This place was literally making me crazy.
“Back to you being the clear favorite. Matthew is thrilled. We all are.”
As cynical as the producers on this show seemed, they all had one annoying and unbelievable trait in common—they really and honestly believed in true love. They wanted a couple to fall in love and get married and have babies. The fact that they had repeatedly failed at this attempt did not seem to deter them. Taylor had told me once that Matthew Burdette’s fondest wish for this show was that at the final Heart Celebration the couple would be so in love that they would ask for a justice of the peace right then and there. It hadn’t happened, but he kept trying.
They might be helped in that desire if the producer stopped deliberately making half the contestants crazy, and encouraging the other half to be evil.
“Which means what, exactly?”
She had that pity expression on her face again. “Which means you’re not going anywhere. I think the success of the show depends on you sticking around. I’m sorry.”
I felt my lungs deflate. I couldn’t even blame her or anyone else. This was my fault. Dante had offered to send me home, and I’d said no under the pretext of helping Genesis, who was doing just fine on her own, truth be told. Now I was stuck.
At first I had stayed because he asked me to. Then I stayed because some part of me wanted to. But now I would have to stay because Matthew Burdette wanted me to stay.
And what Matthew Burdette wanted, Matthew Burdette got.
More days passed, more girls were sent home. Heather, Cece, both Jessicas, and Emily F. all were gone. Dante spent almost all of his time on single dates as a chance to really get to know the women better. And true to our pact, nobody shared. I had no idea who he liked or which girl he was getting closer to.
There were still too many secretive and all-knowing smiles for my liking.
Harris announced a new series of theme dates called “Get to Know Me.” Each girl would be in charge of creating a date that would tell Dante something about herself. We had no budgetary restrictions and could travel if we wanted. One was going to take him to Las Vegas, another wanted to travel to Europe. Abigail decided to take him to the set of her soap opera and impress him with, and I quote, “how popular, talented, and amazing” she was.
I threw up. In my mouth. Twice.
I had been trying to figure out a way to keep my job and make the audience not root so hard for me. This date would be another chance to do that. While the other women went full-throttle, I would do something simple. Hopefully everyone would think I was boring.
Sterling had finally texted. Taylor showed it to me in passing. One word.
Sorry.
Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like enough. I didn’t ask to call him, and he certainly hadn’t tried to call me.
There needed to be a serious conversation in our future, or I didn’t see this wedding happening. Which I couldn’t bear to tell my mother, because she sent constant e-mails, which Taylor let me read (after she deleted anything that might influence my actions with regards to the show), and all my momma could talk about was the wedding and how excited she was that her in-laws were already her best friends.
I spent so much time not being the woman my parents wanted me to be, and I couldn’t bear to disappoint them in this too. Not yet, especially when I wasn’t sure what would happen.
Dante went on all his “Get to Know Me” dates without sending anyone home. I missed him because he was gone all day every day. The with-someone-else part bothered me as well, but I decided to put a pin in that crazy for another day.
I sent word to him through an assistant to dress casually and meet me in the backyard at eight thirty. I put on my favorite light blue sundress and a pair of open-toed wedges.
He waited for me, his black hair still slightly damp at the ends, and wearing a tight black T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans that made me want to pen a thank-you note to Their Royal Highnesses, King Dominic and Queen Aria, for passing along such fine genetic material.
I felt like I was thirteen years old again, standing there, giddy just to be in his presence.
He caught sight of me and walked across the lawn. “Buonasera, Limone.”