Who do you love?

6

Teal knew she had no real reasons for the twinge of annoyance she felt in her gut as she watched the girl, Rileigh, kiss Calum in the low lighting of the club but the sight of it was still emblazoned in her brain the following afternoon as they prepared for Calum's first dismissal ceremony. She hadn't seen him all day, he'd been tucked away in the guest house somewhere making his decisions on who to send home. Or at least, that's what she hoped he was doing.

"Wanna grab a bite?" Came the accented voice behind her and she closed her eyes to settle her nerves before she turned around to face him, a cheerful grin on her face. Not missing the way the corners of his mouth tilted upwards when she easily agreed to his request.

The walk to the catering tent was short and the line moved quickly until they were greeted with the spicy smell of Mexican food. Calum grabbed two plates and passed one to her before stacking his own full with options from the buffet, she mimicked him before they wandered towards the table where Pete, Anthony, and Lorenzo were already sitting.

"If it isn't the leading man himself." Lorenzo teased as Calum sat. Being a good sport Calum merely let loose an amused snort and mumbled a playful shut up in his direction.

"Made any decisions on who you're sending home?" Pete asked, genuine curiosity in his voice.

"Ahh...I've been thinking about it a lot and I think I'm gonna go with two of them that I just haven't found any common ground with. I know for some people opposites attract but in this case I think we're just too different." He shrugged and Teal found herself trying to figure out which two he could be referring to. She knew he had made strong connections with both Rileigh and Jules. The former was evident by their intense and public makeout the night before and the latter in the way he had followed after her absent mindedly on the boat. He wasn't very good at hiding his feelings, even if he seemed unaware of that fact.

"Try to at least get their names right when you're telling them to pack up." Teal teased around a bite of her dinner.

Calum's gaze shot to meet hers as he narrowed his eyes and offered a sarcastic, "Ha. Ha."

"I'm just saying," she shrugged, "so far your ability to remember has been subpar at best."

"I'm offended." He said, a hand clutching at his shirt above his heart as he feigned his reaction.

Teal only rolled her eyes at him. "Only because you know it's true!" She said laughing, reaching out with her hand to shove his shoulder playfully. His lips flattened and his cheeks filled as he shook his head in resignation.

"Still mean."

"Just truthful." She smirked and he huffed, stabbing his fork into the remnants of an enchilada on his plate.

"Whatever, do you have any advice for me for tonight?" He said as he raised his glass of water to his plump pink lips.

Teal couldn't tear her gaze away from the column of his throat as she watched it work, his prominent Adam's apple bobbing just beneath the tan skin.

He returned his glass to the table and stared at her, eyes narrowed in confusion and it took Teal a moment to process that he was waiting for her reply.

"Wh-ah, no. Not really. You're gonna be annoyed that we have to do it a million times to catch all the angles we need though." She informed him.

"Wait, I'm gonna have to be an asshole multiple times?" He asked, his voice raising in pitch as his fret over the events to come began.

"Like it's hard for you?" She teased and he rolled his eyes.

"Be serious." He said and she saw the genuine concern fill his chocolate eyes.