“You and Andie believed Zach was assigned to me because the hotel assumed I was the reviewer. But I convinced myself he was spending time with me because he wanted to.” Kat shrugged, sipping her second glass more slowly. “I didn’t tell you this before, but last night, when we finally got stuck in the elevator together, I asked him about it.”

“You asked Zach if he knew you were the reviewer?”

“He admitted he’d heard something. And you were right. That girl, Penelope—the game master or whatever—did assign him to me. But Zach said none of that mattered because he enjoyed being with me. And then one thing led to another, and you know what happened after that.” Kat blushed.

“I’m confused,” Julia admitted. “How did we go from making out in an elevator last night to you crying as you ran up the steps tonight?” She paused, a suspicion forming. “That whole Johnny Castle routine … You don’t think the hotel planned it, do you? Oh, God. What if they fake fired him?”

“I wish that was what happened,” Kat said ruefully. “Then maybe I might feel less pathetic.” She sank lower into the plush cushions. “I thought he came back because he cared for me. He wasn’t working for the resort anymore, so his motivation had to be pure, right?”

“I’m sensing this is a rhetorical question,” Julia said carefully.

“Give the lady a prize.” Kat’s tone was bitter. “He came back because of that stupid review. After we left the stage, I thought we were going to have a romantic night, maybe finish what we started in the elevator … but all he wanted to do was talk about TrendList.” Kat knocked back the rest of her wine. “Kept going on about what a fabulous performance our dance had been and wasn’t I blown away by his surprise entrance at the talent show. You would not believe how many times he asked me if I wanted to write his name down so I would spell it right in the review. Spoiler alert—it was a lot.”

“Oh, Kat.” Julia’s heart ached at the defeated note in her friend’s voice, the way she seemed to shrink into herself. “I’m so sorry.”

“At first, I thought it was me, you know? My typical need to self-sabotage.”

Julia began to protest, but Kat stopped her.

“You know I do it; don’t try and pretend otherwise.” Kat shook her head. “It’s a game I play with myself. Some misguided attempt to avoid disappointment. I date jerks because I know, in the end, things will never work out. And that’s how it started with Zach. Why not have some fun with a hot guy in a relationship that I know is fake from the start?”

“And then you started to fall for him?” Julia guessed.