The Model Couple

🌻 Chapter 58

🌻

I think I liked Ry's turn even more than mine. The memory of last night makes me smile and makes my cheeks warm as we stand here on the steps of the castle ready for the elimination ceremony.

Ry and I stayed up very late last night getting to know each other better. He's a dream-come-true boyfriend. I still melt into liquid under his intense attention. And last night his attention was quite intense. Between our exploratory touches and laughing our heads off, it may be the best night of my life. We finally fell asleep in the early morning hours, cuddled up together in exhaustion. 

I had no idea being with someone could be so nice. Monica always raved about making out with different guys. But honestly, I thought she was exaggerating. When Max kissed me, I would try to think about something else and hope it was over soon. Luckily he wasn't that interested in kissing me, unless it was to show dominance when other people were around.

But it's so different with Ry. Every touch seems like an expression of how much he cares for me. He wanted to make me feel good, but didn't push me to go too far. Ry looking down at me as we talked, trailing his finger down my arm and across my tummy sent my pulse rate up and made me squirmy. He chuckled at me several times when I lost track of our conversation because I'd get distracted by what his fingers were doing.

"Welcome everyone!" Chris's loud voice startles me out of my thoughts. Unfortunately, I physically jump which makes a couple people laugh. Ry brushes his fingers over my back. I'm sure my cheeks are red now. 

"We've had an exciting first season here on Model Dreams. All six of you have done an amazing job to get here to the end. Unfortunately, tonight three of you will be going home. And we will finally know who our three finalists are. But before we can eliminate anyone, let's introduce our judges." I zone out a bit as he introduces five judges this week. I do pick up the fact that they are all on the board of directors for the Castle and they are looking to offer it as a wedding venue. They want wedding pictures for their website and brochures. "Our five judges have looked through sixty photos from the wedding photoshoot and have each voted for ten of them. Tell us what you liked." 

One older man with silver hair speaks first. He has a thick German accent, "Some ov de pictures ver verra nice but ve vanted to choose de pictures vich showed the castle locations best." Several other judges mention different places at the castle where the photographers took good pictures.

Chris nods as each judge speaks and I think they will cut a lot of this out of the show, or at least edit it down. "Let's watch the screen to see which photos got the most votes."

The first picture is a close up of me and Ry as he confessed his love to me yesterday. It's an incredible picture because the intensity of emotion in our faces is captivating. It also shows the castle spires perfectly framed in the background. The picture gets a collective murmur from everyone. I'm a little self-conscious that such a momentous moment in my life is up there for everyone to see.

Ryland runs his fingertips down my arm and intertwines his fingers with mine. I lean back on him a bit. The next few photos are also of us. One of Ry tossing me in the air, one of us kissing. I turn and smile at him. His eyes are bright as he smiles back. With us getting such highly placed pictures I think there is a good chance we will be in the finals.

The next few pictures are of Ry dipping Alexis and holding Chrissy in his arms. Then ones from the cake cutting and toasts are next. We get to the end and I realize there were very few with Haydie. That makes me sad.

"We've tallied points for each model based on how many votes your pictures received and here are the top three." My heart beats a little faster. "In third place is Alexis Rudolf." We all clap for her and she steps forward. "In second place is Brooklyn Baker."