Page 57 of Say Yes to the Nemesis

Daisy ducks her head in her hands. She raises her hand, looking scared.

“Okay. So I go in the cold plunge pool?”

“Yep, that’s exactly what you do.”

She shrugs off her robe and lays it on the wooden bench. Her glittery swimsuit does very little to keep her warm. She squeals on her way in but takes the plunge, surfacing with a shiver and hugging herself.

I read the follow-up. “I’m supposed to ask: What do you look for in a guy?”

Daisy, still dripping and breathless, answers, “Right now? Someone that’s warm-blooded.”

The girls laugh, but her answer feels lazy to me. Still, I nod.

She scrambles out of the pool and a PA hands her a plush terry cloth robe.

“Ready for the next question?” I smile. The girls murmur and nod.

“What’s one thing you’ve lied about in the last week?” I read, “‘I told the crew I’m okay sharing a bathroom, but I’m not.’”

What a self-centered little revelation. I keep that bit to myself.

I look around and bite my lip. “I’m going to say… Nikki.”

Nikki makes a face and shakes her head. “Wasn’t me.”

Divya steps forward, looking sheepish. “That was me. I didn’t realize you were going to read them out loud.”

“Fair enough. Into the pool you go.”

She throws her white robe carelessly on the floor and stalks over to the plunge. Her barely-there bikini is white, matching her light brown skin perfectly. After hemming and hawing, she finally forces herself to jump in, splashing water over my legs and hitting a few of the girls nearby.

Of course, she’s making a scene. Again.

She surfaces, and I glance at the next question. “What’s the last thing you did that scared you?”

Divya doesn’t hesitate. “I drove a car on the Autobahn last month and redlined it the whole way. It was insane. I almost hit someone.”

Yeah. I don’t know what kind of image she’s trying to project here, but I’m definitely never dating someone that self-absorbed.

She hurries out of the pool before anyone even hands her a robe. I turn back to the group, card in hand.

“Okay, ladies. I guess I’m not compatible with some of you, but there are still plenty of questions left to be answered.”

In truth, the challenge is harder than it probably should be. I go through Mei, Nikki, and Raven before I finally hit on a question I can guess.

“What’s something you’d never tell me to my face?”

The answer reads, “You make my stomach do stupid shit.”

It’s charming. My gut says JacqLyn. “JacqLyn.”

She throws up her arms and does a little dance before stripping out of her robe and handing it to Heidi. She makes a beeline for me.

She’s voluptuous and wearing a bright orange bikini that barely holds in her boobs. I don’t really want her to touch me,but I go along with the plan. We both walk into the bubbling Jacuzzi.

She uses the moment to her full advantage. Hooks her arm in mine, brushes her feet against my legs, and kisses me.

It’s stiff. Not because of JacqLyn. She’s doing her best to make it sexy. But I feel like I’m made of concrete when she presses her lips to mine. There is absolutely zero physical chemistry there.