“Anyway,” Drew says. “The reason I didn’t bring it up was because I didn’t want you to like me just because you were confused about Corey.” He’s moved closer to me on the bed now, and his voice sounds huskier when it’s right next to my ear.

Wait. Does that mean he wants me to like him?

I can smell his cologne and I can see his scruff and there’s no Corey holding me back and he’s wearing this blue T-shirt and I can’t even think straight. I try to get it together.

“Drew,” I say. “I just—” I turn my head toward him and I can’t speak. We’re so close together that we’re almost kissing and my heart is pounding and I don’t even care that there’s a camera in the room.

I kiss him. It’s a soft kiss on his lips, and I pull away quickly, not believing I just did that. My heart is pounding and my face feels hot. I try to pull away even more, in case he doesn’t want to, but he pulls me back down toward him, and then suddenly his lips are back on mine and his hands are in my hair.

After what seems like forever, he finally pulls away. Our foreheads are still together, and I open my eyes.

“I wasn’t sure . . . ,” I say.

“Ally,” he says, smiling. “Do you really think I would turn off ESPN for a Lifetime movie for just anyone?”

I smile back, and we’re kissing again, and his hands are back in my hair and on my face, and for the first time in a long time, everything feels right.

NOW

The reporter from People.com smiles at me across the table of the café and picks up her pen. “So this is your last interview, huh? Are you excited?”

“A little,” I say, trying not to sound like a bitch. “I’m really glad for my time on the show, but it’s time to move on, you know?” This answer has been carefully rehearsed so that I come across as thankful and nostalgic about my time on the show, but not like I’m so screwed up that I can’t imagine life without the cameras. The truth is, I’m really glad I don’t have to suffer through another one of these. At first, I thought it would be really cool to have a chance to tell America my side of the story. But it’s the same questions over and over, and really, no one wants to hear my story. Their minds are pretty much already made up.

The reporter smiles and tucks a stray strand of her blond hair behind her ear. She looks really young, probably just out of college. “So, the show’s been over for two weeks,” she says. “Has it been hard adjusting to not being around cameras anymore?”