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Being in the villa with absolutely nothing to do for hours at a time often led to events happening that Bryce never would've dreamed of otherwise. Like now, for instance. He was sitting on a couch opposite the most amazing woman he’d ever met playing the closest thing they could get to a drinking game. They'd found a pitcher and filled it halfway with cranberry juice then dumped their meager rations of wine for the night into it. They then took turns asking each other questions, pouring the concoction into their cups and taking a ‘shot’ whenever they chose not to answer.
“What’s the weirdest thing that’s ever turned you on?” Trinity asked.
Bryce thought for a moment and then shuddered. Yeah he didn't want to get into that. Maybe when they had known each other for more than two weeks. He grabbed his cup and drained it.
“What!?” she gasped. “That wasn't even a bad one!”
He shrugged. “Eh, I don't want to scare you off.”
“Scare me off? What, was it the sexy fish from Shark Tale?”
“That's so specific??”
“I knew a guy that did that. He cut out the picture of her from the DVD and jerked off to it a few times.”
He felt his eyebrows shoot up to his hairline, but kept his mouth shut. He grabbed the pitcher and refilled his cup, hoping this pour had a little more wine than juice in it. Curse their producer overlords for not even letting them get buzzed.
“Yeah well, I can't relate. I like the movie though. Now tell me, if you had to change something about my personality, what would it be?”
She hummed, bringing her hand up to her chin and doing that adorable pout of hers. He wanted to kiss her, but he didn't want to mess up her lipstick which she'd already had to redo twice tonight. Instead he settled for scooting closer to her so that their knees were touching.
“Oh! You’re so insecure sometimes. I hate it.”
“Wow. Very forward, but you’re not the first person to tell me that. Fair.”
“You’re always so hard on yourself and it makes me crazy. It's kind of like…um, I would hate it if someone said some shit about one of my sisters. That’s my sis you're talking about! Well, that's my man you’re talking about.” Here she leaned forward and jabbed a finger into his chest. “I actually like you quite a bit and so it would piss me off if I heard anyone talking shit about you, you included!”
He felt his face heat up, but what was it for? Hearing her call him her man or the way he adored how protective she was of those she cared about? She really was the best.
“You’re so sweet,” he said, making her giggle.
“And you’re such a softie. Look at you, red as a tomato.”
His face was on fire. He really wanted a glass of wine now. He looked down at his cup and considered drinking it just to feel something before clearing his throat and trying to get them back on track.
“Okay, I know I'm bad at that and I'll try to stop. You make me want to get better at it…if that's not too forward.”
She pressed her lips into a pout again, making his heart sing. “Aww. Softie!” She kicked out her foot, hitting him in the shin. “You’re too cute for your own good.”
“Speak for yourself,” he said through giggles.
“Oh, my God. Okay. Okay. We gotta stop getting sidetracked. What was your first impression of me?”
Angel. Goddess. Perfection. “First impression?” He bit his cheek, wondering if the whole truth would make her think he was crazy. He looked down at his drink and fished for the right words. “I thought you were gorgeous, obviously. Like, stunningly beautiful. That dress you were in, the dark blue, it looked so good with your complexion. That made you stand out immediately, but then we were all talking at the table and you were just so funny. I found myself laughing whenever you opened your mouth and I wanted to hear more. You were unlike anyone I'd ever met.”
When he looked up, Trinity was staring at him like she'd just seen a ghost. Her mouth had fallen open and her eyes were wide with something he couldn't place. Her lips quivered as she tried to reply.
“U-uh, that's…w-wow.”
He’d never heard her stutter before.
“Did I…?” he trailed off.
She shook her head, placing her cup on the table and bringing her knees up to her chest.
“You’re fine, Bryce. Really. I-i just wasn't expecting to hear that.”
He put his own cup down and moved closer, holding his hands out as if she were a frightened lamb. He laid a hand on her foot, letting his fingers glide across her ankle. The only sound between them was the jingling of her anklets as he moved his fingers underneath them.
“I did mean what I said. If it came off as a joke or something—”
“It didn't.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes I…” She lifted her head and looked around. “I think I need to fix my makeup. Do you mind?”
“Not at all.”
Her makeup looked fine, but he didn't want to argue with her. She stood up and brushed her hands down the back of her dress. Before she walked off, she suddenly turned and grabbed his cup. She quickly finished it followed by her cup as well. They were barely full, but it still worried him to see her do it.
“I’m sorry,” she said without looking back at him, her hand absentmindedly rubbing her forehead. “Maybe I'm hungry or something. I don't know. I won't be long.”
He couldn't even open his mouth to reply before she was slipping her shoes back on and making a beeline for the stairs leading up to the dressing room. He sat there dumbfounded and replayed their conversation back in his head. Before the drinking game they had talked about his life in Hawaii. He had talked her ear off about monk seals and surfing and she had seemed enraptured the whole time. Even their drinking game had stayed pretty tame except for a few naughty questions about their body counts and first times. It was only when he complimented her that she got upset.
“Fuck, what did I say?” he muttered to himself.
Maybe he had come on too strong. She’d said he was fine, but… He shook his head and headed for the kitchen. He wove between Corbin and Kenzie canoodling against the counter and Sincere and KC having a spirited argument about baseball.
He rooted around the fridge for a bunch of different kinds of fruit, then shooed Sincere out of his spot so he could pull out a cutting board and cut everything into slices. He threw it all into a bowl and then found one of the few plants in the villa that was real and plucked a pink flower off of it to garnish the snack. He also took a clean cup and filled it with ice water in case the cranberry cocktail had given her a headache.
He went back to his spot and waited for her to return. He felt like a lost puppy looking for its owner as he wondered if she was okay. If he wasn't barred from entering the dressing room, he’d go up there and check on her. He was a worrier at heart and she wasn't exempt from that. Hell, she was becoming the person he worried about the most. Her happiness had been the most important thing to him the past few days and the feeling only grew each morning when he woke to see her peaceful face sleeping inches away from his own. He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. She really was special to him and it was scary, but also exciting. He hadn't felt this way about anyone before and her sudden departure just made the feelings more glaring to him. He wanted her to be okay.
He repositioned the bowl and water, moving the flower around as if it needed to be in the perfect spot for her. He was still fiddling with it when she finally reappeared. There was a smile on her face as she neared him, which was a great sign, but it quickly fell when she reached the edge of the sand pit. The heels of her shoes sank into the little grains as her eyes zeroed in on the bowl.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“Uh, it's just, like, some fruit. You mentioned being hungry so I figured I'd make you something. I got you water too.”
She stared even harder, her hands balling into fists at her sides. Her entire body seemed tense. Had he fucked up even more? He looked down at the bowl and the cup, but he couldn't see why she'd be upset by them.
“If you don't want it, that's totally okay. I can eat it,” he offered.
“No! It’s… it’s…Bryce.”
He stood up when he heard her voice crack. In the low glow of the villa lights he could see her eyes begin to water. Something in his chest tightened and he closed the distance between them without a second thought, pulling her into a tight hug.
“Are you okay? What's wrong?” he asked, lips pressed into her hair.
“I’m fine,” she whispered. “I just wasn't expecting you to make me something.”
He wanted to scoff, but he held it in. “Why wouldn't I make you something? You said you were hungry, didn't you?”
“I did, but…come on.”
“What?”
She pulled out of the hug, swiping a finger under her eye. He watched her, wishing he had a tissue to give to her. She slipped off her heels and trudged through the sand, pulling him behind her with a tight grip on his wrist. Once they were sitting again, she crossed her legs and dropped her head into her hands.
“Trinity, you gotta talk to me,” he said. “I clearly did something, but I can't fix things if you don't tell me what it was.”
She took a deep breath and spread her fingers, her big doe eyes looking at the bowl once again.
“I was just shocked you would do that for me. That's all. And before, the compliments, I don't know. It hit me a little hard, which is honestly stupid as fuck. You didn't say anything crazy.”
He hadn't. All he had said was that she was beautiful and funny, which was incredibly valid in his opinion. They were very true statements! He nodded and handed her the cup of water.
“Here, drink some.”
She did as he asked. When she let him take the cup from her, she pointed at the bowl. He grinned and grabbed that for her as well. She laid it in her lap and popped a blueberry in her mouth. How could she be shocked at something as simple as getting her some food? Wasn't that the bare minimum?
Not wanting to upset her any further (if she even was upset), he slipped his hand under her thighs and gently pulled her legs forward. She said nothing as he laid them across his own, a position they had both grown very fond of, but she did give him a small smile. He’d take that.
“Do you want some of the cranberry stuff?” he asked.
She nodded so he filled up her cup until it was full and handed it to her, watching her settle back amongst the cushions and take a long drink.
“I think we’ve asked enough questions tonight,” he said quietly.
Her eyes met his over the rim of her cup. She tipped it back, taking another drink. She never broke their gaze. He continued looking at her as his hands came to rest just below her knees, kneading her soft skin. They stayed like that for who knows how long, just staring at each other. He felt oddly at peace, like she was telling him everything she was feeling through her eyes and he understood every bit of it.
“You really are stunning, Trin.”
It was barely there, just a quick twitch of her eyelids, but he saw it all the same. Surprise. It was preposterous to think she of all people would be surprised that someone was calling her that. She probably got a hundred compliments a day with a personality like that. Who wouldn't want to shower her with loving words?
She hummed softly, finally pulling the cup away and holding it in her lap beside the bowl. Her nails tapped against the plastic. There was rhythm to it, one he wondered if he could memorize to mix into one of his songs later. He already knew he was going to compose something with her in mind when they got out of here. It was inevitable.
He let his hands travel lower, fingers kneading down her calf. She laid back further and stretched her legs out more. When his hands reached her feet, he took a hold of one and wrapped his hand around it. She smirked at him as he rubbed his thumb up and down her arch. She already knew about his foot fetish and it had turned into some inside joke between them whenever she had her legs on him and he inevitably got his hands on her feet.
“Before I was cast, I was living with a guy,” she said. She handed him her cup, silently offering a drink. He accepted it and took a sip, the juice leaving a pleasant burn in his throat when he swallowed. He gave the cup back to her and she finished it in one go. “We weren't really anything special. I think he thought we were, but I never saw it the same way. It was just a lot of fooling around for the most part.
“I haven't had the best taste in guys in my life. Maybe that's why I jumped at the chance to come on here. I figured this would be something new and maybe I'd find someone I usually wouldn't go for.”
She stopped and smiled at him. It was a sight so warm it could melt a glacier. He reached for her hand and interlaced their fingers together. She only smiled wider as she watched him do it.
“I was a pleasant surprise, I hope?” he said.
She squeezed his hand. “Definitely. In more ways than one.”
With her free hand, she took the flower from her bowl and twirled it between her fingers. He figured he was about to get an explanation for her sudden departure earlier, but from what he had already pieced together he wasn't sure he wanted to hear this.
“You're so calm, you know? I've never been with a man who has endless patience like you and I really love it, but it scares me too. That guy…I don't know. He was an asshole, but I was too. I'm always bitchy as hell in my relationships and that kind of shit attracts the worst sort of men. When it got to be too much—being with him—I just jumped at the first opportunity to leave. I said bye through text and I tried to be civil with it, but he just went off on me. He called me all sorts of names and basically told me to kick rocks. And again…that was me being civil. I couldn't even do it in person cause I was terrified of how he'd react. I think I'd been trying to leave for a long time, but something just finally made me take that final leap of faith. Then I met you.”
“And then you met me.”
She chuckled. “What are you smiling so big for?”
“I'm just happy that I met you too. I'm glad I'm something you aren't used to because I can tell you've been, like, needing it.” He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand. He'd never get tired of touching any part of her. Her presence alone delighted him. “I want you to be used to someone doing the little things for you. I love caring for others and I never get to do it so I've been having a fucking blast with you. If you want ten bowls of fruit, I'll do it no problem, you know? Anything you want, you get. That includes compliments. I could spend hours telling you how wonderful you are. That's the bare minimum in my eyes and you deserve it.”
“Where the fuck did you come from?” she asked.
She reached up to her face and wiped away a tear as it rolled down her cheek. He couldn't have that. Taking her bowl and empty cup and setting them on the table, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into him.
“I came from California. You know that you silly lady,” he said as he ran a hand over her hair.
She sighed and pulled her legs off of his lap. He almost pulled her back until she pushed against him. He realized what she was doing and laid back on the couch, taking her with him. She curled into his side, resting a hand on his chest right above his heart. Her body was a pleasant weight against him and the smell of her perfume surrounded him like a floral cloud.
“You make me calm too, Trin,” he said, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Being with you is so peaceful. Everything is just so easy with you.”
He sat up briefly and grabbed the bowl of fruit. He laid it on his other side and fed her. She accepted each morsel with a smile and sometimes a playful nibble to his fingers. Yeah, he was never coming up off of her.
As the night wore on and the air cooled, she tucked herself closer to his side. The top of her head was resting beneath his chin and her fingers were drawing little nonsense shapes across his chest.
“Okay,” she said eventually. “Since I told you about my trauma and shit, you have to answer my question.”
“Sure.”
“What freaky shit turned you on? And don't even think about getting out of this. Just tell me you weirdo. We're supposed to be bonding.”
He glanced around, fully aware that there were cameras filming their every move. Fuck it, he’d done worse and said weirder shit since he’d got here.
“It was the dragon from Shrek. The one that Donkey falls in love with.”
She slapped a hand over her mouth, her shoulders shaking as she tried to hold in her laughter. He rolled his eyes and stole an orange slice from her bowl.
“No kidding? Really?” she said through muted giggles when she finally got over the laughing fit.
“I didn't jerk off to her though, if you were wondering. I just…she was hot, I don't know.”
“I didn't know you swung that way. Got me wondering if I can compete, if that's your type.”
“Oh, fuck off.”
She laughed again, this time with her head angled into the crook of his neck. He could feel her warm breath as her body shook. He was sure America was now gonna turn him into a meme for that one, but he realized he really didn't care what they heard him say. As long as it made Trinity laugh, his ears couldn't hear anything else.