ANMELDENSloane’s POV “Someone knows,” Elias said the moment I stepped into his room after the evening interviews. “The redhead pulled me aside after the elimination. She said she walked past the service stairs last night and heard enough to put it together.”My stomach dropped. “What did you tell her?”“That whatever she thinks she heard is none of her business. She smiled like she already won something.” He shut the door and locked it. “The producers are going to hear about it by morning. We have one night before this stops being ours alone.”I stood in the middle of the room feeling the weight of eight years and the last five days settle across my shoulders. “Then we use the night.”He crossed to me, cupped my face in both hands, and kissed me with the kind of slow certainty that said he was done with half measures. I opened for him immediately. The kiss deepened until my knees felt weak. When he finally pulled back his eyes were steady.“I need you to know the last piece,” he said. “The r
Sloane’s POV “They’re pairing us for the entire afternoon,” Elias said under his breath as the producers announced the day’s schedule. “Private picnic on the lower grounds. Cameras at a distance. They want ‘organic conversation.’”I kept my face neutral for the lens pointed in our direction. “How private?”“Private enough that I’m going to have a hard time not touching you.”The other women watched us walk away together. I felt the weight of their attention on the back of my neck the entire way down the path. The picnic setup waited in a small clearing overlooking the water: a low blanket, a basket, two glasses, and a single camera operator who stayed far enough back to give the illusion of solitude.The moment we sat down Elias poured water into both glasses and spoke without looking at me.“The redhead from yesterday cornered me this morning. She asked if I was already decided. I told her I was still getting to know everyone. She didn’t believe me.”“She’s not the only one watching
Sloane’s POV “You’re quiet tonight,” Elias said as we stood near the edge of the cocktail terrace. Cameras circled at a polite distance. The other women laughed too loudly at anything he said when he wasn’t looking at me.“I’m counting the minutes until this ends,” I answered under my breath.His mouth curved just enough for me to notice. “My room. Thirty minutes after the last camera shuts down. Don’t knock. Just come in.”I spent the rest of the hour answering soft questions from producers about whether I felt a connection forming. I gave them careful, honest-enough answers while my body stayed tuned to every small movement Elias made across the terrace. When the final cut was called and the crew began packing lights, I forced myself to walk back to my own room first. I changed into a soft cotton dress, left my underwear in a drawer, and waited until the hallway went silent.His door was unlocked. I slipped inside and closed it behind me. Elias stood by the balcony doors in a dark
Sloane’s POV “Look at me like we’ve only just met,” Elias murmured as we stood side by side on the main terrace the next morning. “Not like I was inside you four hours ago.”The cameras were already rolling. Soft morning light. The other women clustered near the coffee station in carefully chosen outfits. I kept my expression polite and distant while every nerve in my body remembered the exact weight of him.“I’m trying,” I said under my breath.A producer called us over for the first group activity of the day: a walk through the estate gardens with paired conversation prompts. Elias was steered toward a cheerful redhead first. I ended up with a woman who talked the entire time about her rescue dogs. I nodded at the right moments and watched Elias from the corner of my eye. He listened more than he spoke, the same quiet presence I remembered, but every so often his gaze found mine across the path and held for half a second too long.By the time the pairs rotated I could feel the tens
Sloane’s POV “You came,” Elias said when he opened the door to Room 7.I stood in the hallway in the same dress I had worn for the cocktail hour, pulse still hammering from the walk over. “You texted.”He stepped aside. I walked in. The room was larger than mine, with a wide bed and a balcony that looked out over the dark water. He closed the door quietly and stayed near it, giving me space I wasn’t sure I wanted.“I meant what I said on the terrace,” he spoke first. “I left because I thought you regretted it. I’ve spent eight years believing that.”“I didn’t regret the night.” My voice came out thinner than I intended. “I regretted how much it mattered after only a few hours. I called my sister because I was scared. I called it a mistake so I wouldn’t have to admit I already wanted more.”Elias exhaled like he had been holding the same breath for years. “I sat in a coffee shop across the street for an hour that morning. Watched the lobby. Told myself if you came looking I would go b
Sloane’s POV “I didn’t sign up for this,” I said into the phone the second I opened the email confirmation.My grandmother’s voice came through warm and completely unrepentant. “Of course you didn’t, Sloane. I did. You’re turning thirty in six weeks and you’ve spent the last three years pretending you’re fine being alone. I’m not dying without seeing you fall in love at least once more.”“You’re not dying.”“Not today. But I’m seventy-eight and stubborn. Pack a bag. The car comes tomorrow at nine.”I hung up and stared at the screen. The Last Match. A quiet, upscale dating show filmed at a coastal estate. Twelve women. One carefully selected man. Cameras. Forced conversations. The exact kind of thing I had sworn off after the last disaster.I almost refused. Then I remembered the way my grandmother had looked at me last Christmas when she thought I wasn’t watching. Soft. Worried. Lonely for the version of me who used to laugh without effort.So I went.The estate sat on a cliff above







