him riding his horse like a knight in shining armor. Diving shirtless into the water. Handing Shveta her balloon. Between those clips, there are interviews with various contestants, all putting him as a favorite to win. Then Ivy is there, smiling, fanning her face. “Oh, he’s hot, isn’t he?” she says with a grin.
I watch as, after Ivy, about ten more female contestants say the very same thing. Hot. Smoking. Wouldn’t mind sharing a room with or getting a ring from him.
Then there’s video of him hugging some of the other girls, women tackling him in the parking lot.
And then there’s some grainy nighttime video. I recognize Luke’s form as he walks between two buildings, along with a blonde . . . Charity? I hear her saying something like “You know, there’s a place over there we could be alone” as she’s touching him, stroking him.
He’s not moving away from the beautiful model.
There’s a voiceover that I recognize as Charity’s squeaky high voice. “Oh yes,” she says, whispering conspiratorially. “Luke and I had quite the secret romance when the cameras weren’t rolling. He’s every bit the stud people think he is.”
I stare, the nausea inside beginning to burn as I see Luke shifting uncomfortably next to me. The montage comes to an end, and then Will Wang goes to a commercial break.
Luke reaches for my hand. “Hey. You okay?”
I can’t even bring myself to look at him.
He gets up and stands right in front of my chair, shielding me from the audience. “Hey. Penny. Look at me. You don’t believe any of that, do you?”
I look up at him. I don’t want to believe it. I know what he told me that night. That he loves me. That he’s nothing without me. I want to believe that.
But the more I look at myself through the eyes of the camera, the more I can’t possibly believe that I’m worth it.
There’s absolutely no reason for him to lie, though. No reason.
Unless he wants to collect the half a million. If we decide to get the marriage annulled, we’ll only get half of that. But if we decide to stay married . . .
No. He wouldn’t do that.
Would he?
I mean, it sounds ridiculous—just about as ridiculous as the two of us getting together in the first place.
I shake my head, but it’s not because I don’t believe what they’re saying. It’s because I need to get away. From him. From all of them. I can’t make this decision now. I need more time. I have a ring in my pocket that says I’m his. But am I?
“Back from our commercial break!” Will Wang says, striding across the stage. “Before we ask Luke and Penny the all-important question, I’d like to give you some statistics. You’ve heard the saying that opposites attract. But in the real world, people tend to seek mates who are similar to them. This social experiment we performed proves that. After each couple was eliminated, we gave them the opportunity to remain together for a cash bonus, and all eight couples decided to have their marriage annulled. Even Ace and Marta, who appeared to find love at first sight, decided to call it quits after the taping. Which just goes to prove . . . opposites might attract, but they definitely don’t stick!”
“Okay! And now, for the moment you’ve all been waiting for!”
I feel the cameras on me. The temperature skyrockets. My head feels fuzzy. I can’t breathe. Can’t think.
“Penelope Carpenter and Luke Cross . . . what is your answer? We do, or no way?”
There is a silence so pervasive that I swear everyone must be able to hear the beating of my heart. Will Wang tilts his microphone toward us. People shift to the edges of their seats. Time seems to still, and the world freezes. I look over at Luke, the man I’ve stupidly fallen head over heels for, and he looks at me with that same steady gaze that makes my heart skip. I open my mouth, and he does too.
I know what he’s going to say.
So I beat him to the punch.
I hear myself say it: “No way.”
Then I stand up, rip the microphone off my collar, and rush off the stage.
Luke
It was bullshit, pure and simple. The things they showed on television isn’t the way it went down at all. They cherry-picked footage to fit the story they wanted to tell. It’s fucking bullshit, how they