Love or Lust (LOL): Part 3

Well, except the cameraman that caught sight of me as I was walking by the pool and decided to follow me.

Taking the corridor that runs along the back of the house, the staircase is in sight when I hear the low murmur of voices echoing off the walls.

Slowing my pace, the voices become louder and louder as I climb the staircase. Once I reach the landing, I spot the open door at the far end of the hall. I’m about to knock on the frame when I hear my name.

It’s the voice speaking that surprises me more than anything.

“She can’t win. That’s what people want. That’s what they’ll expect. I don’t think we have anything to worry about, though. Milo seems to realize he’s not in the running, and Bella and Lennon are growing closer and closer every day. We just need to make sure he doesn’t change his mind at the last second and choose Presley,” Courtney says adamantly.

What the fuck is she doing here? More importantly, why does it sound like she works for the show?

“That girl is so in love with Jace, she doesn’t even see the other guys,” Claudia says.

“It doesn’t matter that she’s in love with Jace. He’s gone. If he were here, we’d have a clear winner. They would choose each other, and viewers would have predicted the ending from the first episode. I swear to God, I can’t wait to stop seeing the hashtag Pace4ever trending on social media. It’s not even unique.”

You can hear the disgust in Courtney’s voice as something is slammed on a hard surface, startling me.

“It’s better than #SlutCourt, don’t you think?”

“That was intentional. We started that. Had Natasha not been so damn nosey, it wouldn’t have been necessary.”

We started that.

We, as in, she’s part of their team. Part of the show. Part of the production. It’s all the confirmation I need.

Turning, I rush past the cameraman and down the stairs, not stopping until I’m out the back door and out of sight, hiding behind the game room. While I wait for the cameraman to catch up to me, I shoot off a text to each of the remaining contestants.

ME: Meeting in Gage’s villa. 5 minutes. Don’t let them follow you.

I silence my phone just as the cameraman exits the house, looking around for any sign of me. Giving up after a few minutes, he heads back into the house, more than likely to inform Claudia and Courtney of what just happened.

Lennon and Milo are already in the living room of Gage’s villa when I arrive. I don’t say anything as I pace the room, waiting for Bella to show up. Ten excruciatingly long minutes later, she rushes through the door, slamming it behind her.

“What took you so long?” Milo asks.

“Claudia stopped me. She was looking for you,” she replies, pointing at me.

“That’s because I went to talk to her and overheard something I wasn’t supposed to.”

“What’d you hear?” Milo asks as all eyes fall on me.

I repeat everything I heard, how Courtney has somehow been involved since the beginning, and then give them my best interpretation of the events. “She was planted here. To spy. To manipulate us. Push us together or pull us apart. I’m not surprised. It sounds like Natasha figured it out and was kicked off before she could blow Courtney’s cover. Maybe that’s why Jace was kicked off as well.”

“Or they wanted to make sure the finale wasn’t predictable,” Lennon suggests.

“No offense, but if viewers expected Jace and I to win, wouldn’t they tune in to find out if they were right or not? Wouldn’t that make ratings higher?”

“I bet you anything ratings were tanking, and they had to find a way to create more drama.” Milo’s reasoning only leads to more questions.

“Why not kick me off then? Why Jace?”

Lennon’s smile widens as he looks around the room, making eye contact with both Bella and Milo before finally looking to me. “Because he was part of the love triangle. If you take him out of the equation, that leaves you and me. If you are taken out, that leaves me and Jace and no one to fight over.”

“But you and Bella—” I start but Lennon cuts me off.

“That’s just it. Removing Jace created a new love triangle for the final week. Dramatic, right? The focus is on me. That’s why it feels like more cameras have been on me since Jace left. They want to see who I pick.”

It makes perfect sense. They’re creating the drama, the chaos, and we are just pawns. After all, this is a game. They’re moving us around the way they see fit. We can try and counter their move, but they’re one step ahead of us.