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I nibble the inside of my lip. Perfect date. Hmm. Perfect date. It takes a moment, but then it comes to me. I write down my answer. When I look up, Rhett’s watching me, smiling.
I smile back. We’ve got this.
“Jace, what do you consider a perfect date?”
He sits back and says smugly, “A fun night out. Good drinks. Great vibes.”
I roll my eyes. Great vibes? What does that even mean?
“And, Holly, what did you write?”
Holly flips her card. “I wrote, a high-energy night out with drinks, music, and a crowd.”
“So specific,” Mina gushes. “Looks like it’s a match!”
Holly throws up her hands and hugs Jace. “I knew it, babe.”
“Rhett?”
“Yes, ma’am?”
“What’s a perfect date for you?”
“That’s easy, Mina. Something spontaneous, a little chaotic. As long as it’s with Cristina.”
“My heart,” Mina says dramatically. “Cristina, show us your answer.”
“Mina, I wrote, a quiet night with no crowds, a place that’s meaningful.”
My heart sinks as she says, “Oh no. Not a match. No points for you.”
I disagree. Rhett and I aren’t saying different things—we’re giving different versions of the same love.
Mina claps her hands. “Let’s see our scoreboard. Holly and Jace are one question away from tying with Rhett and Cristina.”
Holy crap. They are.
“Next question: Gentlemen, what moment tested your relationship? You have thirty seconds to come up with your answer.”
Rhett’s got this. I know he must. It was the trust bridge, obviously. That moment tested us the most.
“Time to show your answers. We’ll start with Cristina. Tell us, what moment tested your relationship?”
I give Rhett a big smile and say with my chin lifted, “That would have been the trust bridge.”
“Rhett, what did you write?”
There’s a tightness in his jaw that tells me everything before he answers. “I said, the last challenge, when Cristina wound up in the hospital.”
“Oh no,” Mina says.
I stop listening because I know what she’s going to say, that we’re not a match. Blood rushes in my ears. How could we have been so off about that? How could we not have been in sync?
Before my mind starts whirling and telling me we don’t know much about each other, Rhett takes my hand and brushes his thumb against the heel of mine, silently telling me that all isn’t lost, that this is just a game and it doesn’t foretell anything about our future together.
Wait. Of course the hospital was his worst moment.
And then the worst possible words that could come out of Mina’s mouth do: “Would you look at that—Holly and Jace are now tied with Rhett and Cristina.”