hurt yourself again, it’s all on you buddy.”

  Travis laughed and led me to the door with his hand on the small of my back, causing tingles to erupt all around that spot.