His words hit her hard. There had been times over the years where she’d considered breaking up with Drew. ‘It hasn’t been all smooth sailing.’ In year eleven, she’d had a bit of a crush on Mick Phillips. He was in her maths class and there’d been weeks of playful banter between them. There was a party coming up and Darcy kept fantasising about kissing him. She’d decided it was time to break things off with Drew; they’d only been together for just over a year and she was ready for something new. But then Mick got himself a girlfriend and suddenly Darcy’s motivation to be single disappeared, so she just stayed with Drew. Then there was a night at university when she’d told Drew to get stuffed after seeing him all flirty with another girl who was visiting for the weekend. Darcy had gone to bed crying hateful tears, but the next day the other girl had gone home, and Drew had turned up with his tail between his legs. A few years later, when they’d first moved in together, they’d had a massive fight about doing the dishes. They didn’t speak for three days. Darcy thought it was over, but somehow, they started talking again and within a few days the fight had been forgiven.

‘All relationships have their ups and downs.’ He shrugs. ‘I like the idea of that—sharing your whole life with someone. I think that’s why most people believe there’s something so romantic about marrying your high school sweetheart. You know everything there is to know about one another.’

‘Well, he’s definitely seen me at my worst. I don’t know about you, but I certainly did the awkward and gawky teenage thing.’

Ty laughs, and Darcy realises it’s the first time she’s seen him laugh all day. If only Ben had been filming, they could have used the image as a cutaway shot after Samara had said something.

‘Some days I just wish I got the big romance,’ she admits. It was hard not to think about, working on a show where every date was set up and scheduled by a production team.

‘I had that,’ Ty says, the words catching his breath. ‘Love at first sight.’

His ex. Darcy closes her eyes for a moment, trying to remember the ex’s name. She had scribbled it down when she was ringing around, doing background checks on Ty before he’d officially been signed to the show. She can see the broken-heart picture she’d absentmindedly drawn when she’d been on the phone. She’d even sent the girl several emails in hope of getting her opinion on Ty being on the show but never got any replies.