Page 18 of Insta Bride

I’d never seen this side of Elena before. Standing, shoulders back and chin raised. Elena at full height had a grace and dignity none of these other bitches could match. “This show is about finding love. How many of you would have even dated the person you got paired with? Huh?”

No one nodded, but at least no one was calling her out. I wanted to stand behind her, or beside her. Anything to show my support, but this had to be Elena’s show.

“I mean, for the purpose of the show, we’ve been paired up. Yes, we’ve been paired up with a stranger, but what if love is on the island? What if your ideal partner isn’t the person we’ve been matched with? What if the challenge is your current partner getting in the way of your true love? What if Kye is perfect—for one of you?”

“You can’t sit back and tell me you wouldn’t be jealous. That if I walked over and stuck my tongue down his throat, you wouldn’t want to rip out mine?” Campbell gloated, completely disregarding her last night fuck-buddy.

“How about this for some harsh reality—” Elena’s two large steps forward almost backed Campbell off the patio and into the dense bushes below. It would be a serious understatement to say I was rock hard. Blame it on the lack of sex since I’d been put into lockdown by the producers, but I started to think they’d gotten it right.

No woman had gotten under my skin like Elena.

No other woman had made me notice her—and kept my attention for more than a couple of days.

The lack of intimacy, other than stolen kisses, had me thinking about her in ways I wanted to squash. Thoughts of being in an actual relationship had never come into play, before.

But now?

Yeah.

I wanted to make a serious play for my reality TV girlfriend.

“Bring it on.” At least, Campbell had stopped using the word bitch. Not that the silent word didn’t hang in the air.

Perfect night-time television. This was gonna rate through the roof.

“I’m perfectly content to enjoy my time here.” Elena matched Campbell’s attitude and stare. “Maybe, I’ll make friends. Probably, I won’t. As for Kye—” She shot me a look that could repair melting glaciers, “—let’s just say, do your best. Yes, he’s pleasant to look at and not a bad kisser.”

“Fuck, man, burned.”

“No. You don’t get to disrespect him in front of me, not yet.” Elena put Matt in his place so nicely, I could only stop and stare. This was brilliant. And she was mine!

“If you want to kiss Kye, go right ahead. I can’t stop you and I’m not going to lose any sleep wondering if I’m gonna lose my man to you.”

“Bitch, if I want your man, you won’t be able to stop me.” Kenzie snarled, not wanting to be left out on what was sure to be a screen pleaser.

“For once, I agree with you.” Elena stood in the middle of bitching women. A beautiful flower in a snake pit. How had I got it so wrong? The only woman I should have been chasing was the one standing up for me.

“Elena,” I started before she held up her hand, stopping me in my tracks.

“Ladies, fill your boots. The only person who can stop you is Kye. You all saw when he kissed me. I could have pushed him away, but I wanted him to kiss me. Those full lips, soft hands with firm fingers, why wouldn’t I want him to kiss me.”

“What’s your point?”

I could tell anyone what the point was. My balls hadn’t just turned a darker shade of blue—they were almost suffering gangrene.

“My point is, Campbell, Kenzie, Sami or even Randi. If you want to kiss Kye, go for it. It says more about you than it does about me. If he kisses you back, it will save us all a lot of time.”

Elena suddenly poked Campbell who almost jumped out of her skin. She, like the rest of us, expected Elena to send her flying. Instead, my TV-girlfriend turned, looked me up and down and shrugged. Not committing to me, to us, or to this experiment.

“I said before, I will not date a liar. I have no proof that he’s lied to me, so I can’t leave because of that. I will not date a cheat. If he kisses you back, then it only means one thing—”

“Which is?” I couldn’t believe I was the one to ask.

“They can throw as much shade as they like at you, but I’ll throw more and hit harder. If you want one of them, go for it. If they want you, you have my blessing. But don’t be an asshole. Stop messing with the other couples for fun. It’s not fair on them, and disrespectful to me.”

“Mr. Branson, can you come to the diary tent, please?”

The interruption was unwelcome, but not unexpected. I looked around the couples. I wouldn’t leave Elena without support. I couldn’t.