Adventure to Love (5 page)

Chapter 4

Brinkley

Brinkley's Confessional
:
Everything here is so surreal! Meeting all the women last night confirmed why I decided to sign up for the show in the first place. It seems like there are some really special ladies here. I'm excited to make friends and get to know them better. And I'm even more excited to get to know Ky. It may be too early to say this, but . . . he gives me butterflies.

Brinkley could barely open her eyes. The sun was just so bright. She didn’t think she’d had that much to drink since her cousin’s wedding the summer before when she spent the evening with her head in the toilet in the tiny bathroom in the back of the church reception hall. Not an experience that she wanted to repeat ever again.

Somehow she’d managed to make herself presentable and arrive at the pool with Amber only a few minutes late. Or so she assumed since none of the women were allowed to carry watches. But they were still the last to arrive. All the others were swarmed around Harper, who reclined like a cat in the sun on her lounge chair by the pool.

The women were passing a small card back and forth. She arrived at the edge of the group with Amber just as Kylie began to loudly shout out their instructions for the day. A little too loudly. She had a splitting headache that was only getting worse.

She took a seat next to Harper on her lounge chair, taking in her polished beach chic look from head to toe.
That bikini must have cost upwards of $100. Who spent that much on a bathing suit?
She looked down at her own modest two-piece straight-off-the-rack from Target. She’d thought it was adorable when she bought it, a red bikini with a bandeau top and ruffled bottoms.

But next to Harper, she felt like she always did. Like the awkward girl who was the last to get asked to dance at Homecoming. Which was actually a true story, but there was no reason to get into that.

“So, Harper,” Brinkley whispered. Not because she was trying to be secretive, but because she couldn’t bring her voice to a normal volume without her head feeling like it was splitting in two. “Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

Harper looked at her levelly over her Chanel sunglasses. “Um, didn’t you hear what Kylie said? We’re going to be in three groups of four and go on dates with Ky. Then he’s going to eliminate one girl from each group and choose one girl to be the winner by giving her a special medallion or something.”

Harper looked away and started chatting with Sarah M. Apparently their conversation was over. Out of the corner of her eye, Brinkley saw Ky making his way up the path between the cabins to the pool.
God, he was so adorable.

Nothing like her high school boyfriend, a total meathead. It wasn’t until she met Ky the night before that she realized how young and inexperienced Cooper really was. The men were probably the same age, late 20s, but they were worlds apart.

Cooper’s idea of a good time was tailgating and drinking beer. Which she had always thought was really fun, but only because she got to spend time with Cooper.

She didn’t know Ky very well yet, but she could tell he was much, much different. He seemed like the type of guy that would take her out for a nice dinner or even cook for her at home. Something really fancy, like Chicken Cordon Bleu or Chicken Piccata or another Italian dish.

And he probably knew a lot about wine, like which wine went best with which dish. Something she could never figure out for the life of her, and something Cooper could have cared less about.

Ky was just so sophisticated. If she got eliminated today, she didn’t know what she would do. She had to be on her best behavior. Even though the only thing she felt like doing was curling up in a ball and drinking ginger ale all day long.

She scurried down the path to meet Ky halfway. It was the perfect chance to say hello before the other women spotted him and descended like vultures.

“Hiiii, Ky!” she squealed with delight.

She couldn’t help herself. Looking at him and even getting the chance to be next to him made her so, so happy.

Ky grinned back at her. “Hey, Brinkley! How did you sleep?”

Brinkley didn’t know how to answer that. She felt like death warmed over. She looked behind Ky and saw that he was trailed by five cameramen, just like the night before. It seemed like that was going to be the norm during the show, but it still took some getting used to.

She slipped her arm through his and walked with him the rest of the way up the path to the pool. “Oh, pretty good! I think all of that champagne went to my head because I am exhausted today!”

“Well, I hope you saved some energy. I have a really fun day in store for all of you ladies, and I can’t wait to get started.” Ky winked.

He took the next twenty minutes to greet the women one by one. She understood that he was here to try to make a personal connection and find true love, but it took
for-ev-er
to say hello and goodbye when you factored in eleven other women.

Ky finally stepped away from the group and cleared his throat. All five cameras were pointed at him, waiting for what seemed like an important announcement.

Ky pulled another silver card from his back pocket and opened it. “Okay, ladies. I’m sure you’re excited to find out what’s in store for us today. I’m going to read out the groups for the mini dates, and then we’ll get started.”

“Group 1—Sarah M., Amber, Cori, and Samantha. Group 2—Kylie, Brinkley, Harper, and Kendra. Group 3—Sarah S., Morgan, Kymm, and Lindsay. And without further ado, I would love to start with the lovely ladies in Group Number One. If you follow me this way, we’ll be having brunch on the beach, followed by some kayaking.”

Darn!
She loved kayaking and any kind of outdoor activity, for that matter. That would have been something where she could have really showed her true colors in order to impress Ky with her athletic ability.

It worried her that she was in a group with someone like Harper. Harper seemed to naturally be the center of attention. The kind of woman that all men gravitated to. There was no way she was going to stand a chance against her in winning the medallion, but, hopefully, she wouldn’t be the first eliminated. That would be devastating.

She decided to use the old “catch more flies with honey” approach. She took the free time to sit down next to Harper and enjoy a glass of orange juice. She tried to jump in the conversation that Harper was having with Lindsay, but the women didn’t pay any attention to her. They were only interested in talking strategy.

“Clearly, each group has a weak member. So all you have to do is focus on the girl’s weaknesses to make them seem even more obvious to Ky, and she’ll be the one eliminated,” Harper announced to Lindsay.

“What do you mean exactly? I mean, I totally agree with you, but how are you supposed to do that without looking obvious?” Lindsay frowned.

“Okay, let me give you an example. Let’s say that one girl in your group is really chatty and keeps throwing herself at Ky.” Harper rolled her eyes and laughed.

Who were they talking about?

“All you have to do is let that girl dig her own grave. As soon as she puts her foot in her mouth and says something a little too clingy or a little too crazy, you swoop in and give a better answer to get Ky’s attention.”

Geez.
The competition was much more ruthless than she had first thought. She grabbed two more poppy seed muffins from the poolside breakfast bar and sat alone at a table. Her only strategy was to be herself and get Ky to fall in love with her.
Was there something wrong with that?

Ky and the first group made their way back up the path to the pool. The first group’s date was over, and they were short one member. Amber hadn’t made the cut. That was pretty surprising since Amber seemed to have it all together. She knew exactly what to say and what to do. She seemed so confident, like she knew just what she wanted.

And Cori, the dark horse in the competition, was beaming as she tugged at the tribal medallion hanging around her neck. Brinkley wished she had just a few moments with Cori to find out what had gone down on their date.
What made Ky choose one girl and eliminate another? What had Amber said to get sent home so early?

Or maybe it was based purely on looks. Cori was totally beautiful, like some kind of Icelandic princess. Maybe Ky was really into exotic beauty and picked her because of that. If that was the case, then she didn’t stand a chance with her short, brown pageboy cut, big brown eyes, and athletic figure that her mom liked to call “healthy.” She was Midwestern through and through. Hardly someone you’d ever call exotic.

Ky spread his arms open to greet the rest of the women. “Group 2, are you ready for your date? We’re going to take a lunch picnic on a catamaran around the island. Hope you brought your sea legs!”

Brinkley loved the water. She’d grown up swimming in the lake behind her family’s summer home and was the captain of her high school swim team. But the catamaran in question was a little small for five people, plus three cameramen, plus the captain. And it looked pretty rickety.

“All aboard!” Ky shouted in a jovial tone.

The women piled onto the catamaran. Brinkley made sure to stay in the center of the boat so that she wouldn’t be thrown overboard if the tiny boat tipped off balance. That was at least one thing she had learned from her years of amateur sailing on summer break from school. That, and you should always wear a life vest, just in case.

“Um, excuse me?” She directed her question to the person who looked like the captain. He was wearing a captain’s hat and greeting everyone as they got on the boat. “Do you have life vests for us?”

The captain nodded his head in the direction of the small cabin in the center of the boat.
Was he referring to the pile of soaking wet, stained life vests that sat in front of the cabin door?

She didn’t want to find out. She was probably a strong enough swimmer to survive if the boat capsized. And besides, they wouldn’t let five people drown in the middle of nowhere on national TV.
Would they?

She focused her attention on what was more important. The task at hand. Getting to know Ky. Or at the very least, getting a little bit of his attention amidst three other women throwing themselves at him. It was going to be tougher than she had anticipated.

The first obstacle standing in her way was Harper. Literally. Harper had draped herself over the only small bench on the boat in nothing but her black, lacy bikini. Which looked a lot more like lingerie and a lot less like a bikini upon closer inspection. Brinkley felt positively dowdy in her own modest two-piece in comparison.

Harper waved her arm at Ky to get his attention, “Ky, there’s some space for you over here if you want to sit down!”

By space, Harper must have been referring to the three inches that she left next to her on the bench. Meaning that Ky had no choice other than to snuggle up next to her practically naked body if he wanted to sit down at all.
And where were the rest of them supposed to sit?

Brinkley, Kylie, and Kendra stood awkwardly in front of Harper and Ky as Harper draped herself over Ky’s body. It was going from PG-13 to R rated pretty quickly. The captain returned to the group with a tray full of chilled champagne. He placed a second tray of chocolate-dipped strawberries on the ledge next to the cabin of the boat.

The tray teetered and vibrated back and forth with every wave that hit the boat. Being ever so resourceful, Brinkley saw no choice but to grab the tray of strawberries and hold it for safekeeping. So now she doubled as a reality TV cast member and a waitress, serving the three women and Ky strawberries to go with their champagne.

But the cameras were still rolling, which meant that the date was going full force. The captain adjusted the sails of the catamaran and shouted, a little too late, “Heads up, ladies!”

Brinkley ducked instinctively. But Kendra wasn’t quick enough. The mast clipped the back of her head, knocking her forward onto her hands and knees. Champagne spilled all over the deck, and glass shattered at their feet.

Ky immediately jumped up to her rescue. “Kendra, sweetheart, are you okay? It looked like you took a nasty spill. Don’t worry about that glass. Someone will clean it up. How ‘bout you come sit next to me while you gather your bearings?”

Harper glared at Kendra as she scooted to the edge of the bench to make room for Kendra and Ky. Ky made a big spectacle of checking the goose egg forming on the back of Kendra’s pretty, dirty-blond head. After Kendra insisted she was fine, Ky spent the next fifteen minutes giving her a scalp massage using acupressure points that he’d “learned online.”

Brinkley was concerned about the broken glass that was shattered all over the floor. It didn’t look like there was anyone extra around to clean it up. The captain was still fiddling with the sails. He seemed oblivious to the fact that he had nearly knocked out one of the girls on the date.

And now Kendra and Ky were wrapped up in their own little world of scalp massages and back rubs and gentle whispering. Hitting her head was the best thing that could have happened to Kendra on the date.
Lucky girl.

Brinkley sighed and bent down to pick up the largest pieces of glass. She placed them onto the empty champagne tray. At least now there wouldn’t be a second accident on the boat if someone cut their foot on broken glass.
That was the last thing they needed.

“Yeah, that sail came out of nowhere. I’m just lucky I wasn’t standing near the edge of the boat because I would have been knocked overboard,” Kendra murmured into Ky’s shoulder.

“Well, if you were knocked overboard, I would have had to jump in and rescue you,” Ky murmured right back.

“You would do that for me? Isn’t that just the
sweetest
thing?”

Hopefully, this lovey-dovey private conversation would end soon. But there didn’t seem to be an end in sight. She didn’t want to interrupt because it seemed rude.

Harper clearly didn’t have a problem with interruptions.

“Okay, you two! Enough of this!” Harper interjected in what was supposed to sound like a lighthearted, jokey voice. “Save some conversation for the rest of us, why don’t you?” She smiled a broad smile that showed her back molars.

Ky came to his senses. “You’re right, I’m so sorry. Can you ladies please forgive me? I just wanted to make sure Kendra was feeling okay after her accident.”