“Because I shouldn’t be throbbing and making out with Mika’s little brother. What am I thinking? God, he’s so hot. Have you ever seen him? He’s so muscular and handsome, and his eyes are unlike anything I’ve ever seen, and Jesus, the lip ring. My God, Denise, he has this black lip ring in the corner of his mouth that drives me absolutely insane. He tugs on it with his teeth in this innocent way that makes me believe he’s not so innocent. And he says such nice things about me, and he really likes my legs and my boobs, but he doesn’t say boobs, he says tits, and that is so much hotter.”

“Okay, hold up. You’re rambling.”

“I know, because I have limited time, and I need to tell you everything.”

“I think what you need to tell me is that you’re crushing on Wilder, and you don’t know what to do about it.”

“Crushing?”

“Yeah, you’re crushing on him.”

“No, I don’t think that’s a thing.”

She laughs. “It is one hundred percent a thing. You are clearly crushing on him, and that’s okay. You’re allowed to crush on your fake husband. You’ve been single for a while now. You’re allowed to look and mingle and see what else is out there.”

“But…”

“But what? Girl, if I were you and I was sleeping in a cabin with a hot guy, I’d have fun. I mean, why not? What’s holding you back?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t…I didn’t come here to make out with a guy and have fun touching him.”

“Yeah, you went there to show your boss that you weren’t lying even though you were lying, and then you started making out with your fake husband, so I don’t think you actually went there for anything other than a bunch of fuckery. So why not fuck around?”

I mean…she’s sort of right. I did come here for a bunch of fuckery. There was no rhyme or reason, just to make it through the eight days. But do I really want to fuck around?

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” I say.

“Why? Are you worried about Mika? Because he was telling me the other day that he’d be shocked if you two don’t end up hooking up. He said his brother would be stupid if he didn’t at least make a move.”

“Mika said that?” I ask.

“Yup. He doesn’t care. He actually likes the idea of the two of you.”

“I…I can’t think about that. And honestly, I’m not worried about Mika. I’m worried about me.”

“Worried about you why?”

“Because,” I say softly. “He’s…he’s too nice, Denise.”

“Um, why is that a bad thing?”