Flavor of the Week

Should Ava have been surprised that Harry picked her for his date? Probably not, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t. He could’ve picked any of the eight other girls there – Jay had even said they could use it as an opportunity to get close to someone they might not have before – but still, Harry had picked Ava, and that had her floating on Cloud 9.

Neither she nor Harry knew what the producers had planned for their final date, but she imagined that it would be something spectacular, because she knew they would want to go out with a bang before they crushed the boys’ dreams with the truth that the whole thing was a big, fat lie.

Ava tried to push all thoughts of the future out of her mind so she could focus on being in that moment with Harry, because she knew that moments with Harry were beginning to run out, so she was going to savor every second of the one she had left.

When the limo pulled off the road and into a parking lot by the beach, Ava knew immediately they had some candlelight, beach front dinner planned, so she wasn’t surprised when she and Harry walked out to the shore to find a table set up in the sand, looking right out at the water. The beach was completely empty aside from that, and Ava was thankful that they’d finally have a moment to themselves, even though the cameras would still be looming over them.

“Well, this is lovely,” Harry said as he pulled out Ava’s chair, running it through the sand, before sitting across from her. He had his brilliant smile on his face, and even if the scenery wasn’t absolutely perfect, she still would’ve smiled at that.

Ava nodded her head, as she folded her napkin across her lap. “It is. We’re very lucky.”

Harry smiled at her again, making her feel like she was going to collapse into a mess against the sand, and thanked the waiter as he handed each of them a glass of water.

There was only a small pause in conversation when the waiter brought them some of the freshest breadsticks Ava had ever smelled, and Harry spoke again immediately after the man left.

“So, it’s getting down to the wire, eh?”

Ava wasn’t sure if it was good or bad that Harry was talking about the competition. Honestly, she just wanted to forget that the whole thing was even happening and pretend it was a real date, but the fact that he was bringing it up with her might have been a good sign. It was probably better than him avoiding the topic entirely.

She nodded her head gently, attempting to look more confident than she was feeling. “I wonder what’s going to happen.”

“What do you mean?”

Oh shit.

Had she just let him in on more than she was supposed to? If he just figured out something was going to happen, the producers would kill her, no doubt, and a dead girl could never get an acting job.

“I just mean I wonder who everyone will pick in the end,” Ava said, only pausing for a brief moment to collect herself. Harry seemed satisfied with that answer and took a sip of water before speaking.

“Some of them are obvious.” He shrugged his shoulders a bit, very matter-of-factly. “Liam will pick Claire, for sure. He’s had his eyes on her since day one. Louis I’m not so sure about.”

Ava almost cringed at the sound of Louis’s name, because Harry still didn’t know what she had done with him – still didn’t know that she had slept with him. She hoped and prayed that Louis would never tell, but she couldn’t be sure. She didn’t want Harry to ever find out, but if he had to, she would want to be the one to tell him.

“Listen, Ava,” Harry said, seemingly coming out of left field. Ava didn’t know what he was going to say next, but she thought for certain that her heart was going to thud out of her chest. “I know that you and I didn’t get off to the best start. Well, not a bad start, but we weren’t really close in the beginning, and I – it’s just that, well, I wish that we’d gotten to spend more time together in the house. I wish that I’d gotten to know you a bit better than I did.”

Why did Harry’s words sound eerily like a sad goodbye? It certainly didn’t make Ava feel like she’d be seeing much of him after that, especially the way he said he wished he’d gotten to know her better. It felt like a sad list of should-have-dones that would never be completed.

“It’s alright, Harry –”

“Wait, let me finish,” Harry interrupted with his eyes looking straight into hers. “I’m sorry that I didn’t get to see more of you, but I hope that’ll get to after this – this show.” Harry paused, running a hand through his windblown hair as he looked down at the ground. “I guess I just wanted to tell you that.”

Ava couldn’t help but smile, because Harry just looked so incredibly charming when he was putting himself on the line like that, and it felt so good to hear those words coming from his lips. Of course, that incredibly good feeling was couple with feelings of regret, because she knew that sooner rather than later, Harry would be finding out the truth about her and all the other girls.