Cara
I'd spent a sleepless night, staring up at the ceiling as Nathan slept soundlessly next to me. I was thrilled for Lottie that Gary had come back, she deserved a chance to find someone here, and after Kassam hadn't been saved after Casa Amor, she had told me she was starting to doubt anyone would come in for her. It felt amazing to see her so happy last night. But what didn't feel amazing, was Priya.
She had apologised to me about going after Noah, when we had been in Casa Amor, and she even stuck with him when we came back to make sure he wasn't at risk of being single and going home, so that he would be here for me. But seeing her dance on him like that last night, it made me doubt her intentions. Had she really meant it when she apologised? Or was that just some game she was playing? Did she really stick with him for me, or was it for her own selfish reasons? The song choice, the outfit she had on, the fucking whip? All of that played on Noah's Dom side, she was clearly back to have a crack at him, was it because I was with Nathan? Did she think me giving things a try with Nathan meant I was done with Noah?
After last night, and how much I been turned on by both of them, I had no idea where my head was at, but I hadn't closed the door on Noah. I knew I had to make a decision soon, there was bound to be a recoupling coming up now that Priya and Gary were back, the only question was how long did I have to make up my mind?
I sat up, just as the sun had started to peak through the sheer curtains, I gave up on trying to get any sleep, and tossed the covers over onto Nathan and crawled out of bed. I needed to clear my head, and figured since I'd been so slack on my swimming since after Casa, that this morning seemed like the perfect time for a dip. I changed into a red one piece and headed downstairs.
As I walked past the day beds, I barely even noticed the man sized shape curled up under the sheets.
I dove into the cool water and started swimming, loving the feeling of being able to glide through the water, almost effortlessly. My mind shut off, and the only thing I was thinking of was the blue tiles ahead of me as I pulled myself through the water, lap after lap. I was so focused, and so in the zone that I hadn't even noticed the pair of dark muscular legs that were dangling over the edge of the pool, until I finally came up for air, clinging to the end of the pool, struggling to catch my breath.
"Morning." I yelped, in fright, as I practically jumped out of my skin.
"Fuck. Noah! You scared the shit out of me!"
"Sorry!" He laughed. "I didn't mean to, I thought you would've seen me."
I shook my head at him. "I wouldn't have noticed if a bomb had gone off."
"Like the one last night?"
"The one who goes by the name of Priya? Yep, just like that one."
All he did was shrug, did he enjoy her coming back? Had he liked it to have her dancing all over him, was I not enough?
"She deserves a chance in here, Car."
"She doesn't."
"I thought you two made up before she went home? Or did you just not like it to see me enjoying being with someone else."
I glared at him, and before I had a chance to respond he spoke again.
"You were jealous, weren't you? How do you think I've felt the past few days? Seeing that fucking, yank with his hands all over you, his hands, all over what's mine?" I was shocked at this sudden change in the conversation, he was laughing at me just seconds ago, and now his tone was firm, but I could hear something else in his voice. Fear? Pain?
"I'm not yours Noah, I'm not an object that just belongs to you."
"You chose me, remember? You said those words to me." Fear. I could hear it, he was scared, but of what?
"That doesn't mean you own me."
"No, but it makes you mine. And last night, if you accepting that I needed to punish you for what you've put me through the last few days, then you know it too." He pulled his legs up out of the water, rose to his feet and headed inside.
Fuck. I hated the idea of belonging to someone, but I couldn't deny that he had a point. I had told him to punish me, I knew what I was doing in that moment. But the question was, is that the kind of relationship I wanted? Things with Nathan had always been so easy, and carefree, and I was enjoying having that feeling back with him. But, Noah excited me, he was the thrill of the unknown, he was like no one I'd ever been with before, and I was so intrigued by him, and so drawn into the passion and heat of what a relationship with him would be like.
Noah
It had killed me watching Nathan dance all over Cara, but she did listen to me, and she did dance for me like I had told her to. She had accepted that she needed to be punished, she chose me, and I was going to make her remember that. I needed her, fuck, I loved her, and she chose me over him. She was mine, and I was going to get her back. I couldn't lose her.
The rest of the islanders slowly woke up, and started filtering out around the villa and were buzzing over Priya and Gary being back. I was thrilled for Gary to be back, and for him to have a chance with Lottie, but Priya, not so much. I hated myself for how turned on I had been watching her dance, there was no denying how hot she was, but along with Nathan, she had been the main reason behind why things got rocky between Cara and I, and to fix things with Cara, I needed to push the image of Priya dancing last night, and focus on Cara and I.
"Bruv! Fuck it's good to be back here!"
"Mate, it's good to have you back, I missed you in here." Gary and I clasped hands, and wrapped an arm around one another, before taking a seat at the shared dining table.
"So what's up, what the hell is going on with you and Cara?"
"If you can figure it out, let me know."
"Ah, you two will be fine, it's obvious that you two are going to end up together."
"I would've believed you, if you'd told me that I don't know, a week ago?"
"Bruv, she's totally in love with you, you should still be believing me."
"I don't know man." I shook my head at him, and looked up as I heard Cara's laugh ring out across the lawn. "She said she needed, closure."
Gary looked up and followed my gaze, as I watched Nathan trying to tickle Cara, she shrieked and laughed as she writhed underneath him on one of the day beds.
"That doesn't look like closure."
I sighed. "No, it doesn't."
"I saw that dance last night, she wants you. There's no doubts there."
"I know. But what the hell is, all that about." I waved my hand in the direction of the day beds, where Nathan was now hovering above Cara in a push up position, he leant down to kiss her, and seeing the smile on her face, it killed me.
"Closure?" Gary said with a shrug, causing us both to laugh.
"Ooo! I've got a text! God I missed saying that!" Priya's voice called out from over by the pool. Gary and I gave each other a glance, before getting up and heading over.
Priya and Gary, welcome back to the villa. Today you will be taking two islanders of your choice on a date, and tonight there will be a Welcome Back party!
#twoscompany #makeyourchoice
"Oh. My. God! Amazing! I can't wait! Now, who to choose..." Priya tapped her finger lightly against her mouth as she rested her chin on her hand, her eyes flicking over us.
"Noah, would you like to go on a date with me, babes?"
"Um," I felt everyone's eyes on me, and I looked up and saw the look of panic on Cara's face.
"I'd love to Priya." Maybe, if Cara saw me moving on, she would realise what she lost, what mistake she had made and she'll come back to me. I know I shouldn't play games, but I felt like I needed to remind her, I needed her to see how I felt when I saw her with Nathan, and for her to realise we were meant to be.
"And, I think I'll give one of these new boys a chance, Elijah? Care to join me?"
Elijah gave Chelsea a nervous glance, who nodded at him, before he answered.
"Sure, that sounds like fun." He gave her a smile, and attention turned to Gary.
"Uh, well, there's only one girl I'd like to take on a date, and we all know that's Lottie. So how 'bout it love, give this guy a chance?"
Lottie laughed, and her cheeks flushed red. "Sure, I suppose I could join you." She said with a smug smile on her face.
"Brilliant. And uh... Since I have to choose someone else..." He looked at me, and a grin spread across his face. "Cara, join me for a date?"
Cara's eyes widened, and she looked at Lottie, obviously not wanting to step on her friends toes, the two of them spoke somehow, without words, and Cara turned back to Gary.
"I'd love to Gary, it'd be great to catch up." She said with a smile.
Gary caught my eye, and gave me a wink before heading inside to get ready for his date with Lottie.
What was he doing?
Cara
I was in the dressing room with Lottie, as she was getting ready for her date with Gary, and I desperately wanted to vent to her about Priya, and speculate about what her plans would be. But Priya, was sitting on the other side of the room getting ready for her date with Noah. If she was taking him on a date, clearly that meant she was still going to try and graft on him. Meaning, her apology was a lie, and her decision to 'save' Noah after Casa Amor was for herself, not for me, like she had implied. Lottie gave me a knowing look as she got up, she applied some dark red lipstick, and turned to head out the door.
"We'll talk later babes." She said with a wink, and glanced at Priya again once more before closing the door behind her, leaving Priya and I alone.
"Why did you choose Noah?"
"What?"
"You heard me, out all of the guys here, why did you choose Noah?"
"What does it matter to you, clearly you've moved on."
"Just because Nathan picked me in a recoupling, that doesn't mean I've moved on. I love Noah, and you know that."
"Really? Because from what I've seen you getting up to with Nathan, it doesn't seem like you do."
"You know nothing about our relationship, Priya!"
"Which relationship Cara? The one you have with Nathan? Or the one you had with Noah?" Before I could answer her, she stood and waltzed out of the room.
What the fuck? Priya had been my friend in here, how could our friendship have turned into this? Is she being petty? Or does she actually like Noah? I sighed to myself, and headed back outside to wait for my date with Gary. I didn't really understand why he chose me, he probably didn't have to choose a second date if he didn't want to, and we all knew he was here for Lottie, he had made that very obvious last night. Why would he choose me too?
Nathan tried to pull me aside as I stepped out on the lawn, but I waved him off and headed over to the sun loungers where Chelsea, and Shannon were sun baking. Chelsea was chattering away about Elijah being chosen to go on Priya's second date, and Shannon was nodding along and saying 'you're right', 'mmhmm', and other little comments where she thought was needed. She saw me approach and patted the lounger next to her, I gave her a small smile, it felt like she knew I didn't want to talk and was happy enough to let me just hang out there listening to Chelsea. I laid down, and closed my eyes, and just zoned out until my phone went off telling me it was time for my date with Gary.
I hadn't bothered to get dressed up, or even do my makeup for the date, because I assumed that Gary wasn't taking me on a date as a romantic interest, he would probably just ask about Lottie the whole time. So I pulled on some jean shorts over my bikini bottoms, threw on a plain white tee, pulled my hair back into messy bun and headed out the front of the villa where a car was waiting.
The car pulled up at the edge of a field, full of gorgeous wildflowers, and there was a small two-person table set up, with a bottle of champagne on ice, and two glasses. Gary was sitting with his back to the road, staring out into the field and over the rolling hills, dotted with farm houses, cattle and even more wild flowers. It was a gorgeous setting. I crept up behind Gary and clasped my hands over his eyes, causing him to jump.
"Ah! Come here love!" He jumped up and wrapped his arms around me, lifting me up into a bear hug.
"It's so good to see you again, Gary, we're happy to have you back!" I batted a hand at his chest playfully as he put me down. "And you! Coming back here for Lottie, swoon!"
"When I saw her confession to you, I knew I had to! I liked her from day one Cara! But I was so intimidated by her, and thought I'd never stand a chance!" He pulled out my chair, and as I sat he poured a glass of champagne for me.
"You're not having one?"
"Nah, I can't stand this fancy stuff, you know me, I'm a beer kinda guy."
"That's true, maybe they'll have some for you at the party later! So, what have you been up to? And why did you choose me for this date? You could've easily just said no to a second date?"
"I needed to talk to you, and this seemed like the perfect chance to do that!"
"About Lottie?"
"Nah, I'm sweet with Lotta, it's about you, Cara. You and Noah?"
"Gary, please, we don't need to talk about..."
"No, we do." His tone had changed, his usual boisterous, easy going demeanour replaced with a firm, serious voice that I hadn't ever heard him use before. I sat in silence, waiting for him to continue.
"What, the fuck are you doing?"
"Excuse me?" I was so taken aback by how brazen he was being, this wasn't the Gary I remembered.
"Cara, he's so in love with you! I've been watching the damn show, yeah? And he's a mess without you. It's obvious you love him too, and you want to be with him, so why are you playing with him like this?"
"What the hell, Gary? This isn't any of your business."
"Noah's my mate, his happiness is my business."
"It's not. I'm not talking to you about this." I shook my head fiercely at him, downed the last of the champagne in my glass and got up, started to walk back to the car.
"Cara, he was telling you the truth. About the girl, while you were at Casa Amor. Whatever Nathan told you, it was lies. Noah stayed true to you the whole time."
I stopped, and turned back to him.
"What?"
"You heard me. That girl was throwing herself at him the whole time, but he didn't fall for any of it, she tried to kiss him, and he pushed her away."
"He did?"
"He did. All he's done, has been honest with you Cara, he's been loyal to you, and he only wants you."
I didn't know what to believe, Gary had seen things on the outside that we wouldn't have seen, could Nathan have lied? He had before, and he wouldn't have known if Noah had kissed May or not, but he had seen the affect she was having on him, and he saw how Noah reacted to her attention. Noah may not have kissed her, but he certainly had wanted to.
"Gary... I don't..."
"Just think about it. I know you have feelings for Nathan, that's obvious too, and I can't tell you what to do. Only you can do what's right for you, but I'm just telling you, Noah never lied to you, and you're the only one he wants. Just remember that. Okay?"
"Okay." I said quietly, and Gary got up and walked over to me, and wrapped his arms around me again.
"Thanks Gary."
"Anytime Love, and no matter what you decide, Lottie and I will have your back." He said, as he released me from his embrace.
"You two are already a package deal?"
"Pretty much." He said with a grin.
"I'm so happy for you, really. Lottie deserves someone like you, don't you go breaking her heart now!"
He chuckled, and bumped his shoulder into mine as we walked back to the car.
"Don't you worry about that, I'm not letting her slip through my fingers this time."