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“Maybe I was saving it for later.”

He laughed and lifted his thumb to his mouth, slowly sucking the sugar off the end of it. “Well, I guess your sugar’s mine now.” He strode off without another word, and I scowled after him.

“How are you not swooning right now?” Evan asked, coming to stand beside me as we watched Cole leave. He waved his hand close to his face as if he was trying to cool off.

I shrugged and we started after the rest of the group as we returned to the back porch. The truth was, I kind of was swooning a little. Cole’s brief touch against my lips had felt electric. I’d never felt anything like that with Jake before. The feeling left me riddled with guilt though. I shouldn’t be feeling that way and I certainly shouldn’t be reacting to Cole’s touch. So instead of responding, I stayed silent.

7

Cole

Icould still taste the cinnamon I’d stolen from Madi’s lips, and it was doing my head in. She didn’t seem at all affected by the way I’d lightly brushed my thumb against her skin, but I couldn’t stop replaying the moment in my head.

“You’re doing great, Cole,” Angus said, pulling my attention.

“Thanks,” I replied, but the word was empty. I didn’t feel like I’d done anything to warrant his praise.

He led me inside and explained the second portion of the group date. Speed dating. I couldn’t stop a wince from forming on my face as I cringed at the idea.

“It'll be fine,” Angus reassured me. “You have five minutes to talk with each contestant. Ask them some of these questions, to get the ball rolling.”

He handed me a sheet of paper, and I tried not to laugh. I didn’t need a list of questions to help me talk to girls, but I could tell Angus wanted me to use his prompts to make the activity as entertaining, or as awkward, as possible.

I smiled broadly when the first contestant strutted into the room and sat across from me, fluttering his eyelids so expertly even Laurie would have been impressed. Evan was hamming things up for the camera. I had to give him credit; the guy knew how to put on a show.

“So, Evan, what are you looking for in love?” I asked, taking a suggestion from Angus’ list.

Evan swatted the question away with the flick of a hand. “I think we both know you’re not interested in looking for love here,” he said, indicating toward himself. “Or are you?”

I chuckled at the directness of his question. “I can’t say I’ve ever considered dating another guy before,” I replied.

Evan smiled. “I didn’t hear a no.”

“I feel like even if I said no, you still wouldn’t hear it,” I replied.

Evan laughed. “True. I have always loved a challenge. Keep me around for a few weeks and maybe I can change your mind.”

I couldn’t help but admire his confidence. It was pretty clear to both of us that I was only interested in girls, but that didn’t seem to bother him. I suspected Evan must do really well with the guys. I wasn’t gay, but even I was getting charmed by him.

“We’ll see,” I replied.

The next few speed dates seemed to go by in a blur. Brooke, Laurie and Maria all flirted outrageously with me, but that’s all I could seem to remember from my time spent with them. My date with Sally had been slightly awkward considering we’d shared a drunken kiss at a party last year. She’d wanted more; I hadn’t. I really didn’t see her going far in the competition.

The speed date with Teagan was definitely more interesting than the others. Going into it, I didn’t know much about the girl; only that she was the lead in all the school plays and had the kind of flawless face that you only saw on movie stars. I had expected her to be vapid, but she surprised me. She laughed easily and was enthusiastic about everything she spoke about. I was actually disappointed when our five minutes were up.

Talking with Willow had been surprisingly painful. It was like pulling nails out of a coffin trying to get her to speak. She was nervous about being in front of the cameras and that, combined with her quiet disposition, made our chat the most boring conversation in history. She obviously didn’t want to be involved in the competition, and I knew there was no way she was interested in me, so I would probably have to eliminate her quickly.

Finally, my date with Madi arrived and I found myself sitting up straight as she came to take a seat across from me. She was quiet as she looked across the table and seemed unsure of herself. It was a look I wasn’t certain I’d seen on her face before, and I couldn’t understand what had put it there. The expression made me slightly anxious, and I had no idea what to say to her.

“So, Madi, what are you looking for in love?” I read the first question on the sheet in front of me.

She snorted, like she found the question hilarious. “Don’t you mean, what are you looking for in a date to the formal? That is the prize of this contest, right?”

“Are you saying I’m a prize?” I winked at her.

She shrugged, completely unaffected by the gesture. “No one said it was a good one.”

I leaned back in my chair and folded my arms across my chest, watching her closely. “I think you know what a great prize I am.”