Whiskey & Wildflowers

Chapter 18

dumskalle = idiot, blockhead

The next morning was a lazy one. Everyone was tired after the party the night before, if not a little hungover, resulting in a more subdued mood as they dispersed into small groups around the villa.

Josie dipped her feet in the water as she sat on the edge of the pool, Priya beside her. Magnus and Arjun drifted in front of them on floaties, their wet skin gleaming under the sun's rays.

Priya sighed happily. "This is the life, isn't it?"

"Hm?"

"We're in a villa in Mallorca, sitting by a pool, with nothing to do but flirt with hot guys. No work, no worries. What could be better?"

Josie snorted. "When you put it that way..."

"I'm serious, though. I think we sometimes forget how lucky we are to be here."

"It sounds so simple when you put it like that."

"And why shouldn't it be? I know the point is to find love, but why put pressure on it? Let's just enjoy the experience."

"Don't let the producers hear you say that."

Her laugh was punctuated by the sound of a phone chiming behind them, and Josie groaned.

"Please don't tell me we're doing a challenge today..."

They turned around as Hope called out that she'd received a text.

"Go on, read it out," Priya said.

Hope's eyes widened as she stared at the phone, and she jumped from the sun lounger to her feet. Shielding the screen from the sun with her hand, her jaw dropped.

"What is it?" Marisol asked. "What's happening?"

"It's not a text... It's a video."

"WHAT?!"

The rest of the girls scrambled to their feet to gather around Hope. As she started the video, the sound of voices could be heard coming from the speakers.

"Wait, I can't see!" Chelsea exclaimed, jumping up and down as the girls jostled for position.

"Turn it up!"

Josie couldn't see the screen from where she stood, but once Hope turned up the volume, she could hear voices — familiar ones.

"Oh my god. Oh my god." That had to be Gary, sounding like he was in shock. "That's the bird I was seeing..."

"WHAT?!" Chelsea exclaimed, pushing past Marisol and trying to grab the phone. "What did he say?!"

But Gary's voice was replaced by the boys' hollering as the scene apparently changed, and then it was Rocco's lilt, and then someone counting down — that had to be from the challenge — and Josie realized they were being shown clips from the boys' trip away. The sudden urge to see Henrik and know what he was doing came over her, and she pushed her way through.

"Let me see," she said firmly, holding out her hand just as the sounds stopped, signalling the end of the video.

Hope's jaw had gone slack, and her grip on the phone loosened, allowing Josie to take it with ease. The other girls immediately positioned themselves around her to watch it again.

There was Gary again, staring in shock at a girl off-screen. The guys in the bedroom as a girl walked out, reacting with excitement. Rocco on the daybeds, flirting with not one but two girls. Noah, Bobby, Jakub... and then Henrik, locked in what looked like a passionate kiss with a busty redhead.