Page 56 of Unscripted

I’d just have to get him to stop barking at me long enough to tell him all that.

“So,” Amy was saying as I pulled myself back to the present moment. “Since we’re the new Bellas in the villa, we each get to take the boy of our choosing out on a date.”

Amy and Sara smiled at each other and then looked around at each of the guys as though they were perusing a menu and trying to decide on an entrée.

“The boy I’d like to take is Adam,” Amy said.

There was a small smattering of clapping around the circle as Adam stood and walked over to Amy.

“And I’d like to take . . . ” Sara said, drawing out her choice by, once again, looking around the circle.

My stomach tightened when her eyes landed on the boy next to me.

“Callum,” she said, smiling.

Everyone around me started clapping, but all I could focus on was Callum as he stood up and walked over to Sara. He gave her a kiss on both cheeks as she smiled up at him.

They looked good together; I’d give them that—like if Barbie and Bruce Wayne had gotten together in some alternate universe.

The other Bellas rose from the fire pit bench and walked over to the new girls to say their hellos, and I let myself get swept along with them. I reached Amy first and was pleasantly surprised when she threw her arms around me in a warm hug saying how excited she was to meet everyone. I immediately liked her.

Turning to greet Sara next, I leaned in to give her a quick hug as well. She might have been about to go on a date with Callum, but I wasn’t going to be rude.

I wish I could say she felt the same.

As I pulled away, she grabbed my arm to hold me in place, whispering in my ear, “He’s mine now,” before moving on to greet the others.

I froze, rooted in place as her words sank in. It wasn’t lost on me that she’d said it with her head angled down, toward our microphones. She wanted it to be heard. Her pick of Callum for a date was clearly strategic, wanting the screen time that came with being in a love triangle.

It was a good move, and if it wasn’t my spot in the villa she was putting on the line, I would have been amused to watch it all play out.

I was still processing what had been said as Amy, Adam, Sara, and Callum separated from the group and set off on their dates, walking across the lawn toward the villa. The rest of the cast moved to mill around the fire pit, chatting about the new Showstoppers and wondering what they would get up to on their dates, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the retreating couples.

They were halfway across the lawn when Sara sidled up next to Callum and slid her hand around his bicep, as though she was physically claiming him. Something in the act, in the way in which she was so blatantly coming on to him for all to see, had my blood simmering with annoyance.

I knew this was the deal, knew it was all part of the game we were playing being on the show, but that didn’t mean I had to sit back and watch it happen.

If Sara wanted a storyline, she was going to get it.

I was moving before finishing any clear thought, walking across the lawn and calling out Callum’s name.

He turned around, Sara’s hand falling away with the motion.

I had no plan, no idea what I was going to do when I reached him, until, looking into his eyes as I got closer, it clicked, and I did something that was surprising even to myself.

I walked right up to him, threw my arms around his neck, and kissed him.

I kissed Callum.

And he kissed me back.

Wrapping his arms around my waist, he pulled me in close. I could feel a smile forming on his lips as mine continued to press into them. I matched it right back.

I wasn’t sure how long we stood there, grasping at each other and kissing in a way that made it impossible to focus on anything else.

A throat clearing next to me broke the spell, and my eyes fluttered open as I pulled away.

I didn’t know what to do next or what to say to Callum. All I could do was stare up at him and try to ignore the part of my brain that was going haywire over our kiss.