Page 88 of Most Eligible
Serena meets my eyes, arms crossed. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
Week Five: Overnight Dates
PALERMO,ITALY
Remaining Contestants: 3
Addison
Georgia
Monica
Strategies for overnight dates are wide-ranging and encompass everything from total abstinence to declaring undying love for all remaining contestants. Many leads will choose not to be intimate when the cameras are off, but don’t be surprised if production wants you to make it seem like you had a wild night. Some of the most infamousLove Shackovernight dates include:
Season 12 lead Brad Chadborne and runner-up Katy Shannon, in the houseboat that capsized in Amsterdam and blocked a canal for six hours.
Season 14 lead Stefan Jankowski and runner-up Maria Murillo, who spent the night in separate rooms but got down and dirty over walkie-talkie.
Season 15 lead Dove Pascal and her future ex-husband Ted Clipper, photographed by paparazzi on their suite balcony in a compromising position.
Season 19 lead Taylor Matthews and her future husband Neil Patel, with their subsequent trip to the ER after Patel’s shoulder dislocated during a particularly acrobatic sexual position.
—Shacking Up: The Definitive, Unauthorized Guide to WinningLove Shack
“Do I still believe in true love? Yeah, I guess I do. I think the hard part is knowing when you’ve found it and knowing what’s just an imitation.”
—Rhett Auburn, season 18 lead ofLove Shack, in an interview withPeoplebefore season 20
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Lolling around at an all-inclusive Mediterranean resort might seem glamorous, but the next few days are torture. Week four seeps into week five with minimal fanfare—just a perfunctory ceremony where Roland tells us he can see a future with all of us, and Addison rolls her eyes.
On TV, it’ll seem like the overnight dates are back-to-back, but in reality Roland gets a day or two in between to, uh… recover.
For the first few days of the week, as filming focuses on Monica’s overnight date and then heads up the coast on Roland’s “recovery day” for interviews, Rhett is nowhere to be found.
But on the evening of Addison’s overnight date, a sheet of paper is slipped under my door.
Midnight. Meet me at the beach—R
My heart thrums as I run my fingers over the words.Rfor Rhett,Rfor Roland—but I’m fairly confident about who sent this note.
Just before midnight, I pull on a tank top and palazzo pants and hide the new burner phone in my pocket so no one finds it while I’m out. If anyone notices I’m gone, I hope they’ll assume I’m on a midnight stroll.
I walk through the deserted garden in the back of the hotel, my way lit by hidden lamps in the stubby bushes that make them glow like radioactive sheep. Following a line of cypress trees, I head down to the beach and kick off my sandals.
“You came.”
I whirl around as Rhett emerges from the darkness like a shadow. He’s swapped the garish floral shirt for a short-sleeve button-up and jeans. When he holds out his hand, I take it, his guitar-string calluses rubbing against my fingers.
We set off, not toward the hotel’s beachfront, but in the other direction.
“Where are we going?” I ask.
He just shakes his head, a small smile on his lips.
